D-Bags Head to Playoffs; Face Off Against Sheens

After missing the playoffs in 2021, the Jersey Shore D-Bags stormed back in 2022 winning 107 games and claiming the CL Wild Card with a comfortable margin.  Those 107 wins are the 2nd best in team history after the 119 they won back in 2017.  There were big years across the board as 4 starters won 15+ games, including Ramos and Martinez who both won 20+.  Dave Dodd repeated as the CL Batting champion, while adding in 48 dingers and 130 RBI while Mike Bryant put up a very Bryant like line of .332-37 2B-37 HR-115 RBI.  3 others hit 20+ HR and they had a staggering 11 players hit double digit home runs. A great regular season no doubt, but the real season is about to begin and is the BSA playoffs.

In the 1st round the D-Bags will meet the St. Charles Sheens who won the CL West with a franchise best 101-61 season and the franchise's 1st playoff appearance since 2013 when they were located in Denver. The Sheens feature a good core of homegrown talent that includes Ware, Moss and Cantu.  A group of players that joined through savvy trades including O'Sullivan, Wheeler, Mendelson, Escobedo, Carter and Rivera.  And it's a young team with the only player over the age of 30 multiple All-Star catcher Victor Antelo.  A well rounded team, young, hungry team.

With Jersey getting the Wild Card, St. Charles will be the host team and have the home field advantage at 4 games to 3.  St. Charles won the season series 5-4 with 5 of those games being decided by only 1 run.  Expect these series to be similar and close like the season series was.

Jersey Projected Starting Rotation:
Game 1 - Jose Ramos
Game 2 - Sergio Martinez
Game 3 - Roland Martin
Game 4 - Ramon Ruiz

Projected Starting Lineup Game 1:
LF Ricardo Berroa
1B Tadahisa Kisuki
DH Mike Bryant
RF Dave Dodd
C Fernando Ramos
2B Lawrence Schroeder
CF Fransisco Torres
3B Fabrice Brodeur
SS John Moore

GO D-BAGS

2022 All Star Game Roster Breakdown

In a tight All-Star game this year it was the NL scoring a run in the Top of the 9th inning to prevail in the Mid-Summer classic in a 5-4 game.  Joe Cameron of Los Angeles earned the win, Ramon Velez of Springfield being handed the loss and Santiago Gonzalez of Hendersonville notching the save.  Judson Backstrom earned the MVP award by going 2-4, scoring twice, hitting a double and Home Run while driving in 2 runs.  In what will be remembered as another notch in the NL's belt as they have dominated the game in it's history. Let's break down the rosters and find a few facts.

With an injury replacement for both squads, both team's actual roster was 33 players, equaling a total of 66 All-Stars.  Every team had at least 1 representative at the game and the Greenvillle 84's led the way with 7 players off of their squad.  The CL was a much more experience group as only 13/33 players were making their 1st or 2nd appearance compared to the 22/33 for the NL. As usual the more appearances you add, the less players you have. The totals broke down like this:

1st Time: 24
2nd Time: 11
3rd Time: 12
4th Time: 3
5th Time: 6
6th Time: 3
7th Time: 3
8th Time: 2
9th Time: 2

 Notes:

* It was the 1st time since 2012 that Los Angeles didn't have a Starting Pitcher in the game
* For 11 seasons from 2010-2020, the Frenzy always had 1 or 2 representatives.  Last year they sent 3 and this year was a franchise record of 5.
*Shumei Yokoyama represented St. Louis this season making it the 4th team he has been selected for.  The others were Alaska (Now Irvine), Hendersonville, Kansas City (Now Springfield)
* The only team to have the exact same representatives as last year was the Toronto Titans who sent Albert Lebel, Matt Doyle and Luis Gonzalez for the 2nd straight year
* Julian Madrid not making the team broke a streak of 6 straight times dating back to his rookie season
*The oldest player in this year's game was Tommy Smith at 37 years old
*The Youngest player in this year's game was Kevin Bush who had just turned 23, who made his 3rd straight appearance.  Bush edged out fellow 23 year old Jeff Daniels by about 290 days.

2022 Summer Brings Jersey Shore Milestones Galore

Despite just a 13-13 month in July, both June and August have been great months for your Jersey Shore D-Bags which see them sit at a 88-43 record which is good for the 2nd best record in the entire BSA, but still trail rival Greenville by 8.5 games in the CL East standings.  The 84's are on pace to best their last year's franchise record of 118 wins and to tie Jersey Shore's CL record of 119 wins.  

Along with great team play from your D-Bags, we have seen many players hit milestones hit so far this season and here are a couple notable ones:

Mikey Bryant HR #350.  It was July 1, 2022 when Bryant stepped to the for the 4th time in the 8th inning against the Kansas City Cougars.  He was riding a 2 game HR streak to put him on #349 the day before against Toronto.  With the Cougars up 5-1, they brought in tough lefty and former All-Star Joey Smith to hold down the Jersey offense. With 2 outs and no one aboard, Bryant stepped up to the plate.  Before this AB Bryant was just 2-14 against Smith.  Smith got ahead 0-2 before Bryant sat on a fastball and deposited 382 feet away in the RF bleachers for his 350th HR and a standing ovation from the hometown crowd.  Jersey would go on to lose the game 5-2, but Bryant joined elite company.  He became the 8th player to reach the 350 HR mark behind only Crowe, Yoko, Cobra, Sagar, Newell, Delaney and Rivas.   At the current moment Bryant sits at 360, 13 behind Rivas, 15 behind Delaney and 17 behind Newell.  400 is certainly in Bryant's sights.

Dave Dodd HR #250.  Just 2 weeks to the day after Bryant went for 350, Jersey was playing against a red-hot Pocatello team.  The Bocabellas would go on to win the game which was their 19th straight win, but it was Dodd doing most of the damage for the limited Jersey offense.  He gave Jersey a quick lead in the 1st with a 2-run HR off of starter Bill Bygrove, his 249th of his career.  It was in the 6th inning with Jersey down 1 run that Dodd would meet Bygrove on his first offering with a mammoth 412 foot HR to Right-Center.  For his career Dodd is hitting 7-8 with those 2 HR against Bygrove.  At age 28, Dodd is the youngest member of the 250 HR club by 3 years and if keeps hitting at his current pace he could be joining the elite of the elite sluggers in his early 30's.

Lawrence Schroeder Hit #1000.  2014 1st round pick SS Lawrence Schroeder joined Bryant and Dodd as only the 3rd Jersey Shore player to accumulate 1000 hits in their career.  On July 31st playing in San Francisco against the Bandits Schroeder would leadoff the 6th inning with a single against Pierre Dumont.  It would be his only hit of the game, but would be a special one as it was his 1000th career hit.  He became the 9th shortstop in BSA history to reach the mark.  2022 is proving to be Schroeder's best season as a pro and couldn't come in a better year as he is set to hit free agency this winter.

Jose Ramos Win #100.  Coming into 2022 at age 26 Jose Ramos was already the franchise leader in wins at 87.  A great total at only age 26 but always quite telling about the quality of starting pitching that has been in Jersey Shore over the years.  With 16 wins in 2021, getting 13 wins in 2022 was almost a shoe-in without an injury, but no one predicted how quick it would come.  Ramos won 9 of his 1st 10 starts and on June 17 Ramos sat with a 12-2 record through 15 starts and took the mound against St. Charles. While it wasn't his most dominate start of the season, Ramos gave up 4 runs on 7 hits while walking no one and striking out 5 in 7.2 innings, a 4-4 game from Kisuki led the Jersey offense good enough for a 5-4 victory and win #100 for Jose.  The next two highest win totals for Jersey in their history are Greg Schaefer with 84 and Rob Goodship with 71.  Ramos became the 56th pitcher to record 100 wins, beating Los Angeles pitcher Ramiro Jimenez to the mark by just 2 days.

A lot of celebrating has gone on this season for Jersey Shore.  With just over a month left and an 8.5 game lead in the Wild Card race, could this be the year that Jersey finally celebrates the raising of a trophy in October?

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Ends 1st Half Strong; Sends 6 to Mid-Summer Classic

The Jersey Shore D-Bags entered the All-Star break with a 62-26 record, 2.5 games back of the Greenville 84's for 2nd place in the CL East and the 2nd best record in the CL.  They ended the 1st half with a 6 game winning streak which included a 4-game home sweep of division rival Chicago.  Both the pitching staff and the offense have been ranked in the Top 5 of the CL all season long with the offense ranking a little bit higher being only behind the 84's in almost all offensive categories.  With the All-Star game taking place earlier this month, the D-Bags sent 6 players to game.  3 on on the offense and 3 from the pitching staff.  Here they are:

SP Jose Ramos - 5 time All-Star - Entering the break at 16-2 with a 2.79 ERA, Ramos is on track for a career best year.  His 16 wins lead the entire BSA and at one time he put together a streak of 10 straight wins.His K/BB of almost 5 is a career high.

MR Hyo-Chin Kim - 1st time All-Star - Pitching from mainly out of the set-up role, Kim entered the break with a minuscule 0.82 ERA, appearing in 38 contests and pitching 42 innings.  With only 2 HR given up on the season, it marks a big improvement from last season where he gave up 22 in 136 IP.   His 11.7 K/9 is a career high.

CL Gerald Johnson - 1st time All-Star - Johnson took over the closing duties last year for Jersey Shore and has been one of the best in the league this season.  Entering the break Johnson had converted 20/22 saves while posting a 1.72 ERA while striking out over 12.5 men per 9 innings.  Kim-Johnson presents one of the toughest 8-9 inning combo in the BSA.

2B Mike Bryant - 9 time All-Star - For the 9th time in a row Bryant was chosen to participate in the All-Star game.  Bryant enters the break hitting in 19 straight games with a triple slash line of .357/.416/.616.  His 24 HR put him on pace for 40 and at age 34 he is on pace for one of his more productive seasons as a pro.

SS Lawrence Schroeder - 1st time All-Star - After a fairly productive career thus far, Schroeder was awarded with being named to his 1st AS game this season , being voted in as the starter for the CL.    His slash line of .318/.374/.500 would represent career highs in batting average and on base percentage while the slugging would be 2nd in his career.  He is on pace for 20 HR, 100 RBI and 35 doubles this season.

RF Dave Dodd - 3 time All Star - For the 3rd year in a row your reigning CL MVP was voted in to start for the CL.  While Dodd hasn't kept up with the historic season he put last year, his .365/.424/.662 line are eye popping none-the-less.  His batting average is 2nd in the BSA behind Greenville's Paco Rosas, meanwhile his pace of 46 HR don't look like they will be nearly enough as Matt Doyle of Toronto was approaching 40 near the break.  Regardless, Dodd is on pace for a back to back 11+ WAR season.

The 6 All-Star selections ties a Jersey Shore record matching the mark they set back in 2017.  Both Ramos and Bryant were part of that group in 2017.  Jersey has sent 5 players to the game on 3 other occasions, with those being in 2016, 2019 and 2021.

GO D-BAGS

2022 Jersey Shore Amateur Draft

The draft has always been one of GM Josh Swain's favorite events of the year and this year was no exception despite it's critical reception.  Many GM's raised concerns about lack of top end talent available in this year's draft, but Swain saw it differently seeing a draft that was high on middle round talent despite lacking superstar talent.  Here is what Jersey Shore came away with with the draft was done.

1.21 - OF Ed Murray - 18 years old - Broken Arrow High School. Murray is a 3 year High School starter who projects to be a corner OF in the bigs who's contact was ranked among the highest in this year's draft class.  While he displays little power and and patience at the plate is lacking, he rarely strikes out and speed + gap projects him as a 33-35 doubles a year guy in the future.  His final high school slash line was .451/.505/.595, while only striking out 18 times in over 100 games.  It may be awhile for him to mature and move up through the system, but projects out as a 2-slot hitter.

2.54 - SP Rodney Hall - 20 years old - University of Washington.  A 2-year full time starter pitching for UW, Hall throws 3 above average pitches while throwing in low 90's.  He projects out to be an innings eater with high stamina and while he never may be an ace, a ceiling of say a pitcher like Ron Eager could be in his future.

3.92 - SP Sloan Numbers - 18 years old - Dublin Jerome High School.  Dipping back into the HS pool for the third pick, the D-Bags selected 3 year high school starter Numbers.  While he won't overpower you and hasn't developed an "out" pitch yet, he does throw 4 pitches and has shown his strength in control.  He projects out to be a mid-low end starter at the time.  Jersey scouts hope that when he grows into his 6'5" frame he can add a couple MPH to his fastball and improve his K numbers, but that's just a hope.

4.124 - C Greg Lee - 18 years old - Broken Arrow High School.  Lee was a bit of a head scratching pick just because so little was known about him.  In 3 years in high school he only played in 25 games and only appearing in 1 game his senior year.  Jersey held a private workout and found he had a good swing and great fundamentals behind the plate, but just very, very raw.  He doesn't project to have much power, but as a 4th round pick if they can find a spot starter at catcher in the future, this pick could be worth it.

5.152 - SP Matt Johnston - 18 year old - Madawaska Valley High School.  For the 4th time in 5 picks Jersey went with a HS player, and this being the third starting pitching as well.  Johnston actually pitched out of the pen his sophomore and junior years before starting this last one.  He is a big kid sitting at 6'2", weighing 220 pounds and throws 3 pitches.   None of his pitches are dominant but knows how to pitch low in the zone and keep the ball on the ground.  His lacking of an out pitch could hold him back, but if he improves could be a low end rotation type guy.

6.180 - CF Jeff Bane - 18 years old - Sante Fe High School. Didn't sign and will attend college next season

7.208 - SP Enrico Lozano - 20 years old - Georgia Tech University.  College starter that will be converted to a reliever.  Only throws 2 pitches and lack in speed only hitting 90 or so on the gun

8.236 - SS Mitch Thomas - 20 years old - University of Oregon.  Top end speed and who's top attribute is his glove and not hit bat.  Needs to limit K's because he doesn't walk much, projects out to be a utility type player.

9.264 - SP Bryan Glover - 18 years old - Billings West High School.  Didn't sign and will attend college next season

10.292 - CF Mark McDonald - 21 years old - Ohio State University - Can play all over the diamond, but specialized in the OF.  Has top end speed and can steal bases at will.  Was 20/22 in SB's in his last season at OSU.  Won't make it far with the bat.

Hopefully a couple of these names will rise through the ranks and being playing nightly in Jersey someday.  The current Jersey Shore roster contains 5 former 1st round picks (Bryant 2010, Schroeder 2014, Brodeur 2015, Martin 2017, Carter 2018) while 2016 1st round pick SP Ciottone is AAA and 2013 Coker and 2011 Doyle are on other rosters.  When will Murray join these ranks? Only time will tell.

GO D-BAGS