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06/15/2054
The Bats come alive as they outscore their opponents 45-27 on the week while going a perfect 6-0. They are now 42-23 and have built a 6.5 game lead in the Stout. Are they going to run away with the division like last season when they won it by 26 games...time will tell. Other top weeks were Hartford and Syracuse who each went 5-1. They are second and third in the Ale, and only a half and one game out of first respectively. On the other side of life Toronto went 0-6, while Philly, Windy City, and Maine went 1-5. To be fair to the Freedom though the losing streak is over! After losing 26 straight games they were able to beat Santo Domingo 5-0 on June 12th thanks to a fabulous outing by starter Troy Hill.
Power Ranking
1) Washington Bats (130.3, ++)
2) Seattle Pilots (125.1, -)
3) Denver Bulls (112.2, +)
4) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (107.2, +)
5) Wilmington Wildcats (107.0, ++)
6) California Kodiaks (106.6, --)
7) Syracuse Snappers (104.9, +)
8) Indianapolis Clowns (102.7, +)
9) Carolina Tobs (101.4, ++)
10) Hartford Whalers (101.4, ++)
11) Windy City Blues (100.5, --)
12) Dallas Drillers (95.9, --)
13) Pawtucket Patriots (95.6, +)
14) Los Angeles Dinos (94.5, --)
15) Pittsburgh Millers (92.6, --)
16) Baltimore Bulldogs (89.6, o)
17) New Orleans Voodoo (87.6, o)
18) Montreal Exports (79.0, +)
19) New York Cyclones (70.5, -)
20) Batavia Muckdogs (66.5, +)
21) Maine Guides (54.7, -)
22) Phoenix Roadrunners (54.4, +)
23) Toronto Canadians (48.9, -)
24) Philadelphia Freedom (32.2, o)
Performance of the Week
1B Julian Irwin - He appears to have washed off the 'Cali Stink' that FA's suffer from when they first go play for the Kodiaks. Last season he hit .229, his lowest since his rookie year, while putting up a 3.3 WAR, the lowest of his career. This year he's now hitting .304, is leading the Import in home runs and RBIs, and is on pace for a 7.0 WAR. On June 12th against Syracuse he also turned in the second best hitting performance of the season. In five at bats he had four hits, two home runs, drove in six, and scored three times in a 13-2 pounding of the Snappers.
Prospect of the Week
RF Dylan Macias - Wearing the old school Scorpions jersey, Macias has been tearing it up in Rookie ball for Death Valley. So far in 50 games he's hitting .316/.408/.582 with 14 HRs and 34 RBIs. He was picked 11th overall in 2052, is the 87th overall prospect in the league, and was just selected to the Rookie League All-Star team. Scouts think the 19 year old will be an above average outfielder who will drive the ball with power.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Congrats to Dominique Graham who recorded his 500th home run on June 9th against New York, and Reid 'Ramrod' Cole who got his 2000th career hit on June 12th against Syracuse. Both players are 37 years old and were selected in the 2037 draft, with Cole going ninth and Graham going twenty-first. Reid is a 6x All-Star, 3x Designated Driver, and has been named a playoff series MVP an amazing seven times. He also helped Windy City win the Brewmasters in 2041, when he was the Refreshing New Brew. Graham meanwhile is a 9x All-Star, 6x Designated Driver, and was the 2043 Stout Slugger. He's looking to lead Dallas this season to his first Brewmasters championship.
2. Washington's Shan Waseem is 'en fuego' as he's homered in six straight games, and scored in seven straight. Last seasons Brewmasters MVP was hitting .197 before the week started, which won't last long playing for the Bats. After hitting .381 last week with 6 HRs and 12 RBIs, he's now hitting .216 with 17 HRs on the season, and might have bought himself some more time. With a -8.6 ZR last season, and -1.4 ZR this season, if he ain't hitting then he probably ain't playing. All-time Waseem has a way to go though. The record for home run streak is nine, held by Charlie Farris when he played for Seattle in 2040. Meanwhile the scoring streak is held by Rex Knight, when he scored in 20 straight games in 1996 while playing for Baltimore.
3. Sayon 'The Brick' Castillo is currently first in the Domestic in All-Star game votes with almost 1.4 million hanging chads to his name. This season the 27 year old is leading the DL with a .357 average and is on pace for a 7.3 WAR, which is almost three points higher than his career high he set in 2049. Drafted by the Racers with the 29th overall pick of the 2044 draft, he's a 2x All-Star and won the DWI last season at first base. He signed a 6 year/$140m contract this off-season with Syracuse and has them on pace to win 82 games this season, 17 more than last year.
4. With Pat 'Melody' Nunes breaking the all-time hits record, the next all-time record to fall is RBIs. The current leader is Dani 'Steady' Álvarez who retired in 2001 with 2001 runs batted in. Robert 'Stretch' Jessee though is up to 1999, and even though he's having a dreadful season, he's still on pace to easily break the record. This year Jessee is hitting .193 with 3 HRs and 13 RBIs in 44 games. That is not what one of the most accomplished players in league history, and all-time home run leader, is used to. At 40 years old Father Time catches up to us all...well unless your name is Nunes that is.
5. What's on tap? This week we get some 1v2 Domestic match-ups as Wilmington travels to Hartford for four games, while Indy travels to Santo Domingo for four games. If anyone would have said before the season the Wildcats would be 39-26 and leading the Lager in June, well it might not have been believed. To be fair to Wilmington though the turnaround started last season when they got hot towards the end and finished 76-86. That is the most wins they've had since 2039 when they won 77 games. After bringing home championship in 2025 and 2034, and winning over 100 games in 2035 and 2036, they fell hard and fast. It now appears they are well on their way to ending the longest playoff drought in the league.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Runner-up Finishes Within 10 Games Of First |
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