Jersey Pitching Sizzles in July; Ramos Takes Home Award

It was a great month for the Jersey Shore D-Bags, whom at the end of July saw themselves with a 3 game lead over slumping St. Louis in the CL East.  While the bats continue to lead the league in most offensive categories, it was the pitching that came through to drive Jersey Shore to an 18-5, easily their best of the season.  The starters combined to go 16-4 with 15 quality starts, 3 complete games and 1 personal shutout to go with another team shutout.  

Ace Jose Ramos led the way, being named the Pitcher of the Month for the CL, the 4th time in his career he has been donned with that honor.  He won all 5 starts he had in July, getting a quality start for every one of them and averaging a little over 8 innings per start.  His final numbers for the month: 5 starts, 5-0, 41.2 IP, 1.51 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 21 K's to go along with just 5 BB. With a 13-4 record and league leading 2.34 ERA he might have a chance to catch up with Toronto phenom Albert Lebel in the Cy Young race who is out for the next 2-3 weeks.

Not only was Ramos perfect for Jersey, but we saw glimpses of the Jose Lara of old as he went 6-0 for the month, winning everyone of his starts as well, including a 109 piece masterpiece on 7/7 against Chicago.  Lara threw his first shutout since 2014 and it was the 14th complete game of his career.  His final numbers for the month: 6 starts, 6-0, 40.1 IP, 3.12 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 34 K's.  Before the month began Lara was 2-6 with a nasty high ERA of 7.20.  Through his 6 starts in July he lowered that to 5.64.  While Lara is still only a fraction of the Lara we saw in Boston, stretches like this give Jersey fans hope that he can make some meaningful starts down the stretch and help lead Jersey back to the playoffs.

Is Art Ellis's job in trouble?  After bouncing back somewhat from a horrible 2019 campaign, veteran Art Ellis had a good April and May before slipping in June and having a fairly terrible July.  In his last 4 starts, though he is only responsible for a 0-1 record, he hasn't gotten out of the 5th inning and twice hasn't even gotten out of the 3rd.  The almost 35 year old is making $12.25 million this year and has a team option for $14.75 million next year.  At this point that option being picked up has to have a very slim chance of happening.  24 year old Ramon Ruiz who has ripped up AAA pitching this year, but struggled through 4 big league starts is slated to come off the DL this week and with a couple more bad Ellis starts.....could a change be made?  If Jersey remains in a tight race down the stretch can they really send a struggling Ellis who has obviously lost a step and several MPH off of that fastball?  As much as we would hate to see him go out on a low note....Ellis's days in Jersey might be limited.

GO D-BAGS

July in Review From the Shore

Another All-Star game has come and gone and we just have 2 months left in the 2017 season.  A 17-8 record for the month might have been Jersey's worst month statistically of the season, but was good enough to finish with a 10.5 game lead on 2nd place Greenville and leave the Bags with a 81-27 record.  One more win to assure themselves their 8th straight winning season and just 50 or so games from their first division title.

Players of the Month

MR Lucio Tapia: 3-0, 1.46 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 21K in 12.1 IP.  With much of the staff having a down month, Tapia under the radar is having his best season since he broke out in 2013.  The 32 year old has an ERA just over 2 and has been excellent in the set-up role which he share with Jose "Dog Pound" Gomes.  If the starters don't step up down the stretch it will be up to bullpen guys like him to carry the load and keep the Bags in the game.

MR Jose Ruiz: 1 save, 2.25 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 13K.  To go along with Tapia, Ruiz had an excellent month out of the middle innings and earned himself a spot on POTM for the 2nd straight month.  At just 24 years old, his K/9, BB/9, HR/9, H/9 and K/BB have all improved since his great sophomore year last year and a sign that he will be a staple in the Jersey pen for years to come.

3B Adam Morrow: .375/.480/.475. 30H, 17BB, 8 2B, 12R.  After a terrible sophomore season which saw Morrow get shipped back and forth between the big league club and AAA, he has seemed to find his stroke again and July was his best month to date.  His stats this year are very similar to when he was awarded the CL Rookie of the Year in 2015.  Maybe the switch to hitting at the bottom of the order was the trick he needed to be productive at the plate again.

2B Mike Bryant: .306/.352/.510.  4 HR, 17 RBI, 8 2B, 17 R.  Bryant turned things around after a slow June to take some of the pressure off of the other big boppers in the lineup.  While the power we have grown to love really wasn't there, the 8 doubles are encouraging as he is still way off the pace he set last season.  He may not win any awards this year, he is still on pace for 35-120-.315, just another season in the life of Bryant.

Questions, Concerns and Answers:

Should the fact the team just had it's worst month of the season be concerning?  Some say yes, some say no.  The schedule was the toughest of the season and August won't get any better, but holding a big lead on Greenville was the key.  

On the injury front there was no bad news.  No new injuries and with SP Art Ellis on schedule, he should head to rehab sometime this month.  This is encouraging news for the Bags.  If he stays on schedule he should get 3 starts for the Bags before the playoffs which will really test his availability for the playoffs.  Fransisco Ibarra was always taken of the DL and sent back to AAA after missing 5 weeks with an injury.  We still think he is a very viable candidate for a September callup.  

Jersey successfully signed all 10 of the draft picks from the Amatuer draft on July 1st and all have been assigned to the A or AA minor league affiliates.  Also towards the end of the month, Jersey officials announced 2 contract extensions.  The first being MR Hyo-chin Kim, which bought out 1 free year and 3 years of arbitration.  The 2nd extension was given to up-and-coming SS Lawrence Schroeder.  His contract is a 5 year deal, the last being a team option, also bought out his last free year and all 3 years of arbitration.  

Minor League Players of the Month

Pitcher

SP Sergio Martinez (AA): 4-1, 1.96 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 29 K, 1 HR allowed, 36.2 IP.  Martinez in his 3rd year in AA, is having his best year and is slowly climbing up the prospect charts for the Jersey Shore.  While his control is still considered his achilles's heel, if he can get a grasp on that and play to his potentials, some Jersey folk say he slates out to be a 2-3 starter in the rotation.  At only 21 years old there is no rush on Martinez and will be interesting to see where he goes from here.

Hitter

SS Fabrice Brodeur (AAA): .316/.383/.430, 36 hits, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 24R, 4SB.  Leading the entire organization in hits in July and scoring in almost every game in July, Brodeur was a key cog in the Tuscaloosa lineup in July.  It was his 3rd straight 30+ hit month and he looks on track to reach the big leagues sometime next year. The former 1st round pick plays every infield position and would make a great asset as a backup or a fill in starter and could probably start on many teams on the left side of the infield.

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Slides to 12-14 July Record

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Shore July 2015 In Review

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

Players of the Month

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roster Questions, Changes and Answers

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

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

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

GO D-BAGS 

Summer Swoon

Through a long baseball season there will be ups and downs, a good team will minimize the downs and thrive on long periods of ups.  Getting through the down trodden parts are the hardest part though.  For this Jersey Shore team we have already seen a few high and lows.  At the All-Star break this team was riding high, having taken over the Eastern Division lead and sat atop with a 1.5 game lead.  It was a rare time for the D-Bags, and it was one of the first and if not THE first time they held the division lead outside of the month of April.  Starting pitching was adequate, upper half of the CL.  Bullpen was the best in the league and the bats were hot, red hot.  Over 5.5 runs a game were being scored.  Decent starting pitching led to a dominant shut down bullpen who rarely gave up hits nor runs.  But as the AS break came and went things changed.  Why is the unkown, but we break it down here:

The AS break took place July 8-11, which left 17 games left in the month of July.  The D-Bags didn't tank but compiled a 8-9 record in that time frame, but it was the end of the month when the real trouble started.  

After taking 2 of 3 from KC, Jersey welcomed the 84's to town and took 2 of 3 from them as well.  Next to town was the Knights of New York.  The Knights punished D-Bag pitching to the tune of 25 runs in 3 games, but the Bags salvaged one game in a 10-7 win.  After an off-day the D-Bags made the travel to Maui to visit the Tropics with a 3 game set.  Somewhere on the long plane ride over to Hawaii the bats were misplaced. Jersey scored 7 runs in 3 games and were swept, including a 1-0 series finale where former D-Bag Jugerta Wemusa out dueled Rob Goodship.  Next came was a trip to Oklahoma.  Oklahoma handed the Bags 2 one run losses before thoroughly beating the Bags 7-1.  The last loss represented Jersey's 8th straight loss, the longest such streak since the team relocated here over 3 years ago.  It had to end here right?

A trip to St. Louis seemed all Jersey needed to bust out of their slump.  They ended the losing streak at 8 with a 7-2 win and went on to take 3 of 4 from the Browns and welcomed the Vista Panthers to town and promptly took 2 of 3 from them.  The Bags seem to be back on their feet with a 3 game road trip to play St. Louis again, who had the worst record in all the BSA.  Things didn't go as planned as the Browns outscored the Bags 21-9 in a 3 game sweep.  

When all was said and done since the break the Bags have turned in a 13-18 record and have gone from 1.5 games up in the division, to at one point down 6.5 games out, now to 4 games out.  Things could be a lot worse, but the competitive division has everyone beating on everyone, so 4 games should be considered a blessing.  The bags have an off-day tomarrow, their only off day in the month of August BTW, then go on a 21 day stretch of having a game every day.  The next 3 weeks probably will determine if the Bags will make a run or fall short as they did a year ago.

Before the break:

5.6 runs per game

After the break:

4.4 runs per game 

Take out the 2 big outbursts of 10 and 12.....3.9 runs per game.

Jersey Shore - July 2012

June treated Jersey Shore very well with a 16-11 record in June, Jersey kept up their winning ways in July going 15-11 even though they faced a brutal schedule which included the majority of teams over .500.  They gained 3 games on Pittsburgh, but still sit 10 games out of first place, and 7 games out of the Wild Card.  We saw good pitching and even the first Pitcher of the Month Award for 2012.


Players of the Month:
SP Jose Reyes: 5-0, 1.16 ERA, 1.16 WHIP.  After coming off the DL in June and having 3 sub par starts Reyes turned it on in July winning all 5 of his starts and being named the Pitcher of the Month for the Trillian League.  His wins including ones against Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Greenville.  He improved his record to 7-1 on the season.

CL Daniel Morris: 1-0, 9 Saves, 0.00 ERA  0.72 WHIP.  For the 2nd straight month Morris was dominate making the Players of the Month list.  He appeared in 10 games, 9 of them in situations and converted all of them.  After he signed a one year deal which was deemed ill advised by fans, Morris has stepped in and been one of the best closers in the league.  He also signed a 3 year deal earlier in the month.

MR Jose "Dog Pound" Gomes:  1-0, 1.27 ERA, 0.82 WHIP:  2nd straight month for Gomes on the POTM list as well.  He set up Morris beautifully, giving up one ER all month long to Sacramento.  After a rough start to the season he has improved his overall ERA to 2.11 and his WHIP to 1.21.  He and Morris anchor the league's 3rd best bullpen ERA wise.

SS Jerome Lindsey: .315/.406/.413 2 HR 11 RBI:  Coming off the DL was a kick in the pants for offense at a position Jersey was sorely missing.  If he can stay healthy Jersey has a top of the lineup threat, but his problem has been staying on the field.  

OF Ramon Tavarez: .343/.365/.600 5 HR 16 RBI:  Tavarez is one of the stranger leadoff hitters you will see.  He lead the team in HR and RBI.  He took only 3 walks and struck out 14 times, but amassed a SLG% of .600.  The switch hitter mashed righties for the month, with his stats he is more of the prototypical 3 or 5 hitter, but looks to stay in the leadoff role.

Roster Changes, Questions and Answers:

The first roster changes came with the trade deadline.  Jersey sent 2B Jose Nunez to Los Angeles in return for 2B prospects Rafeal Lara.  Then Jersey dealt Tak-hing Ma and Juan Garcia to Orlando in exchange for SP Hector Hernandez and Bill Welshman.  Garcia was part of the original team but was sent to make room for AB's for Milliard Cross and Derrick Wright.  Hernandez will see where he can fit into the rotation.

Again the bullpen was dominate the starting pitching was better, and the offense stepped up enough to win 15 games.  The team still didn't show much power, hitting 18 HR in 26 games, but with the addition of Cross to the 25 man roster, we are hoping to see more of it the next month.

With Nunez being traded Top Prospect Antonio Ruiz was called up again to be the full time starting 2B.  He has struggled there thus far after killing AAA, we will see how he progresses through the later months in the year.  With Garcia being gone the 1B/3B/DH AB's will be split between Parker Morrow, David Pena and Milliard Cross.  If any of them falter, 26 year old 1B Derrick Wilson is posting historically big numbers in AAA waiting for his spot. 

A question that wasn't answered in July was again the young starting pitching.  Rob Goodship got 2 starts, one ok and one terrible.  Jerry Paige is still in AAA, awaiting his shot at the rotation as well.  The only other questions that can be asked is, can this team continue to stay healthy?  With being 7 games out, can they possibly make a run at the Wild Card?  Which prospects will continue to move up the ladder and which ones will get their shot at the big league club?  Can the bullpen continue to be dominate?  We will see in August!

GO D-BAGS