Great August Puts 1st Playoff Appearance in Reachable Sight

The Jersey Shore D-Bags picked a great time to string together their best two months of the season in July and August, but should it come as a surprise to anyone considering the way this team has played over the years?  Widely known as a 2nd half team, the Bags record of 81-55 put them on pace to finish the season with 96 which would set a new team record and in this case probably would secure a playoff spot.  The 19-11 record in August put them 6 games up on the Austin River Sharks for the Wild Card spot in the CL and marks the first time they entered the last month of the season in the lead for a playoff spot.

Players of the Month

SP Art Ellis.  1-2. 2.77 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 38K/39 IP.  Though his W/L record doesn't show it Ellis was far and away the best starter in the month of August. In 4 of his 6 starts he gave up 2 ER or less and twice gave up 0 ER, once earning him a loss (4 unearned runs) and the other a no decision.  Ellis's great August kept him in the lead in the CL in the ERA race and makes it likely he will set the team record in this category which was set by Dan Macias last season.

MR Jaime "Mungo" Saenz.  4-0, 2 saves. 0.00 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, 31K/21.2IP.  Mungo was as we call it flat out nasty in August.  In fact this probably is the best month from a Jersey reliever ever, and that's saying something.  Appearing in 17 of the teams 30 games he didn't give up a run and only allowed 6 hits in 21.2 innings.  Mungo is showing that if the Bags can't work out an extension with closer Daniel Morris that he is more than able to do the job going forward

1B Matt Doyle. 10 HR, 22 RBI, .364/.456/.710.  1.166 OPS.  Another POTM for Doyle, even if it wasn't as big as his July.  He continued to lead the CL in HR and his average crept higher towards that .326 he hit last year, finishing the month at .298. His 10 HR was tied for 3rd in the BSA only behind Caro's 11 of NFF and "Superman" Phillips's 16 also of NFF.

3B Alberto Perez. 4 HR, 15 RBI, 10 2B, .390/.420/.701 1.121 OPS.  Antonio Ruiz who?  Perez has been a highly coveted asset with no place to play in Jersey until the trade that sent Ruiz to Vista before the deadline.  Now that he is getting AB's he is showing the fans of Jersey what he can do.  Despite a handful of AB's over the past two season this was by far his best month in the big leagues, adding 30 hits and 15 of those for extra bases.

2B Mike "Coffin" Bryant.  10 HR, 23 RBI, .316/.374/.598.  Bryant's stellar 2nd month in a row puts him in the MVP chase again and ended the month ranked 3rd in AVG, 3rd in HR, 2nd in RBI while leading the leading the league in runs scored.  The past 2 September's have been huge for Bryant earning him POTM from the Bag Report for each of them, don't be surprised to see him here again next month.

LF Sergio Rodriguez. 4 HR, 17 RBI, .351/.424/.689, 1.114 OPS.  Sergio is another player like Perez who is an AAA standout but just lacked a place to get AB's on the Jersey big league club.  He continued his above average July with a stellar September month, much of the time playing CF.  The drawback was he had an elbow injury towards the end of the month which will sideline him for 3 weeks.  With Scott Powers and Foster coming off the DL, Jersey will have replacements for him, but it always is a downer losing a hot bat.

Roster Changes, Questions and Answers:

Ah, September always brings a time to see the young kids called up and get their "cup of coffee."  This year should be no different as we expect to see a a group of new faces joining the club.  With Leon Foster coming off the DL, he should join the Bags the first week of August after his rehab stint gets over with.  Sergio Rodriguez is the only member of the club on the DL at the moment, should miss the first 2 weeks on the DL and might get a small rehab stint before joining the club the last week of the season.

We talk about him almost every month in this section, but OF Tim Duncan has been called up to the big club.  In fact in August he played in 2 games and hit his 1st career HR and stole his 1st career base in the same game, so congrats to him.  We aren't sure yet if he will start on a regular basis, but expect him to at least get pinch run and some late inning defense in.  The Bags are also expected to recall MR Takafumi Ogusuku to give the bullpen some rest before their late season playoff push.  He was so-so with the Bags in July posting an ERA north of 5.00.  

We also expect at least at some point in the month that 1B Edgardo Gonzales, 2B Aaron Bailey, SP Jose Reyes, C Albert Lopez, and LF Ken Taylor to be recalled for some AB's.  With Tuscaloosa being 14 games up in the AAA standings, their magic number is 9 and would get their players back before the playoffs started.  

Until next time, go out and root on your Bags as their quest for their first playoff spot could come to and end this month!!

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Shore July 2015 In Review

July was a successful month for Jersey who compiled a 15-8 record in the game shortened month causes by the All Star break.  The stars showed up to shine and the Bags will start August with a 4.5 game lead in the Wild Card race over the Austin River Sharks.  It's an odd place for Jersey who usually finds itself chasing other teams at this point and not holding any sort of lead.

Players of the Month

2B Mike "The MACHINE" Bryant: .385/.431/.703 8 HR 30 RBI 22 R.  Why not start off with the CL Player of the Month?  Bryant won the award for the 2nd time in his career for the month of July, he also won it July of 2014 as well.  Bryant had 12 multi hit games, 9 multi RBI games, including having 4 RBI on 3 separate occasions.  He started at 2B for the CL All Star team earlier in the month and has put himself back into the midst of MVP talks for the 2nd year in a row.

1B Matt "Down Home" Doyle: .357/.421/.667 8 HR 30 RBI.  Doyle joined Bryant to create quite the 2 some for the month.  He was also selected as a reserve for the All Star game and matched Bryant's HR and RBI totals.  The combined 16 HR and 60 RBI in 23 games is an incredible amount.  It was Doyle's 2nd 8 HR and 30 RBI month of the season, the other coming in May.  He currently sits 2nd in the league in HR and leads the league in RBI, also he was the first BSA player to reach 100 RBI on the season.

3B Adam Morrow: .323/.405 31 H 13BB 16R.  Super rookie continues to impress as he had his 3rd 30 hit month of the season.  Leading off most games he ranks in the Top 10 in the CL in hits and runs.  He has put himself right in the thick of things in a crowded CL ROY conversation as well.

SP Jerry Burgess: 4-0  2.70 ERA  28K/4BB  0.90 WHIP.  The new acquisition dazzled winning all 4 starts after coming over from El Paso.  His 4 wins were more than he had in 3 months with El Paso and his first month with less than double digit walks.  Apparently the bats like when he is on the month as well, in his 4 starts they scored:  11, 14, 13 and 15 runs in his starts. 

SP Art Ellis: 3-0  2.01 ERA  1.12 WHIP  26K/6BB.  Ellis continued his torrid first season with the Bags and is making a run at Dan Macias's team record for ERA which he set last year at 2.82.  After his last July start he sits at 2.44.  Ellis was selected to the All Star for the 2nd time this month and his first time since the 2011 season.

MR Jaime "Mungo" Saenz: 2-0  1.35 ERA   0.75 WHIP 16K.  After a rough start to the season in April for Mungo, he finished July as the 3rd month in a row with an ERA sub 2.00.  The hard throwing lefty is having a bounce back season after a "down" 2014.  This marks the 2nd year in a row he has registered 9 wins, he currently sits at 9-0.

CL Daniel Morris:  1-0  6 Saves  1.08 ERA  0.96 WHIP.  Morris had been having the exact opposite of what a contract season should be, but July he finally looked like the Morris of old.  2015 marked the 2nd year in a row Morris was left off the CL All Star team after a streak of making the team 3 years in a row.

Roster Questions, Changes and Answers

Leon Foster still has 3 weeks left on the DL and we won't see him probably until late August or September.  Scott Powers suffered a Knee contusion on 7/23 and will miss 3 weeks with the injury.  With him being out of the lineup it gave more AB's to Sergio Rodriguez and Taro Kino in the OF. Sergio had 60 AB in July and hit .300 with 2 HR.  

Jose Gomes was also injured on 7/30 with some shoulder tendonitis and is set to miss 3 weeks.  In his absence the Bags added Takafumi Ogusuku, the Japanese native to the 40 man roster and the active roster.  In one game in July he gave up 3 ER in 2.1 IP vs San Fransisco.  At only 19 years old he rose quickly through the Bags system to make it to the big club.

Edgardo Gonzales, Aaron Bailey and Tim Duncan continue to impress in AAA Tuscaloosa for the Bags but right now there just isn't any room for any bats.  Look for one or all 3 of them to get September callups to see what they can do for the big club, especially if the Bags start to pull away in the WC race. 

GO D-BAGS 

Jersey Shore May 2015 in Review

May 2015 is in the books and your D-bags remain one of the streakiest teams in all of the BSA.  This might be the streakiest month though we have ever seen.  The D-Bags opened the month with high hopes with a tough schedule coming up and in the next 2 weeks managed to have the worst stretch in the team's history going 2-12.  This stretch included 6 1-run losses and bad play all around.  Losing much ground in the division and WC race, the Bags finish the month on a 13-1 run, which included closing out May on an 11 game winning streak.  What gives? What is going on?  Who knows, but here's the month in review.

Players of the Month

SP Rob Goodship 3-0 1.54 ERA 36K's 0.94 WHIP.  With Macias and Ellis on the staff who would have picked Goodship to be the best pitcher through the first 2 months?  He dominated this month giving up 6 ER total while ending the month with 22 straight scoreless innings.

MR Jaime "Mungo" Saenz 2-0 1.62 ERA 23K/2BB in 16.2 IP.  In a month where the bullpen got demolished in the first half of the season Mungo thrived.  Averaging almost 1.5K per inning he allowed the opposition to hit at a .182 clip and led the shaky bullpen.

1B Matt Doyle .299/.362/.335  8HR 34RBI 24R.  After a relatively slow start in April Doyle busted out in May.  Averaging more than a hit and RBI per game he led the offense in hits, HR, RBI and runs.  This is what to expect out of your MVP candidate and 2nd year superstar.

2B Mike Bryant .300/.371/.500 4HR 25RBI 22R.  When Bryant and Doyle hit the D-Bags thrive.  The two combined to knock in 59 runs in 28 games.  Bryant also added 8 2B and 3SB for the month.  He continues to show that his runner up for MVP last season wasn't a fluke.

3B Adam Morrow .317/.450 33H 25BB 22R.  This rookie continued to flourish hitting mainly out of the 2 hole.  His OBP of .450 is a godsend for the big boys behind him and had his 2nd straight 30 hit month.  The early talks of ROY hold merit, the kid can ball.  Won BSA CL Rookie of the Month for May.

RF Peter Larson .300/.463  82B 26BB.  Larson has such a good eye that he averaged 1BB shy of 1 per game.  When his bat is going an OBP of over 450 is never out of the question.  When Larson and Morrow both have a cominbed OBP over 450 is anyone surprised Doyle drove in 34 runs for the month?  He is the catalyst of this offense. 

Roster Questions, Changes and Answers

Thus far ::knock on wood::: the Bags have been injury free.  This creates little room for call ups and ABs for other players. We did see Rule V pick Jose Ortiz return from the DL after his spring training injury and hit 3-14 in limited action.  The Bags would like to see him get more AB's against RHP.  Super prospect CF Tim Duncan got a call up after the Bags struggled so much against LHP early in the season. Duncan who had been tearing the cover off of the ball in AAA pitching for the past 2 years had little success managing 8 hits in 37 ABs in 9 games getting 1 XBH hits and stealing no bases.  The 5th OF position has been a carousel looking for someone to take charge.

OF Taro Kino ripped up in AAA pitching as well with 11 HR hitting .404 with a .500 OBP, look for him to possibly get some BSA AB's this upcoming month.  Also we could see 3B Alberto Perez sometime soon, even though I'm not sure Jersey has a spot for him.  He had an astonishing 45 hits in just 27 games in AAA and is on pace for a monster season.  The 27 year old lost the battle to Adam Morrow in ST, but with the struggles of SS Marvin Taylor and 2B/SS/3B Antonio Ruiz, we could see Perez sooner than later.  

As the Bags end the month on an 11 game win streak all we can think is June plans on being another streaky one!  Let's hope the Bags can stay close in the division and WC so that elusive first playoff berth hopes will still be alive down the stretch!

GO D-BAGS!

Prospect Lookback and Breakdown - Tim Duncan

Our 3rd prospect write up will focus on 25 year old OF Tim Duncan.  Previous breakdowns were on players Matt Doyle and Adam Morrow. 


Duncan came to the Jersey Shore organization on June 20th of this year in the deal that sent Jerry Paige to LA and Peter Larson back to Jersey.  Duncan was considered by most to be the most coveted prospect in the handful that came over with Larson.  He was named the 12th best prospect in the BSA on April 1st by the OSA Scouts. 


Duncan was a highly coveted High School prospect coming from Santa Clarita, California.  At the time he was considered a 5-tool can't miss prospect and finally committed to the University of Notre Dame and joined the team in the summer of 2007 as a 18 year old.  He started immediately and right off the bat showed what he could do.  His Freshman year he hit .311/.400/.621 with 13 HR, 37 RBI, 14 2B and 6 SB.  He was consistant throughout the next 4 years.  Duncan was one of those rare early players who was allowed to play 5 years of college ball before turning pro due to age restrictions.  His best year was as a senior.  He was limited to only 30 games due to a fractured foot, but ended up hitting .395/.485/.754 with 8 HR, 25 RBI.  He ended his college career as a .336 hitter, 49HR, 149 RBI, while adding 50 SB and having almost a 1:1 BB/K ratio his last seasons.


He was projected to go in the first round of almost every projection you could find, and the scouts weren't wrong.  The Vista Panthers selected Duncan 8th overall in the 2011 amateur draft.  On April 1st the following year he was named the 10th best prospect in baseball and was assigned to Vista's A ball affiliate Chula Vista where he would hit .246 with 13 HR.  He missed the last 2 months of the season after suffering a broken kneecap in an ugly plat at the plate.


In 2013 he was named the 65th best prospect in the BSA and promoted to AA San Diego. He was hitting .258 with 11 HR when he was part of a trade that sent him to the LA Bruins organization.  You might know of that trade that sent the uber talented Joe Cameron to LA in exchange for "No Hands" Brown and prospects.  LA immediately sent him to AAA Las Vegas where he finished with a combined 21 HR, 21 SB and a .273 BA. 


2014 started and he was again ranked on the scouts list for prospects as they named him the 12th best prospect in the game.  It was this year where we finally got to see the speed we had always heard about.  In 64 games for Vegas he stole 20 of 27 bags safely, added 19 doubles and 2 triples while hitting 6 HR.  On June 20th he was traded for the 2nd time in his career.  He was traded to the D-Bags of Jersey Shore with others in exchange for SP Jerry Paige.  He was assigned to Tuscaloosa and flourished in the hitter friendly stadium.  Since the time of the trade he has "raked."  Hitting a scorching .345, bashing 13 HR, driving in 62 runs, hitting 30 doubles, and they have allowed him to run wild.  He has attempted 32 steals and has been successful 28 times, for an 88% success rate.  Between the two teams he has set career highs across the board.


He will probably not get a shot as this season as there is only a week left of regular baseball left.  With normal CF Scott Powers in the last year of his deal next season, Duncan very well might be the future CF of the D-Bags.  Scott Turner, head scout for the D-Bags, said he projects to be a .310 hitter as well as he has some raw power.  He also added he is very popular in the clubhouse and there is really a lot to like here.  Since being with the D-Bags he won the ITL player of the week as well as the batter of the month for the month of July, just last week he added the first cycle of his career.  He has stated he is excited to be part of this club and is looking forward to hitting with Mike Bryant, Antonio Ruiz and Matt Doyle and learning whatever tips he can from them.  Keep an eye on this kid, he very well could be leading off for this team very soon.