S31 Rookie Class

37 Pine Tar rookies, who are making an impact on their team and on the league, are noted below.  Each rookie has their current statistics and method of entry into the league listed.

Notes:
-The Season 31 rookie class is not nearly as strong as Season 30's, where rookies Wendell Werth and Felipe Osorio were nominated as MVP finalists.  Click on the following link for last season's rookie blog: Season 30 Rookie Class Blog.
-27 of the 37 rookies were acquired in the Amateur Draft, while only 10 were signed as International Free Agents.  
-Of the 27 rookies selected in the Amateur Draft, nine were top-10 picks and eight were chosen in the second round or later.  While there were no #1 picks, starting pitchers Michael Boyer (Indianapolis) and Collin Pavano (Iowa City) were #2 picks in Season 28 and 26, respectively.  The latest selection was Jackson relief pitcher Rick Cooper (#238 pick in Season 26).  
-Of the 10 rookies who were signed as IFAs, five were paid $10 million or more, while two were signed for less than $2 million.  SP Esteban Mujica (Indianapolis) was paid the most at $33 million and CF Jamie Dong (Cincinnati) was a steal at only $890K.
-Louisville RP Tyreace Green was acquired as far back as Season 23, while RF Neifi Gil (Houston) was signed this season in the IFA market.
-Horvie's front-runners for the AL Rookie-of-the-Year award are Abraham Logan (Nashville) and Esteban Mujica (Indianapolis).  
-Horvie's front-runners for the NL Rookie-of-the-Year award are Collin Pavano (Iowa City), Neifi Gil (Houston), and Russell Castillo (Minnesota).


Position Players
*You can click on each player's name to view their HBD profile.

C - Tony Anderson (Indianapolis)
Draft/IFA: #98 Pick - S26
Stats: .288 BA, .362 OBP, 23 RBI, 28% CS

C - Wallace Duffy (St. Louis)
Draft/IFA: #26 Pick - S29
Stats: .324 OBP, 17 HR, 47 RBI

C - Shouta Wang (Huntington)
Draft/IFA: $1.9M IFA - S24
Stats: .285 BA, .348 OBP, 19 HR, 76 RBI

1B - Angel De La Rosa (Nashville)
Draft/IFA: $13.2 IFA - S26
Stats: .256 BA, 30 HR, 79 RBI

1B - Harley Rose (Durham)
Draft/IFA: #36 Pick - S25
Stats: .258 BA, 31 HR, 88 RBI

1B - Brian Woolf (Salem)
Draft/IFA: #22 Pick - S27
Stats: .316 OBP, 19 HR, 55 RBI, 18 SB, 8 Plus Plays

2B - Russell Castillo (Minnesota)
Draft/IFA: #21 Pick - S28
Stats: .306 BA, .354 OBP, 13 HR, 58 RBI, 21 SB

2B - Nate Harrison (St. Louis)
Draft/IFA: #43 Pick - S28
Stats: .281 BA, 13 HR, 40 RBI, 13 SB, 11 Plus Plays

2B - Abraham Logan (Nashville)
Draft/IFA: #2 Pick - S27
Stats: .317 BA, .933 OPS, 22 HR, 75 RBI, 12 SB

2B - John Nix (Dover)
Draft/IFA: #90 Pick - S27

Stats: .270 BA, 29 RBI, 27 SB, 14 Plus Plays

2B - Raul Quintero (Jacksonville)
Draft/IFA: $16M IFA - S28
Stats: 21 HR, 53 RBI

CF - Jamie Dong (Cincinnati)
Draft/IFA: $890K IFA - S25
Stats: .327 OBP, 32 SB, 11 Plus Plays

CF - Louis Fitzgerald (Houston)
Draft/IFA: #5 Pick - S28
Stats: .287 BA, .377 OBP, 44 RBI, 12 SB

CF - Shane Pose (Colorado Springs)
Draft/IFA: #33 Pick - S26
Stats: .337 OBP, 17 HR, 52 RBI, 5 Plus Plays

CF - Russell Rucker (Oklahoma City)
Draft/IFA: #8 Pick - S26
Stats: .335 OBP, 15 HR, 45 RBI, 27 SB, 8 Plus Plays

CF - Roberto Valdivia (Milwaukee)
Draft/IFA: #47 Pick - S27
Stats: .297 BA, .359 OBP, 15 RBI, 13 SB, 5 Plus Plays

CF - Eswalin Zorrilla (Scranton)
Draft/IFA: #72 Pick - S26
Stats: .287 BA, .359 OBP, 17 RBI, 21 SB, 3 Plus Plays

RF - Vin Chavez (Boston)
Draft/IFA: #62 Pick - S29
Stats: .325 BA, .387 OBP, 16 HR, 45 RBI

RF - Neifi Gil (Houston)
Draft/IFA: $29M IFA - S31
Stats: .274 BA, 26 HR, 67 RBI

RF - Andres Rivera (Houston)
Draft/IFA: $21M IFA - S29
Stats: .270 BA, 12 HR, 37 RBI, 16 SB, 6 Plus Plays

Pitchers

SP - Enrique Aparicio (Jackson)
Draft/IFA: #57 Pick - S25
Stats: 9-12, 4.32 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, .255 OAV

SP - Michael Boyer (Indianapolis)
Draft/IFA: #2 Pick - S28
Stats: 6-10, 4.83 ERA, 1.43 ERA, .248 OAV

SP - Stewart Hall (Houston)
Draft/IFA: #14 Pick - S27
Stats: 6-5, 4.22 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, .275 OAV

SP - Travis Morris (Iowa City)
Draft/IFA: #4 Pick - S28
Stats: 6-9, 4.79 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, .251 OAV

SP - Esteban Mujica (Indianapolis)
Draft/IFA: $33M IFA - S29
Stats: 11-6, 2.60 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, .197 OAV

SP - Collin Pavano (Iowa City)
Draft/IFA: #2 Pick - S26
Stats: 8-5, 2.97 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, .240 OAV

RP - Dillon Abbott (Fresno)
Draft/IFA: #6 Pick - S28
Stats: 16 Saves, 2.83 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, .240 OAV

RP - Rick Cooper (Jackson)
Draft/IFA: #238 Pick - S26
Stats: 3.75 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, .258 OAV

RP - Tyreace Green (Louisville)
Draft/IFA: #138 Pick - S23
Stats: 6-0, 4.03 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, .205 OAV

RP - Randall Hundley (Scranton)
Draft/IFA: #9 Pick - S27
Stats: 3.47 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .229 OAV

RP - Buddy Kirby (Iowa City)
Draft/IFA: #117 Pick - S24
Stats: 6-6, 11 Saves, 3.21 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, .208 OAV

RP - Junior Martin (Iowa City)
Draft/IFA: $9.3M IFA - S27
Stats: 1.71 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, .195 OAV

RP - Everth Martinez (Texas)
Draft/IFA: $1.4M IFA - S25
Stats: 8 Saves, 2.64 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, .213 OAV

RP - Domingo Mendoza (Vancouver)
Draft/IFA: $14M IFA - S27
Stats: 10-3, 3.84 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, .274 OAV

RP - Edinson Terrero (Helena)
Draft/IFA: #38 Pick - S27
Stats: 6-6, 4.19 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, .260 OAV

RP - Jared Witt (Louisville)
Draft/IFA: #73 Pick - S25
Stats: 5 Saves, 3.19 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .246 OAV

RP - Erik Zaun (Oklahoma City)
Draft/IFA: #7 Pick - S27
Stats: 6-5, 14 Saves, 2.65 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, .214 OAV

S31 Midseason Blog: All-Stars & Playoff Picture

Season 31 All-Stars
Link to View Season 30's All-Star Blog

Pine Tar's Season 31 All-Star game took place yesterday with the American League defeating the National League by the score of 8-5.  Durham's Bengie Trajano was named the Most-Valuable Player, as his 3-run homer helped lead the AL to a 5-run first inning.  Jose Marquez (Salem) was the winning pitcher, while Babe Conroy (Scranton) took the defeat.  Homeruns were hit by Trajano, Matt Jaha (Boston), and Eugenio Canseco (Scranton).  Nashville's Wendell Werth had an outstanding game with 3 hits and 2 runs.  

Teams with the most All-Star selections:

Seattle Strikers - 7 (ghutton9)
Albuquerque Komodo Dragons - 5 (csudak)
Salem Volcanoes - 5 (jkenned)
Scranton Red Barons - 5 (reggie988)
Wichita DwArf'y Mojados - 4 (jibe)
Huntington Drunkin' BArfys - 3 (nyaggie98)
St. Louis Arch Angels - 3 (Flucie)
Tampa Bay Thunder - 3 (rxw1)
Texas Galveston Wave - 3 (erichanville)

Teams with zero All-Star selections:

Dover Dinklebergs
Rochester ArfArfys
El Paso Arfydillos
Helena Copper Kings
Philadelphia Moneymakers
Jacksonville Juice
Cincinnati Firestorm
Louisville ARF ARF ARF ARF's
Houston Roughnecks
Oklahoma City Prairie Dogs

All-Stars by Division
NL West - 13
AL West - 11
AL South - 8
NL North - 8
AL East - 6
AL North - 5
NL South - 5
NL East - 4

*Links are posted - click on an individual player's name to open their HBD profile

First Time All-Stars – American League

P - Matty Bennett (Doormats)
P - Jose Marquez (Volcanoes)
P - Benito Pizzaro (Arch Angels)
C - Harry Gibson (Volcanoes)
SS - Jesus Esposito (Thunder)
SS - Mark Millwood (Drunkin' BArfys)
LF - Albert Rosa (Thunder)
CF - Howie Osborne (Drunkin' BArfys)

First Time All-Stars – National League

P - Vin Baker (Juggernauts)
P - Mitch Mota (Red Barons)
P - Babe Conroy (Red Barons)
P - Alfonso Puig (Red Barons)
P - Emil Martin (Huskies)
P - Taylor Ross (Hawkeyes)
P - Junior Martin (Hawkeyes)
1B - Eli Cruz (DwArf'y Mojados)
CF - Cliff Gray (Juggernauts)

All-Stars Making Their 5th Appearance or Greater
1B - Sam Slotnick (Drunkin' BArfys) - 10th Appearance
P - Brandon Taylor (Strikers) - 9th Appearance
P - Sticky Farquhar (Yardbirds) - 8th Appearance
P - Juan Sierra (DwArf'y Mojados) - 8th Appearance
C - Bengie Trajano (Doormats) - 7th Appearance
P - Rock Randall (Canucks) - 5th Appearance
2B - Zip Sullivan (Magnitude) - 5th Appearance
1B - Gus Justice (Strikers) - 5th Appearance
3B - Keith Williamson (Night Watchmen) - 5th Appearance
LF - Tony Caballero (DwArf'y Mojados) - 5th Appearance



Season 31 Playoff Picture (if the season ended today)

By Current Record (after 91 games):

AL North Champ: Milwaukee (52-39)

AL East Champ: Boston (57-34)

AL South Champ: Nashville (53-38)

AL West Champ: Salem (60-31)

AL Wildcard 1: Durham (53-38)

AL Wildcard 2: Huntington or Vancouver (52-39)

NL North Champ: Scranton (57-34)

NL East Champ: Wichita (50-41)

NL South Champ: Texas (57-34)

NL West Champ: Seattle (55-36)

NL Wildcard 1: Minnesota (52-39)

NL Wildcard 2: Albuquerque (48-43)

AL Matchups:

(4) Milwaukee vs. (5) Durham

Winner faces (1) Salem

(3) Nashville vs. (6) Huntington/Vancouver

Winner faces (2) Boston

NL Matchups:

(4) Wichita vs. (5) Minnesota

Winner faces (1) Scranton/Texas

(3) Seattle vs. (6) Albuquerque

Winner faces (2) Scranton/Texas

Notes:

-Six of the 8 division leaders are the same as Season 30.  Texas and Wichita did not win their divisions last season.
-Salem would be the #1 seed in the American League, after winning 2 of the past 3 World Series titles.
-Huntington and Minnesota are this season's surprise teams, after winning 66 and 73 games last year, respectively.
-Seattle vs. Albuquerque would be a rematch of last season's Division Championship Series, where Albuquerque upset Seattle and made a run to the World Series.
-Additional teams still in the playoff hunt include Tampa Bay (47-44), St. Louis (46-45), New York (46-45), Louisville (47-44), and Oklahoma City (47-44).

By Exp PCT (Expected Winning Percentage) – determined by run differential:

AL North Champ: Milwaukee (.586)

AL East Champ: Boston (.652)

AL South Champ: Nashville (.600)

AL West Champ: Salem (.678)

AL Wildcard 1: Vancouver (.569)

AL Wildcard 2: Huntington (.515)

NL North Champ: Scranton (.624)

NL East Champ: Wichita (.549)

NL South Champ: Texas (.659)

NL West Champ: Seattle (.711)

NL Wildcard 1: Albuquerque (.570)

NL Wildcard 2: Oklahoma City (.522)

AL Matchups:

(4) Milwaukee vs. (5) Vancouver

Winner faces (1) Salem

(3) Nashville vs. (6) Huntington

Winner faces (2) Boston

NL Matchups:

(4) Wichita vs. (5) Albuquerque

Winner faces (1) Seattle

(3) Scranton vs. (6) Oklahoma City

Winner faces (2) Texas

Notes:

-Vancouver and Huntington would clinch the AL wild-cards, knocking out Durham (.504).  Fresno (.503), St. Louis (.497), and Tampa Bay (.485) would also be on the outside looking in.

-Seattle would move from the #3-seed to having a home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.  They would receive a first round bye along with Texas, leaving Scranton with a division play-in match-up.  Albuquerque and Oklahoma City would win the NL wild-card spots, giving the NL West three playoff teams.  Minnesota (.506) would drop from the #5-seed to watching the playoffs from home.  Louisville (.499) would also fall short of the postseason.

Arfy's Ramblings

Where I just point out stuff I noticed when I look more in depth at Pinetar.   I usually avoid the obvious stuff like best batting average or most home runs, because everyone always looks at that.   I like to point out negative stuff that you may not have realized about your team.  That way you fix it and make competition better for this league.

Best record- Texas Galveston Wave 40-19 .678     PACE-109-53
Tanker award- Helena Copperkings   18-41 .305     PACE- 49-113

Tony Tatis Houston, 30 SB, 0 CS
Longest hitting streak this season- Rafael Unamano Vancouver 24
Worst baserunner-Eugenio Canseco Scranton 2SB, 9 CS
Best pinch hitter-Shouhei Uehara Scranton 12-28 .429
Most GIDP as a hitter-Phil Shibata, TB  20
Most intentional walks by a hitter- Carlos Zorilla OKC
Most strikeouts batting- Texas 488
1 team has not had anyone intentionally walked this season- Durham
Most Complete games pitching-  Vancouver 6
Most solid bullpen-Milwaukee Magnitude 21 for 22 save opportunities.

Top 5-  You probably didn't even know that these players made the list for top 5 single season records in the last couple of seasons
Rubby Prieto- Salem  home runs in a season  #3 with 64 homers  season 30
Cliff Gray - Jackson   infield hits in a season  #2 with 66 infield hits season 29
Cliff Gray- Jackson infield hits in a season #5 with 58 infield hits season 30
Vinny Hill- Boston hitting strikeouts in a season #1 with 28 SO's season 29(min 502 ab's)
Tim Daubach- Seattle ERA in a season #3 with 1.98 ERA season 29(min 162 ip)
Brendan Taylor Seattle ERA in a season #4 with 2.00 ERA season 29

Why are these players on a major league roster??? Plugging ANY other player in should give you same results.

Al Galvez  Helena P  Career #'s:  Whip: 2.09; ERA: 7.65; OBP: .430
Alex Flores Indy P  Career #'s:  Whip:1.89; ERA: 6.81: OBP: .404


Minor league teams that probably need your immediate attention

AAA       Boston 7-51
AAA       Vancouver 12-46
HI A        Kansas City 12-46
HI A       Boston 7-51
LOW A  Texas  8-50
LOW A   Boston 16-42
LOW  A   Vancouver 16-42