San Juan (AP) – Surprise, surprise! After seven straight losing seasons, the San Juan Coqui appear to be real contenders for an IL playoff spot with over half of the 2042 season in the books. At 52-39, the Coqui are tied for the Trans-Atlantic Division lead with the Scottish Claymores, four and a half games ahead of the streaking London Underground.

New, young faces and young veterans have been the biggest contributors. Indeed, 26 year old utility man Gerald Contaldo, and 24 year old rookie SS Jose Martinez went a combined 2 for 4 with 3 RBI as the Coqui’s representatives in the All-Star Game, Contaldo homering in his first All-Star at bat. Contaldo has been the biggest story so far this season, slamming 30 home runs to date, and driving in 64 as the everyday #5 or #6 hitter. Contaldo is the starting SS against lefties and the starting second baseman against righties. The left-handed hitting Martinez mans the big side of a platoon with 27 year old second baseman Zinedine Cozens. In his first PEBA season since being drafted a mere two drafts ago, Martinez has overcome a slow start and is hitting 285/324/476 with 10 HR and 40 RBI.

Martinez, who rocketed through four minor league levels in one and half seasons after being picked #11 overall by the Coqui from Oregon State is just the fourth least seasoned player on the team. Three players from last season’s draft also made the Opening Day roster:

– Alonso Bernal, the #6 overall pick, is playing All-Leather quality defense in LF (1.087 Def Eff, +7.5 ZR, no errors) and holding his own at the plate (239/300/383, 7 HR, 29 RBI) at just 22 years old.

– Peter Massey, the Coqui’s 7th round pick from Minnesota, has emerged as the top set-up man. He has 8 saves and a 1.56 ERA in 34 appearances.

– Alexandre Durand, last season’s 5th round pick out of Switzerland, generally pitches the 7th inning and has a 4.04 ERA in 29 appearances.

The Coqui have improved in all facets:

– At the plate, the Coqui are hitting 250/314/446, and are 2nd in the IL in runs scored, trailing only Florida. Last season, the Coqui offense was abysmal, 227/298/387. Runs scored have gone up from 3.7 runs per game to 4.8 runs per game.

– On the mound, the Coqui have cut the other team’s scoring from 4.72 runs per game to 4.14 runs per game. The ERA has shrunk from 4.60 to 3.86.Part of that is a greatly improved defense that has given up a BABIP of .277 compared to last season’s .306.

There’s a lot of baseball left to play, and the youthful Coqui haven’t been there before. Rumor has it that sophomore owner Marherita Vittoria Savoia is pushing team management to find at least one more pitcher before the trade deadline.