Wednesday, May 29, 2013

POWER RANKINGS

RANK FRANCHISE W L WIN% RS RA xW xL SOS HIT PIT DEFPREV RANK
1 Dover Dinklebergs 99 56 0.639 918 745 92 63 1 2 18 12
2 Houston Roughnecks 97 58 0.626 836 627 97 58 3 6 6 1010
3 Durham Doormats 96 59 0.619 930 707 97 58 4 1 16 274
4 Boston Pilgrims 97 58 0.626 892 590 105 50 2 4 4 23
5 St. Louis Arch Angels 93 62 0.600 782 673 88 67 6 12 12 211
6 Colorado Springs Night Watchmen 95 60 0.613 911 665 99 56 5 3 11 287
7 Seattle Strikers 91 64 0.587 746 569 96 59 7 17 2 118
8 New Orleans Zephyrs 87 68 0.561 806 784 79 76 9 8 21 55
9 Iowa City Hawkeyes 88 67 0.568 676 561 91 64 8 28 1 613
10 Vancouver Canucks 86 69 0.555 750 649 88 67 10 15 8 139
11 Jackson Juggernauts 86 69 0.555 684 589 88 67 11 27 3 1212
12 Tampa Bay Thunder 86 69 0.555 796 696 87 68 12 10 14 196
13 Fargo Wood Chippers 83 72 0.535 786 691 87 68 13 11 13 1517
14 Louisville ARF ARF ARF ARFs 81 74 0.523 747 644 88 67 14 16 7 1414
15 San Juan Pollos Hermanos 78 77 0.503 843 895 73 82 17 5 28 3111
16 Oklahoma City Prairie Dogs 80 75 0.516 663 590 86 69 15 30 5 1715
17 Charlotte Knights 78 77 0.503 707 651 83 72 16 20 9 822
18 Montreal Leaf Blowers 75 80 0.484 700 660 82 73 18 22 10 318
19 Cincinnati Firestorm 73 82 0.471 667 706 73 82 19 29 15 1819
20 New York Damage Controllers 70 85 0.452 803 955 65 90 22 9 30 3021
21 Rochester Retards 72 83 0.465 767 785 76 79 20 13 22 2916
22 Philadelphia Moneymakers 71 84 0.458 699 766 71 84 21 23 20 1625
23 Nashville Nalas 68 87 0.439 807 914 69 86 24 7 29 2623
24 Jacksonville Juice 68 87 0.439 659 711 72 83 23 31 17 2528
25 Albuquerque Komodo Dragons 67 88 0.432 708 823 67 88 25 19 24 727
26 Syracuse Crunch 67 88 0.432 741 839 69 86 26 18 25 2420
27 Los Angeles Regulators 67 88 0.432 700 759 72 83 27 21 19 924
28 Washington D.C. Justices 63 92 0.406 602 839 55 100 28 32 26 3230
29 Kansas City Hotsteppers 61 94 0.394 685 797 67 88 29 25 23 2026
30 Tucson Sidewinders 59 96 0.381 763 883 67 88 30 14 27 2329
31 Pittsburgh Ironmen 54 101 0.348 685 991 52 103 31 26 31 2231
32 Madison Melons 44 111 0.284 697 1402 34 121 32 24 32 432

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Minor League Update: Playoff Edition

New York Damage Controllers (High A) 2
Dover Dinklebergs (High A) 1

Jose Cortazar of the High A New York Damage Controllers had an unbelievable year for New York going from Low A to High A and the playoffs. He threw 6 innings of 1 run ball against the Dover Dinklebergs. Angel Ramirez came in to relieve and threw 2 innings of no run ball with 3 strikeouts. Richard Peters picked up the save by finishing the ninth inning in the 1-2-3 fashion.

Jeremy Spencer scored the winning run in the second inning when Mikey Wells misplayed the ball in LF for an error.  Robb Demel pitched a great game for Dover but came out on the losing end after throwing 8 innings of 6 hit and 13 K ball. New York leads the series 2 - 0.

Philadelphia Moneymakers (High A) 4
Madison Melons (High A) 3

Humberto Seanez of the High A Philadelphia Moneymakers hit a solo home run in the 6th inning of the first playoff game against the Madison Melons. It proved to be the game winning run.

Oswaldo Jose threw 7 and 2/3 innings of 3 run ball striking out 7. Brian Taylor pitched 1/3 of an inning to close out the 8th inning. Ajax Blackmon picked up the save for Philadelphia.

J.R. Cox started the game for Madison and went 5 innings giving up 3 runs and picked up the loss. Cleatus Blake went 3 for 4 with one run batted in for Madison. The series is tied up 1 - 1.

Montreal Leaf Blowers (Low A) 1
Washington D.C. Justices (Low A) 2

Carmine Redding went 8 innings in the lose giving up 2 runs on 4 hits with 7 strikeouts for Montreal. His one mistake was a pitch that was outside to Luke Thielman of Washington. Luke drove the ball to RF, and it barely made it past the reach of David Sherman into the stands for a Home Run.

Check out this pitcher's duel. Los Angeles vs Nashville (Low A).

In the Rookie League, Pittsburgh beat Los Angeles 3 games to 1 to advance to the second round. Syracuse and Kansas City are tied at 2 games a piece with the final game to decide who will move on.

Philadelphia swept Jacksonville in 3 games to move to the second round. Albuquerque won 3 games to 1 against Cincinnati to move on.

All the series in AA are tied up at 1 game a piece. One of the better games so far has been game one between New York and Nashville.

At AAA, St Louis leads Syracuse 2 games to 0. Durham and Tampa are tied at 1 game a piece. St Louis won the first game in the 8th inning against Syracuse.

Iowa City and Oklahoma City are tied 1 - 1 as are Charlotte and Louisville.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Minor League Update

Edmer Rivera of the High A Syracuse Crunch went 0 for 3 with a K in last nights game against the New York Damage Controllers. He has a .198/.260/.262 slash line on the season.

Benny Garcia of the Rookie League Syracuse Crunch had a great game last night against the Kansas City Hotsteppers. He was 1 for 3 with his 10th HR on the season. He scored 2 runs, drove in 3, and had 2 walks to boot. When asked about the game Benny responded, "I was seeing the ball really well. As you can see with the game, we were all seeing the ball exceptionally well out of Hugh's hand. Boy, it looked like a bowling ball coming to the plate, and he threw it about that fast!"

Steve Olson of the Rookie League Kansas City Hotsteppers was 2 for 4 with a double and home run in last nights game against the Syracuse Crunch. Steve has 21 HR to go with a .371 average on the season.

Anthony Belinda of the Rookie League Kansas City Hotsteppers went 0 for 5 with a K in a game three days ago against the New York Damage Controllers. He was the only starter not to get a hit in the game. After the game our reporter was able to ask Anthony how it felt not to get a hit, and he responded, "Wow! This is my first interview ever. We won so I can't complain. I try to help my team however I can." Our reporter went on to say in his article that he didn't foresee Anthony getting many interviews in the future, and he questioned how Anthony was helping the team. We say never give up Anthony. You may one day make it to the big leagues.

One other note...

Max Charlton who has played for 15 years in the minors was recently called up to Louisville. He has as of yet appeared in a game. When GM Arfy was asked about the surprise call up, he said, "We rewarded him for his loyalty. This guy just wouldn't go away so we called him up to the bigs to use him in a mopup roll."

Max was asked about the excitement he must have that he has finally made it. He stated, "I just had to keep my head up each day and know that I deserve this shot." When he was asked what this meant to others like him, he said, "Just hang in there. One day you may get that phone call to pack your bags and head on up to the big league." Max also mentioned that he would like to give a shout out to Anthony Belinda of Kansas City to keep the faith that he too would make it.

The NL South GMs were very pleased to see Max make it to the majors. They really hope he can hang on even into next season. The GM of Charlotte was really hoping the manager would try to make Max a starter and extend his pitch count to 100+ as a reward. "Alas, it doesn't seem to be", he said.

Here's to you Max! And let the rest of the career minor leaguers keep the faith. Or maybe Arfy will sign you after 6 years, and you can play for him. Either way, play ball!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Arfy's Ramblings: Playoff Race Predictions

The playoff races are getting crazy this season!  With 24 games left to go in the season, here are my Playoff race predictions.  I did not include teams that are way in front or way behind.

NL North
Iowa City 93-69
Fargo 86-76

NL East
Cincinnati 75-87
Philadelphia 74-88

NL West
Seattle 99-63
Colo Spr 98-64

NL Wildcard
Colo Spr 98-64
Jackson 88-74
Fargo 86-76
OK City 86-76
Louisville 85-77
Charlotte 82-80

AL East
Durham 102-60
Boston 100-62

AL South
New Orleans 88-74
Tampa Bay 87-75
San Juan 84-78

AL Wildcard
Boston 100-62
Vancouver 89-73
Tampa Bay 87-75
San Juan 84-78

NL WEST STATS

Albuquerque Komodo Dragons
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.265 19 FLD % 0.985 11 ERA 5.08 26
OBP 0.337 14 DP 312 22 WHIP 1.5 25
SLG 0.412 21 + Plays 70 6 OAV 0.279 26
OPS 0.749 19 - Plays 23 12 K 841 27
Runs 655 18 CS % 0.326 12 Saves 32 24
HR 150 25 SBA 165 19 HR 193 26
SB 95 21 PB 4 5 QS 65 19


Colorado Springs Night Watchmen
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.284 3 FLD % 0.983 20 ERA 3.97 11
OBP 0.364 1 DP 350 15 WHIP 1.4 18
SLG 0.477 2 + Plays 23 31 OAV 0.253 10
OPS 0.84 2 - Plays 33 20 K 909 15
Runs 825 3 CS % 0.326 13 Saves 42 6
HR 203 7 SBA 141 9 HR 139 2
SB 97 19 PB 13 22 QS 79 5


Oklahoma City Prairie Dogs
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.25 28 FLD % 0.988 6 ERA 3.69 6
OBP 0.328 24 DP 326 19 WHIP 1.26 4
SLG 0.399 25 + Plays 54 15 OAV 0.246 6
OPS 0.727 26 - Plays 33 21 K 929 8
Runs 602 30 CS % 0.352 7 Saves 51 2
HR 162 24 SBA 122 1 HR 142 4
SB 88 23 PB 5 8 QS 63 22


Seattle Strikers
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.273 10 FLD % 0.987 8 ERA 3.47 2
OBP 0.349 4 DP 253 32 WHIP 1.23 2
SLG 0.397 27 + Plays 54 16 OAV 0.235 1
OPS 0.747 20 - Plays 19 8 K 985 4
Runs 691 13 CS % 0.285 24 Saves 39 14
HR 127 30 SBA 137 7 HR 155 7
SB 155 5 PB 11 19 QS 87 1

NL SOUTH STATS

Charlotte Knights
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.252 26 FLD % 0.989 3 ERA 3.92 10
OBP 0.33 22 DP 374 4 WHIP 1.31 10
SLG 0.405 23 + Plays 68 8 OAV 0.254 11
OPS 0.734 23 - Plays 28 17 K 920 10
Runs 634 22 CS % 0.331 11 Saves 29 26
HR 166 20 SBA 133 4 HR 146 5
SB 101 18 PB 17 28 QS 73 12


Houston Roughnecks
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.271 11 FLD % 0.986 9 ERA 3.67 5
OBP 0.343 9 DP 310 23 WHIP 1.28 7
SLG 0.458 4 + Plays 81 3 OAV 0.243 4
OPS 0.801 4 - Plays 13 2 K 962 5
Runs 751 5 CS % 0.214 32 Saves 42 7
HR 228 2 SBA 154 13 HR 158 10
SB 72 27 PB 18 30 QS 72 13


Jackson Juggernauts
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.261 23 FLD % 0.985 12 ERA 3.61 3
OBP 0.33 23 DP 289 28 WHIP 1.28 8
SLG 0.395 29 + Plays 56 11 OAV 0.24 3
OPS 0.725 27 - Plays 27 14 K 987 3
Runs 621 26 CS % 0.333 10 Saves 40 9
HR 138 29 SBA 126 3 HR 154 6
SB 111 16 PB 2 2 QS 79 6


Louisville ARF ARF ARF ARFs
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.274 7 FLD % 0.985 14 ERA 3.87 8
OBP 0.342 10 DP 336 18 WHIP 1.26 3
SLG 0.435 14 + Plays 55 13 OAV 0.249 7
OPS 0.777 11 - Plays 18 7 K 900 17
Runs 679 15 CS % 0.264 27 Saves 38 15
HR 186 11 SBA 140 8 HR 140 3
SB 72 28 PB 12 21 QS 79 7

NL NORTH STATS

Fargo Wood Chippers
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.266 16 FLD % 0.984 17 ERA 4.19 15
OBP 0.334 20 DP 307 24 WHIP 1.34 13
SLG 0.437 12 + Plays 55 12 OAV 0.257 14
OPS 0.771 13 - Plays 16 3 K 924 9
Runs 709 10 CS % 0.262 28 Saves 43 5
HR 196 9 SBA 164 18 HR 157 9
SB 155 4 PB 1 1 QS 81 3


Iowa City Hawkeyes
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.249 30 FLD % 0.988 5 ERA 3.45 1
OBP 0.315 30 DP 306 26 WHIP 1.22 1
SLG 0.395 28 + Plays 56 10 OAV 0.237 2
OPS 0.71 30 - Plays 17 5 K 897 19
Runs 603 29 CS % 0.338 8 Saves 34 21
HR 165 22 SBA 133 5 HR 159 11
SB 43 31 PB 3 4 QS 81 4


Madison Melons
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.258 24 FLD % 0.983 21 ERA 9.02 32
OBP 0.319 27 DP 361 7 WHIP 2.11 32
SLG 0.424 16 + Plays 75 5 OAV 0.329 32
OPS 0.744 21 - Plays 20 9 K 539 32
Runs 637 21 CS % 0.352 6 Saves 21 31
HR 184 12 SBA 142 10 HR 310 32
SB 126 11 PB 6 10 QS 40 29


Montreal Leaf Blowers
Games Played: 138

Offense1Defense1Pitching
CategoryStatRankCategoryStatRankCategoryStatRank
AVG 0.252 27 FLD % 0.987 7 ERA 4.07 12
OBP 0.315 31 DP 302 27 WHIP 1.34 14
SLG 0.41 22 + Plays 45 22 OAV 0.26 17
OPS 0.725 28 - Plays 16 4 K 871 24
Runs 643 20 CS % 0.413 2 Saves 36 19
HR 176 16 SBA 143 11 HR 170 15
SB 96 20 PB 13 24 QS 72 14