APRIL
MAY
AL EAST
Atlanta - Staying put at the top of the East. Sexton continues to be the catalyst in the lineup. He has twice as many HR's as anyone else on the roster and is setting the pace for RBI's with 39. Despite their hot start and lead, the Bobcats are currently only ranked 12th in the AL in batting average though. With some of the offensive firepower in the AL they will need to improve on that. The rotation, at first glance, doesn't appear to be all that great. However, they are 6th in starters ERA and 1st in bullpen ERA. Cruz and Murphy have proved to be valuable off season additions.
Jason Dixon - .324 average in May, but only 8 RBI's
Erik Murphy - Registered 2 Saves, 22 k's, and 0 runs allowed for the month
Miami - Clawing their way up in the division. Finds theirselves only 1.5 games back for the division at the end of May and the bad news for everyone else is the lineup looks like it's still hasn't warmed up yet. William Seals and Joe Burgess have stepped up and sport an impressive 14-3 record between the two of them. The bullpen is holding steady despite Mark Miller.
Jeff Patterson - Crushing the ball in May with 12 HR's and 25 RBI's, but he also has 26 k's.
Mark Miller - A 10.80 ERA in 3 IP across 3 games
New England - Has gone from 2 games above .500 in April to 2 games below .500 at the end of May. Both the bullpen ERA and the batting average are taking nose dives in the conference standings and need to be addressed. Tom Hensley has a solid record at 6-2, but his current ERA sits at 4.00 after being at 1.77 to end April. Four pitchers have an ERA above 6 for the entirety of the month.
Kel Sampson - His batting average is hovering around, well, average but he did contribute 21 RBI with 7 HR's for the month. He's going to need more help from his team mates though.
Tom Hensley - A gaudy 6.05 ERA for the month from your #1 just doesn't cut it.
Boston - For now, Boston will have to settle for feeling the way every other AL team did when playing against them for so long. The rebuild is in full swing and looks to be a couple seasons before we'll see a competitive squad on the field. Marino still hanging around and doesn't appear to be bothered by their record.
Ramiro Alomar - Started out hot in April, but has come back down to earth this month. Alomar put up 6 RBI's in each month, but saw his average drop from .311 to .239
Ricardo Herrera - The lone bright spot on the pitching staff. Converted on 85% of his save opportunities for the month.
Grand Rapids - You can do it. You can overtake Boston. Keep your chin up!
Alberto Bravo - A .487 batting average for the month! Now is your time Growlers management, push for a trade! There were 5 players with averages over .300 for the month. Keep it up.
... - Next
AL CENTRAL
Nashville - Starting to flex some muscle and establish a decent lead in the division. Nashville ranks in the top half of all the major categories in the conference and don't appear to have a major challenger, at this time, in the Central. Warner has finally made it into the lineup and while struggling at the moment, has time to find his bat without being overly worried about losing his spot. Six of the Hustle players are hitting above .300 for the month elevating their squad to 3rd in runs scored.
Mike Wright - Picked it up in May with a .306 average with 5 HR's and a team leading (for the month) 26 RBI.
Jose Sandoval - Racked up 50 strike outs for the month will compiling a 3-0 record and 2.88 ERA
LoLincoln - Woooooow. We're two months through the season and he doesn't have a losing record. Christmas truly came early for the Beef. I'm looking but I don't really see justification for how his team is doing it. Several bats have been hot and the ranking can be deceiving based up other bats being cold. Lincoln fans should enjoy this while they can, it just doesn't seem feasible that they can keep it up.
Tim Johns - Batting .350 but only 15 RBI's on the month. This is their #3 guy. Again, how are they 2nd in this division?
Jose Hernandez - A starting pitcher with 12 IP for the month...and a 9.24 ERA.....
Philadelphia - Here they come! I told you I was surprised by the slow start to the season, in May they lived up to the sort of hype that I gave them in the preseason. A 21-7 May has tied them with the Beef for 2nd in the Central. It seems like every bat picked it up for May with Montes being the hottest of those. Seven of their bats picked up double digit RBI's for the month.
Luke Brandt - Barely missed out on having a .300 average but did contribute 20 RBI's to the cause
Anastasio Rodriguez - Still the name to know in the starting rotation. Helped lower his ERA by only giving up 12 runs in 33 IP for the month.
Moose Jaw - Struggles abound for one of the teams expected to be a contender this season. It doesn't help that May's schedule was littered with the likes of Philly, Lincoln, and OCD. The pitching has been lackluster and the bats just haven't produced like last season. Obviously it's not to late for this team, but they'll need to get it together soon
Glenn Watson - 10 HR's, 16 RBI's, 63 TB's...but 25 k's and a .245 average
Craig Roberts - A 0.57 ERA with 4 saves in 4 tries. Something is going right in the pitching!
Sheltown - Dealt their best SP in Daniels last week, moved another in Hughes the same time. Looking at the rotations and lineups one has to assume the Shockers have already given up on their team for the season.
Charlie McBride - 8 HR's, 18 RBI's and a .317 average. I'll say it again. A bright spot for fans to get behind.
AL WEST
Dickmond - I really, really hate this team. But, unfortunately, they are Bostonesque. By far the scariest rotation in the league. The only weakness appears to be the bullpen...sound familiar? The Greeks lead the AL in runs scored with 303 while only giving up 177, also best for first in the AL. The weakest bat has contributed 10 HR's and 27 RBI's.
Steel City - A 20-8 May brought the Bulldogs within 2.5 games of that other team and appear to be a legitimate challenger for the West crown. Offensively STC is simply clicking right now and the pitching staff continues to dominate. Meija and Quick, the old men of the rotation, are putting up some of their best numbers going 8-0 while allowing a paltry 12 runs in 10 games.
Banks Young - 31 RBI's, 6 HR's, 9 BB"s and only 11 k's to go along with a stellar .379 batting average
Arthur Quick - Went 5-0 in May with 6 ER's in 6 games played.
Cookeville - A team that has benefited significantly from having a weak opening schedule. The lofty numbers are not indicative to what the team really is, as evident by a 1-9 record vs. winning teams. The Cubs don't need to panic yet, but do need to figure out what is holding them back or it could all fall apart by the end of the season.
Wilson Perez - Put up 9 HR's and 27 RBI's during the month
Peter Randolph - Hit a brick wall this month surrendering 8 runs in 12 IP and multiple blown saves
Rhode Island - Have slowed down a bit after a decent start to the early season while in a rebuild. Cut their games won by more than half in May and could now be working on getting a top 3 pick in next years draft. Rank near the bottom in every statistical category.
Antonio Casteneda Batted a whooping .500 in May. Only had two at bats....
Esteban Camacho - Surrendered 34 runs in 36 innings....
Montreal - Wants that #1 pick! May have to fight off Rhode Island for it, but it's definitely possible. On the bright side, they have more W's vs Dickmond than Cookeville does....
There is really nothing to point out about any of the players....
The AL is currently 103-103 vs. the NL.
Bat of the Month - SS Banks Young, STC Bulldogs. Tied for 1st in the league for RBI's on the month (31) along with a solid .379 average.
SP of the Month - Chris Oliver, DIckmond Bleaks. 5-0 on the month while surrendering 7 runs on 33 IP. Oliver did surrender a HR but issued 35 k's. His 1.87 ERA for the month of May led the AL.
RP/CL of the Month - Erik Murphy, Atlanta Bobcats. Allowed only 10 hits and no runs in 14 appearances for the month.
Fifteen pitchers have an ERA in double digits for the month of May. Nine of those are in the AL. Five of those play for one of two teams, New England and Montreal.
Sixty three qualified batters have an average at .300 or better for the season. It's split pretty evenly between AL (33) and NL (30).
In comparison, there are only eight batters with an average below .200 and is again split evenly (4/4) between the two leagues.
One batter has an average at .400 or better. He plays in the AL.
There's a certain 34-18 team that is, gulp, 1-9 vs winning teams....