September 1, 2013: London,England – The Arlington Bureaucrats‘ roster emerged from the tail end of August banged up, though you wouldn’t beable to tell by looking at the standings. A 21-5 record on the month has them comfortably 11games ahead of the second-place New Jersey Hitmen and on pace to set a franchise-high in the win column.

The offense was a bit anemic as Jason Guillén struggled and Rob Raines came back down to earth, but several other players stepped up to make up for it.  Unfortunately, two players carrying a majority of the load in August succumbed to injuries partway through the month; Bud Hoffmann tweaked his surgically repaired knee and rookie Brandon Collins sprained his elbow.  Hoffmann should be back for the second week of September, but Collins will be shut down for the remainder of the regular season and will be reevaluated as the playoffs draw near.

Luckily, the un-Bureaucrat-like offense scored more than enough runs to win, with the Arlington pitching staff kicking butt and taking names.  In the IL, only Charleston’s staff pitched better. Carlos Pérez (3.21) was the only pitcher in the rotation to have an ERA over 3.00 for the month and no pitcher lost more than one game. Mel Kennedy added 10 saves in August, barely keeping him ahead of Raúl Pinto on the all-time saves list.  Rookie Darryl Lewis was impressive as well, owning a 2.31 ERA and 40/6 K/BB ratio while winning three games.  Let’s hope he’s finally “clicking” because his arm will be needed more than ever once the post-season arrives.

The reason? Yoshisada Rin was pulled from his August 28^th start with elbow discomfort.  The team doctors have announced that Rin will need to undergo surgery to remove bone chips that have broken loose, effectively ending his season.  He’ll be ready for spring training 2014, but he will not be available for the playoffs.  Hopefully the ‘Crats will have the depth to soldier on without their ace, using a top four of Félix Ortega, Alberto Semblano, Carlos Pérez and the emerging Lewis.

With September arriving and a healthy lead in the division,the club has decided to call up a group of players from AAA to give rest to thearms and bodies of the 25 guys who will have to be ready for the post-season:

Javier Sáenz will return from his banishment to AAA.  He’ll be added to the rotation to see if hecan get back to the pitcher he was last season. His control will be a big factor in this, but he’ll also need a bit ofhelp from the infield defense.

Martín Francisco will be making his first major league start on September 3^rd against Manchester.  The fans eagerly await the arrival of the former first round draft pick and expectations are high, but this is more of a test run than anything.  He’s a bit of a “feel good” story as well after a torn labrum almost ended his career in 2011.  He hasn’t missed a beat since returning, though, thanks to the intense amount of effort and dedication he put into his rehab.

Juan Árias will be added to the bullpen for the home stretch.  He’s been in AAA for the past two seasons andhas pitched well in both a starting and relieving capacity.  Over 207 ? AAA innings, Juan has a 14-8record, 173 strikeouts and a 125 ERA+.

Bernie Jacoby has over 300 innings pitched at the AAA level and was already on the 40-man roster.  He also helped anchor the Newport News pitching staff all season, so he will be rewarded with a major league bullpen assignment.  Expect to see him in a long relief role.

Juan Rodríguez‘s ERA this season suggests he has struggled a bit, but his secondary numbers are great and it appears he’s been on the wrong end of some bad luck.  Coaches say his arsenal (fastball, cutter, slider) is major league ready so he’ll get a few innings of relief work in to see how it stacks up against the big boys.