The ride here has been anything except boring for the boys of the Jersey Shore D-Bags. After leading the CL East for most of the season, it took winning 5 of their last 7 games, including a sweep of Greenville just to reach a 1 game playoff for the 84's. Late home runs by Boyd and Doyle lifted the Bags to their 1st division title in 6 years and a chance to host Pocatello, a team in the playoffs for the 1st time in 15 years, in the division round.
Jersey Shore quickly found themselves down 3-1 in the series with Boccabellas facing elimination on the road. But the team wouldn't let that happen. An 8-2 win fueled by 12 hits and a gritty 6 inning outing by Sergio Martinez on 3-day's rest sent the D-Bags back home, where they had to win both games, including beating the reigning 3-time Cy Young award winner Kevin Bush. Cristobal Santos would match Bush for 7 innings before handing things off the bullpen and a walk-off RBI double from Pat Zimmerman off of All-Star closer Adrian Martinez would send us to Game 7. Call it a high, momentum or just plain confidence but Jersey Shore would dominate Game 7, led by Roland Martin's 7 shutout innings and emerging star catcher Luis Rios with 3 hits out of the 9 hole as well seldom used 4th outfielder Wilson Martinez who doubled twice and knocked in 2 runs. A final score of 8 to nothing couldn't even be celebrated as the D-Bags loaded up and flew to Springfield that same night to face the Stars in Game 1 of the CLCS the very next day.
The Stars finished with the best record in the CL as well as best record in team history at 111-51. It was the Springfield's franchise 1st playoff appearance since 2011 when they were known as the Kansas City Cougars. That 2011 team was led by some names you might have heard of. They include the great Jean-Thomas Francoeur, John Garrett and John Crowe. The 2026 Stars might not have the HOF names yet, but they are loaded with talent. Trotting out the most productive outfield the BSA has ever seen in Derek Davidson, Calvin Bennett and Felipe Guerrero. Trotting out other bats that include Elliot Newell and Juan Rodriguez, the Stars led the BSA in runs with 1006. They became just the 2nd CL team in history to cross the 1000 run threshold, as the only other team to do so were the 2022 Greenville 84's. BTW....the 2022 Springfield Stars? A CL record of just 555 runs scored. What a difference 5 seasons can make.
The Stars strolled into the postseason with the #1 seed and looked part in beating the powerhouse Greenville team by scoring 28 runs in 5 games and finishing off the 84's with a shutout in a Game 5, 3-0 win on the road. They would get 3 days off to rest before Jersey Shore would come to town for the CLCS. Maybe the off days got them out of a rhythm or a funk, but the offense never came for the Stars. Jersey would take the first two games of the series in Springfield. Game 1 a close 4-3 contest, as the D-Bag bats put up 4 runs on Kyu-Pyeong Pak with the go ahead runs coming in the 6th inning off of the bat of Pat Zimmerman by way of a 2-run HR. Game 2 saw a slugfest in the 1st 3 innings, as Jersey came out in the 4th inning up 6-5. Jesse Green would pitch out of trouble multiple times in the next 3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen who tossed 3 nearly perfect innings leading to a 7-5 Jersey win to take a firm grip on the series, which was heading to Jersey Shore for the next 3 games.
Game 3 saw an early rain delay knock both starters out before the 6th inning while the Stars took advantage of 2 Jersey errors for 3 unearned runs. The score of 4-3 after 4 innings wouldn't change as both bullpens were dynamite. The bullpens combined for to throw 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 6 strikeouts. Springfield would avoid going down 3-0 and breathed new life going into Game 4. The Stars would send Pak back to the mound and would face Roland Martin, the Jersey ace for the 1st time in the series. Pak would go on to toss a gem, allowing just 2 singles in 7 shutout innings and would get help with a 3 run 3rd inning fueled by a Derek Davidson 2-run HR as the Stars would go onto win the game 4-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece. The pressure would move to Game 5 with the winner getting a clear cut 3-2 advantage. We would see Sergio Martinez take on Long Haul Lopez. The Bags would get the scoring started right away with home runs by Boyd and Doyle in the 1st innings as well as a solo HR by Serna in the 4th. The Stars would cut into the 4-0 in the 7th with back to back homers from Davidson and Guerrero, but give them right back in the bottom half with a 2-RBI double from Doyle. Davidson would again homer in the 8th, but the Stars just started scoring too late and the boys from Jersey would win the contest 7-4 and go back to Springfield with the series lead.
With the series on the line, Springfield would go to Game 5 hero of the CLDS Hyo-Chin Ch'oe to try and send this series to a deciding Game 7. Cristobal Santos would take the mound on 3 days rest for Jersey. It was smooth sailing for both pitchers through 2 innings until Jersey would appease the hometown crowd with 4, third inning runs coming off the bats of Dodd and Doyle. The Bags would add 2 more runs in the 4th to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ch'oe would be knocked out in the 5th inning, but that didn't stop the D-Bags from adding on runs. After 6 innings, the lead was 10-2 and would stay like that. Springfield would load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but would fail to score. With the Irvine-Baffin Island series still going on, Jersey Shore would finally get to celebrate the victory with cases of champagne in their own clubhouse taking their 1st CL Pennant since the 2022 team did.
Now comes Irvine. The wire-to-wire best team in the BSA all season long. The team with the best staff in the league. Their 477 runs given up rank 2nd all time, only behind the epic staff of the 2015 Hendersonville Hitmen. Their ace Masutaro with a historic 13.8 WAR season which shattered Scott Hill's previous record. They led the NL in OBP and finished 3rd in runs scored. The BSA will have a new champion this year. Either way, I think we are in for a great series. Congrats Larry and good luck!
GO D-BAGS
Showing posts with label Doyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doyle. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2016
Jersey Shore Ousts Pocatello and Springfield to Reach 4th World Series
The ride here has been anything except boring for the boys of the Jersey Shore D-Bags. After leading the CL East for most of the season, it took winning 5 of their last 7 games, including a sweep of Greenville just to reach a 1 game playoff for the 84's. Late home runs by Boyd and Doyle lifted the Bags to their 1st division title in 6 years and a chance to host Pocatello, a team in the playoffs for the 1st time in 15 years, in the division round.
Jersey Shore quickly found themselves down 3-1 in the series with Boccabellas facing elimination on the road. But the team wouldn't let that happen. An 8-2 win fueled by 12 hits and a gritty 6 inning outing by Sergio Martinez on 3-day's rest sent the D-Bags back home, where they had to win both games, including beating the reigning 3-time Cy Young award winner Kevin Bush. Cristobal Santos would match Bush for 7 innings before handing things off the bullpen and a walk-off RBI double from Pat Zimmerman off of All-Star closer Adrian Martinez would send us to Game 7. Call it a high, momentum or just plain confidence but Jersey Shore would dominate Game 7, led by Roland Martin's 7 shutout innings and emerging star catcher Luis Rios with 3 hits out of the 9 hole as well seldom used 4th outfielder Wilson Martinez who doubled twice and knocked in 2 runs. A final score of 8 to nothing couldn't even be celebrated as the D-Bags loaded up and flew to Springfield that same night to face the Stars in Game 1 of the CLCS the very next day.
The Stars finished with the best record in the CL as well as best record in team history at 111-51. It was the Springfield's franchise 1st playoff appearance since 2011 when they were known as the Kansas City Cougars. That 2011 team was led by some names you might have heard of. They include the great Jean-Thomas Francoeur, John Garrett and John Crowe. The 2026 Stars might not have the HOF names yet, but they are loaded with talent. Trotting out the most productive outfield the BSA has ever seen in Derek Davidson, Calvin Bennett and Felipe Guerrero. Trotting out other bats that include Elliot Newell and Juan Rodriguez, the Stars led the BSA in runs with 1006. They became just the 2nd CL team in history to cross the 1000 run threshold, as the only other team to do so were the 2022 Greenville 84's. BTW....the 2022 Springfield Stars? A CL record of just 555 runs scored. What a difference 5 seasons can make.
The Stars strolled into the postseason with the #1 seed and looked part in beating the powerhouse Greenville team by scoring 28 runs in 5 games and finishing off the 84's with a shutout in a Game 5, 3-0 win on the road. They would get 3 days off to rest before Jersey Shore would come to town for the CLCS. Maybe the off days got them out of a rhythm or a funk, but the offense never came for the Stars. Jersey would take the first two games of the series in Springfield. Game 1 a close 4-3 contest, as the D-Bag bats put up 4 runs on Kyu-Pyeong Pak with the go ahead runs coming in the 6th inning off of the bat of Pat Zimmerman by way of a 2-run HR. Game 2 saw a slugfest in the 1st 3 innings, as Jersey came out in the 4th inning up 6-5. Jesse Green would pitch out of trouble multiple times in the next 3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen who tossed 3 nearly perfect innings leading to a 7-5 Jersey win to take a firm grip on the series, which was heading to Jersey Shore for the next 3 games.
Game 3 saw an early rain delay knock both starters out before the 6th inning while the Stars took advantage of 2 Jersey errors for 3 unearned runs. The score of 4-3 after 4 innings wouldn't change as both bullpens were dynamite. The bullpens combined for to throw 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 6 strikeouts. Springfield would avoid going down 3-0 and breathed new life going into Game 4. The Stars would send Pak back to the mound and would face Roland Martin, the Jersey ace for the 1st time in the series. Pak would go on to toss a gem, allowing just 2 singles in 7 shutout innings and would get help with a 3 run 3rd inning fueled by a Derek Davidson 2-run HR as the Stars would go onto win the game 4-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece. The pressure would move to Game 5 with the winner getting a clear cut 3-2 advantage. We would see Sergio Martinez take on Long Haul Lopez. The Bags would get the scoring started right away with home runs by Boyd and Doyle in the 1st innings as well as a solo HR by Serna in the 4th. The Stars would cut into the 4-0 in the 7th with back to back homers from Davidson and Guerrero, but give them right back in the bottom half with a 2-RBI double from Doyle. Davidson would again homer in the 8th, but the Stars just started scoring too late and the boys from Jersey would win the contest 7-4 and go back to Springfield with the series lead.
With the series on the line, Springfield would go to Game 5 hero of the CLDS Hyo-Chin Ch'oe to try and send this series to a deciding Game 7. Cristobal Santos would take the mound on 3 days rest for Jersey. It was smooth sailing for both pitchers through 2 innings until Jersey would appease the hometown crowd with 4, third inning runs coming off the bats of Dodd and Doyle. The Bags would add 2 more runs in the 4th to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ch'oe would be knocked out in the 5th inning, but that didn't stop the D-Bags from adding on runs. After 6 innings, the lead was 10-2 and would stay like that. Springfield would load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but would fail to score. With the Irvine-Baffin Island series still going on, Jersey Shore would finally get to celebrate the victory with cases of champagne in their own clubhouse taking their 1st CL Pennant since the 2022 team did.
Now comes Irvine. The wire-to-wire best team in the BSA all season long. The team with the best staff in the league. Their 477 runs given up rank 2nd all time, only behind the epic staff of the 2015 Hendersonville Hitmen. Their ace Masutaro with a historic 13.8 WAR season which shattered Scott Hill's previous record. They led the NL in OBP and finished 3rd in runs scored. The BSA will have a new champion this year. Either way, I think we are in for a great series. Congrats Larry and good luck!
GO D-BAGS
Jersey Shore quickly found themselves down 3-1 in the series with Boccabellas facing elimination on the road. But the team wouldn't let that happen. An 8-2 win fueled by 12 hits and a gritty 6 inning outing by Sergio Martinez on 3-day's rest sent the D-Bags back home, where they had to win both games, including beating the reigning 3-time Cy Young award winner Kevin Bush. Cristobal Santos would match Bush for 7 innings before handing things off the bullpen and a walk-off RBI double from Pat Zimmerman off of All-Star closer Adrian Martinez would send us to Game 7. Call it a high, momentum or just plain confidence but Jersey Shore would dominate Game 7, led by Roland Martin's 7 shutout innings and emerging star catcher Luis Rios with 3 hits out of the 9 hole as well seldom used 4th outfielder Wilson Martinez who doubled twice and knocked in 2 runs. A final score of 8 to nothing couldn't even be celebrated as the D-Bags loaded up and flew to Springfield that same night to face the Stars in Game 1 of the CLCS the very next day.
The Stars finished with the best record in the CL as well as best record in team history at 111-51. It was the Springfield's franchise 1st playoff appearance since 2011 when they were known as the Kansas City Cougars. That 2011 team was led by some names you might have heard of. They include the great Jean-Thomas Francoeur, John Garrett and John Crowe. The 2026 Stars might not have the HOF names yet, but they are loaded with talent. Trotting out the most productive outfield the BSA has ever seen in Derek Davidson, Calvin Bennett and Felipe Guerrero. Trotting out other bats that include Elliot Newell and Juan Rodriguez, the Stars led the BSA in runs with 1006. They became just the 2nd CL team in history to cross the 1000 run threshold, as the only other team to do so were the 2022 Greenville 84's. BTW....the 2022 Springfield Stars? A CL record of just 555 runs scored. What a difference 5 seasons can make.
The Stars strolled into the postseason with the #1 seed and looked part in beating the powerhouse Greenville team by scoring 28 runs in 5 games and finishing off the 84's with a shutout in a Game 5, 3-0 win on the road. They would get 3 days off to rest before Jersey Shore would come to town for the CLCS. Maybe the off days got them out of a rhythm or a funk, but the offense never came for the Stars. Jersey would take the first two games of the series in Springfield. Game 1 a close 4-3 contest, as the D-Bag bats put up 4 runs on Kyu-Pyeong Pak with the go ahead runs coming in the 6th inning off of the bat of Pat Zimmerman by way of a 2-run HR. Game 2 saw a slugfest in the 1st 3 innings, as Jersey came out in the 4th inning up 6-5. Jesse Green would pitch out of trouble multiple times in the next 3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen who tossed 3 nearly perfect innings leading to a 7-5 Jersey win to take a firm grip on the series, which was heading to Jersey Shore for the next 3 games.
Game 3 saw an early rain delay knock both starters out before the 6th inning while the Stars took advantage of 2 Jersey errors for 3 unearned runs. The score of 4-3 after 4 innings wouldn't change as both bullpens were dynamite. The bullpens combined for to throw 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 6 strikeouts. Springfield would avoid going down 3-0 and breathed new life going into Game 4. The Stars would send Pak back to the mound and would face Roland Martin, the Jersey ace for the 1st time in the series. Pak would go on to toss a gem, allowing just 2 singles in 7 shutout innings and would get help with a 3 run 3rd inning fueled by a Derek Davidson 2-run HR as the Stars would go onto win the game 4-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece. The pressure would move to Game 5 with the winner getting a clear cut 3-2 advantage. We would see Sergio Martinez take on Long Haul Lopez. The Bags would get the scoring started right away with home runs by Boyd and Doyle in the 1st innings as well as a solo HR by Serna in the 4th. The Stars would cut into the 4-0 in the 7th with back to back homers from Davidson and Guerrero, but give them right back in the bottom half with a 2-RBI double from Doyle. Davidson would again homer in the 8th, but the Stars just started scoring too late and the boys from Jersey would win the contest 7-4 and go back to Springfield with the series lead.
With the series on the line, Springfield would go to Game 5 hero of the CLDS Hyo-Chin Ch'oe to try and send this series to a deciding Game 7. Cristobal Santos would take the mound on 3 days rest for Jersey. It was smooth sailing for both pitchers through 2 innings until Jersey would appease the hometown crowd with 4, third inning runs coming off the bats of Dodd and Doyle. The Bags would add 2 more runs in the 4th to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ch'oe would be knocked out in the 5th inning, but that didn't stop the D-Bags from adding on runs. After 6 innings, the lead was 10-2 and would stay like that. Springfield would load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but would fail to score. With the Irvine-Baffin Island series still going on, Jersey Shore would finally get to celebrate the victory with cases of champagne in their own clubhouse taking their 1st CL Pennant since the 2022 team did.
Now comes Irvine. The wire-to-wire best team in the BSA all season long. The team with the best staff in the league. Their 477 runs given up rank 2nd all time, only behind the epic staff of the 2015 Hendersonville Hitmen. Their ace Masutaro with a historic 13.8 WAR season which shattered Scott Hill's previous record. They led the NL in OBP and finished 3rd in runs scored. The BSA will have a new champion this year. Either way, I think we are in for a great series. Congrats Larry and good luck!
GO D-BAGS
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Your All-Time Jersey Shore Team
I thought this seemed like a fun idea. To find the best team I could from former Jersey Shore teams. Rules: You can only use a player once, regardless if he played another position. Some decisions were tough, some were easy, but here you have it:
SP: 2019 Jose Ramos. 23-6, 2.76 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 1.05 WHIP, 8.2 WAR
SP: 2014 Dan Macias. 20-8, 2.82 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 1.16 WHIP, 8.9 WAR
SP: 2015 Art Ellis. 13-8, 2.94 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.20 WHIP, 5.0 WAR
SP: 2019 Sergio Martinez. 17-3, 3.08 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 4.5 WAR
SP: 2017 Greg Schaefer. 18-3, 3.82 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 3.9 WAR
MR: 2016 Jose Gomes. 10-1, 4 saves. 1.31 ERA, 2.05 FIP, 1.02 WHIP, 3.6 WAR
MR: 2014 Daniel Morris. 6-5, 31 saves. 1.52 ERA, 1.94 FIP, 1.03 WHIP, 2.0 WAR
MR: 2013 Lucio Tapia. 8-1, 2 saves. 2.19 ERA, 1.77 FIP, 1.21 WHIP, 3.0 WAR
MR: 2019 Jose Ruiz. 6-3, 40 saves. 2.83 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 1.09 WHIP, 1.3 WAR
MR: 2013 Ciro Roghi. 1-0, 0 saves. 1.95 ERA, 2.15 FIP, 1.30 WHIP, 1.2 WAR
CL: 2017 Jaime Saenz. 8-2, 49 saves. 1.94 ERA, 1.96 FIP, 0.99 WHIP, 2.8 WAR
C: 2013 Jorge Lozano. .303/.388/.511. 36 2B, 24 HR, 107 RBI, 5.1 WAR
C: 2017 Warren Goyer. .257/.329/.541. 20 2B, 42 HR, 116 RBI, 3.4 WAR
1B: 2015 Matt Doyle. .302/.386/.572. 25 2B, 44 HR, 147 RBI, 5.7 WAR
1B: 2021 Tadahisa Kisuki. .366/.424/.560. 32 2B, 18 HR, 57 RBI, 5.7 WAR
2B: 2016 Mike Bryant. .347/.407/.618. 48 2B, 40 HR, 158 RBI, 9.6 WAR
3B: 2015 Adam Morrow. .282/.402/.360. 31 2B, 4 HR, 61 RBI, 3.9 WAR
3B: 2012 Parker Morrow. .313/.390/.418. 29 2B, 10 HR, 62 RBI. 3.6 WAR
SS: 2020 Lawrence Schroeder. .306/.341/.542. 27 2B, 19 HR, 74 RBI, 4.7 WAR
SS: 2011 Jerome Lindsey. .343/.427/.480. 23 2B, 9 HR, 56 RBI, 4.2 WAR
UTIL: 2020 Fabrice Brodeur. .325/.365/.465. 29 2B, 10 HR, 61 RBI, 3.4 WAR
OF: 2021 Dave Dodd. .388/.455/.799. 46 HR, 119 RBI, 9.7 WAR
OF: 2011 Mason Bonniface. .328/.433/.556. 23 HR, 78 RBI, 6.1 WAR
OF: 2010 William Hinson. .308/.404/.538. 23 HR, 91 RBI, 4.3 WAR
OF: 2013 Leon Foster. .272/.338/.567. 33 HR, 105 RBI, 3.7 WAR
Starting Lineup:
SP: 2014 Dan Macias. 20-8, 2.82 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 1.16 WHIP, 8.9 WAR
1. SS 2011 Jerome Lindsey
2. DH 2021 Tadahisa Kisuki
3. 2B 2016 Mike Bryant
4. RF 2021 Dave Dodd
5. 1B 2015 Matt Doyle
6. C 2013 Jorge Lozano
7. LF 2011 Mason Bonniface
8. CF 2013 Leon Foster
9. 3B 2015 Adam Morrow
How does your team stack up?
GO D-BAGS
Thursday, December 11, 2014
1st Round 2021; Bags select Ben "Cadillac" Morton
The amateur draft always a favorite time of the year for GM Josh Swain. The way real teams build their core is to through the draft. Jersey Shore is no exception to the rule, just look at their former 1st round picks: Mike Bryant, Matt Doyle, Richard Coker, Lawrence Schroeder, Fabrice Brodeur, Gianluigi Ciottone, Roland Martin, Gerald Johnson, Matthieu Vancini....and those are just 1st and 1st round compensatory picks over the past 10 years.
The D-Bags selected 24th this year and for the 3rd year in a row and for the 4th time in 5 years they chose to selected a prep player over going the going the college route. They selected out of Sante Fe High School, Catcher Ben Morton, or simply as his teammates call him.....Cadillac. In his senior year and first year as a starter, Morton caught 36 of the teams 40 games while hitting 8 doubles, 6 homers and driving in 33 runs. He finished with a triple slash line of .299/.389/.493. While not lighting it up like a lot of first rounders in high school do, Jersey's scouts see the tools While his defensive tools won't light the world on fire, scouts predict him to be middle o the road if he can live up to his potential, but his bat is why he got chosen here. "We have his bat and gap as plus tools and his power at plus-plus. He will never be a guy who walks a lot and probably will strike out his fair amount of times, but catchers are still one of the more rare positions in the BSA and if he can refine his hitting tools he could be one of the better hitting catchers in the league, but he has a long ways to go for that. I imagine he struggles pretty good with A pitching, but being at age 18 we have a lot of options going forward," said GM Swain.
Jersey won't pick again until the 62nd overall pick which will be their regular 2nd round pick. While that is a lot of players to be picked between now and then, don't be surprised to see GM Swain find a player who will turn out to be productive, it's just what they do in Jersey during a draft.
Last year's 1st round pick Miguel Serna, who was drafted 21st overall last season, is starting to pick it up in A ball after struggling last season. While the power hasn't come around he is hitting .251 and has 20 doubles in A ball. Jersey's other 1st round pick, SP Ben Head, another prep player, is improving as well. He has reduced his BB/9, while picking up his K/9 and H/9. His FIP is 4,43 and will probably spend the rest of the year in Manhattan to improve. 2nd round pick and 63rd overall last season 2B John Moore is really picking it up in AA. Moore turned 24 this year has shown off his speed with 18 steals, 18 doubles and 3 triples. He has struggled in the field, but management has him playing shortstop trying to improve his range there as he has been scouted to be one of the better fielding 2B at the AA level. Chances are he will be playing in AAA before the year is done.
GO D-BAGS
The D-Bags selected 24th this year and for the 3rd year in a row and for the 4th time in 5 years they chose to selected a prep player over going the going the college route. They selected out of Sante Fe High School, Catcher Ben Morton, or simply as his teammates call him.....Cadillac. In his senior year and first year as a starter, Morton caught 36 of the teams 40 games while hitting 8 doubles, 6 homers and driving in 33 runs. He finished with a triple slash line of .299/.389/.493. While not lighting it up like a lot of first rounders in high school do, Jersey's scouts see the tools While his defensive tools won't light the world on fire, scouts predict him to be middle o the road if he can live up to his potential, but his bat is why he got chosen here. "We have his bat and gap as plus tools and his power at plus-plus. He will never be a guy who walks a lot and probably will strike out his fair amount of times, but catchers are still one of the more rare positions in the BSA and if he can refine his hitting tools he could be one of the better hitting catchers in the league, but he has a long ways to go for that. I imagine he struggles pretty good with A pitching, but being at age 18 we have a lot of options going forward," said GM Swain.
Jersey won't pick again until the 62nd overall pick which will be their regular 2nd round pick. While that is a lot of players to be picked between now and then, don't be surprised to see GM Swain find a player who will turn out to be productive, it's just what they do in Jersey during a draft.
Last year's 1st round pick Miguel Serna, who was drafted 21st overall last season, is starting to pick it up in A ball after struggling last season. While the power hasn't come around he is hitting .251 and has 20 doubles in A ball. Jersey's other 1st round pick, SP Ben Head, another prep player, is improving as well. He has reduced his BB/9, while picking up his K/9 and H/9. His FIP is 4,43 and will probably spend the rest of the year in Manhattan to improve. 2nd round pick and 63rd overall last season 2B John Moore is really picking it up in AA. Moore turned 24 this year has shown off his speed with 18 steals, 18 doubles and 3 triples. He has struggled in the field, but management has him playing shortstop trying to improve his range there as he has been scouted to be one of the better fielding 2B at the AA level. Chances are he will be playing in AAA before the year is done.
GO D-BAGS
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Bryant Joins 1500 Hit Club; Dodd Climbing Jersey Leaderboards
In the 1st game after playing in his 6th straight All-Star game, August 12th, 2020, Mikey Bryant did nothing new and had another 3-hit game, his 10th of the season. In his 2nd AB he grounded a ball between 3rd and SS that found a hole into the OF for his 2nd single of the game. What was special is that marked his 1500th career hit in just a shade over 7 total seasons in the big leagues.
He became the 29th BSA player to reach that level, but by far has the most the hits between 2013-2020 than any player in the league. There have only been 34 different times where a player has 208 or more hits in a season. Bryant accounts for 6 of those.....all 6 full seasons he has been in the league. That comes out to nearly 18%. The man is a hitting machine. He is on pace for 196 hits this season and I know everyone will be rooting him on to get that 7th straight season of 200 hits or more.
Bryant turned 32 years old this year and though is OPS is down a little bit from the former glory years, Bryant looks to continue hitting in a league where turning the age of 30 is like getting a death sentence. Though there have been a handful of players to succeed well into their 30's, the list of players to fall off is a lot longer than of players who have faltered. Hopefully we can see Bryant age like the great Sam Sagar has done, playing at a high level through age 35 and still putting up at least average numbers through age 37. Hopefully 2500 hits will be within reach for Bryant. He also sits at 279 HR. A great 2nd half could have him near that magical 300 mark which only 8 players have accomplished thus far in the history of the BSA. Are 400 HR out of reach? Only time will tell at this point.
On the opposite end of the age spectrum, kinda, is Dave Dodd who turned 26 this season. When Bryant was 26 he had ~1 year or so of BSA experience under his belt. Dodd has 4+ at the same point. Just this week Dodd passed former Jersey slugger Matt Doyle in hits and tied him in HR in a Jersey uniform. With 1 more HR and 39 more hits he will plant himself in 2nd in both categories only behind Bryant. Pretty crazy to think that he is already among one of the Jersey greats before his 27th birthday. If he can stay healthy, he might be able to put up some very big numbers statistically. Many people around the league believe he hasn't hit his peak yet, which could be scary for pitchers around the league. Regardless of meaningless personal accomplishments, if you ask each player what they hope to accomplish most you can bet both of them want a championship more than anything.
GO D-BAGS
He became the 29th BSA player to reach that level, but by far has the most the hits between 2013-2020 than any player in the league. There have only been 34 different times where a player has 208 or more hits in a season. Bryant accounts for 6 of those.....all 6 full seasons he has been in the league. That comes out to nearly 18%. The man is a hitting machine. He is on pace for 196 hits this season and I know everyone will be rooting him on to get that 7th straight season of 200 hits or more.
Bryant turned 32 years old this year and though is OPS is down a little bit from the former glory years, Bryant looks to continue hitting in a league where turning the age of 30 is like getting a death sentence. Though there have been a handful of players to succeed well into their 30's, the list of players to fall off is a lot longer than of players who have faltered. Hopefully we can see Bryant age like the great Sam Sagar has done, playing at a high level through age 35 and still putting up at least average numbers through age 37. Hopefully 2500 hits will be within reach for Bryant. He also sits at 279 HR. A great 2nd half could have him near that magical 300 mark which only 8 players have accomplished thus far in the history of the BSA. Are 400 HR out of reach? Only time will tell at this point.
On the opposite end of the age spectrum, kinda, is Dave Dodd who turned 26 this season. When Bryant was 26 he had ~1 year or so of BSA experience under his belt. Dodd has 4+ at the same point. Just this week Dodd passed former Jersey slugger Matt Doyle in hits and tied him in HR in a Jersey uniform. With 1 more HR and 39 more hits he will plant himself in 2nd in both categories only behind Bryant. Pretty crazy to think that he is already among one of the Jersey greats before his 27th birthday. If he can stay healthy, he might be able to put up some very big numbers statistically. Many people around the league believe he hasn't hit his peak yet, which could be scary for pitchers around the league. Regardless of meaningless personal accomplishments, if you ask each player what they hope to accomplish most you can bet both of them want a championship more than anything.
GO D-BAGS
Friday, November 1, 2013
John Warner Named CL Player of Month for August
After trading Superstar Matt Doyle in the off season it opened a huge hole at 1B and in the middle of the lineup. Alberto Perez has a glove at 1st base and while he isn't a slouch with the bat, he isn't a threat either. Plans to replace his power came from rookie Fransisco Ibarra who showed he can hit in AAA, but all intents and purposes had no BSA experience. Before the start of the season Jersey dealt big time power prospect Fransisco Calderon to the LA Bruins for vet John Warner.
Warner had his glory days back in the 2012-2013 season while playing for the Knights of New York before being signed by the Bruins. After having arguably the worst season of his career last year, Jersey hoped bringing him into a hitter's park like the Ballpark by the Shore would help his numbers and help the whole created in the lineup. About being shuffled about the lineup getting over 30 AB hitting 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th during the season, Warner's numbers were consistent April-July, but nothing to write home about. That's until August rolled around.
During August Warner was one of 3 players to hit 11 HR during the month, and that also tied 2 others for the most HR for a month in 2018. It included a 3-game HR stretch vs STL and SCS 8/7-8/9 and his 2nd mutli-HR game of the season in a 11-6 win @TOR on 8/22. Surprisingly this is the first time in his career that he has been crowned Player of the Month in the BSA. During the month he raised his slugging percentage 52 points and as of 9/12 sits tied for 6th in the CL in HR with 31. It's the first time he has reached the 30 HR mark since the 2014 season.
By the end of the season Dave Dodd and Warren Goyer should join Warner and Mike Bryant with 30 HR. This would mark the 2nd straight season and only the 2nd time in team history that 4 players hit the 30 HR mark. With the up and coming Fransisco Ibarra, maybe next year we might see the 1st time a Jersey club has featured five members of the 30 HR club.
For now as 2018 winds down and Jersey is looking towards missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014, we can still hope for a good finish. Mikey Bryant is looking for his 5th straight 200 hit season, rookie Sergio Martinez has really come on late to show he might be the next big thing and Dave Dodd needs 3 doubles to break the all time Jersey record for doubles in a season. Just a few things to watch for as the season winds down.
GO D-BAGS
Warner had his glory days back in the 2012-2013 season while playing for the Knights of New York before being signed by the Bruins. After having arguably the worst season of his career last year, Jersey hoped bringing him into a hitter's park like the Ballpark by the Shore would help his numbers and help the whole created in the lineup. About being shuffled about the lineup getting over 30 AB hitting 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th during the season, Warner's numbers were consistent April-July, but nothing to write home about. That's until August rolled around.
During August Warner was one of 3 players to hit 11 HR during the month, and that also tied 2 others for the most HR for a month in 2018. It included a 3-game HR stretch vs STL and SCS 8/7-8/9 and his 2nd mutli-HR game of the season in a 11-6 win @TOR on 8/22. Surprisingly this is the first time in his career that he has been crowned Player of the Month in the BSA. During the month he raised his slugging percentage 52 points and as of 9/12 sits tied for 6th in the CL in HR with 31. It's the first time he has reached the 30 HR mark since the 2014 season.
By the end of the season Dave Dodd and Warren Goyer should join Warner and Mike Bryant with 30 HR. This would mark the 2nd straight season and only the 2nd time in team history that 4 players hit the 30 HR mark. With the up and coming Fransisco Ibarra, maybe next year we might see the 1st time a Jersey club has featured five members of the 30 HR club.
For now as 2018 winds down and Jersey is looking towards missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014, we can still hope for a good finish. Mikey Bryant is looking for his 5th straight 200 hit season, rookie Sergio Martinez has really come on late to show he might be the next big thing and Dave Dodd needs 3 doubles to break the all time Jersey record for doubles in a season. Just a few things to watch for as the season winds down.
GO D-BAGS
Saturday, September 21, 2013
8 years, 8 picks; Jersey Shore 1st Round History
We just finished our 8th first round amatuer draft in the BSA since inagural 2010 season. The people in Jersey don't take drafting lightly and consider it a key piece to building a franchise. Let's look back at the 1st round picks that Jersey has made, and where they are today:
2010 - 21st overall - 2B Mike Bryant. The 4 year college player spent just less than 3 seasons in the minors before debuting just before his 25th birthday. In the 4 full seasons since then he has 4 all-star appearances, finished 2nd in MVP voting twice and won the award the past two seasons. He currently holds every batting record in the Jersey Shore record book. His contract will keep him starting at 2B for the D-Bags for at least the next 3 seasons. It's likely he retires in a Jersey uniform.
2011 - 18th overall - 1B Matt Doyle. Another 4 year college player out of the Texas. Doyle debuted for the D-Bags in May of the 2014 season and hasn't looked back since. He finished runner up to Luis Gonzalez of Toronto in back and force race. He became a force with Bryant in the lineup and led the BSA in HR in his 2nd year with 44. After four seasons with Jersey, they surprisingly shipped him off to Toronto in the Jose Lara trade. Doyle is currently tied for the lead in HR in the league and will likely be voted to his 4th all star game later today.
2012 - 22nd overall - CF Ernesto Barzaga. After going infield for two years, the Bags switched up and went with a rangy and speed CF in Barzaga. While he didn't have one batting tool that stood out, his contact, gap, power and eye were all average or a tick above average. He turned out to be a bust. He struggled mightily in A ball as a 22 and 23 year old in his first two seasons. As a 24 year he was tried in AA but struggled even more. At 25 he finally had a successful season in A ball, but by that time his potential had gotten worse and looked like he might turn into a career minor leaguer. He was eventually dropped by the D-Bags and retired. A rare early pick miss for Jersey.
2013 - 20th overall - 3B Richard Coker. Coker was the first HS player Jersey selected in the amateur draft. After 1 year at Butler HS, he showed his nack for getting on base. A high average and great eye as well as potential to play an above average 3B made him a 1st round pick. He spent the last month of 2013 in A ball and less than a month there in 2014 before being promoted to AA. He struggled a lot his first year in AA, but he was given the starting position. He picked up ten-fold in 2015 improving that contact but the eye was still behind. We started to see it come around in 2016 when a week or so before the trade deadline he was sent as the main piece to Cleveland in the trade for C Warren Goyer. After spending close to a season in the AAA for the Monsters he was recalled. This season he is having a breakout year and could be looking at an All-Star spot.
2014 - 28th overall - SS Lawrence Schroeder. Playing an unprecedented 5 years at Virginia, with his skills with the bat and glove, Jersey was lucky he dropped to them at 28. He played 81 games at AA, flashing some power but mainly that contact to move up to AAA in the season after he was drafted. He thrived in a full season in AAA, hitting the gaps and hitting for power. The only thing that bothered Jersey management is the 150+ strikeouts he accumulated. In 2016 he spent 105 games in AAA, dropping the K rate a little, but raising his batting average 60 points to .347, which earned him a promotion to the big league club. He played 48 games in a Jersey uniform his rookie year and hit well, very well and earned the starting job. He struggled in 2017 but did show promise hitting 48 2B, 6 3B, and 14 HR. This season he started off slow but picked up more recently winning his first POTW award as well as having his first 5-hit game. He is currently sideline by an injury but should still be in consideration for an All-Star position.
2015 - 25th overall - SS Fabrice Brodeur. Another 4 year college player who not only had skill at playing SS, but all over the infield. Above average speed, above average contact, decent gap and above average eye for striking out made him a good pick. He like many other Jersey players struggled early on to only bust out in his 2nd to 3rd season. The year after he was drafted he crushed AA pitching and earned a promotion to AAA. Now in his 3rd year, 2nd full year in AAA, it seems he has found it. Walks are up, K's are down, and he is hitting near a league best .377. He is also leading the AAA International League in WAR at the moment. With the recent injury to Schroeder, Brodeur was recently called and will start his first games in a Jersey uniform for tomorrow's sim.
2016 - 31st overall - SP Gianluigi Ciottone. A 4 year college starter at Nebraska, Jersey was surprised to find him on the board at 31. Despite not having a good 3rd pitch, with the depth of SP in their minors Jersey hopped on the chance to grab him. The minors have been puzzling for Ciottone. He has struggled in both AA and A in what is his now 3rd minor league season. He is currently 24 year old pitching in A ball, which is never a good sign but it appears things might be headed on the right track. His K/9 and BB/9 are the best they have ever been and his FIP is 2 runs better than his ERA. He might be headed towards bust land, but we will give him another year to see if he can turn into anything before putting that label on him.
2017 - 32nd overall - SP Roland Martin. Martin marked Jersey's 2nd time to select a SP as their first round pick, and the first time they went HS SP as a 1st rounder. Martin made 10 starts and 6 bullpen appearances last season in A ball, struggling, especially with control which was a staple of his in HS. This season in 18 starts as a 20 year old in A ball, Martin seems to be slightly improving across the board. Scouts are really impressed that he has picked up 2 MPH on his fastball than was previously seen in his HS games. He was named the 63rd best prospect by OSA before the season. His potentials say he should be a mid-rotation guy but with a little work he might some day be a top of the rotation man. At 20 years old, he has a lot of time to develop and he will be one to watch in the coming years.
Omitting this year's draftees who haven't even signed yet, there are your 8 years of Jersey Shore 1st round picks. You have the multi MVP winner, two all-stars, two young up and comers, one player just getting to his major league debut, two pitchers still in A ball and one bust out of the league. Considering Jersey's draft position I would say they have done very well. If Doyle and Coker will still in Jersey the IF of Doyle-Bryant-Schroeder-Coker would probably be ranked Top 3 in the BSA right now. Hopefully we see good things from the younger draftees. Don't sleep on the draft, you can build franchises this way, even with late picks!
Go D-Bags
Monday, May 13, 2013
BSA Hits Mid-Summer Classic; Bags Send 6 Players
We reached the unofficial halfway point of the 2017 season where the league's stars headed off to Niagara Falls for the 2017 All-Star game. It comes as no surprise in a season where Jersey has produced the best record in the BSA that they would send more players to the game than they ever had before. Jersey had set the bar last year sending 5 players but they one upped the 2016 team by sending 6 players this season, including 3 first timers.
SP Jose Ramos: 8-4, 3.35 ERA. The young ace of the staff in his first full season in the BSA gets the nod for the first time as an All-Star. After bursting on the scene last year, Ramos future appears to be very bright. On the season he also has 3 complete games and his first career shutout coming against Greenville in May.
SP Greg Schaefer: 13-0, 3.07 ERA. It seems it just took Schaefer a little longer to develop than your average BSA player. Playing in his 6th season in the BSA, Schaefer has gotten better every year reaching his 1st BSA All-Star game at age 27. At the time of the break he had yet to lose a game, which would eventually be halted after 23 starts, which is the 5th longest streak in BSA history.
CL Jaime Saenz: 4-1, 29 saves, 1.84 ERA. In his 2nd year as the Jersey closer, Saenz has been named to his 2nd straight All-Star game. The flame throwing lefty leads the CL in saves while his 11.83 K/9 is the 2nd best in his career. He is on pace to shatter his own team saves record of 40 which he set last season.
C Warren Goyer: 26 HR, 73 RBI. Jersey's starting catcher in his first full season in Jersey after coming over Cleveland in a trade last season is putting up bigger numbers than anyone could have imagined. His 26 HR put him in a tie atop the CL HR leader-board and puts him in a position to challenge Matt Doyle's team record of 44 which happened in 2015. Goyer has 4 multi-HR games this season, including a 3-HR game June 26th against Toronto.
2B Mike Bryant: .311, 19 HR, 68 RBI. While Bryant isn't re-producing the numbers he put up last season in his triple-crown season, he was still almost a unanimous choice for the starting position at 2B for the CL. Bryant is in his 4th full season and is making his 4th All-Star appearance. He is one of 27 players all time to be selected to the Mid-Summer classic 4 or more times. Bryant passed the 150 HR mark this season and will surpass 1000 hits sometime early next season. He leads the franchise in both categories.
DH Matt Doyle: .309, 24 HR, 84 RBI. For the 3rd straight year Doyle will be headed to the All-Star game and first time as a DH. With Alberto Perez manning 1B for much of the season Doyle has been solely used for his bat, which he doesn't seem to mind. At the time of the break Doyle was leading the CL in RBI with 84 and on pace for his 4th straight 100 RBI season. Doyle should hit the 150 HR mark at 500 RBI mark later this season.
GO D-BAGS
Monday, May 6, 2013
June In Review; D-Bags Coast to Best Month in Team History
After two 20- win months to start the season people were ready for the "new season" shine to wear off. Waiting for Jersey Shore to fall back with the pack. The team apparently wasn't ready for that. For the 3rd straight month the team won 20 games and in the end it turned into the best month in team history. The Bags compiled a 24-4 record, which included a team record 18-game win streak and on July 1st puts Jersey up 9 games even on 2nd place Greenville not only for the division but also the best record in the BSA. The team continues to click on all cylinders, Top 2 in batting average, runs scored, ERA, runs allowed and defesive efficiency.
Players of the Month
1B/DH Matt Doyle: .384/.465/.705 10 HR 35 RBI 43 H 26 R. Why not start out with the BSA CL Player of the Month as one of our players of the month? After struggling through April, Doyle showed us why he is.....Matt Doyle. He had 14 multi-hit games, including back to back multi-HR games against Toronto, the 2nd being his 2nd 5 hit game of his career. He also hit 2 HR and knocked in 6 runs in that contest. Surprisingly this was the first time Doyle has been awarded the CL award for Batter of the Month in his short, but great, 4 year career.
C Warren Goyer: .280/.333/.731 13 HR 33 RBI 20 R. If a player not named Doyle was going to win Batter of the Month, it probably would have been Goyer. He played in 24 games and hit 13 HR, which as far as I can tell is a Jersey record, breaking the previous record of 12 set on several different occasions. Goyer was named Player of the Week in the CL for the first week of June, which was the first honor of it's kind for Goyer in his career. His best game of the month came against Toronto where he had his first career 3 HR game, had 4 hits, scored 4 runs and knocked in 7.
MR Jose Ruiz: 4-0, 1.20 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 15IP, 20K. The 24 year old Ruiz keeps getting better. Not only this season but in his career as well. He posted his best month of 2017 while his stats across the board are the best in his career. Those numbers include ERA, WHIP, K/9, BB/9, K/BB, H/9 and HR/9. He seems to be on track to be another great reliever in the Jersey system.
MR Lucio Tapia: 3-0, 0.60 ERA, 0.93 ERA, 15IP, 13K. If anyone in the middle innings was better in June than Ruiz, it was Tapia. Allowing only 8 hits and 1 ER in 15 innings helped bridged the gap in a month where starting pitching wasn't THAT good. Tapia in his 7th year in the Jersey bullpen is currently posting the 2nd lowest ERA in his career and lowest WHIP. This is the 5th season where he has won at least 6 games. For his Jersey Shore career he posts a 36-11 record.
CL Jaime Saenz: 3-0, 9 saves, 0.48 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 18.2 IP, 30 K. Why not save the best for last? Saenz won the CL Pitcher of the Month for June and well deserved. He as virtually unhittable. After a blip against Madison early in the month he went on a streak of 15 shutout innings giving up 9 hits and walking 3 in those innings. His 25 saves as of July 1st lead the CL. After having the lowest K/9 rate in his career last year, he has come back this year with a bang averaging a career high 12.49 K/9.
Questions, Answers and Concerns:
We asked this question last month, but what else is there to say? How many concerns can you have when the team is playing at such a high level? Towards the middle of the month leadoff man Peter Larson sprained a hamstring playing the outfield and missed the rest of the month. After rehab we expect him back towards the end of July. It's not the first time in his career he has been injured, but he has been relatively healthy over the last 2 seasons. Towards the end of the month of the 27th the outfield took another blow as Jose Ortiz strained his oblique making a sliding catch in the gap against the Titans. At first he seemed to be fine but was taken out of the game. He is expected to miss about 5 more weeks which will put him back on the team sometime in August. Expect to see Al Ryan and/or Taro Kino in the coming weeks. Ryan has been up since Larson got injured and has played well in his absence.
I would say this is a perfect chance for Top Prospect Fransisco Ibarra to make his debut but he is also shelved on the DL with tendinitis in his right knee. Updating the injury front, SP Art Ellis still remains 7 or so weeks out until he will start a throwing program and head for rehab.
The Bags made a trade that went on with little publicity trading for the often troubled SP Drew "Onion" Schaefer formally of the Niagara Falls Frenzy. Scouts still see him as having very talented but at age 26 time is running out for him to perform. Before coming to Jersey he posted a 2-11 record with a 7.69 ERA in 18 starts and having a WHIP above 2. In his only Jersey start for the month he was crushed by Toronto, being pulled in the 4th inning giving up 7 ER on 6 hits and 7 BB. With such a big lead Jersey may be able to be patient with him and see if he can mature and learn something playing with many veterans on the Jersey staff.
Even though Schaefer was struggling doesn't mean he was cheap. Jersey gave up promising 20 year old OF Guillermo Sanchez who Jersey's scout has rated 4* and learning CF for the past 2 seasons. Also leaving Jersey was 21 year old MR Ruben Rojas who was having a good year at A ball Manhattan. Rojas has an explosive arm and can hit 100 MPH on a good day, but with Jersey's MR depth he was far down on the list. Also leaving was 22 year old Jesus Herrera. Hererra isn't the most naturally gifted player, but with top speed and above average contact he had been a terror in AAA this season, hitting over .400 with Tuscaloosa and winning May's Minor League Player of the Month for Jersey. He project's as a 3rd-4th OF.
Minor League Players of the Month
Pitcher
SP Victor Rivera (A): 4-0, 1.60 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 47 K. At 19, Rivera is starting to show up on scout's radars. He is hitting 99-100 MPH with his fastball, something we have never seen before. His 12.05 K/9 is 4th in the Midwest league for SP and the only pitchers ahead of him are 29, 30 and 30 years old. He posts a record of 8-4 and is coming off a 15 K game, which was only the 5th of it's kind in Midwest League history. Don't be shocked to see him get moved up to AA in the coming weeks.
Hitter
OF Fransisco Calderon (AAA): .407/.490/.889. 10 HR, 32 RBI, 33 H, 24 R. Calderon, just 22 years old, has always had that power, well....according to scouts. Before last season the highest amount of HR he
had hit in a season was 7. Between AA and AAA last year he hit 20. Through 3 months in 2017 he already has 19. The plus speed OF from Cuban was originally discovered by Greenville. He spent a month with the LA organization before being released in Feb 2013 before signing with Jersey. With his new found power, top speed and above average OF skills we might just see him in Jersey in the coming months.
July is a month where Jersey plays 16 of their 25 games at home, but will see teams Vista, Greenville, Austin, Chicago and Orlando. Not the easiest schedule. If the Bags can hold their lead on the 84er's through the month the Bags could be on their way to their first division title in the franchise's history. We hate to be to optomistic but with a lead of almost 20 games over the first WC team, we have good inclination that the Bags will reach the playoffs for the 3rd straight year.
GO D-BAGS
Players of the Month
1B/DH Matt Doyle: .384/.465/.705 10 HR 35 RBI 43 H 26 R. Why not start out with the BSA CL Player of the Month as one of our players of the month? After struggling through April, Doyle showed us why he is.....Matt Doyle. He had 14 multi-hit games, including back to back multi-HR games against Toronto, the 2nd being his 2nd 5 hit game of his career. He also hit 2 HR and knocked in 6 runs in that contest. Surprisingly this was the first time Doyle has been awarded the CL award for Batter of the Month in his short, but great, 4 year career.
C Warren Goyer: .280/.333/.731 13 HR 33 RBI 20 R. If a player not named Doyle was going to win Batter of the Month, it probably would have been Goyer. He played in 24 games and hit 13 HR, which as far as I can tell is a Jersey record, breaking the previous record of 12 set on several different occasions. Goyer was named Player of the Week in the CL for the first week of June, which was the first honor of it's kind for Goyer in his career. His best game of the month came against Toronto where he had his first career 3 HR game, had 4 hits, scored 4 runs and knocked in 7.MR Jose Ruiz: 4-0, 1.20 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 15IP, 20K. The 24 year old Ruiz keeps getting better. Not only this season but in his career as well. He posted his best month of 2017 while his stats across the board are the best in his career. Those numbers include ERA, WHIP, K/9, BB/9, K/BB, H/9 and HR/9. He seems to be on track to be another great reliever in the Jersey system.
MR Lucio Tapia: 3-0, 0.60 ERA, 0.93 ERA, 15IP, 13K. If anyone in the middle innings was better in June than Ruiz, it was Tapia. Allowing only 8 hits and 1 ER in 15 innings helped bridged the gap in a month where starting pitching wasn't THAT good. Tapia in his 7th year in the Jersey bullpen is currently posting the 2nd lowest ERA in his career and lowest WHIP. This is the 5th season where he has won at least 6 games. For his Jersey Shore career he posts a 36-11 record.
CL Jaime Saenz: 3-0, 9 saves, 0.48 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 18.2 IP, 30 K. Why not save the best for last? Saenz won the CL Pitcher of the Month for June and well deserved. He as virtually unhittable. After a blip against Madison early in the month he went on a streak of 15 shutout innings giving up 9 hits and walking 3 in those innings. His 25 saves as of July 1st lead the CL. After having the lowest K/9 rate in his career last year, he has come back this year with a bang averaging a career high 12.49 K/9.
Questions, Answers and Concerns:
We asked this question last month, but what else is there to say? How many concerns can you have when the team is playing at such a high level? Towards the middle of the month leadoff man Peter Larson sprained a hamstring playing the outfield and missed the rest of the month. After rehab we expect him back towards the end of July. It's not the first time in his career he has been injured, but he has been relatively healthy over the last 2 seasons. Towards the end of the month of the 27th the outfield took another blow as Jose Ortiz strained his oblique making a sliding catch in the gap against the Titans. At first he seemed to be fine but was taken out of the game. He is expected to miss about 5 more weeks which will put him back on the team sometime in August. Expect to see Al Ryan and/or Taro Kino in the coming weeks. Ryan has been up since Larson got injured and has played well in his absence.
I would say this is a perfect chance for Top Prospect Fransisco Ibarra to make his debut but he is also shelved on the DL with tendinitis in his right knee. Updating the injury front, SP Art Ellis still remains 7 or so weeks out until he will start a throwing program and head for rehab.
The Bags made a trade that went on with little publicity trading for the often troubled SP Drew "Onion" Schaefer formally of the Niagara Falls Frenzy. Scouts still see him as having very talented but at age 26 time is running out for him to perform. Before coming to Jersey he posted a 2-11 record with a 7.69 ERA in 18 starts and having a WHIP above 2. In his only Jersey start for the month he was crushed by Toronto, being pulled in the 4th inning giving up 7 ER on 6 hits and 7 BB. With such a big lead Jersey may be able to be patient with him and see if he can mature and learn something playing with many veterans on the Jersey staff.
Even though Schaefer was struggling doesn't mean he was cheap. Jersey gave up promising 20 year old OF Guillermo Sanchez who Jersey's scout has rated 4* and learning CF for the past 2 seasons. Also leaving Jersey was 21 year old MR Ruben Rojas who was having a good year at A ball Manhattan. Rojas has an explosive arm and can hit 100 MPH on a good day, but with Jersey's MR depth he was far down on the list. Also leaving was 22 year old Jesus Herrera. Hererra isn't the most naturally gifted player, but with top speed and above average contact he had been a terror in AAA this season, hitting over .400 with Tuscaloosa and winning May's Minor League Player of the Month for Jersey. He project's as a 3rd-4th OF.Minor League Players of the Month
Pitcher
SP Victor Rivera (A): 4-0, 1.60 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 47 K. At 19, Rivera is starting to show up on scout's radars. He is hitting 99-100 MPH with his fastball, something we have never seen before. His 12.05 K/9 is 4th in the Midwest league for SP and the only pitchers ahead of him are 29, 30 and 30 years old. He posts a record of 8-4 and is coming off a 15 K game, which was only the 5th of it's kind in Midwest League history. Don't be shocked to see him get moved up to AA in the coming weeks.Hitter
OF Fransisco Calderon (AAA): .407/.490/.889. 10 HR, 32 RBI, 33 H, 24 R. Calderon, just 22 years old, has always had that power, well....according to scouts. Before last season the highest amount of HR hehad hit in a season was 7. Between AA and AAA last year he hit 20. Through 3 months in 2017 he already has 19. The plus speed OF from Cuban was originally discovered by Greenville. He spent a month with the LA organization before being released in Feb 2013 before signing with Jersey. With his new found power, top speed and above average OF skills we might just see him in Jersey in the coming months.
July is a month where Jersey plays 16 of their 25 games at home, but will see teams Vista, Greenville, Austin, Chicago and Orlando. Not the easiest schedule. If the Bags can hold their lead on the 84er's through the month the Bags could be on their way to their first division title in the franchise's history. We hate to be to optomistic but with a lead of almost 20 games over the first WC team, we have good inclination that the Bags will reach the playoffs for the 3rd straight year.
GO D-BAGS
Thursday, April 4, 2013
April 2017 in review; Jersey Shore
After a devastating injury left Jersey starting the season without their ace and Opening Day starter Art Ellis, Jersey went into the season with high hopes, just not as high as before the injury. If there was any hesitation, it didn't show in April. Jersey finished the month with a BSA best 20-6 record and only their 3rd 20 win month in team history. Both pitching and hitting led to their great start and exception play by the their captain Mikey Bryant.
Players of the Month
Rob Goodship: 4-0, 36IP, 3.00 ERA, 30 K, 1.03WHIP. Goodship is the master of deception. Not only in his delivery but you just never know when he will string together some great starts. Jersey fans are hoping he finally turned the corner and went from a Good 3-4 to a Good #2 on this staff. He dominated in his first 4 starts before getting roughed up by Austin his last start of the month for a no decision.
Greg Schaefer: 3-0, 28.1IP, 2.86 ERA, 21K, 1.06 WHIP. Much like Goodship now is the time for Schaefer to transform himself into a MLB pitcher. He has trended upwards every season in his career and a career wouldn't surprise Owner Josh Swain, "We have been waiting for it." Needless to say, going 7-0 out of your 3 and 4 starters is a great way to start the season.
Jaime "Mungo" Saenz: 0-0, 8 saves, 15K, 13.1 IP. Mungo was almost perfect in April outside of 2 solo homeruns. He did not blow a save and looks comfortable in his 2nd year starting for the D-Bags. The back end of the Bags bullpen has always been a specialty and he is the anchor.
Mike Bryant: .400/.455/.691 7 HR 27 RBI 44 hits. Bryant continued to add on to his Triple Crown season by coming out of the gate hot and another 40 hit month. Not only did he win the CL Player of the Week Award for the 8th time in career in early April he was also presented with CL Batter of the Month Award for the 5th time in what is his 5th year in the BSA.
Matt Doyle: .315/.390/.602 7 2B 8 HR 24 RBI. Doyle worked hard in the off-season to avoid the slow start that plagued him last year and it paid off. He combined with Bryant to lead an offensive charge that averaged a tick under 7 runs per game in the month of April. If this duo can continue to click together into this season it could be very scary for the opposition.
Questions. Concerns and Answers
What kind of questions can you have for a team that starts 20-6? We did see Alberto Perez return from injury and struggle in the 4 games he did play in. He will be one to watch to see if can elevate his game to last season's performance. Rookie Francisco Torres is off to a great start for the D-Bags hitting .333/.410/.580 which landed him a permanent starting place in the lineup. Dan Macias has started slow and Jersey management is hoping this isn't it for the big veteran righty. His K/9 rate has continued to drop and his velocity seems lower than it has been before in his career. If Macias continues to struggle and Ellis still being out, Jersey might have to make a move for a Starter. Other than that we don't see any immediate moves unless an injury pops up.
Minor Leaguers of the Month
We have decided to keep the MLTM going into it's 2nd season here. This is where we choose who had the best month out of the minor league system for the month of April.
Pitcher
MR Luis "Bugs" Cortez (AAA): 15.0 IP, 16K, 1.15 ERA, 0.93 WHIP. Cortez came to the Bags in a trade
with Vista back during the 2014 season for the Italian left hander Ciro Roghi. Cortez has always been a highly rated thrower and will find his way into the Jersey bullpen. At 22 years old he is already starting to mature in his 2nd year year in AAA.
Hitter
2B William Martel (AAA): .375/.400/.521. 36 hits, 11 2B, 17 RBI, 5 SB. Martel signed with the Bags during the 2013 as a free agent from Canada. He is your prototypical utility man who plays everywhere on the field but Catcher and CF. He has mainly seen time at 2B and 3B this year. The 22 year old was a great table setter for the dangerous Tuscaloosa lineup using his above average contact and speed to score 25 runs in just 22 games. At 22 years old he is probably getting close to joining Jersey.
GO D-BAGS
Players of the Month
Rob Goodship: 4-0, 36IP, 3.00 ERA, 30 K, 1.03WHIP. Goodship is the master of deception. Not only in his delivery but you just never know when he will string together some great starts. Jersey fans are hoping he finally turned the corner and went from a Good 3-4 to a Good #2 on this staff. He dominated in his first 4 starts before getting roughed up by Austin his last start of the month for a no decision.
Greg Schaefer: 3-0, 28.1IP, 2.86 ERA, 21K, 1.06 WHIP. Much like Goodship now is the time for Schaefer to transform himself into a MLB pitcher. He has trended upwards every season in his career and a career wouldn't surprise Owner Josh Swain, "We have been waiting for it." Needless to say, going 7-0 out of your 3 and 4 starters is a great way to start the season.
Jaime "Mungo" Saenz: 0-0, 8 saves, 15K, 13.1 IP. Mungo was almost perfect in April outside of 2 solo homeruns. He did not blow a save and looks comfortable in his 2nd year starting for the D-Bags. The back end of the Bags bullpen has always been a specialty and he is the anchor.
Mike Bryant: .400/.455/.691 7 HR 27 RBI 44 hits. Bryant continued to add on to his Triple Crown season by coming out of the gate hot and another 40 hit month. Not only did he win the CL Player of the Week Award for the 8th time in career in early April he was also presented with CL Batter of the Month Award for the 5th time in what is his 5th year in the BSA.
Matt Doyle: .315/.390/.602 7 2B 8 HR 24 RBI. Doyle worked hard in the off-season to avoid the slow start that plagued him last year and it paid off. He combined with Bryant to lead an offensive charge that averaged a tick under 7 runs per game in the month of April. If this duo can continue to click together into this season it could be very scary for the opposition.
Questions. Concerns and Answers
What kind of questions can you have for a team that starts 20-6? We did see Alberto Perez return from injury and struggle in the 4 games he did play in. He will be one to watch to see if can elevate his game to last season's performance. Rookie Francisco Torres is off to a great start for the D-Bags hitting .333/.410/.580 which landed him a permanent starting place in the lineup. Dan Macias has started slow and Jersey management is hoping this isn't it for the big veteran righty. His K/9 rate has continued to drop and his velocity seems lower than it has been before in his career. If Macias continues to struggle and Ellis still being out, Jersey might have to make a move for a Starter. Other than that we don't see any immediate moves unless an injury pops up.
Minor Leaguers of the Month
We have decided to keep the MLTM going into it's 2nd season here. This is where we choose who had the best month out of the minor league system for the month of April.
Pitcher
MR Luis "Bugs" Cortez (AAA): 15.0 IP, 16K, 1.15 ERA, 0.93 WHIP. Cortez came to the Bags in a trade
with Vista back during the 2014 season for the Italian left hander Ciro Roghi. Cortez has always been a highly rated thrower and will find his way into the Jersey bullpen. At 22 years old he is already starting to mature in his 2nd year year in AAA.
Hitter
2B William Martel (AAA): .375/.400/.521. 36 hits, 11 2B, 17 RBI, 5 SB. Martel signed with the Bags during the 2013 as a free agent from Canada. He is your prototypical utility man who plays everywhere on the field but Catcher and CF. He has mainly seen time at 2B and 3B this year. The 22 year old was a great table setter for the dangerous Tuscaloosa lineup using his above average contact and speed to score 25 runs in just 22 games. At 22 years old he is probably getting close to joining Jersey.GO D-BAGS
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Bags Finish Off Vista in 5; Head Back to CLCS
After starting the series 1-1 playing the first two games in Vista, Jersey headed back home to The Ballpark at the Shore for their first 3 home games of these 2016 playoffs. Jersey won game 1 handily with Art Ellis pitching them to an 8-2 win. Game 2 was a masterpiece turned in by Michael Hoffmeyer who out dueled the rookie Jose Ramos for a slim 2-1 victory, a victory that GM Josh Swain was afraid of. "We have the bats, they have the arms. There's no doubt in my mind that we can beat them in a shoot out, its the 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 games that will lose us this series. We need to stay away from those," is a quote from Swain before the series, thus far he seems to be right. On to Jersey!
Game 3
Gane 3 would feature a matchup between Tyler "Big Train" Law of Vista and Dan "Simple Man" Macias of Jersey. Law, who missed more than 2 months with elbow tendonitis during the year, pitched great all season, including a no-hitter against the Reno Cards. He shut down Jersey in both his starts this season, pitching 14.2 innings of shutout ball. Macias, the the 36 year old veteran, had his worst season as a pro as his strike out totals fell and ERA rose. He did have a great September which Jersey is hoping for good signs during this postseason.
Macias, who struggled mightily in the playoffs a year ago, would get things started nicely for Jersey taking the first 3 Vista hitters in order. The stadium was packed down to standing room only tickets and gave an ovation as he got All-Star John Doby to strike out to end the first. Tyler Law would take the mound for Vista and whatever concerns Jersey hitters had about him shutting them down all season quickly disappeared. Two quick walks and a hit by pitched loaded the bases for Matt Doyle with no one out. Doyle would waste no time and take the 2nd offering to the gap in left-center bringing home 2 runs an sending Bryant to 3rd. The next batter Dodd would walk on 4 pitches to re-load the bases, still with no one out. A harmless fly ball would get Romero, but Bryant would tag and score the third Jersey run. Catcher Warren Goyer would fly out for the 2nd out before Alberto Perez would single on a line drive over shortstop to load the bases for the 3rd time in the inning. Law's control problems would continue as Tim Duncan would step in and not take the bat off his shoulder for 4 straight pitches forcing in the 4th run from 3rd base and surprisingly ending Law's night. It resulted in the shortest outing of the season for him. Carlos Arevalo would relieve Law and strike out leadoff man Sergio Rodriguez on 3 pitches. But the damage was done. After 1 inning, Jersey held a 4-0 lead.
Macias apparently came to work. Even after the long delay of batting around he came out and retired the side in order for the 2nd straight time. Jersey would waste no time getting more. SS Lawrence Schroeder led off the inning with a single and 2 batters later Matt Doyle would connect and pull a line drive down the line that barely stayed fair for a 2 run HR. It chased Arevalo from the game, and the 6 runs would be more than Jersey needed today.
An RBI triple from Schroeder would bring in the 7th run in the 3rd and an RBI single from Perez would bring home the 8th run in the 4th. Macias would stay out of the trouble until the 5th when Torres connected on a 2 run HR. Brian Cash would leadoff the 6th with a solo HR to bring the Jersey lead to 8-3 and follow that up with an RBI sac fly in the 7th to shave one more run off. A triple and wild pitch would bring home Vista's 5th run in the 8th before Macias was done for the night. Even though he gave up 5 ER he was effective enough to pick up the win. Jose Gomes and Jaime Saenz would close out the last 5 batters to preserve the 8-5 win for the Bags and give them a 2-1 series lead.
Final Score: Jersey 8 Vista 5
POTG: Matt Doyle 2-5, 2R, 2B, HR, 4RBI
Game 4
Game 4 would turn out to be the most interesting game of the series. Vista would bring Cipriano Montanez back on short rest while Jersey would send the embattled Jerry Burgess to the mound. Burgess was regulated to bullpen duty for much of August and September before coming back and throwing a quality start against Pocatello during the last series of the year.
Things did not start well for Burgess. A walk, single and walk loaded the bases with no outs, just like Jersey did the day the before. Vista would get their 4 runs but they did it on one swing. Roberto Bojorquez would only need one swing to send a Burgess offering high, deep and gone over the CF wall to put Jersey in a 4-0 hole before an out was recorded in the game. Burgess would shake it off and retire the next 3 batters before heading to the dugout in a quiet stadium. Montanez was sharp in the 1st inning, needing only 8 pitches to saw through 3 Jersey hitters to get us to the 2nd inning. Either Manager Kevin Davis had faith in Burgess or just didn't want to waste his bullpen, but Burgess headed out to the mound for the 2nd inning. A walk, double play, single and groundout ended the top half, while Jersey would go down in order in the bottom half to end the inning.
Burgess would go back to work in the 3rd giving up a lead off single Bojoquez before getting 2 straight outs. But a single from Torres and back to back walks would force in Vista's 5th run, but Brian Cash couldn't capitalize and break the game open by grounding out to end the threat. The Bags would finally show some sign of life in the 3rd getting two free passes to start things off before Luis Antonio Duran came to plate. Duran would single up the middle which would score one, and advance the runners on the throw to home. An RBI groundout from Larson would plate the 2nd run, giving the Bags a runner on 2nd with one out. An Adam Morrow single would put runners at the corners and Mikey Bryant would be the 2nd D-Bag to be hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases. Montanez probably got the biggest out of the day by getting masher Matt Doyle to weakly hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Both teams left the bases loaded. Jersey shaved part of the lead off, going into the 4th, Vista led 5-2.
Burgess would finally get the hook when he surrendered a 1 out double Doby and was replaced by Greg Schaefer. Schaefer would get an out before giving up back to back singles where Vista would plate their 6th run. Torres would strike out with 2 runners on to end the threat. As usual Jersey batters wouldn't lay down. The struggling Dave Dodd led off the inning with an exciting triple and came around to score on Perez's single before Montanez retired 3 batters in a row to end the 4th. Both teams score, 6-3 Vista lead. The 5th went by without any damage from Vista, but MVP showed up for Jersey. 2 pitches after Schroeder pulled a double down the left field line, Bryant would take a Montanez fastball the other way landing 340 feet away and bringing the Bags to within 1 and the crowd to their feet. It was Bryant's 1st HR of the series and just his 2nd and 3rd RBI in 4 games.
Both teams would pose threats in the 6th and 7th innings but no one could come up with a clutch hit until the bottom of the 8th. Vista would bring in Evan Brown to pitch to the left handed hitting rookie Torres, who would get the best of him and single on a line drive to CF. Brown would be replaced with rookie 1st round pick Edward Cadle who gave up a line drive single to former ROY Adam Morrow to put 2 runners on with no outs. Arevalo would replace Cadle who had a battle with Peter Larson before getting him to ground into a HUGE unassisted DP from Brian Cash. Arevalo couldn't get all the way out of trouble though. Lawrence Schroeder would hit a grounder pasts a diving Cash to score the runner from third and knot up this ballgame at 6 runs apiece. There could have been more trouble when he walked both Bryant and Doyle, but got Dodd to lazily fly out to send to send us to the 9th tied up.
Both teams would go down in order in the 9th sending us to our first extra inning game of the series. The 10th was no different, 6 up and 6 down. This was a pivotal game for both teams. Vista would threaten in their half of the 11th getting a lead-off single from Cash and a successful sac bunt from Cassidy to give Vista a runner in scoring position. John Doby would be given a free pass and like many other times in this series, the Vista bats wouldn't come through. Flame thrower Mungo Saenz would get Ashur and House both swinging to a huge ovation from the crowd. They wanted a Jersey win. With the meat of the order coming up, there would be no better time for the Bags. Bryant quickly got his 4th hit of the game a double into the left field corner and Doyle was walked to set up the double play. Goyer would pinch hit for Dodd and fly out to right field to bring up last year's playoff hero and this year's All Star game hero Alberto Perez. Why not? Perez took a 2-0 pitch and grounded the ball up the middle. Bryant would score without a throw and and was met at the plate by the team for a mini mosh pit to celebrate the walk off win. Down 5-0 and to come away winners was a great feeling. Going up 3-1 in the series with a chance to close it out at home was an even better one.
Final Score Jersey 7 Vista 6
POTG: Roberto Bojoquez 2-4, R, HR, 4RBI
Game 5
If you were expecting a close nail-biter this wasn't your game. Game 1 Art Ellis winner would take the mound against Game 2 winner Michael Hoffmeyer pitching on short rest. Ellis was nothing short of brilliant on this evening. Hoffmeyer labored, couldn't avoid the Jersey bats and this one was over before it even began. Jersey scored in every inning but the 3rd and the 5th highlighted by Home Runs from Bryant and Doyle in the 4th and the 6th, 4 total hits for Bryant and 4 hits from Peter Larson. Every Jersey regular besides Alberto Perez had a hit and Art Ellis would go 7 scoreless innings giving up 4 singles and 1 walk on his way to 8 strikeouts and his 2nd win of the series. Hoffmeyer wouldn't get out of the 4th inning and 4 other relievers would pitch and all would give up runs. In the end the Bags won in laughing fashion 11-0 in front of 35,000 fans and would earn their right to take on the winner of the Toronto-Greenville series, which Toronto holds a 3-2 lead in.
Final Score: Jersey 11 Vista 0
POTG: Mike Bryant 4-5, 2R, 2 2B, HR, 3RBI
Summary:
From what we said in the pre-series summary, if Vista is going to win they need to limit the Jersey bats. They did in 1 game, which resulted in a Vista win. In the other 4 games Jersey scored 8,8,7 and 11. The bats were just too much for the Panthers. I also want to give much respect to the bullpen. They were outstanding, only 3 hits in 15+ innings giving up no runs and striking out 16.
Series MVP: Mike Bryant 13-22 (.591) 7R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Other notable performers:
Alberto Perez: 8-21, .381, 5RBI
Matt Doyle: 6-21, 5R, 2HR, 8RBI
Art Ellis: 2-0, 1.42 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 14 K
Entire Bullpen: 15.2 IP, 3H, 0ER, 0R, 3BB, 16K
Game 3
Gane 3 would feature a matchup between Tyler "Big Train" Law of Vista and Dan "Simple Man" Macias of Jersey. Law, who missed more than 2 months with elbow tendonitis during the year, pitched great all season, including a no-hitter against the Reno Cards. He shut down Jersey in both his starts this season, pitching 14.2 innings of shutout ball. Macias, the the 36 year old veteran, had his worst season as a pro as his strike out totals fell and ERA rose. He did have a great September which Jersey is hoping for good signs during this postseason.
Macias, who struggled mightily in the playoffs a year ago, would get things started nicely for Jersey taking the first 3 Vista hitters in order. The stadium was packed down to standing room only tickets and gave an ovation as he got All-Star John Doby to strike out to end the first. Tyler Law would take the mound for Vista and whatever concerns Jersey hitters had about him shutting them down all season quickly disappeared. Two quick walks and a hit by pitched loaded the bases for Matt Doyle with no one out. Doyle would waste no time and take the 2nd offering to the gap in left-center bringing home 2 runs an sending Bryant to 3rd. The next batter Dodd would walk on 4 pitches to re-load the bases, still with no one out. A harmless fly ball would get Romero, but Bryant would tag and score the third Jersey run. Catcher Warren Goyer would fly out for the 2nd out before Alberto Perez would single on a line drive over shortstop to load the bases for the 3rd time in the inning. Law's control problems would continue as Tim Duncan would step in and not take the bat off his shoulder for 4 straight pitches forcing in the 4th run from 3rd base and surprisingly ending Law's night. It resulted in the shortest outing of the season for him. Carlos Arevalo would relieve Law and strike out leadoff man Sergio Rodriguez on 3 pitches. But the damage was done. After 1 inning, Jersey held a 4-0 lead.
Macias apparently came to work. Even after the long delay of batting around he came out and retired the side in order for the 2nd straight time. Jersey would waste no time getting more. SS Lawrence Schroeder led off the inning with a single and 2 batters later Matt Doyle would connect and pull a line drive down the line that barely stayed fair for a 2 run HR. It chased Arevalo from the game, and the 6 runs would be more than Jersey needed today.
An RBI triple from Schroeder would bring in the 7th run in the 3rd and an RBI single from Perez would bring home the 8th run in the 4th. Macias would stay out of the trouble until the 5th when Torres connected on a 2 run HR. Brian Cash would leadoff the 6th with a solo HR to bring the Jersey lead to 8-3 and follow that up with an RBI sac fly in the 7th to shave one more run off. A triple and wild pitch would bring home Vista's 5th run in the 8th before Macias was done for the night. Even though he gave up 5 ER he was effective enough to pick up the win. Jose Gomes and Jaime Saenz would close out the last 5 batters to preserve the 8-5 win for the Bags and give them a 2-1 series lead.
Final Score: Jersey 8 Vista 5
POTG: Matt Doyle 2-5, 2R, 2B, HR, 4RBI
Game 4
Game 4 would turn out to be the most interesting game of the series. Vista would bring Cipriano Montanez back on short rest while Jersey would send the embattled Jerry Burgess to the mound. Burgess was regulated to bullpen duty for much of August and September before coming back and throwing a quality start against Pocatello during the last series of the year.
Things did not start well for Burgess. A walk, single and walk loaded the bases with no outs, just like Jersey did the day the before. Vista would get their 4 runs but they did it on one swing. Roberto Bojorquez would only need one swing to send a Burgess offering high, deep and gone over the CF wall to put Jersey in a 4-0 hole before an out was recorded in the game. Burgess would shake it off and retire the next 3 batters before heading to the dugout in a quiet stadium. Montanez was sharp in the 1st inning, needing only 8 pitches to saw through 3 Jersey hitters to get us to the 2nd inning. Either Manager Kevin Davis had faith in Burgess or just didn't want to waste his bullpen, but Burgess headed out to the mound for the 2nd inning. A walk, double play, single and groundout ended the top half, while Jersey would go down in order in the bottom half to end the inning.
Burgess would go back to work in the 3rd giving up a lead off single Bojoquez before getting 2 straight outs. But a single from Torres and back to back walks would force in Vista's 5th run, but Brian Cash couldn't capitalize and break the game open by grounding out to end the threat. The Bags would finally show some sign of life in the 3rd getting two free passes to start things off before Luis Antonio Duran came to plate. Duran would single up the middle which would score one, and advance the runners on the throw to home. An RBI groundout from Larson would plate the 2nd run, giving the Bags a runner on 2nd with one out. An Adam Morrow single would put runners at the corners and Mikey Bryant would be the 2nd D-Bag to be hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases. Montanez probably got the biggest out of the day by getting masher Matt Doyle to weakly hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Both teams left the bases loaded. Jersey shaved part of the lead off, going into the 4th, Vista led 5-2.
Burgess would finally get the hook when he surrendered a 1 out double Doby and was replaced by Greg Schaefer. Schaefer would get an out before giving up back to back singles where Vista would plate their 6th run. Torres would strike out with 2 runners on to end the threat. As usual Jersey batters wouldn't lay down. The struggling Dave Dodd led off the inning with an exciting triple and came around to score on Perez's single before Montanez retired 3 batters in a row to end the 4th. Both teams score, 6-3 Vista lead. The 5th went by without any damage from Vista, but MVP showed up for Jersey. 2 pitches after Schroeder pulled a double down the left field line, Bryant would take a Montanez fastball the other way landing 340 feet away and bringing the Bags to within 1 and the crowd to their feet. It was Bryant's 1st HR of the series and just his 2nd and 3rd RBI in 4 games.
Both teams would pose threats in the 6th and 7th innings but no one could come up with a clutch hit until the bottom of the 8th. Vista would bring in Evan Brown to pitch to the left handed hitting rookie Torres, who would get the best of him and single on a line drive to CF. Brown would be replaced with rookie 1st round pick Edward Cadle who gave up a line drive single to former ROY Adam Morrow to put 2 runners on with no outs. Arevalo would replace Cadle who had a battle with Peter Larson before getting him to ground into a HUGE unassisted DP from Brian Cash. Arevalo couldn't get all the way out of trouble though. Lawrence Schroeder would hit a grounder pasts a diving Cash to score the runner from third and knot up this ballgame at 6 runs apiece. There could have been more trouble when he walked both Bryant and Doyle, but got Dodd to lazily fly out to send to send us to the 9th tied up.
Both teams would go down in order in the 9th sending us to our first extra inning game of the series. The 10th was no different, 6 up and 6 down. This was a pivotal game for both teams. Vista would threaten in their half of the 11th getting a lead-off single from Cash and a successful sac bunt from Cassidy to give Vista a runner in scoring position. John Doby would be given a free pass and like many other times in this series, the Vista bats wouldn't come through. Flame thrower Mungo Saenz would get Ashur and House both swinging to a huge ovation from the crowd. They wanted a Jersey win. With the meat of the order coming up, there would be no better time for the Bags. Bryant quickly got his 4th hit of the game a double into the left field corner and Doyle was walked to set up the double play. Goyer would pinch hit for Dodd and fly out to right field to bring up last year's playoff hero and this year's All Star game hero Alberto Perez. Why not? Perez took a 2-0 pitch and grounded the ball up the middle. Bryant would score without a throw and and was met at the plate by the team for a mini mosh pit to celebrate the walk off win. Down 5-0 and to come away winners was a great feeling. Going up 3-1 in the series with a chance to close it out at home was an even better one.
Final Score Jersey 7 Vista 6
POTG: Roberto Bojoquez 2-4, R, HR, 4RBI
Game 5
If you were expecting a close nail-biter this wasn't your game. Game 1 Art Ellis winner would take the mound against Game 2 winner Michael Hoffmeyer pitching on short rest. Ellis was nothing short of brilliant on this evening. Hoffmeyer labored, couldn't avoid the Jersey bats and this one was over before it even began. Jersey scored in every inning but the 3rd and the 5th highlighted by Home Runs from Bryant and Doyle in the 4th and the 6th, 4 total hits for Bryant and 4 hits from Peter Larson. Every Jersey regular besides Alberto Perez had a hit and Art Ellis would go 7 scoreless innings giving up 4 singles and 1 walk on his way to 8 strikeouts and his 2nd win of the series. Hoffmeyer wouldn't get out of the 4th inning and 4 other relievers would pitch and all would give up runs. In the end the Bags won in laughing fashion 11-0 in front of 35,000 fans and would earn their right to take on the winner of the Toronto-Greenville series, which Toronto holds a 3-2 lead in.
Final Score: Jersey 11 Vista 0
POTG: Mike Bryant 4-5, 2R, 2 2B, HR, 3RBI
Summary:
From what we said in the pre-series summary, if Vista is going to win they need to limit the Jersey bats. They did in 1 game, which resulted in a Vista win. In the other 4 games Jersey scored 8,8,7 and 11. The bats were just too much for the Panthers. I also want to give much respect to the bullpen. They were outstanding, only 3 hits in 15+ innings giving up no runs and striking out 16.
Series MVP: Mike Bryant 13-22 (.591) 7R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Other notable performers:
Alberto Perez: 8-21, .381, 5RBI
Matt Doyle: 6-21, 5R, 2HR, 8RBI
Art Ellis: 2-0, 1.42 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 14 K
Entire Bullpen: 15.2 IP, 3H, 0ER, 0R, 3BB, 16K
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Jersey Shore vs. Vista; Tied After 2
Welcome to the long awaited BSA Division round of the 2016 playoffs! The Jersey Shore D-Bags will take on the Vista Panthers in the first round. Since Vista was the division winner, games 1-2 and 6-7 will be played in Vista, while 3-4-5 will be played in Jersey.
We breakdown the first 2 games of the series played in Vista here:
Game 1
Former Cy Young winner Cipriano Montanez would take the hill for Vista, making him the first Vista starter to start a playoff game for the team. He would throw a ball to Peter Larson to start the game in front of a packed house of just over 40,000 fans. He would get Larson to pop out, rookie SS Lawrence Schroeder to ground out before coming to the teeth of the Jersey lineup. Mr. Triple Crown Mikey Bryant would run the count to 2-0 before roping a line drive the other way into the corner for a 2 out double and the game's first hit. On the first pitch to Matt Doyle he would hit a hard grounder through the hole between 3rd and SS, Bryant with a great jump would score the game's first run without a throw. Montanez would get rookie Dave Dodd swinging to the end Jersey's first.
Starting for Jersey Shore was their veteran ace Art Ellis. We learned early on that his control might be a little off today. He walked the leadoff man Brian Cash, gave up a single to John Doby and walked Matt House to load the bases with only one out. A very fortunate come-backer off the bat of Armando Macias would result in a force out at the plate for the 2nd out. Cesar Torres would step to the plate and see the 2nd pitch in the at bat in the dirt and to the screen, a passed ball, which would bring home Doby to the tie the game. Torres would strikeout in the at bat 4 pitches later to end the inning.
The 2nd innings treated both pitchers well with both getting 3 up and 3 down. The 3rd inning the Bags would get to Montanez again. A walk to Larson followed by singles by Schroeder, Bryant and Doyle resulted in 2 runs, giving the D-Bags a 3-1 lead. A single to Doby is all Vista could manage in their half of the 3rd, ending the inning trailing 3-1. A base runner apiece for each team in the 4th is all the action we would see, keeping the score the same.
Mistakes abound would kill Vista in the 5th inning. Schroeder would strike out to start the inning before Bryant would pull a scorching ground ball down the first base line for his 2nd double of the game. An intentional walk to Doyle would set up the double play ball seemed to be a good strategy until the 3rd pitch to Dodd would be a wild pitch to move the runners up. This forced Montanez to intentionally walk Dodd to load the bases. Alberto Perez would step to the plate, and what should have been an inning ending double play ate up SS Riley Cassidy, which subsequently would allow 2 runs to score and the inning to keep going, also this would chase Montanez from the game. Guillermo Martinez would relieve Montanez, give up a sac fly to catcher Duran, to bring home Jersey's 6th run, before getting rookie Fransisco Torres to ground out to end the inning and a big Jersey lead 6-1.
This would be all Jersey would need today. Vista would load the bases in the 6th against Ellis but only muster one run, and that was forced in by a walk from Matt House. This would chase Ellis who ended up pitching 5 2/3 innings, giving up 2 ER on 3 hits but walked 7. Jersey would get the run back and another in the 7th with a single from Duran that would bring home Doyle and Dodd and make the score 8-2. The only other base runner for the rest of the game would come in Vista's 9th when 1B Manny Dominguez would walk, before Hyo-chin Kim retired 3 batters in a row to end the game. Dominguez was the only batter Kim would let reach in 3 1/3 inning, which resulted in a save for him in his first postseason pitching.
Final Score: Jersey 8 Vista 2
POTG: Matt Doyle 3-4, 2B, BB, 2R, 2RBI
Game 2
Game 2 would offer an interesting pitching matchup. Vista would send Michael Hoffmeyer to the mound, who was 0-2 against Jersey this season with the combination of Mikey Bryant and Matt Doyle doing most of the damage in those 2 games. For Jersey they would send 21 year old phenom Jose Ramos, who shutout Vista in 7.1 IP in his only start against the Panthers this season.
Hoffmeyer and Ramos would dance around base runners in the first inning before both escaped trouble. The 2nd inning both pitchers would get 3 up, 3 down getting a pair of groundouts apiece to send us to the 3rd still knotted at 0. Besides a 6 pitch watch to Peter Larson, Hoffmeyer was all business in the 3rd, throwing 8 pitches to achieve 3 outs outside of the Larson AB.
In Vista's half of the 3rd we would finally get some action. After Manny Dominguez would strike out swinging, Riley Cassidy would come to the plate trying to redeem himself for his very costly error in Game 1. On the 2nd pitch of the AB, Cassidy would surprise everyone and drag a bunt down the line and beat it out by half a step. On a 1-1 count to Brian Cash, Cassidy would steal 2nd base, giving Vista a rare runner in scoring position. Ramos would get Cash to fly out for the 2nd out, but wasn't out of trouble yet. Roberto Bojorquez would slice a line drive down the RF line that would land fair by a foot scoring Cassidy from 2nd easily and giving Vista the early 1-0 lead. A John Doby walk would extend the inning before Matt House grounded out to Mikey Bryant to end the inning.
The Bags would show some life in the 4th, well Bryant would show some life. He started the inning with a single, his 2nd hit of the game and stole 2nd with Dodd at the plate after Doyle flew out to RF. Dodd would fly out for the 2nd out before disaster almost struck Vista and Mr. Cassidy. Alberto Perez would again ground to Cassidy which should have ended the inning but a bobble and a throw off target would allow him to reach and send Bryant to 3rd base. Duran would come to plate looking to tie this game up at 1. After running the count to 2-0, he took a big cut at a fastball which would result in a grounder to 1st, which would end the inning.
After the middle of the 4th, both pitchers would settle into a groove and besides a wayward single we would head into the bottom of the 6th inning with Vista still leading 1-0. Doby would lead off Vista's half of the 6th with a single before House and Macias hit lazy fly balls into the OF for easy outs. But again Vista would strike with two outs. Cesar Torres, the speedy OF, who had 46 2B on the year, would do what he does best and line a ball to the gap in left-center. CF Torres would have no chance to make a play on the ball, Doby would score with no throw and Vista goes up 2-0, but it wouldn't last long.
Dave Dodd would lead off the 7th for the Bags and take Hoffmeyer's 3rd pitch of the AB and deposit it 425 feet later into the RF bleachers. It would mark the first HR for either team in the series and erase the insurance run Vista just pushed across the plate. Hoffmeyer would struggle through the rest of the inning, getting 2 outs, but loading the bases in the process. The threat would be ended when he would get SS Schroeder to fly out to CF avoiding all danger and leaving the Bags with 3 runners left on to think about.
The bottom of the 7th and top of the 8th were very similiar for both starters seeing 3 batters apiece with Hoffmeyer getting Bryant, Doyle and Dodd to all groundout in order. Ramos's night would be over after pitching 7 very solid innings for Jersey, giving up the 2 ER on 6 hits while striking out 5. Jose "Dog Pound" Gomes would come in, getting a ground out and 2 strike outs to send us to the 9th.
Vista closer Alejandro Lopez would be called upon to end the game for Vista. Lopez saved 20 games on the season between Vista and St. Louis. His night wouldn't start well with a 5 pitch walk to Lopez. One of the more bizarre plays you will see happened when Duran stepped to the plate. On the 3rd pitch of the AB, Duran would lay down a bunt that immediately went back to the pitcher Lopez. Lopez would twirl and fire to 2nd to get Perez easy as the force out, but a heads up play by Cassidy to throw to first would end in a bang-bang double play off a bunt attempt. Duran had had't a successful sac bunt attempt in over 2 years and only 3 in his entire career. It was an odd decision. Jersey wasn't done yet as Torres reached after being hit by a pitch and last year's ROY Adam Morrow coaxed and 8-pitch walk to put the tying run in scoring position for leadoff man Peter Larson. But it wasn't meant to be for the Bags as Larson popped up the first pitch on the infield where 2B Cash would end the game with an easy catch.
Final Score: Vista 2 Jersey 1
POTG: Michael Hoffmeyer 8IP, 1ER, 1R, 4H, 4BB, 4K
We now head to Jersey for 3 games, tied 1 game apiece.
GO D-BAGS
We breakdown the first 2 games of the series played in Vista here:
Game 1
Former Cy Young winner Cipriano Montanez would take the hill for Vista, making him the first Vista starter to start a playoff game for the team. He would throw a ball to Peter Larson to start the game in front of a packed house of just over 40,000 fans. He would get Larson to pop out, rookie SS Lawrence Schroeder to ground out before coming to the teeth of the Jersey lineup. Mr. Triple Crown Mikey Bryant would run the count to 2-0 before roping a line drive the other way into the corner for a 2 out double and the game's first hit. On the first pitch to Matt Doyle he would hit a hard grounder through the hole between 3rd and SS, Bryant with a great jump would score the game's first run without a throw. Montanez would get rookie Dave Dodd swinging to the end Jersey's first.
Starting for Jersey Shore was their veteran ace Art Ellis. We learned early on that his control might be a little off today. He walked the leadoff man Brian Cash, gave up a single to John Doby and walked Matt House to load the bases with only one out. A very fortunate come-backer off the bat of Armando Macias would result in a force out at the plate for the 2nd out. Cesar Torres would step to the plate and see the 2nd pitch in the at bat in the dirt and to the screen, a passed ball, which would bring home Doby to the tie the game. Torres would strikeout in the at bat 4 pitches later to end the inning.
The 2nd innings treated both pitchers well with both getting 3 up and 3 down. The 3rd inning the Bags would get to Montanez again. A walk to Larson followed by singles by Schroeder, Bryant and Doyle resulted in 2 runs, giving the D-Bags a 3-1 lead. A single to Doby is all Vista could manage in their half of the 3rd, ending the inning trailing 3-1. A base runner apiece for each team in the 4th is all the action we would see, keeping the score the same.
Mistakes abound would kill Vista in the 5th inning. Schroeder would strike out to start the inning before Bryant would pull a scorching ground ball down the first base line for his 2nd double of the game. An intentional walk to Doyle would set up the double play ball seemed to be a good strategy until the 3rd pitch to Dodd would be a wild pitch to move the runners up. This forced Montanez to intentionally walk Dodd to load the bases. Alberto Perez would step to the plate, and what should have been an inning ending double play ate up SS Riley Cassidy, which subsequently would allow 2 runs to score and the inning to keep going, also this would chase Montanez from the game. Guillermo Martinez would relieve Montanez, give up a sac fly to catcher Duran, to bring home Jersey's 6th run, before getting rookie Fransisco Torres to ground out to end the inning and a big Jersey lead 6-1.
This would be all Jersey would need today. Vista would load the bases in the 6th against Ellis but only muster one run, and that was forced in by a walk from Matt House. This would chase Ellis who ended up pitching 5 2/3 innings, giving up 2 ER on 3 hits but walked 7. Jersey would get the run back and another in the 7th with a single from Duran that would bring home Doyle and Dodd and make the score 8-2. The only other base runner for the rest of the game would come in Vista's 9th when 1B Manny Dominguez would walk, before Hyo-chin Kim retired 3 batters in a row to end the game. Dominguez was the only batter Kim would let reach in 3 1/3 inning, which resulted in a save for him in his first postseason pitching.
Final Score: Jersey 8 Vista 2
POTG: Matt Doyle 3-4, 2B, BB, 2R, 2RBI
Game 2
Game 2 would offer an interesting pitching matchup. Vista would send Michael Hoffmeyer to the mound, who was 0-2 against Jersey this season with the combination of Mikey Bryant and Matt Doyle doing most of the damage in those 2 games. For Jersey they would send 21 year old phenom Jose Ramos, who shutout Vista in 7.1 IP in his only start against the Panthers this season.
Hoffmeyer and Ramos would dance around base runners in the first inning before both escaped trouble. The 2nd inning both pitchers would get 3 up, 3 down getting a pair of groundouts apiece to send us to the 3rd still knotted at 0. Besides a 6 pitch watch to Peter Larson, Hoffmeyer was all business in the 3rd, throwing 8 pitches to achieve 3 outs outside of the Larson AB.
In Vista's half of the 3rd we would finally get some action. After Manny Dominguez would strike out swinging, Riley Cassidy would come to the plate trying to redeem himself for his very costly error in Game 1. On the 2nd pitch of the AB, Cassidy would surprise everyone and drag a bunt down the line and beat it out by half a step. On a 1-1 count to Brian Cash, Cassidy would steal 2nd base, giving Vista a rare runner in scoring position. Ramos would get Cash to fly out for the 2nd out, but wasn't out of trouble yet. Roberto Bojorquez would slice a line drive down the RF line that would land fair by a foot scoring Cassidy from 2nd easily and giving Vista the early 1-0 lead. A John Doby walk would extend the inning before Matt House grounded out to Mikey Bryant to end the inning.
The Bags would show some life in the 4th, well Bryant would show some life. He started the inning with a single, his 2nd hit of the game and stole 2nd with Dodd at the plate after Doyle flew out to RF. Dodd would fly out for the 2nd out before disaster almost struck Vista and Mr. Cassidy. Alberto Perez would again ground to Cassidy which should have ended the inning but a bobble and a throw off target would allow him to reach and send Bryant to 3rd base. Duran would come to plate looking to tie this game up at 1. After running the count to 2-0, he took a big cut at a fastball which would result in a grounder to 1st, which would end the inning.
After the middle of the 4th, both pitchers would settle into a groove and besides a wayward single we would head into the bottom of the 6th inning with Vista still leading 1-0. Doby would lead off Vista's half of the 6th with a single before House and Macias hit lazy fly balls into the OF for easy outs. But again Vista would strike with two outs. Cesar Torres, the speedy OF, who had 46 2B on the year, would do what he does best and line a ball to the gap in left-center. CF Torres would have no chance to make a play on the ball, Doby would score with no throw and Vista goes up 2-0, but it wouldn't last long.
Dave Dodd would lead off the 7th for the Bags and take Hoffmeyer's 3rd pitch of the AB and deposit it 425 feet later into the RF bleachers. It would mark the first HR for either team in the series and erase the insurance run Vista just pushed across the plate. Hoffmeyer would struggle through the rest of the inning, getting 2 outs, but loading the bases in the process. The threat would be ended when he would get SS Schroeder to fly out to CF avoiding all danger and leaving the Bags with 3 runners left on to think about.
The bottom of the 7th and top of the 8th were very similiar for both starters seeing 3 batters apiece with Hoffmeyer getting Bryant, Doyle and Dodd to all groundout in order. Ramos's night would be over after pitching 7 very solid innings for Jersey, giving up the 2 ER on 6 hits while striking out 5. Jose "Dog Pound" Gomes would come in, getting a ground out and 2 strike outs to send us to the 9th.
Vista closer Alejandro Lopez would be called upon to end the game for Vista. Lopez saved 20 games on the season between Vista and St. Louis. His night wouldn't start well with a 5 pitch walk to Lopez. One of the more bizarre plays you will see happened when Duran stepped to the plate. On the 3rd pitch of the AB, Duran would lay down a bunt that immediately went back to the pitcher Lopez. Lopez would twirl and fire to 2nd to get Perez easy as the force out, but a heads up play by Cassidy to throw to first would end in a bang-bang double play off a bunt attempt. Duran had had't a successful sac bunt attempt in over 2 years and only 3 in his entire career. It was an odd decision. Jersey wasn't done yet as Torres reached after being hit by a pitch and last year's ROY Adam Morrow coaxed and 8-pitch walk to put the tying run in scoring position for leadoff man Peter Larson. But it wasn't meant to be for the Bags as Larson popped up the first pitch on the infield where 2B Cash would end the game with an easy catch.
Final Score: Vista 2 Jersey 1
POTG: Michael Hoffmeyer 8IP, 1ER, 1R, 4H, 4BB, 4K
We now head to Jersey for 3 games, tied 1 game apiece.
GO D-BAGS
Monday, January 28, 2013
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.
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.
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