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 - May 2013

After a quick start in April for the usual slow starting D-Bags, was it any surprise that May brought struggles?  The D-Bags had their first losing month after tallying 5 winning months in a row and finished May with a 13-15 record, putting their overall record at 31-25 for the season.  The month all started by placing 2 starters on the DL, something they skirted by through April without having to do.  After winning a POTM award in April spark-plug Marvin Taylor missed the majority of the month, as well as 3B Parker Morrow with injuries sustained in the same game.  Later in the month OF speedster Bill Welshman who surprised everyone with a quick start tore a rib cage muscle and will return sometime in August. 

Players of the Month:

SP Jose Reyes: 3-3, 2.19 ERA, 0.95 WHIP.  Reyes returns to the POTM section for a 2nd straight year after a strong month in May.  His record was not stellar but that's more of the offensive problems than his, as he threw 5 Quality Starts and 2 of his 3 losses he gave up 3 and 1 ER respectively.  He averaged 8 innings per start and threw 2 complete games and added a shutout in for month.

MR Lucio Tapia:  1-0, 1.08 ERA, 1.20 WHIP. Tapia was stellar out of the bullpen for the D-Bags in May.  He pitched in 13 games, averaging over 12K/9 racking the highest WAR for pitchers on the team at 1.7.  The 28 year old who struggled with an ERA over 5 in 51 games last year seems to have found his stride posting a sub 2.00 ERA throughout the first 2 months of this young season.

C Luis Antonio Duran: 7 HR, 17 RBI, .291/.364/.595. 2 months into the season and Jersey has it's 2nd catcher on the POTM list.  After a very poor ST, Duran popped onto the screen in May co-leading the team in HR, which included a stretch of 4 HR in 4 games in mid-May.  He mainly saw time at DH while regular catcher Jorge Lozano did the catching, but look for these two to trade off during the season.

2B Antonio Ruiz: 2 HR, 14RBI, .306 BA, 18 R.  After a subpar rookie season and an underwhelming April, Ruiz finally showed a little of what scouts having been talking about for years with this 25 year old.  He mainly saw time at 1, and hit for some power, average and even speed with 3 2B and 2 3B.  Through May he is hitting around .300 and is taking more and more AB's away from 1B Milliard Cross, and I wouldn't expect that trend to stop anytime soon.

RF/CF Leon Foster:  7 HR, 22 RBI.  2nd month on the team, 2nd POTM award.  Foster again showed why the Bags traded for him bashing 7 HR for the 2nd straight month.  That was encouraging, but what really has management happy is the fact he also led the team in BB with 17.   He is on pace to almost double the walks he had last season and get back to what that OBP was looking like in 2011.  As of the last day of May, he is on pace to shatter the D-Bags HR record which right now stands at 30 by William Hinson in 2011.

Roster Changes, Questions and Answers:

With the injuries that happened we got to see some new faces in May.  Fred Ross returned from the DL he sustained in ST and went 0-11 for the month.  Super prospect Mike Bryant was called up and received 45 AB in May and struggled, hitting 1 HR and 5 RBI, but slumping to a .222 BA mark.  The scouts think he is ready for the pros, but might need some playing time to work out the nerves and kinks.  Also making their Major League debut in May was OF Sergio Rodriguez.  The 25 year old only appeared in 4 games gaining 3 hits in 12 AB, and was recalled to AAA when Michael Paul returned to action.

On the pitching front, Alex Torrez after a horrid April start, started 1 game in May and was lit up.  He was pulled from the rotation and replaced with Greg Schaefer from AAA who didn't fare much better compiling a 5.40 ERA in 5 starts.  Torrez went on to clear waivers but refused his assignment to get back on track in AAA.  At the end of May he hadn't pitched anywhere and his status for the remained of the season was up in the air.

It's been hinted a lot that if Schaefer can't find success at the ML level he will come back to AAA and we will see the debut of top pitching prospect Jerry Paige.  Through May Paige has a 5-0 record and a 2.96 ERA in AAA Tuscaloosa. 

May saw 7 1-run losses as the offense struggled to push runs across the board.  10 times of 28 they scored 3 runs or less and were shutout 3 times during the month which ended 1-0, 1-0, 2-0.  3 great efforts by the pitching staff wasted.

While the schedule doesn't look easy in June, a winning record should be obtainable.  The obstacles will be a 3 game set @Boston followed by a 3 game home stand with Hendersonville with a 6 game road trip at the end of the month to the seemingly out of nowhere red hot Regina and ending with division rival Pittsburgh.

GO D-BAGS!

Jersey Shore - September 2012

Even though with the end of September we saw our D-Bags fall short of their first playoff spot, we did see another good month in September.  After a rocky start the D-Bags went on a middle of the month run and finished up with a 16-11 record for the month.  This marked their 4th straight winning month and in those months they played at a clip of .630.  If they would have played that well in April and May this team would have won 102 games.  Disappointing end to a magical run, but encouraging moving forward.

Players of the Month:

SP Jose Reyes: 3-2, 1.75 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 30 K's.  The season will be marred with "what-if's" for Reyes.  After suffering an injury last season which kept him out until the middle of June he rejoined the rotation and was the staff's best pitcher.  After 3 sub-par starts at the end of August, Reyes re found the magic in September winning 3 of his 5 starts and lasting into the 7th inning 4 times out of 5 tries.  A little more run support and help from the bullpen and he could have been 5-0.  Regardless he is a big reason that Jersey came so close this year to their first playoff berth.

MR Ciro Roghi: 1-0, 1.08 ERA, 8.1 IP.  Though 8 innings in a month is a small sample size, 1 ER in relief for the month is why he has a role on this team. Roghi finished up a fabulous rookie year with 2nd straight POTM award.  He allowed 1 ER in his last 17.2 IP.  Look for this lefty to be a staple in the pen for years to come.

MR Alonso Jiminez: 0.00 ERA, 9 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 7 K:  Where did this kid come from??  Jiminez was Jersey's 2010 3rd round draft pick out of Michigan, and just two years later he was an intricate piece of the D-Bags late season bullpen.  He started the year dominating AA ball, moved to AAA Tuscaloosa posting big numbers and earned a September call up.  He racked up a 5.5 VORP in just 9 outings and it's looking like he could add to Jersey's already lethal bullpen.

3B Parker Morrow: .326/.391/.484. 4 HR, 13 RBI, 16 R, 2 SB.  Morrow capped his best season as a D-Bag with his 2nd best month and 2nd POTM award of the 2012 season.  This month included 7 multi-hit games including 4 with at least 3 hits.  He also had his first multi-HR game of the season on the 4th against Regina.  Morrow also picked up his 1000th VBL6 hit this month.  He finished the season with 1037 hits and only turns 28 this upcoming January.

LF Mason Bonniface: .313/.451/.438.  1 HR, 10 RBI, 18 BB.  Yes, that's right his OBP was higher than his SLG in the month of Sept. Bonniface's bat regressed this year and he had his worst season since his rookie year as a pro, but clogged the basepaths all month long.  Became the 25th player in league history to draw at least 104 BB's in a season.  Really bounced back after the beginning of the season saw him moved down in the lineup and had people questioning his talent.

2B Fred Ross: .378/.489/.595.  8 RBI, 9 BB, 1K, 4 SB.  Sure this screams small sample size considering he only played in 12 games, but filled a much needed void.  After trading 2B Nunez at the trade deadline to make way for uber prospect Antonio Ruiz, Ross was the fill in if needed and PR.  Antionio Ruiz gets injured and thrusted Ross into the starting position where he couldn't have done much better.  He hit the cover off the ball, hitting in 11 of the 12 games he played in Sept, and scoring in 7 of the 12. 

Roster Changes, Questions and Answers:

As always in September we see different new faces, some make a difference and some do not.  Alonso Jiminez stepped up from AAA to dominate out of the pen.  The loss of Antonio Ruiz allowed Fred Ross to step off and hit the cover off the ball.  Alex Torrez suffered a season ending injury mid-month and Rob Goodship jumped in to make two spot starts against Greenville and pitched brilliantly.  The kind of pitching that this team's front office thinks he can do in the future.

As always when a season ends means roster changes.  The team as a whole has 4 players whose contracts are ending and another 8 players who will be arbitration eligible when the season is over.  It will raise some interesting questions the team must make, especially considering the amount of talent this club has waiting in AAA this season.  This will be talked more in depth in the first off season report.  This wraps up the last monthly report for the 2012 season.  Look for our season in review report which will be out next month.

GO D-BAGS

Do or Die

September baseball for the Jersey Shore D-Bags has customarily involved seeing a lot of new faces in lineup and the younger players getting their so-called "cup of coffee" after the team had fallen out of the playoff race.  Welcome to exciting September baseball Jersey fans!  After the hottest month of baseball in Jersey history which saw our D-Bags erase a 10 game deficit in the division, September didn't start nearly as hot.  The 2nd week saw Jersey drop 4 of 5 making their big August run seem like merely a tease.  This was until this last week when Jersey took 3 of 4 from division foe Greenville and followed that with a 3-game sweep of Madison to position themselves closer a playoff spot than they have been all season.  

With 6 games apiece left in this 2012 season the Dent division has a 2-way tie for first place.  The Greenville 84's and the Pittsburgh Pirates are deadlocked with an 88-68 record.  Your Jersey Shore D-Bags sit one game behind them both with a 87-69 record.  The Wild Card Standings look exactly the same but add in the Oklahoma Droogies and their 87-68 record and you have 4 teams, 1  game apart vying for 2 playoff spots.  2 will move on, 2 will be left in the dust.  

The last week schedules look like this:

Greenville: JER, JER, JER, @MAD, @MAD, @MAD

Pittsburgh: @HAD, @HAD, @HAD, WHI, WHI, WHI

JerseyShore: @GRN, @GRN, @GRN, DNV, DNV, DNV

Oklahoma: @WHI, @WHI, @WHI, HAD, HAD, HAD, HAD

At first glance, the obvious series is the 3 game set between Jersey and Greenville.  A sweep either way will more than likely eliminate one of these teams.  A 2-1 win for Jersey would put them in a virtual deadlock with 4 games to play, this will be an interesting series, especially considering Jersey just took 3 of 4 from the 84's.  It will be a nerve racking week for 4 owners this week as Pocatello and Regina sit back and await who their first round matchups will be.  Even though Pocatello is the only TL team that has clinched, they still sit 2 games behind Pit/Grn for the 2nd playoff seed.  Regina has the 1 seed locked up. 

NEWS AND NOTES

In Jersey's current 5 game win streak, the bullpen allowed 0 ER in 10 IP.  The tentative pitching schedule for the D-Bags for their last 6 games would be Brito, Goodship, Bourg, Reyes, Hernandez and then with Brito getting the ball on the last day of the season.  Brito and Reyes have been the two best starters as of late, giving up 5 ER between the 2 of them in their combined last 6 starts.  Jersey has already set their franchise record for wins with 87, their previous high being 85 in 2010.  1B Derrick Wright was called up after his monster year in AAA and proceeded to get a single in his first VBL6 AB. David Pena needs 2 HR's to tie William Hinson for most HR's in a season by a D-Bag with 30.  Jose Brito could set a Jersey Shore record for wins in a season at 15, if he can win both of his starts.  Mason Bonniface became the only D-Bag ever to walk 100+ times in a season.  Parker Morrow became only the 11th player in VBL6 to record 1000 career hits earlier this month.

GO D-BAGS

Sneaking Up

Our last update saw your beloved D-Bags sitting at .500 since the first time since the opening weeks of the season.  Over the past 9 games, they have treated us to some of the best baseball they have played all year, going 7-2 and climbing to 5 games over .500 for the best mark of the 2012 season.  With the recent surge they have snuck up to 5.5 games behind Wild Card leader and division foe Greenville, and 4.5 games back of Oklahoma.  

Over those last 9 games, the offense is averaging 5.8 runs per game, which is almost a run above their season average, but it hasn't been the offense that has been winning them games, for the first time in awhile we can, it has been the pitching.  In 8 of the last 9 games played the starter has made it at least through 7 innings, and only once gave up more than 4 runs.  That includes 2 excellent starts and wins from Jose Brito, while Jose Reyes has ran his undefeated streak to 9 starts.  The bullpen has been good, though they were responsible for one of the two losses.  They have given up 5 ER over the 9 game span.

On the offensive side of things, it has been a complete team effort.  Not just one person has stepped up to carry the team.  In 9 games, 10 different players have multi-hit games.  This includes Antonio Ruiz having a two triple game, Ik-jun Ye's muti HR game, Mario Ramirez's re-found swing and Milliard Cross's excellent play since being recalled from AAA to replace the recently traded Juan Garcia.  

As good as the D-Bags have been playing, they are running out of time to make a run.  Only 39 games remain, and while it might seem like a good number of games, being 5.5 games out is a tough number to make up.  Their 11-5 record for the month has gained them exactly 1.5 games in the WC standings.  The up coming 2 weeks will not be easy and will tell the fate of this team.  Tomorrow they start a 4 game series AT division leading Pittsburgh, who has won 6 games in a row.  Pittsburgh holds the series edge at 6-5 right now.  Immediately after that they travel to Oklahoma, who sits in front of Jersey in the WC by 4.5 games, for a 3 game set.  The D-Bags hold the series edge 4-2. An off day, then Pittsburgh comes to Jersey for a quick 2 game set before the Bags head to Madison for a 3 game set to the end the month.  Madison and Jersey are currently tied with a 64-59 record.  12 games against teams over .500.  It will be a very telling next 2 weeks!

GO D-BAGS!