Sergio Martinez; Jersey's Next Ace?

Signed as a 16 year old in March of 2013 as a international free agent out of Puerto Rico, Sergio Martinez looked like a kid who possibly had a chance at securing a bullpen job if everything went right and he could stay in the minor leagues.  Equipped with 2 above average pitches but little control he was mature beyond his age and was almost immediately put into AA only after 11 innings in A ball.  He took his lumps in AA ball and became a staple in the Gainesville rotation......for 5 different seasons.  

In 2013 he walked more batters than he struck out at a 0.62 K/BB rate, had an ERA north of 5.40 and was the youngest player on the roster.  Fast forward to 2017, he struck nearly twice the batters he walked, compiled an ERA of 3.81 and a FIP even lower when he finally got the call to AAA for good.  In 26 AAA starts over the next 14 months he would post a FIP of 3.10 on way to 150 strikeouts with 68 walks.  A better rate than he posted in an of his full AA years.  

It wasn't suppose to happen in 2018.  Jersey Shore had a deep staff and Martinez was only 22.  Pre-season rankings had him ranked 8th on the depth chart.  Injuries to Ramos and Burgess combined with ineffective pitching by Goodship caused a temporary turned permanent call up for Martinez in July.  In 11 starts last season, Sergio went 5-3, had an ERA of 3.65, WHIP of 1.35 and was one of the few brights spots on a disastrous season for Jersey Shore.

Martinez began the season as the 6th man in a 6 man rotation but 3 weeks into the season, seasoned veteran Jose Lara went down with a 3+ month injury which assured Martinez a spot for the remained of the season.    So far in 2019 Martinez has been stellar and leading the staff in most categories.  He is  6-1, an ERA of 3.00 and a WHIP of 1.37.  His promising start has made us look into what the future of Jersey pitching will look like.  With Jose Ramos being young and great, he should anchor the staff for years to come.  But with Art Ellis showing his age, Jerry Burgess in the last guaranteed year of his contract, Jose Lara's terrible season last year and Greg Schaefer not looking like the pitcher who won 18 games just 2 years go.....Martinez seems heir apparent to the #2 on this staff far earlier than anyone could have expected.  With Ramon Ruiz shooting up the prospect rankings inside the Top 100, Jersey looks to have a solid young trio to build around in the next wave of the league.

It's uncertain to how far along Sergio Martinez is to reaching his full potential, but what he has shown us in his short big league career is he very well could be the next star in Jersey.  

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

Apparently Jersey Baseball Starts in June

As May ended, Jersey sat 6 games under 500, trailed the Greenville 84's by 14 games and trailed the St. Louis Browns by 11.5 games and though some hitting had started to come around, the pitching continued to be all but awful.  They finished the month with a 14-14 record, which was much better than the 11-17 record they put up in April, but playing .500 ball doesn't get you back in the race.  

The team must have taken a sweep by Reno pretty tough.  Dropping the last game of a 3 game set on April 28th at home against Reno 7-4, The Bags had an off day before place Austin came to town for their first meeting since the Riversharks knocked Jersey out of the playoffs last season.  The series would feature 3 straight quality starts from Lara, Schaefer and Ellis. Something he hadn't seen all season.  Three tight games with Jersey coming on top in each one: 3-2, 3-2 and 4-1.  Jersey would stay at home and welcome St. Louis, the team they are chasing in the Wild Card race, for a 4 game set.  Jersey would take games 1 and 3 but drop 2 and 4 resulting in no movement in the division.

The next 14 games would be the best stretch of the season thus far for Jersey Shore.  They traveled to Boston and took 2/3.  Defending champions Hendersonville would come town to and Jersey would take 2/3 from them as well.  A day off and a flight to St. Charles for a 3 game series would feature Art Ellis pitching a masterful 8 innings, giving up 1 hit and striking out 10.  Jersey would take the first two games before dropping the 3rd and final matchup.  A trip back home to face slumping Kansas City would result in one of Jersey's few sweeps of the season, outscoring KC 23-13 for the series.  The most recent game saw Chicago come to town and Jerry Burgess picking up his 3rd win of the season allowing 1 run over 7 innings picking up 10 K's.  

Jersey is 10-3 over their last 13 and 14-5 for the month.  Greenville has posted the same monthly record and Jersey still trails them by a gigantic 14 games.  Just 19 games ago they trailed St. Louis by 11.5 games for the wildcard.  They have chopped 6.5 games off of that lead and now only sit 5 games behind the Browns. After this most current sim, it's the first time all season we can say that the Jersey Shore sits above .500 with a 39-36 record.  

Top performers for June thus far:

Art Ellis:          4GS, 3-0, 29.2IP, 18H, 1HR, 3BB, 28K, 2.12 ERA
Jerry Burgess:  4GS, 1-0, 21.1IP, 16H, 2HR, 10BB, 30K, 2.95 ERA
Jose Lara:       3GS, 2-0, 17.0IP, 14H,  2HR, 10BB, 16K, 3.18 ERA

Fransisco Ibarra: .327/.431/.577 3HR, 13RBI, 11R, 10BB
Mikey Bryant:     .311/.370/.541 4 HR, 15 RBI, 14R, 7BB
Warren Goyer:    .333/.400/.729  6 HR, 15 RBI, 9R, 4BB

Jersey isn't out of the woods by any means and it still looks like it would be a hot race down the stretch to see if this team can make the playoffs for the 4th straight year.  It's looking much more manageable now than just 3 weeks ago though.

GO D-BAGS

The State of Jersey Pitching; It Must Get Better.....Right?

We are 50 games through the 2018 season, which puts us almost at the 1/3 way point of the season.  Thus far your Jersey D-bags sit with a record of 22-28, 3rd place in the division, 11.5 behind the Greenville 84's and 10.5 behind the Wild Card leading St. Louis Browns.  While April showed struggles with pitching and hitting, May showed a turnaround in the hitting...but the pitching continued and still continues to struggle.  What is happening?  Not only is it the starters, but also the bullpen, which is usually a Jersey strong point.  We will break down the pitching here and try to determine if it can get better and help Jersey climb back into the race, or if it will be the demise of the 2018 team.  Current 2018 CL ranks:  Starter's ERA, 12th, 5.52 ERA.  Bullpen ERA, 8th, 4.01 ERA.

Starters:
It didn't help when Jose Ramos went down which will seemingly keep him out til September.  That still left Jersey with a strong staff though.

Art Ellis: Art missed almost all of last season with an injury.  He had a couple of meaningless starts at the end of last season, but came out strong in Spring Training having 3/4 quality starts.

Career Numbers:  3.85 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 2.92 BABIP, 9.41 K/9, 1.20 BB/9, 1.30 HR/9, 4.00 FIP
Last Season:         4.01 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, .244 BABIP, 9.84 K/9, 2.66 BB/9, 1.35 HR/9, 3.96 FIP
This Season:         6.26 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 2.96 BABIP, 8.23 K/9, 4.11 BB/9, 2.50 HR/9, 6.42 FIP

The problem with Ellis is both his BB/9 and HR/9 is almost double his career average.  He is on pace to break the season record for HR given up in a season at this point, that cannot keep up.This could be a fallout of his injury or his age creeping up there, or just a slow start.  While his K's are down, all signs point to just bad pitching.

Jose Lara: Lara came over from Toronto in the Matt Doyle trade.  Though he did put up career worst numbers in TOR last season, his struggles this season have been monumental in someone Jersey hoped would helped push them over the edge, not further back down the hill.

Career Numbers:   3.80 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, .297 BABIP, 9.43 K/9, 2.83 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9, 3.61 FIP
Last Season:          4.70 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, .319 BABIP, 8.15 K/9, 2.69 BB/9, 1.10 HR/9, 3.91 FIP
Current Season:     6.79 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, .303 BABIP, 6.79 K/9, 4.01 BB/9, 2.61 HR/9, 6.92 FIP

Lara is having the same problems that Ellis has.  Increased walks and HR.  Lara could be attributed to a slight ratings decrease, but he is pitching down right bad.  Also like Ellis is also on pace to break the all time HR allowed record.  Even pitching in Jersey, this cannot keep up.  His hits given up is scary for his low BABIP though, without Lara pitching well, Jersey might be doomed.

Greg Schaefer: After a great 2017, at age 28 Jersey expected Shaef to at least put up similar numbers and through 11 starts, we haven't seen that yet.  While his numbers aren't as trouble as Ellis and Lara, he isn't helping much.

Career Numbers:  4.91 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, .308 BABIP, 7.57 K/9, 2.86 BB/9, 1.38 HR/9, 4.53 FIP
Last Season:         3.82 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, .270 BABIP, 8.21 K/9, 2.74 BB/9, 1.09 HR/9. 3.97 FIP
Current Season:    5.34 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, .333 BABIP, 7.53 K/9, 2.04 BB/9, 1.57 HR/9, 4.53 FIP

While Shaefer's numbers aren't far off of his career numbers, he had shown real strides in the past two seasons and thus far has regressed to his 2015 numbers.  Like the other two, his HR numbers are up.  Instead of walk numbers also being up, his hits are way up and K's are down.  While we can only hope last season wasn't an outlier, it will be interesting to see which way he goes from here on out.

Rob Goodship: Longtime Jersey player Goodship has never been ace material, and for that matter #2 material either.  Always a mid rotation type guy. But this year he looks as like a guy who shouldn't be pitching in any rotation.  

Career Numbers:  4.47 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, .304 BABIP, 7.62 K/9, 3.40 BB/9, 1.17 HR/9, 4.42 FIP  
Last Season:         3.61 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, .279 BABIP, 7.01 K/9, 2.71 BB/9, 1.16 HR/9, 4.31 FIP
Current Season:    6.29 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, .331 BABIP, 5.28 K/9, 3.45 BB/9, 1.22 HR/9, 4.87 FIP

Goodship like the other 3 starters has seen a considerable decrease in his K/9 while all other numbers stayed steady except for that BABIP.  With a much lower FIP than his ERA, his defense is not helping him out at all.  That considerably high ERA should come down, but it's still very ugly.

I didn't break down Jerry Burgess because half of his games have come out of the bullpen but is the only starter to be pitching near or above career averages.  While I don't expect all of my big name pitchers to struggle, having all 4 of them  decrease their K/9 and my two aces on pace to give up almost 50 HR this season, there is room for concern.  When 3 veterans in your rotation decide to all have the worst year of their career at the same time, there's not much a team can do. 

Struggles out of the bullpen have magnified things as well.  Usually when a starter struggles the bullpen comes in and keeps us in the game, but with them also giving up runs, wins are harder to come by.  I expect the team ERA to come down, it has to, but if low K numbers, hits and walks continue at this rate, Jersey might be out of the race before we hit September.

Jose Ramos Tears Labrum; Expected To Miss 4 Months

For the 2nd year in a row, Jersey Shore has taken a major blow to their Starting Rotation.  After losing Art Ellis for the majority of the 2017 season, ace Jose Ramos was taken out in the 4th inning of his 2nd start vs. the St. Charles Sheens.  After giving up a 1st inning run, the Bags spotted Ramos 7 runs in the first 3 innings and he was cruising along. The last batter he faced was Dominique Marquis, whom he struck out on 3 pitches, the last being a beautiful change up which he got Marquis to waive at.  He immediately grabbed his arm and the trainers rushed out.

After trainers took a look at him it had come to light that he partially tore his labrum in his pitching arm.  The doctor's gave the diagnosis and told the media if everything goes right he should be able to pitch again in 4 months.  This means he should return to rehab towards the end of August, possibly into September.  The only good news is if the team is in playoff contention, he could get a few starts in after rehab and possibly in the playoffs if the team makes it that far.

"It really is a blow.  I felt the kid was going to establish himself as one of the league's premier pitchers this year.  We are lucky in a sense that it will not require Tommy John surgery, which you know, would have kept him out 12-14 months.  We are also lucky that we are one of the few organizations who has depth at starting pitching.  Management bringing in Lara over the winter now looks a helleva lot more important than it did at the time," is what GM Josh Swain had to say about the injury.

Jerry Burgess took over the 5th spot in the rotation after being regulated to the bullpen this year and has looked overly dominate in 2 starts since the injury.  In 4 starts since coming over to Jersey this season, Jose Lara has struggled to an ERA of 8.22 which the team expects to even out after some more starts.  Art Ellis has also struggled posting an ERA of 5.59 after 3 starts.  We do not expect these 2 above average pitchers to continue to struggle, and hope we see a turnaround soon.

After 18 games, Jersey has yet to find an offensive rhythm, as they have scored almost a league worst 63 runs, their MVP is hitting under 200, and only 2 regulars have an average of 265 or higher.  The team, after being swept by Greenville recently, fell to 8-10 and sit 5 games out of the division.  They are hoping some home cooking, they play the net 8 games at home, will help even the team back out.  They have played 18 games thus far, 4 at home and 14 on the road.  They are undefeated at home, while going 4-10 on the road.  They say games in April don't matter as much as games late in the season, but in a division that looks better than usual and with Greenville surging and #1 in both offensive and pitching categories, falling too far behind could leave a very tough climb for the rest of the season.

Updating The Enigma; Jerry Burgess

Though it has only been 4 starts since this blog questioned Jerry Burgess we feel the need to update.  Last season and his first 3 starts had trended towards the worse case scenario for the D-Bags who gave him a large extension just the off season before.  We don't know if our article provided him with incentive to get it going, but since then he has been one of the best pitcher's in baseball.

He has started 4 times, twice at home and twice on the road.  Pitching against Chicago, Baffin, Madison and Reno.  In that time span he is 4-0.  Every start he has gone at least 6.2 IP and walked 3 or less batters in each appearance.  The walks, or lack thereof, are a sign of relief where Burgess has really shined is giving up hits.  He allowed just 2 hits in 3 of those starts with the other being 4 hits to Madison.  

At time of article being written: ERA 5.82, K/BB ratio of 1, WHIP 1.94.

Line of his 4 starts during the last 3+ weeks.  4GS, 4-0, 27.2IP, 10H, 11BB, 28K, 1.32  ERA, 0.77WHIP.

What has changed in Burgess we cannot tell you.  He is not getting hit and he is not walking batters.  For the season his H/9 sits out an extremely low 5.24 which is over 3 hits less per 9 than his career average, and at that current pace he would set the BSA record for fewest hits per 9 over a season.  We don't expect that to continue or his subliminally low 1.32 ERA over the past 4 starts, but after what we had seen out of Burgess over the past 9+ months this is a very welcome sign.

Burgess for the season: 7GS, 6-0, 44.2IP, 44K. 1HR, 3.02 ERA, 1.19 WHIP.  Not too shabby of a guy that many considered as the odd man out of the rotation before the season even started.  We will continue our Burgess watch as the season progresses. 

Jerry Burgess and the Lost Art of Control

There are several interesting facts, facets, statistics, metrics and situations within the game of baseball.  One of the basics is throwing.  Hitting a target.  Control.  The ability to throw a baseball accurately from one point to another.  Most players, especially pitchers, don't have a big problem with this.  If they do, they usually don't last long enough to be drafted and paid money to do so.  This is a story of a man, an enigma, something I cannot explain.  A story of virtue and intrigue and frustration.  A story where the ending is still untold.  The story of Jerry Burgess.  The story of control lost.  

Let me start this story by saying that Jerry Burgess was never and will never be an elite master in the art of control.  He is no Scott Hill, Man-Rod, Aicon, Bolden, Paradis or JTF.  Burgess was merely your average pitcher when it came to control.  He had average control for a starting pitcher, but with his electric stuff coming from 4 above average pitches and decent movement made him an upper echelon starting pitcher.  

This was apparent when he played his college ball at the University of Texas, was drafted in the 1st round and found his way to Madison via the BSA inaugural draft and made their club during the 2011 season.  In college he averaged 2.19 BB/9 innings which is very good.  Moving to A ball during the 2009 season he was striking out 10+ batters while keeping those walks down.  A similar BB/9 rate to college of 2.30 helped him move to AA that same season.  Moving to AAA he started walking more batters, but scouts say that was due to facing better hitters and keeping the rate below 3 was probably unattainable for a pitcher like him.  He spent 2010 in AAA before making his Major League debut in 2011 for Madison.

From 2012 to the middle of the 2015 season he would play for 4 different teams.  Madison would trade him to Hendersonville before the 2013 season where he would win a championship.  During the 2014 season the Hitmen would send him to El Paso in the famous Yokoyama trade.  He would spend nearly 1 year in El Paso before being traded to Jersey Shore.  During his first half year with El Paso he posted great numbers, he was the team's ace.  He won 10 games in 15 starts, but things started to change that 2nd year in Texas.  He struggled badly in 17 starts for the Diablos in 2015.  He went 2-6, posted an ERA of 5.56 and his control started flailing.  He walked 53 batters in 102.3 innings and an up til then career worst of only 1.68 K/BB.  Being an upcoming FA and Jersey making a play at the playoffs, El Paso dealt him for prospects and this seemed to calm him down......for not.

He turned around his 2015 season, winning 7 games in 15 starts, nearly doubling that K/BB ratio, all the up to 3.48.  He also had 2 key victories for the D-Bags in the playoffs and almost pitched them to a World Series title in Game 7 of the BSA World Series.  Jersey gave him a fat contract extension in 45 million dollars over 5 years.  We have heard rumors of alcohol, affairs, even a run in or two with the law since that off-season.  Nothing is documented, but when 2016 came around, the 29 year old Burgess who should be in his prime was.....different.  He started out walking more batters.  He was striking out similar hitters, giving up similar amount of hits, but the walks were killing him.

It was his 2nd start of the season when he would tie a CL record for walking 9 batters in a game on April 17th.  Jersey kept with him until nearly the All-Star break before finally sending him to the bullpen.  He finished the season getting 22 starts, walking a career high 91 batters in just 128.1 innings pitched.  Good for 6.38 BB/9, which was over 2 more than his career average.  What do you do with a pitcher who has seemed to have lost control and is owed 37 million over the next 4 years?  Jersey put on flyers with no takers so he returned to the team for the 2017 season.  With Art Ellis going out for the season during spring training it thrust Burgess back into the rotation.

Thus far in 2017 Burgess has received 3 starts.  The good news is that he has compiled a 2-0 record.  The bad news is in his 2nd start he tied his record for 9 BB in a game and currently has 16 walks and 16 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched and a WHIP of nearly 2.  This is on the verge of being ridiculous.  How does one simply lose control in the prime of his career?  Can you regain control?  Can he be trusted?  Jersey will have to make a decision weather Burgess can make steps to being a competent pitcher again.  For now Jersey plans to run him out in the 5th SP slot, simply because they don't have better options, but the time might come where anyone will be a better option.  

Fellow owner JJ Hoban had this to say about Burgess, "Burgess is the epitome of a good system. Many people will look back and wonder what could have been. He had once been looked at as a Ace, though many years of bad decisions not only led to Burgess losing control of his love, and social life, but also control of his pitches. Much of this can be attributed to the spiral of depression Jerry went through when he learned he was being traded to El Paso. Burgess was ready to set up a life in Tennessee when he heard the news, and shortly after a long legal battle with his wife ensued for his money and their daughter. Jerry was arrested later that year after being caught with an escort while in San Antonio on vacation. Jersey offered him what looks to be his last chance at a title and career. Jerry is no longer feared on the mound, and is just barely hanging onto his spot in the rotation, but through all this he remains upbeat that he will achieve his dream of a championship."

The art of control.  Getting the ball from point-a to point-b.  Such a simple thing to do....or is it?

GO D-BAGS    

Jersey Shore August 2012 in Review

In Jersey picked anytime to have their best month so far of the season it was August, especially after the subpar and sub .500 month they had in July.  Coming into the month they sat 1.5 games back of Chicago for the CL Wild Card spot and when things were said and done a 19-9 record pushed them to 1/2 up on the Machine.  The bats got hot scoring over 8 runs in 11 of their 19 wins and a 21 year old rookie won the CL Pitcher of the Month Award. 

Players of the Month

SP Jose Ramos: 5-1, 2.62 ERA, 2CG, 1.12 WHIP.  Wow, Ramos went from big time prospect dominating AAA hitters to CL Pitcher of the Month faster than anyone could have expected.  With Jerry Burgess struggling, Ramos stepped in at the right time to pick up 7 wins in his first 10 starts and bring another formidable starter to the Jersey rotiation.

SP Art Ellis: 2-1, 1.95 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 37 K in 33.1 IP.  After having his worst month as a D-Bag in July, Ellis bounced back in a remarkable way.  The lone loss was against Toronto where he surrounded 4 ER, but didn't allow more than 1 in any other start for the rest of the month.  He even picked up a no decision against Vista allowing 0 ER.  If Jersey is going to find their way back to the playoffs this year, Ellis will be a main cog in getting them there in September.

2B Mike Bryant: .363/.406/.552. 3HR, 29RBI, 42 hits, 9 2B.  Familiar face this season.  While the power dipped a little bit for Bryant in August, the hits kept on coming.  His 4th 40 hit month, 4th month to have more RBI than games played and scored a season high 31 runs for the month.  This is the dream season for Bryant, if he can keep it up BSA records will fall.

1B Matt Doyle: .355/.430/.645. 8HR, 30 RBI, 39 hits, 8 2B.  Welcome back Matt Doyle! After a summer swoon which saw Doyle hit for .238 and .255 with 6 combined HR for the months of June and July, Doyle found that stroke he had in May and much of his rookie year bashing 16 XBH, his 2nd 30+ RBI month and a glimpse of how devestating the 3-4 holes in the Jersey lineup can be with he and Bryant are both clicking.

Questions, Concerns and Answers

The main concern heading into September is will this team make the playoffs?  Both Chicago and Jersey are playoff caliber teams and both could win 95-100 games this year with one being left at home. 

Will Jerry Burgess be given his rotation spot back? Since his demotion to the pen, he has only pitched 6.1 IP but only has given up 1 ER in that time span.  He also struck out 10, compared to 4 BB.  The control has been the issue for him much of this season.  While Goodship and Shaefer have not been terrible, they haven't put up numbers bad enough to be replaced in the rotation.  Plan on seeing Burgess get a spot start or two, or more if Jersey can take the lead in the WC race.

September is a time for call up but since we have seen Ramos, Schroeder and Torres is there anyone else we might see during the month?  I don't think we will be seeing any more rookies, but catcher Duran will be off the DL as well OF Jose Ortiz, plan on seeing both back.  We will probably also see OF Duncan and OF Kino come back up to be bats off the bench.  There is an outside chance of seeing a rookie pitcher, for depth.  If I had to guess MR Zong, Lara or Cortez could be given a couple of September innings.

Minor Leaguers of the Month

Pitcher
MR Bernardo Pacheco (AAA):  1-0, 1 save, 0.63 ERA, 1.12 WHIP.  While pitching mainly middle relief and set up for Tuscaloosa, Pacheco was money in his 14.1 IP in August.  He allowed 1 ER, which was on a solo HR and tallied 13 K to only 3 BB.  Pacheco, 28, is in his 4th year at AAA and each year his ERA has gotten lower.  He will be 29 next year, and if he becomes a minor league free agent, he could catch on somewhere and help a bullpen.



Hitter

1B Tadahisa Kisuki (AA): .408/.487/.582. 3 HR, 27 RBI, 40 hits.  Signed in April 2015 out of the free agent pool, the 20 year old is really picking it up since he his subpar play in A ball last year.  He crushed A pitching this year, and August was his best month playing in AA Gainesville.  While he doesn't hit for a lot of power, the gap is there totally 37 2B between the two levels while hitting over .350.  There's a good chance he will get the promotion to AAA before the year is over.  At only 20 years old the kid could see the show before a lot of players his age are even out of college.

 

Jose Ramos, Rookie Phemon; Wins CL Pitcher of the Month

Coming into this season Jose Ramos was just a 20 year old heading back to AAA after a trying 2nd half the season after dominating AA in 26 starts.  He showed so much promise that OSA named him the 7th best prospect in the entire BSA before the 2016 starter.  Management had no plans to even consider moving him to the big club this season.  

"Ramos is a kid with special talent.  Being so young we have moved slowly with him since he joined the organization in 2013.  We gave him 2.5 seasons in AA before he finally felt comfortable and his true talent starting coming out before sending him to AAA last season.  We expected him to struggle in the starts that he had.  In his 7 starts he had an ERA of around 4.50 and only had a 2:1 K/BB ratio, so we knew he had a ways to go.  At the beginning of the season I never really thought we would be talking about him in a light like this," commented GM Josh Swain on Ramos.  

Ramos struggled in April and came through about with the same statistics and ratios he had last season, but was walking fewer.  In his first 2 starts in May he notched 2 wins pitching 15 innings, giving up 2 ER and having a 4:1 K/BB ratio.  His signature start though came against Topeka on May 18th.  Ramos went 7 shutout inning, giving up 5 hits, walking 3 and tying a league record with 15 K's.  It got the attention of the baseball world, and also put him at 7-0 for AAA Tuscaloosa.  He would continue baffling AAA hitters up through his last AAA start on June 30th where he would throw his first career shutout, giving up just 3 hits, walking no one and striking out 11.  This took his record to 11-1, his ERA to 2.95 and fIP of 2.30.  How do you keep a guy down after that performance?

He made his BSA debut on 7/5/2013, 2 days before the All Star break to face the Madison Bombers at home.  He wasn't overwhelming but did go 8 strong innings, giving up 3 ER on 4 hits, walking 1 and striking out 3 for a no decision.  He would get his first win 11 days later in his next start across the country against Pocatello.  He again would throw 8 innings, this time only allowing 1 ER, 6 hits, 1 walk and 6 K's.  He would beat rival Chicago before be humbled by the bats of Niagara Falls to bring his record to 2-1 entering August.  

Ramos got 6 starts in August, 3 at home and 3 on the road.  He went 6.2 IP in everyone of his starts, allowing 4 or less runs in every start and 4 /6 2 or less.  He tallied a 5-1 record, getting his only loss in his last start at Chicago, allowing a season high 10 hits and 4 ER as well as 2 HR.  His shiny 5-1 record compiled with a 2.62 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 24 K's gave him the CL Pitcher of the Month.  This was the first recorded time that we could find of a Jersey pitching winning this award.  Amazing with a staff that has featured pitchers like Macias, Ellis, Brito and Burgess that a 21 year old was the first to win it. 

Even though GM Swain didn't expect Ramos to pitch for the big club this season, he could end up being their savior.  7 wins in his first 10 starts, as well as Ramos making 4 or 5 starts may be the reason they make the playoffs instead of being on the outside looking in.  Either way, the kid has been everything he was advertised to be and more.  I don't expect this will be his last POTM award.

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Slides to 12-14 July Record

A theme is occurring this season in Jersey and it isn't a position one.  We just finished the 4th month of the season and each month in succession has gotten worse than the last.  The most recent was an up and down  with a lot of struggling finishing with their first under .500 month of the season with a record at 12-14.  It included losing 3 of 4 at home to division mate Madison, being swept on the road at rival Greenvilleand losing 4 of their final 6 games of the month to Maui and Niagara Falls.  The only constant was the play of The Machine, Mikey Bryant, who put the team on his back.

Players of the Month
2B Mike Bryant: .364/.405/.673  8 HR, 29 RBI, 10 2B.  Bryant kept his onslaught of the league posting huge numbers on his way to his 2nd Player of the Month award for the CL this year.  In fact, Bryant loves hitting in July.  It is the 3rd year in a row he has won the July player of the month for the CL, that has to be a record.  He continues his record pace where he still has has his eyes set on setting league records for hits, RBI, total bases, WAR and VORP.


3B Alberto Perez: .337/.432/.459  33 hits, 12 2B, 18 BB.  Perez continues to be a solid contributor this season, most coming from the 2 hole in the Jersey lineup.  His 33 hits gives him 30+ hits in 3 of the 4 months this season and his average puts him top 5 in the CL in batting.  Not only that, he also knocked in the game winning run in this month's all star game. 

MR Jose Gomes: 3-1, 1 Sv, 1.02 ERA, 25K in 17.2 IP.  What a year or resurgence for Dog Pound.  He has given up 2 ER in his last 55 IP and is posting the best season of his career.  On pace for career highs in IP, W, and K Gomes was also selected to this year's all star game, the first of his career.

CL Jaime Saenz:  3 saves, 0.93 ERA, 9 K in 9.2IP.  Lack of wins kept his save numbers down but he was all business as usual giving up 1 run in his 9.2 IP for the month.  With Saenz and Gomes anchoring the back end of the pen, not many games slide out of Jersey's hands.  This marks the 6th year the two remained bullpen mates in the Jersey pen

Questions, Concerns, and Answers
The real question is, can it get worse?  If the trend follows August should be Jersey's worst month of the season, but let's hope that doesn't happen. As of August 1st, Jersey sits 2.5 games behind the Chicago Machine for the CL Wild Card lead.  A familiar position for Jersey, who has seemingly been in the hunt every year as of late.

Jersey fans got a nice surprise when super prospect and No. 1 prospect on OSA's Top 100 list, Jose Ramos was called up to start the game before the All Star game.  Ramos ended getting a no decision but baffled Madison hitters only giving up 4 hits in 8 IP, including 3 ER as well as striking out 3.  In 3 other starts Ramos would dazzle against Pocatello and Chicago, giving up 1 ER in 16 innings against the 2 before getting lit up against Niagara Falls for 6 ER in 5.1 IP.  If his stuff so far is any indication, he is here to stay.

While speaking of pitching, what is going on with Jerry Burgess?  In 4 starts in July he failed to get out of the 6th inning and twice not even able to finish 5 innings.  In those starts he had a combined 17 K to 16 BB.  He has never been known for his control, but it's never been this bad.  If this continues, and Ramos stays up, it might mean a bullpen assignment or a demotion to AAA for Burgess.

Jersey welcomed back Al Ryan this month, but only played in 2 games.  He should return to his OF position in the lineup against RHP thought.  Leon Foster finally came off the DL after his re-injury and will rehab probably till the 2nd week of August before coming back to the big club.  OF Jose Ortiz came off the DL with his strained back to play 3 games and to strain his oblique which will put him on the shelf for 6 more weeks.  This led to increased AB's for Taro Kino, who had his best 5 game stretch of his career piking up 4 multi hit games, including two 3 hit games, 6 xtra base hits, and 6 RBI.  He cooled down considerably towards the end of the month and was sent back to AAA to make room for Al Ryan.

With the addition of Warren Goyer, Albert Lopez was sent back to AAA where he will be the starter.  With Adam Morrow continuing to struggle and former 1st round pick Lawrence Schroeder still killing AAA pitching, might there be a swap in order this month? Also OF Fransisco Torres, still only 21, is posting an OBP north of .450 at AAA Tuscaloosa, while bringing speed and great defense thus far.  He could be a candidate to be called up as well.  Don't be surprised to see the Bags shake it up a bit to try and turn around the slump.

Minor Leaguers of the Month
So who had it going on in the Bags system for the month of July?  We will recognize 2 new players here or stepped it up.  Last month's winners were SP Jesus Zapata and SS Lawrence Schroeder.

Pitcher
SP Henry Malone (AAA) 4-0, 1.93 ERA, 25K, 1.44 WHIP.  Malone, 29 year old career minor leaguer, put together a great month, starting 3 games and pitching 5 others out of the bullpen.  This marks the 4th straight year he has won over 12 games for Tuscaloosa.  There is still hope for Malone to hold down a 4th or 5th spot in some rotation in the BSA.




Hitter
OF Fransisco Ibarra (AA) .367/.441/.688  10 HR, 41 RBI, 40 hits, 15 SB.  Ibarra, in his 4th year in the D-Bags organization, has also had THAT potential.  Always been ranked Top 5 potential for D-Bag batters, got off to a slow start and struggled in limited AB's in his first 2 seasons.  Last year we finally got a glimpse of the hype when he hit 13 HR in 332 AB, but a .223 batting average kept him off the radar.  This year before the season he was named the 26th best prospect by OSA.  He got off to a promising start before be sidelined with a hamstring strain for 6 months, but after he came back he has been amazing.  His 41 RBI for the month mark a team record (that we could find) at any level, and his 10 HR increased his career HR by almost 33% and put high hope in what "could be" a 1-2 OF punch of Dodd-Ibarra in the Jersey Shore OF. 

GO D-BAGS

2016 Offseason: Jersey Shore

After taking a tough loss in Game 7 of the World Series against the mighty Hendersonville Hitmen, there was a lot of uncertainty when it came to Jersey players.  A lot of star players with contracts set to be up, a player's option and a few holes opening up.  Here's what has happened since that fateful day in Hendersonville.

 The day after the season Leon Foster decided to accept his 13.87 Million dollar option he was given in 2013 as part of his 4 year extension.  After starting out decent last season Foster strained his hip and missed 3 months.  Jersey brass thought it was inevitable he would take the option but I think deep down everyone hoped he would turn it down.  Foster should start in CF, at least against lefties, this up coming season.  Foster sits 8th on the All-time HR list with 205.

The first two weeks of November had to feel like Christmas for many Jersey Shore fans.  On November 4th Jersey announced they bought out 2, possibly 3 years of arbitration and signed superstar 1B Matt Doyle to a 6 year deal worth 39.35 million dollars.  The deal will keep Doyle in Jersey through the age of 32.  Doyle led the CL in HR last year with 44 and only 2 seasons into his Jersey career he sits only behind Mikey Bryant on the Jersey Shore all time HR list with 77.

Three days later on November 7th, Jersey announced they avoided losing their FA deadline pickup Jerry Burgess by agreeing to a 5 year contract worth 45.29 million dollars.  Burgess won 7 starts after coming over from El Paso and was vital in their playoff run winning 3 of his 6 starts and keeping Jersey within striking distance in Game 7.

Five days after the Burgess signing, Jersey announced they had come to an agreement with FA to be and arguable ace of the staff 30 year old Art Ellis to a 6 year contract which will keep him in Jersey for the remainder of his career.  Ellis posted one of the best seasons put up by a Jersey hurler, posting a 2.94 ERA and striking out 210.

On November 21st, the league announced that MR Brian White recieved a new contract worth 600K through arbitration, which was no surprise, and Catcher Luis Antonio Duran won his arbitration hearing and will receive $8.75 million this upcoming season.  With Duran's number being that high, there is probably a slim chance he will be back for 2017.  Regardless he will be starting the season as the team's starting catcher.

Free agency started November 24th and Jersey said good-bye to two players.  The first being one of the longest tenured player closer Daniel Morris.  With the money going to the starters, there was just not enough to go around.  Morris leaves Jersey leading the team in all-time ERA (2.59), Saves (170), appearances (387), BB/9 (2.0), K/BB (4.18), WHIP (1.17), OOPS (.626) and VORP (139.4). 

Also departing through free agency is the speedy OF Scott Powers, who spent 3 years in Jersey after a trade from Niagara Falls. Powers a multi-use speedy OF, never lived up to the potential Jersey thought they would get when they made the trade in 2013.  His spot on the roster will go to one of the money OF Jersey has stashed away in AAA.

The Rule V draft took place on December 1st and with the 22nd pick Jersey selected MR David Rice with the 22nd pick.  Rice of the former Pittsburgh (now Chicago) franchise.  Rice will become the 2nd lefty in the pen after new closer Jaime Saenz.  Last season Rice pitched in AA and a 3.61 ERA and 140 K's in 124.2 IP.

Jersey also lost a player in the Rule V draft as well.  St. Charles selected speedy utility infielder Dave Henson whom Jersey signed to a MLC in 2014 after being released from Vista.  Henson hit .270 with 14 SB in 63 AB with Tuscaloosa last season.

Towards the end of Spring Training Jersey made a couple of waiver moves.  The first being claiming MR Chris Woodruff from the Jacksonville Jackhammers.  Woodruff struggled in Jacksonville last year posting a 6.44 ERA in 50.1 IP, but the Jersey brass must have seen some potential.

On the same day Jersey claimed Woodruff, Boston claimed 1B Edgardo Gonzales.  Gomzales who has been with Jersey since the inaugural draft always has played well in AAA but has had trouble cracking the 25-man roster.  Gonzales got only 29 AB in the last 3 seasons.

On April 2nd, the day before the season was set to begin Jersey announced another contract extension.  One of the best hitters in last year's playoffs 3B Alberto Perez agreed to a 4 year deal buying out his arbitration years worth nearly $8M dollars.  Perez is slated to start at 3B this season with Adam Morrow sliding over to SS.

Losses: CL Daniel Morris, CF Scott Powers, SS Dave Henson, 1B Edgardo Gonzales
Additions: MR Dave Rice, MR Chris Woodruff
Extensions: SP Jerry Burgess, SP Art Ellis, 1B Matt Doyle, 3B Alberto Perez

2016 is here! Look for the roster breakdown, coming soon!

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Shore vs. Greenville; Winner to WS

These 2 are no strangers to each other.  Playing 17 times per season over the last 5 years does that to teams.  In this matchup, Greenville has the edge. 2 years ago they took the season series 10-7, last year 11-6 and this year a closer but still with the edge 9-8.  This marks the 4th in a row that Greenville has won the CL East.  Jersey has come in 2nd twice and 3rd twice, this year being the first they snuck into the playoffs via the Wild Card spot.  This would mark the 3rd straight year that Greenville has advanced to the CLCS; 2 years ago being beaten in 7 games by Regina and last year beaten by Toronto in 5 games.  The 84's are no strangers to big games.  A 7 game series, winner to the World Series.

Game 1

We expected runs, high scoring, good bullpen pitching and high end drama and this series didn't disappoint.  Game 1 featured two of the better starters in the CL this year as Art Ellis took the mound for Jersey and Tom Crowder for Greenville.  After 2 innings we were knotted at 1 as the big boys knocked in the first runs of the game.  Cooper Newell an RBI double and Matt Doyle his first HR of the postseason, a solo shot in the 2nd.  A Carlos Perez solo HR made it 2-1 in the 3rd but the big break came for Jersey in the 4th.  With Leon Foster coaxing a 2-out walk from Crowder, Manny Romero hit what should have been an inning ending grounder to SS.  The usually soft and sure handed Raul Trejo couldn't field it cleanly allowing everyone to be safe and extend the inning.  And wouldn't you know on the first pitch of the next AB, 3B Alberto Perez would hit his 2nd postseason HR and put Jersey up 4-2.  Jose Alvarez kept the 84's close by hitting a 2 run bomb in the 5th to tie the game back up.  The tie didn't last long.  Bryant led off the 5th with a walk and advanced to 3rd on Matt Doyle's double.  Leon Foster hit a long pop fly that looked routine......until it landed 5 feet over the short 325 foot porch in Right to put the Bags on top 7-4.  Ellis would allow one hit in the last 4 innings going the distance for the CG and the Bags would add 3 more runs oh hits from Doyle and Foster for a convincing and statement making 10-4 opening game win.

Game 2

Before Game 2, John Bosma said in his press conference that the 84's needed to leave Greenville with a 1-1 split.  He was probably right as going down 0-2 at home would have been devastating, while on the other hand Jersey could put an early strangle hold on the series with a Game 2 win.  Dan Macias would face off against Oliver Beaudoin.    It was a see-saw battle that changed leads 4 times and feature 1 tie in the first 6 innings.  HR's by Carlos Perez and Manny Romero mixed in with Dan Macias escaping several jams left Greenville leading 5-4.  Alberto Perez who with 3 hits in Game 1, tied the game at 5 with an 8th inning single, knocking in Mike Bryant.  They failed to capitalize leaves 2 runners on base though.  The bullpens did their join to send the game into extras  and in the bottom of the 10th of of closer Daniel Morris, a Raul Trejo single, Jose Navarro sac bunt and a Greg O'Day grounder that found the OF gave the 84's a much needed walk off win.  In retrospect the game should never have been that close.  Greenville out hit Jersey 14 to 9 and left 23 men on base.  The series would head to Jersey tied at 1 game apiece. 

Game 3

Game 3 would feature a matchup of mid-season pickups from both sides.  Greenville would send Donald Manning whom them acquired from Maui and Jersey would send Game 6 hero Jerry Burgess whom they acquired from El Paso.  This game would get out of hand quickly.  The 84's would knock Burgess out of the game before the 3rd inning ended tagging him for 7 earned runs on 7 hits and 3 walks.  Jersey would fight back and make it a 7-4 game after 6 innings but Greenville was resilient in this one.  They scored 5 runs off of the usually sure fire bullpen, getting 4 off of Lucio Tapia, including a Carlos Perez HR, his 3rd in 3 games for a decisive 12-5 Greenville win.  Greenville had 14 hits and left 24 men on base making a statement with their bats for the 2nd night in a row.

Game 4

After the game Swain skipped his press conference but was heard saying, we have been here, down 2-1 before, we aren't worried. Game 4 would be one of coulda, shoulda, woulda.....so many chances on both sides.  This game is one that might haunt John Bosma in his sleep.  The starters were Ron Eager for the 84's and Rob Goodship going for Jersey.  Both pitchers were sharp through 2 when Greenville got to Goodship in the 3rd.  A double by Perez got the offense going.  The next batter, Brian Cash, knocked in Perez with a single to open the scoring.  After a flyout from the reigning MVP Felix Morales, little used OF Arthur Donahue would blast a 2 run HR out of CF to put Greenville on top 3-0, a score that would stick until the Jersey half of the 5th inning.  

Up until the 5th, Ron Eager had been perfect, retiring all 12 batters he had faced.  That would change on the 2nd pitch of the inning as Matt Doyle lined a ball to the gap in right center and would coast in with a stand up double.  A flustered Eager hit Al Ryan with the next pitch to put two runners aboard with no outs.  O'Day would talk to Eager helping to settle him down and getting the recent hot hitting Alberto Perez to hit into a fielder's choice getting the out at 2nd.  That brought up Leon Foster to the plate with runners on the corners.  Foster took a 1-2 hanging curveball and pounded it to the left-center gap where Doyle scored the 1st run of the day for the D-Bags easy and Perez coasted into 3rd base.  The next batter was the catcher Albert Lopez, playing for the injured Duran, who lined a ball between short and third for a running scoring single setting up runners on the corners again for SS Marvin Taylor.  Taylor walked on 5 pitches to load the bases for Peter Larson, who was making his first appearance in over a month after being on the DL.  After fouling off 4 straight 2-2 pitches Eager would strike out Larson looking for a huge 2nd out.  He still wasn't out of the trouble because Jose Ortiz would hit next with the bases loaded.  Ortiz turned on a ball that barely snuck into the OF.  It was enough to score Foster, but Lopez was held at 3rd.  That tied the score at 3 and brought up MVP candidate Mike Bryant with a chance to bust the game open.  Bryant, struggling thus far through the playoffs, eventually flew out to left to end the inning, but the damage was done and we had ourselves a tie game.  

Both pitchers threw a perfect 6th and Goodship started of the 7th by striking out Stan Hickman.  Cooper Newell hit a ball to the gap that nearly went out for a double and Goodship almost got out of the inning by getting SS Marcos Mesa to groundout, but Game 2 hero Greg O'Day lined a single into left scoring Newell for the go ahead run for the 84's.  Goodship would get out of the inning with no more damage and Eager would set down the Bags in order in the their half of the 7th.  Jersey elected to keep Goodship in the game in the 8th and set Greenville down on 12 pitches witch included a strikeout of Morales.  Jersey's half of the 8th started off with a walk to Peter Larson which chased Eager from the game and entered was Randy Ellison, who was used for one batter, and got Ortiz to ground into a FC getting the force out at second.  Manuel Medina then entered getting Bryant to groundout to first which advanced Ortiz to second with two outs.  Medina's night was done and the 84's brought in Miguel Negrete to face Doyle.  Doyle worked a full count before delivering the clutch single that brought Ortiz in from second and tied the game once again at 4.

Goodship would be pulled after pitching 8 strong innings and Dog Pound Gomes would take over.  After getting Alvarez and Hickman in 6 pitches, again Newell was the instigator doubling down the left field line, setting himself up as the go ahead run at second.  Pinch hitter Jose Navarro would come in and silence the Jersey crowd with a single into RF to put Grenville up 5-4 and 3 outs from a 3-1 series lead.  Closer Jorge Valentin would come in to attempt to close it out for the 84's in the 9th.  Alberto Perez would lead off the inning with a much needed single and add to the hopes for Jersey fans.  Scott Powers would come in and hit for Leon Foster and lay down a beauty of a bunt between the mound and 3rd.  On a very close bang-bang play Powers was called safe and the Bags were in business.  Jersey would send Manny Romero to hit for C Lopez and on an 0-2 count he sat back on a curveball and lined it into LF to load the bases with no one out.  What started out as a sacrifice attempt, turned into the bases loaded with no outs.  Valentin would get Taylor to ground out to the short, where they would go home for the force out and the first out of the inning.  Peter Larson would stroll to the plate next and would do what he does best, be selective.  He walked on 5 pitches which brought home Powers to tie the game and leave the bases juiced.  The next batter Jose Ortiz would fight off 2 pitches before punching a ball between LF and CF for a single that would plate Romero and send the crowd into a frenzy.  The Bags mobbed the field as Romero crossed the plate and what looked like a 3-1 deficit turned into a 2-2 series tie.

Game 5

Game 5 you would think Jersey would have all the momentum.  Coming back at home, maybe they partied a little late coming off their win.  This game saw Art Ellis being unusually off as he walked 4 batters, only lasted 5.1 IP, the bullpen gave up 3 earned runs and Carlos Perez hit his 4th and 5th HR of the series as Greenville coasted to an 8-2 to win and a 3-2 series advantage.  Also in this game Alberto Perez was hit on the hand and had to be taken out of the game.  Derrick Wright came in, who plays very little 3B, to fill in for Perez.  Luckily for the D-Bags nothing was broken but with Morrow being out, the only player who played any 3B was Wright, which forced them to go with Perez at 3B despite the sore and swollen hand.

Game 6

We would get a day off before Game 6, which was a rematch of Game 2, facing Macias against Beaudoin.  This would turn from laugher to classic and another head scratcher for the 84's.  Sore hand and all Perez lauched a 2 run HR in the 2nd and 2 batters later catcher Albert Lopez added another 2 run blast for an early 4-0 Jersey lead, which also chased the starter Beaudoin.  In the 4th with Sugimoto Kuhabara on the mound Al Ryan led off the inning with a solo blast and 3 batters later Lopez hit his 2nd HR of the night and the route was on.  6-0 Jersey just 3.5 innings into the game with Macias on cruise control thus far.  That's when things got interesting.

After striking out Newell to start the inning, Cash singled between walks to Hickman and Trejo which loaded the bases for Jose Navarro.  Navarro took full advantage running the count to full against Macias before depositing a Gland Slam HR 447 feet away.  To make matters worse for Jersey is two batters later O'Day hooked a ball around the left field foul pole for a solo HR which sent Macias to the showers and left us with a 6-5 game.  And the inning wasn't over.  Mungo was called in from the bullpen and has been almost perfect over the last 2 months.  He gave up a single to Alvarez before getting Perez to fly out.  Outs are hard to come by sometimes in a lineup like the 84's.  The next batter was MVP Morales, who showed us why he was the MVP by putting the 84's on top for the first time today with a 2 run HR to make it 7-6 Greenville.  A 6 run lead vanished in the blink of an eye and after a scoreless 5th and 6th, Jersey was 9 outs away from elimination.  

The 7th was no different as left handed specialist got the left handed top of the order in order and Greg Schaefer came in and gave up a harmless single before sending the game to the 8th.   The playoffs are built on heroics.  Greenville used their bullpen effectively using RH Ellison against Doyle, who struck out, and LF Herrera against Ryan, who grounded out.  Who else would start the 2 out rally other than, sore hand and all, Alberto Perez.  A single into left kept the inning going and a wild pitch sent him to second.  Pinch hitter Scott Powers hit a HUGE single into right field which tied the game.  On a 1-0 pitch Lopez, Powers took off for 2nd testing the arm of O'Day.  Usually one of the most accurate throwers in the league, O'Day sailed the ball into center field and Powers raced to 3rd.  The go ahead run 90 feet away.  Lopez, one of the slower runners on the roster, chopped a ball off the plate over the mound and was able to beat it out for an infield hit which scored Powers from 3rd and put the Bags back on top 8-7 and deflating which was once a loud, raucous crowd.  Tapia pitched the 8th for Jersey, walked a batter after two groundouts, then struck out the hot hitting Carlos Perez to send the game to the 9th.  The Bags were set down in order and Daniel Morris was sent out to save the game against the heart of the Greenville order. Morris was all business looking like the Morris of old.  Using his slider he got Morales and Newell looking and quickly got ahead of Hickman 0-2 before lazily flying out to Powers in CF which would send us to a Game 7.

Game 7

Why not 7 games for this series?  9-8 during the season.  Division rivals.  Hendersonville, who took care of the LA Bruins in 5 games, sat awaiting. The matchup, why not, Manning-Burgess, rematch of the mid season pick ups.  The stars aligned to send us this one.  As the game got under way, Donald Manning was business as usual, breezing through the Jersey lineup through the first 4 innings.  Burgess on the other hand was erratic but effective.  In the first 4 innings Greenville stranded 8 runners, 2 per inning, many of those times getting runners on with less than 2 outs.  You can only give a great team so many opportunities before they take advantage.  Manning set down Jersey in order in the 5th and Felix Morales led off the 5th and said....to hell with runners on base and launched a solo HR for the first run of the game.  Manning got into his first jam in the 6th when the Bags put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, but he K'ed Powers and got Rodriguez to fly out to end the threat.  After 6, Greenville 1, Jersey 0.

If Jersey was going to make noise it was now.  They led off the 7th with the heart of their order.  Bryant continued to struggle and flew out to left.  Matt Doyle on the other hand continued his hot series by singling before pinch hitter Peter Larson struck out.  With 2 outs Manny Romero crushed a ball to the gap in left center.  Even though Doyle was running on the pitch the ball was hit so hard it didn't give Doyle a chance to go home, instead putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs.  You can't write stories like this.  Stepping to the plate was who else, but Alberto Perez.  This had been his series so far, injury and all.  Manning ran the count to 3-1 before Perez got a pitch he liked.  A chest high fastball that he turned on and sent the ball sailing into the left field bleachers.  A 3 run HR in 1 run, in the 7th inning of Game 7 of the CLCS.  Heroics.  27 year old rookie who played most of the season in AAA.  Like I said you can't make this stuff up.  But we weren't done yet.

Now with a 3-1 lead to work with Burgess came back out in the 7th.  On his 4th pitch, Brian Cash hit a screaming line drive into the same left field bleachers to get a run back, 3-2 Jersey.  Burgess struck out Morales before being yanked after a gutsy quality start.  Gomes came in, walked Donahue before getting Alvarez and Hickman to ground out.  Onto the 8th.  Manning got the 1st out in the 8th before being pulled and left to an ovation.  He pitched one helleva game.  One mistake to Perez.  Randy Ellison came in and got Powers to ground out for the 2nd out of the inning.  Sergio Rodriguez came up and doubled to left and Bryant finally had a meaningful AB and knocked Rodriguez in for that all important insurance run.  Doyle would single before Larson popped out to end the inning.  Gomes, Saenz and Tapia combined to give up 2 hits, both singles, but escaped the inning when Navarro grounded out to 2nd.  Onto the 9th.  Jersey is 3 outs away from a World Series berth.

After what Greenville's pitching did in the 9th, you would think they were a lock to win this game.  Back-to-back singles by Romero and Perez put Bags on the corners with no outs.  A big Al Ryan strikeout followed by a Taylor ground out to 1st kept Romero and 3rd.  Scott Powers was walked to load the bases and Herrera got Sergio Rodriguez looking on a full count to send Greenville up to the plate just down 2 runs.  Everyone in the stadium including the Greenville dugout was shocked and bewildered when Daniel Morris was not brought in to close the game out.  Tapia was sent back out and immediately gave up a single to Morales which awoke the crowd.  Arthur Donahue stepped to the plate and Tapia quickly jumped in front 0-2.  Tapia through a high fastball that Donahue reached up and got and hit a one hopper back to Tapia who gloved, immediately turned and fired to 2nd where Bryant was waiting and threw to 1st for the easy 1-4-3 double play.  Jersey was one out from the World Series!  Jose Alvarez stepped into the batter's box, took a big swing and a miss for strike 1.  He fouled the 2nd pitch, a 97 MPH fastball straight back to send him in the hole at 0-2.  With the Jersey dugout against the railing and Greenville crowd down to their last hope, Tapia got Alvarez to chase a changeup in the dirt for strike 3!!  The Bags are the CL Champions!  The crowd was quick to file out as Jersey celebrated on the field, which included Gatorade buckets, a mob on the field and even a pie.  They had come back twice from 2-1, and once from 3-2 to knock off the 1 and 2 seeds on the road.  They were making their first trip to the playoffs well worth it.  Jersey will be the first CL East team to represent the division in the World Series.

As usual we will now go live to Josh Swain's press conference.  ::Swain enters along with Jerry Burgess and Alberto Perez, all 3 clad in CL Champions gear, half soaked in champagne:::

Swain: "Give it up to the stars of Game 7 and to your CLCS MVP Alberto Perez!"

Reporter Dan Miles, NY Times: "Jerry, what is going on??  You get lit up in both of your early starts in both series and then come back and pitch great in both deciding games.  Do you just up your game with pressure?"

Jerry Burgess: "If I do, it's not intentional! Haha!  I go out there to pitch my best every time out and I've had some not so good ones recently.  Today, I labored.  I don't think I went through an inning without a base runner on.  I gotta thank my defense and just thank myself for trusting my arm in a lot of situations.  They are a powerful, powerful team.  Just feels great to come through for my team."

Beat Writer Melissa Franklin, Jerseysports.com: "Josh, do these guys make you nervous?  The Bags have not lost one game where they were ahead late in the game.  Every tight game has been a win outside of Game 2, and that's where your boys came back to the tie game, but lost it in extras.  You doing ok?"

Swain: "If anything they excite me!  If you have watched Jersey baseball over the past couple of years you know that the bullpen has been our strong point.  We have had our bumps this year, but for the most part when we get that lead, we rarely give it back.  Clutch hitting is really what it's about.  We could have folded in game 4, 6 and 7 but got the hits we needed.  And really look no further than this guy, Alberto Perez.  The kid was amazing."

Reporter Sally Trumpert, Trenton Free Press: "Alberto, first off, amazing series!  2nd how is your hand? And 3rd what changed from the Toronto series to this one?"

Perez: "Thank you!  My hand is sore, but I will be fine.  I got a good pitch to hit today and took advantage of it.  The Toronto series I think I was trying to hard.  Everyone loves Morrow, those are some big shoes to fill.  After he went down people talked about how we had no chance, and that's hard to swallow for me because I was taking his spot.  I was swinging to hard and that led to my 1-20 in the Toronto series.  I allowed myself to relax these past couple games and got back into my rhythm.  Hopefully I can carry it forward against Hendersonville."

Beat writer Sam Toddenfield, BSAreport.com: "Rumors have it that Adam Morrow might be available for the Hendersonville series and what is the status on Luis Antonio Duran, will he be back?"

Swain: "Sadly for Luis his hand is shattered, it will take 5-6 weeks to heal and if you know Luis he wants to be here so bad.  We are going to place him on the DL and that will free up a roster spot.  The trainer tells us Morrow has about a week til he can play, so if we add him to the roster we could possibly see him in game 5, 6 or 7.  We are undecided if adding him will happen, but it is a possibility."

Reporter Vanessa Antuaco, Morgantown Today: "Jersey is in the World Series, give us a comment on what's that like and early thoughts on Hendersonville."

Swain: "It's one of those things where I still don't think it has hit me.  We have built this team from the inside out and never reached anything like this yet.  This team has the pieces, the role players are coming through and we feel great that we get to represent the CL in the series.  As for Hendersonville, what can I say?  They are the best of the best.  Their stars are the best in the game.  Scott Hill is the most intimidating person in the BSA.  It will be an uphill challenge, but I think this team is good enough to compete and beat them.  We will need some bounces to go our way and players to step up, but it can happen.  Thank you everyone for your support!"

After going 1-20 against Toronto, Perez completely turned his game around to win the CLCS MVP.  Perez hit 12-25, for an average of .480, including at least 1 hit in every game and drove in 9 runs.  After he injured his hand he went 4-6 with 2 HR and RBI.

Jersey plans to start Art Ellis for Game 1 of the World Series which starts Tuesday.  Lineups and a breakdown will be announced later.  Welcome to the Series D-Bags!

GO D-BAGS