Heading into the homestretch of the season as the calendar prepares to turn to August and the trade deadline approaches, the Kalamazoo Badgers find themselves in an unfamiliar position – still in contention for a playoff spot.

While the optics of a 49-54 record don’t look that great, the team had been only three games back of the division-leading Crystal Lake Sandgnats before a 1-5 week dropped the Badgers down to five games back.

Regardless of what you think of the team’s playoff chances, Kalamazoo fans are starting to sit up and take notice. Attendance is up 14.9 per cent this season, with an average of over 34,400 fans – compared to a 35,000 capacity – packing into Portage Park each game.

So is the Kalamazoo fanbase simply energized by the fact that they now have a team that can win roughly as many games as it loses, after years of languishing well sub-.500? Or are the Badgers-faithful coming out in droves in order to see what will be the team’s first postseason appearance since  PEBA began in 2007?

Here are five points as to why Badgers fans should be excited about this season – and five counterpoints as to why it might be time to temper expectations.

The team is confident.

Despite being five games back, there’s a sense of belief in the locker room that hasn’t existed with the Kalamazoo club for years.

“There’s not a guy in this room that doesn’t think we’re going to win this division,” said catcher Lorenzo Amador, who has stepped up as a vocal leader this season and is enjoying a breakout campaign. “It’s going to take some work getting back into this, but we’ve got plenty of time to make up the games and the guys believe we are going to get it done. It’s been a lot of fun coming to the ballpark this season.”

The team is inexperienced.

While it’s not full-scale bravado when the team suggests  a confidence and swagger, this isn’t a group of players that has any great track record for winning.

Only eight members of the current 25-man roster have even been to the postseason – and most of that group have minimal experience.

The most experienced player when it comes to playoff experience is Chris Allen. Having played multiple seasons for different teams in the postseason, Allen’s track record is of value, but he’s not the type to take on an active leadership role with the team.

The division is winnable.

With four teams currently under .500 and the division leader only sitting five games over .500, the Sovereign League Great Lakes division has been PEBA’s weakest this season.

The Badgers do have plenty of games left to make up ground – including two series each with the two teams in front of them, Crystal Lake and Duluth. On paper and mathematically, it’s not a far stretch for the Badgers to potentially get a hold of this division race.

The team is still a ways off.

Anything can happen in the playoffs, but needless to say if Kalamazoo did get into the postseason, they would be an extreme long shot.

While there’s plenty of talent on the roster, the Badgers are still a far cry away from being championship material. They certainly could get hot and do some damage, but the team is still a few dogs short of being able to go toe-to-toe with the Floridas, Auroras, Londons and Bakersfields of the PEBA.

The ownership group and GM are committed to winning.

In past years, all the moves the Badgers would have made would largely be targeted towards “the future” – that murky promise of eventual greatness that can often be tough for a fanbase to swallow when you are seeing your best players dealt for prospects and draft picks.

This year, however, the Badgers made a trade unlike any they’ve made in recent history, trading away a top prospect in Stephen Hooper  in order to acquire an upgrade for the starting rotation in Phil Anderson.

Allegedly this deal was kicked off after Bakersfield had easily handled the Badgers in a series earlier this year and Kalamazoo owner Don O’Quinn walked into the Bears front office and told a bewildered front desk secretary: “We need pitching, you have pitching, give us some.”

After being informed the secretary didn’t have authority to deal players, O’Quinn – who as well as owner has been referring to himself as “assistant GM” – got a meeting with Bakersfield’s general manager in order to actually talk trade.

Phil Anderson has become a problem for the Badgers.

When he was acquired from the Bears, Anderson was enjoying his  best season to date, with a 2.65 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. In eight starts with the Badgers, he is 2-5, with a 5.56 ERA and 1.46 WHIP – those numbers only made less gaudy by a strong 8 inning, one run allowed performance against Palm Springs in his last start, which dropped his Kalamazoo ERA from where it had sat at over 7.00. He did, however, suffer a bout of shoulder tendinitis earlier this season and there are some lingering doubts whether he’s fully healthy.

To make matters worse, Anderson hasn’t endeared himself to Kalamazoo fans too much during this rough patch.

Multiple reports of him being very unhappy since the trade have surfaced, with Anderson himself adding fuel to the fire with his take shortly after the deal.

“It’s tough. I love winning and it’s hard to leave a place like Bakersfield. I want to win championships. Where do you think that’s likely going to happen? In Bakersfield where you’ve got guys like Markus Hancock around you, or here in Kalamazoo?” he said. “No disrespect to the guys in this room, but I think Bakersfield is going to have a better chance to win. It’s not really great news that I got traded.”

Just last week, when asked about whether his poor performance in Kalamazoo could be attributed to him being unhappy in his new city, or due to the lingering effects of shoulder tendinitis that sidelined him for a month earlier in the season.

“I don’t know, could be both,” he said.

Needless to say, the situation hasn’t sat well with team owner O’Quinn.

“This is professional baseball. If you need me to find sympathy for a guy getting paid good money to play a kid’s game, you won’t find it here,” he said. “Phil Anderson can either suck it up and stop complaining and just pitch, or he can pack it up and call it a career. I don’t have time for whiners.”

An attitude like Anderson’s has been known to sink many a championship team over the years, so it could have an even greater impact on fringe contenders like Kalamazoo.

 The team is dealing well with adversity.

The Badgers have managed to remain reasonably close in their division chase despite being dealt with some sub-optimal conditions in 2019.

Free-agent signee Pat Green went down for four months in May with a ruptured finger after leading the way for Kalamazoo with a 3-2 record and 2.77 ERA through 8 starts.

The injury bug has also bit Nenad Santrac, Manny Womack, Ralph Gunther and most notably, Gil Sterling.

After a breakout campaign in 2018, Sterling was expected to play a big role in any success Kalamazoo would have this season. Instead, he’s only been able to appear in 45 games for the team, after suffering first a mild hamstring strain in April, then being hit by a pitch and fracturing his foot later that month. He would recover and return, only to fracture his thumb on June 16. He was expected to miss about five weeks, but suffered a setback and is only now just ready to return.

He’ll have to stay healthy and contribute heavily down the stretch for the Badgers to have a chance.

“It’s been a rough year,” Sterling said yesterday after working out with the team. “I just want to get in the lineup and help us win. It’s been really hard watching everything and being unable to help.”

The team doesn’t have the depth to deal with injuries.

In a season where a lot has gone right, but just as much has gone wrong, the Badgers aren’t in a position where they can afford too much more bad luck if their postseason hopes are to stay alive.

The team lacks the depth of some PEBA’s stronger franchise to be able to absorb the impact of a big injury and keep chugging along.

While guys like River Adkins have done admirably in fill-in part-time roles and Gunther has had a solid season from a power perspective, these aren’t the type of bats that the team hoped to have to count on through the season. On top of that, while Derrek Lollar had been relegated to bench player and defensive replacement prior to the injury to Sterling, he has continued to get regular at bats this season and has continued to disappoint,  with his worst season thus far, posting only a .496 OPS.

The best is yet to come.

While this year’s team has given fans lots to cheer about, there’s reason to believe that the team will continue to improve.

There are a lot of young players who will only keep getting better and regardless of what the final outcome is in 2019, the experience of playing meaningful games this late into the season will be huge for the team come the start of next year.

Things can be murky in the middle.

The Badgers are currently in a bit of an unclear position as it relates to the trading deadline. While teams are normally divided into being “buyers” or “sellers” at the deadline, it’s not cut and dry what Kalamazoo is – or should be.

A move to trade away a major league asset for prospects or draft picks likely wouldn’t sit well with the reinvigorated fanbase. On the other hand, Kalamazoo’s front office shouldn’t be lulled into thinking that they should go for it and sell off future assets in order to make a push for what little hope the team has at a postseason berth in 2019.

It’s a tough spot to be in and dealing with these types of situations well can separate the good GM’s from the great ones.

The only murmurs on the rumor mill thus far surround veteran star Chris Allen. Signed on a one-year deal, it’s unclear whether Allen will re-up with the Badgers for 2020 and beyond, so rumours have been circulating that the team is actively listening to offers to see what they can get for the slugger.

So there you have it, five reasons why Badgers fans should and shouldn’t be excited.

As an added bonus, a sixth reason why you should be optimistic – or at least entertained, during this season. Don O’Quinn has proven himself to be a frank and honest owner who as well as raising the team’s budget, has also been  a reporter’s dream, always available for an honest reaction and quote.

“I came here expecting these guys to play about .500 ball in the first year and that’s about what they are doing. But (expletive), I didn’t think .500 ball would put us in a situation where we might be able to make the playoffs,” he said. “Now my thought process is different, hell, let’s go win a championship! Why not us? I love these guys and I believe in my team.”