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

Jersey and Baffin Make Deal; Mungo Coming Home

After 8 seasons in Jersey blue, Jamie "Mungo" Saenz became a free agent and eventually signed a 3 year, $19 million dollar deal to switch coasts and pitch for the Seattle Pikes.  Jersey was the only team and organization he had ever known after joining the Jersey organization in April 2010.  Ownership wanted to keep him but salary restraints and the fact that the D-Bags have a knack for producing a high level of major league quality middle relief pitching, the fans had to watch their closer, 2-time All-Star and 2017 Reliever of the Year leave.

Jose Ruiz stepped in last year, saved 40 games and was elected to the All-Star team.  He struggled this season blowing 2 saves and having 4 losses pinned on him before handing the reigns to the young Gerald "Top Dog" Johnson.   While Johnson has an electric fastball that can reach 99 on the gun, first time closing duties aren't always a success. Johnson was lights out as the setup man before taking over the closer role.  Since he has blown 5 of 14 save chances and left GM Josh Swain with question marks what to do with his closer role.  The team's 15 blown saves leads the entire BSA, and in a race as tight as we have this season, losing games in 8th and 9th is not something a team like Jersey can afford to do.

In a casual conversation with Aaron Blank, GM of the Baffin Island Beavers, Blank made a comment on how old his relief pitching had gotten. With Daniel Morris and Saenz at 34, Tapia at 35, J-Rod and James Kelly 33, and Pedro Castillo at 31, the bulk of the relief corps is 33 or over.  With the Beavers struggling mightily this year, and at the time were sitting 15+ games under .500, Swain simply asked about Saenz and his large $9M dollar team option for next season.  Talks progressed and eventually a deal was in place for Mungo to be sent back to Jersey for a pair of young middle relievers.  

Those relievers are Pedro Vega and Antonio Ramos.  Vega was discovered as an 18 year old in 2013 and has slowly worked his way up through the Jersey system spending multiple seasons at every level before seeing action in the Jersey bullpen last season as a 24 year old.  Now at age 25, Vega throws 2 above average pitches and his fastball reaches the mid-to-upper 90's.  His arm isn't nearly as live as Saenz's arm, but at 10 years younger he could be a nice cheap bullpen fixture on a team who will probably have to re-tool their bullpen in the near future. 

Ramos actually came from Baffin Island when Jersey traded starting pitcher Dan Macias to the Beavers after the 2017 season.  Macias would pitch one year in Baffin before deciding to hang them up.  Ramos is also 25 and your typical hard throwing bullpen arm.  He has averaged just a shade under 12 K/9 in his minor league career and his knack has been giving up the long ball, but being in Baffin should help that tremendously. 

For all intents and purposes this move for Jersey looks like a rental, as Saenz's $9 million dollar option next season seems like a stretch for Jersey to be picked up, but if Saenz keeps up his great numbers he has put up in Seattle and Baffin this year, you never know what will happen.  For the season Mungo's stat line looks like: 4-2, 15 saves. 1.93 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and is striking out 11.6 K/9.  He will step into the closer's role immediately and being added to the CL's 2nd best bullpen (statistically wise) should make a good pen even better.

"We hope this is a move that helps push us over the hump," GM Swain exclaimed, "If we had only won a third of those 15 blown saves we would be sitting in 1st place with the best record in the CL.  The fans are excited to have him back and the veterans are as well."  Saenz will go back and wear his #99 jersey that he wore for all 8 seasons in Jersey.  Welcome back Jaime!

GO D-BAGS

All Star Game Notes and Tidbits

The BSA is in their 11th year which means of course we have now played 11 All-Star games.  The game shows off the games best talents and this year was no exception.  The NL won for the 9th time in 11 years and used spectacular pitching from 9 different members to hold a stacked CL lineup to just 1 run on 4 hits.  This game was much less dramatic than last's year game which saw the NL come back from behind and win in walk-off fashion.  This PR isn't meant to talk about the game or score itself, but rather the players who have played in it.

There were 64 players voted into this year's game.  30 from the NL and 34 from the CL.  Enzo Diaz, Richard Hunter and Hiroshige Yamada were all replaced on the CL squad which is why their roster was pushed to 33 players.  Jamie Saenz was also voted in from his stats with Seattle before being traded to Baffin Island, he was also replaced but did make a cameo.  Of the 63 players voted in, this is how it breaks down:

26 1st time All-Stars

12 2nd time All-Stars

9 3rd time All-Stars

6 4th time All-Stars

4 5th time All-Stars

5 6th time All-Stars

2 7th time All-Stars

This seems to be the general way things go each year.  More players have career years or young players break out than the good ones continue to stay good.  It shows how hard it is to stay healthy and good to make it to this game year in and year out.  

Here are some stats about total appearances from our 11 games:

We have had 347 different players make the All-Star team over the 11 years the game has been played.  Of those 347 players, only 151 players have repeated being selected for a 2nd time.  That means there have been 196 different players who made the game just a single time.  Of those 151 players who have made it twice, just a little more than half of those have made it a third time, at 77 players.  When a player makes it a 4th time is when I anoint them as a special player.  Only 44 players over 11 seasons have made the All-Star team 4 times.   A relatively small number, but we are getting into elite talent here.  As for 5th timers?  Just 23 players.  After the 5th timers we have a drop off.  It seems that being one of the games great for more than half a decade is just...well...hard to do.  12 players have been selected 6 times for the game...and 5 of those players played in this year's game.  How about 7?  3 players.  It's fair to say there will be more as 7 seasons is more than 2/3 of the total seasons we have played in the BSA.  2 of those players played this year.  Mike Bryant and Jeff Cole who are now on the wrong side of 30 but both playing at a very high level.  The only player to play in 8 games and in fact 9 games is the games greatest player, Scott Hill.  It will be interesting to keep tracking this after the league has been around 20-25 years.

Here are some questions about the future All-Stars..........

Will we see these greats play in another game? The great Scott Hill?  JTF?  Ramon Hernandez?  All 6+ time players who missed the game this year.

Our MVP Kendrick Garland this season was enjoying his 2nd appearance. His 1st appearance?  9 years ago when he made the 2011 team with the Madison Bombers.  9 years between appearances and he wins the MVP trophy?  Talk about making the most of his appearances.  

Yet, was any All-Star more unlikely this year than Rob Sharp? One of the feel good stories of the BSA this season, unless you are a River Sharks fan.  It was his 2nd game as well, his 1st coming in 2015 with Austin.  After a great 2015 season which saw Sharp blast 41 HR, he got a massive extension of $71M over 6 seasons.  If you look at that, he should be in his 5th year with Austin.  Well....the 4 years between 2016-2019 he hit between .188-.202 each season, saw his AB's dimish, as well as his OBP and his slugging never got over .390.  Austin reluctantly paid him up front for his final 2 years and became a free agent.  No one signed him until Birmingham gave him a shot a week into spring training.  A mere $1.4M for the slugger.  I don't think anyone saw what Sharp has done this season.  He is having the best season of his career, ready to shatter personal records across the board.  To your comeback Mr. Sharp, I salute you.

With another All-Star game in the books, we are ready for the 2nd half of the year.  A lot of stories to be settled, let's get ready for a great 2nd half.

GO D-BAGS

D-Bags Send 5 to All-Star Game

During a bounce back season from what we want to forget about 2018, Jersey Shore sent 5 players to the All-Star game this year which was played in Boston.  1 All-Star game staple, 1 2nd year selection and 3 new-comers made up this year's class.  Though no one was voted in as a starter, it was the tied for the 2nd most players Jersey has ever sent to the mid-summer classic only trailing 2017 where the D-Bags sent 6 players.  

2B Mike Bryant: .318/.400/.533, 17 2B, 17HR, 66 RBI.  Bryant's 6th full year in the league and his 6th All-Star game appearance.  One of 7 players ever to make 6 or more All-Star games.  With Jeff Cole coming over to the CL, the reigning MVP Jorge Martinez playing for Seattle and 2 time batting champ Joe Sanders.....2B is a crowded position this year in the CL.  Byrant hasn't dissapointed though, having a very Bryant-like season, despite the HR being slightly down.  He is currently 2nd in the CL and hits, total bases and RBI.

SP Jose Ramos: 12-4, 3.42 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 2.95 fIP.  After missing most of the 2018 season with injury, Ramos has found his 2016-2017 form and has come out of the gate strong here in 2019.  Ramos leads the league in BB/9 and is 2nd in FIP, wins and WAR.  If Jersey is going to stay atop or near the top of the CL East for the rest of the season they will be relying on their ace to keep it up.

SP Sergio Martinez: 11-1, 2.74 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 4.06 FIP.  After being called up at 22 years old for a spot start last season, he won the job and pitched well down the stretch in 11 starts.  This year starting the year off in the rotation, Martinez has been very good.  Sure he has been a little lucky and bailed out by his defense, but is getting a quality start at over a 70% clip, has hurled one shutout and has won 11 of his 17 starts.  At only 23 years of age this could be the first of many All-Star nods for Martinez.

MR/CL Jose Ruiz: 4-1, 23 saves.  2.41 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 2.99 FIP.  Being named the closer this off season, Ruiz knew he would have to be good to keep that job with a very talented bullpen.  He has been that more so far.  Leading the CL in saves with 23, he has converted 23 of 27 saves and is striking out over a batter per inning.  In the total of 10 years in the league, this is the 7th time Jersey has had a bullpen arm represented in the ASG.

RF Dave Dodd: .294/.366/.571.  23 2B, 21 HR, 66 RBI.  After predicting big things out of Dodd for the 3rd year in a row now, at age 25 it looks like he is finally maturing into a dangerous hitter.  He currently leads the CL in total bases, is 2nd in slugging and tied for 3rd in HR and RBI.  Maybe most importantly his strikeouts are down again for the 2nd straight year and his numbers across the board are up, including AVG, OBP, SLG and OPS.  A good finish and he could finish above Bryant in VORP, which no player has done since 2013, Bryant's rookie season in which he only played in 91 games.

5 All-Stars and a handful of very good candidates to go with a 2 game lead in the East at the break.  A very good start for the D-Bags. There are a lot of games to go yet this season, anything can still happen

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Sends 3 to All-Star Game; Jose Ramos Timeline

For the 7th year in a row Jersey Shore has sent multiple people to represent the team in the annual All Star game.  The contest was held earlier this month on the 9th of July.  The CL team behind very strong pitching blanked the NL All-Stars 2-0, in only their 2nd win in the series. Representing Jersey Shore were 2B Mikey Bryant, C Warren Goyer and SP Jerry Burgess.

After a terrible start Bryant and a terrible month of April, Bryant stepped up his game like we have seen him time and time again and won Player of the Month for the CL in the month of May.  Even with his hot May and above average June he was still on the cusp of not making the team due to Jorge Martinez's MVP type season and the continued success of Joe Sanders.  Bryant was rewarded one of the last spots on the team.  This is Bryant's 5th selection to the AS team, putting him in some very good company beside some of the BSA's best players.

Goyer has obviously liked his time he has spent in Jersey.  After becoming the team's starting backstop last year and making his 1st AS team on the way to 40+ HR, he followed that up this season with his 2nd straight AS game nod.  While he isn't on pace to best 40 HR again, he has been quite consistent.  In all 3 months thus far this season he has clubbed 6 HR and between 15-18 RBI.  At his current pace he would hit 36 HR and drive in 96 runs.  

The last of the 3 All Stars took a different road to get there.  After trading for SP Jerry Burgess from El Paso in 2015, Jersey was hoping they were getting a legitimate SP to join Macias and Ellis.  Burgess pitched good enough down the stretch and in the playoffs to earn a 5 year extension that off season, and that's when his well documented struggles started.  2016 was a trying year where his control was almost completely lost.  He only started 22 games and came out of the bullpen 12 times to a ERA of 5.20 plus and Jersey wondered what to do with him.  He cleared waivers before the playoffs last year and started this year in the bullpen with Jersey's plethora of starting pitching.  He entered the bullpen when Jose Ramos went down with injury and hasn't looked back since.  While his control is has not been great, it's better than his career average and he is striking out people at all time high.  He leads all starters in the BSA with 11.39 K/9 and only trails Lebel of Toronto and Haynes of LA in strikeouts this season.  For this Burgess has earned his first career nod to the AS game. 

Speaking of the injury who allowed Burgess another change at the starting rotation, Jose Ramos will start his injury rehab tonight after missing 4 months with a torn labrum in his shoulder.  With Jersey in a very tight 5-team race, it couldn't have come at a better team.  GM Swain said that a timetable for his return isn't known yet, but depends on results we see from Ramos in AAA.  What we know from previous rehab stints is Ramos will not be rushed, and could use the entire 30 day rehab limit on pitchers.   Even if Ramos does use the full 30 days he would return towards the end of August and have 5.5-6 weeks to help his team down the stretch.  Swain has said that this will likely be the teams "trade deadline" move as no other big moves plan on being made.

As of right now, July 25th, Jersey is tied for the WC lead with fellow division rival St. Louis and Vista/Seattle.  They are 1 game up on Toronto and 2 up on Kansas City.  This looks like it might come down to one of the better races we have seen in the BSA thus far.  

GO D-BAGS

BSA Hits Mid-Summer Classic; Bags Send 6 Players

We reached the unofficial halfway point of the 2017 season where the league's stars headed off to Niagara Falls for the 2017 All-Star game.  It comes as no surprise in a season where Jersey has produced the best record in the BSA that they would send more players to the game than they ever had before.  Jersey had set the bar last year sending 5 players but they one upped the 2016 team by sending 6 players this season, including 3 first timers.  

SP Jose Ramos: 8-4, 3.35 ERA.  The young ace of the staff in his first full season in the BSA gets the nod for the first time as an All-Star.  After bursting on the scene last year, Ramos future appears to be very bright.  On the season he also has 3 complete games and his first career shutout coming against Greenville in May.

SP Greg Schaefer: 13-0, 3.07 ERA. It seems it just took Schaefer a little longer to develop than your average BSA player.  Playing in his 6th season in the BSA, Schaefer has gotten better every year reaching his 1st BSA All-Star game at age 27.  At the time of the break he had yet to lose a game, which would eventually be halted after 23 starts, which is the 5th longest streak in BSA history.   

CL Jaime Saenz:  4-1, 29 saves, 1.84 ERA.  In his 2nd year as the Jersey closer, Saenz has been named to his 2nd straight All-Star game.  The flame throwing lefty leads the CL in saves while his 11.83 K/9 is the 2nd best in his career.  He is on pace to shatter his own team saves record of 40 which he set last season.

C Warren Goyer: 26 HR, 73 RBI.  Jersey's starting catcher in his first full season in Jersey after coming over Cleveland in a trade last season is putting up bigger numbers than anyone could have imagined.  His 26 HR put him in a tie atop the CL HR leader-board and puts him in a position to challenge Matt Doyle's team record of 44 which happened in 2015.  Goyer has 4 multi-HR games this season, including a 3-HR game June 26th against Toronto.

2B Mike Bryant:  .311, 19 HR, 68 RBI.  While Bryant isn't re-producing the numbers he put up last season in his triple-crown season, he was still almost a unanimous choice for the starting position at 2B for the CL.  Bryant is in his 4th full season and is making his 4th All-Star appearance.  He is one of 27 players all time to be selected to the Mid-Summer classic 4 or more times.  Bryant passed the 150 HR mark this season and will surpass 1000 hits sometime early next season.  He leads the franchise in both categories.

DH Matt Doyle: .309, 24 HR, 84 RBI.  For the 3rd straight year Doyle will be headed to the All-Star game and first time as a DH.  With Alberto Perez manning 1B for much of the season Doyle has been solely used for his bat, which he doesn't seem to mind.  At the time of the break Doyle was leading the CL in RBI with 84 and on pace for his 4th straight 100 RBI season.  Doyle should hit the 150 HR mark at 500 RBI mark later this season.

GO D-BAGS