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

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: June 2016 in Review

In another winning month for the Bags, it was another month that slightly got worse than  the last percentage wise.  The Bags finished the month of June with a 16-11 record, in what was their hardest month of the year schedule wise.  It included series with Boston, New Orleans, Toronto, and Greenville twice.  The Bags finish the month 3 games back of the division leading Greenville 84's and 1/2 game behind the Chicago Machine.  Going into July the Bags are 52-30.

Players of the Month

MR Jose "Dog Pound" Gomes: 15.2 IP, 3-0, 15 K, 6H, 8 BB.  For the 2nd straight month Gomes did not allow a run to score on his watch.  He extended his scoreless streak to 38.2 IP which is over 31 appearances.  Any concern that the bullpen would take a step down with the loss of Daniel Morris can be put to rest.

OF Peter Larson: .337/.442/.533  2 HR, 13 RBI, 31 hits, 19 BB.  Peter Larson returned to the on-base machine we all know and love during June.  He was on base an astonishing 50 times, good for 44% of his AB.  If the Bags are going to compete they are going to need for players at the top of the order to be one base for the big boys.

OF Sergio Rodriguez:  .322/.400/.655  6 HR, 18 RBI, 19 runs.  Sergio was a nice surprise after injuries pushed him into an every day starting role.  He led the team in RBI for most of the month until Doyle passed him on the last day of the month.  The guy just does what he is asked.  He played great defense and even stole 2 bases.  

Roster Changes, Questions and Answers:  
A couple of injuries really dictated the moves this month.  On back to back days both OF Al Ryan and OF Jose Ortiz went down with muscle strains.  Both of them were diagnosed and guessed to be out around a month apiece.  Taro Kino and Ken Taylor were both called up to take over and have split the little time they have played in.  There has been talk about super SP prospect Jose Ramos being called up to make a few starts in the rotation.  If this does indeed it happen it will go against Swain's earlier statement claiming he would not being seen until Spring Training of next season.

Minor Leaguers of the Month
3rd official installment of MLOTM here at the Bag Report to recognize the top minor leaguer player in the Jersey Shore system for June.  Last month's were MR Yin-Zhen Zong and SS Lawrence Schroeder.

Pitcher: 
Jesus Zapata  (AA): 3-1, 1.27 ERA, 35.1 IP, 39 K, 0.96 WHIP.  The 20 year Zapata lit up AA in his 5 starts which included 21 straight innings without giving up an ER.  He has really picked up the strikeout this season averaging almost 8 per 9 innings.  He was signed to a MLC by the Bags in March of 2013 after being released by Greenville.



Hitter:
OF Taro Kino: .368/.439/.621. 32 hits, 6 HR, 28 RBI.  28 year old Kino lit up AAA pitching and continues to be a powerful bat for AAA Tuscaloosa.  He led the entire organization with his 28 RBI and his hot month is what dictated his promotion to Jersey Shore, where he hit 1 for 8 in 2 games. If he keeps up his torrid hitting in AAA, the Bags will have to find a roster spot for him.

GO D-BAGS

Jersey Shore Flexes Muscle; Takes Down Toronto in 6

Staring at a 2-0 hole and a long flight back to Jersey reality set in.  After 5 years or playing decent baseball and coming up short so many times this was the playoffs. Where the best of the best come to play.  They had been good enough to enter this prestigious tournament and after 2 games had not played their best baseball, in fact it was far from their best.  A game 3 win was a boost, but it was still far from Jersey baseball. Runs scored in odd ways, not the usual Jersey style of mashing and bashing.  We held a press conference after Game 3 with GM Josh Swain and he laid out what Jersey had to do to win, and with surprise much of that came through.  What came after that was 3 straight wins.  Down 0-2 to winning the series 4-2.  4 game winning streak.  How did they do it? Here's how:

Entering Game 4 you can tell the monkey was off their backs.  There was that Jersey swagger back in the walks of a lot of the players.  It would be a rematch of Game 1 with Dan Macias taking the mound for Jersey and Ricky Bolden for Toronto, both on short rest.  GM Josh Swain told us it's the matchup he wanted.  If Dan could outduel Ricky, Jersey had the advantage.  They liked their changes agianst Jackson at home and liked the potential Ellis/Brito matchup in game 6.  Fireworks started early.  Toronto got 3 runs on 5 hits in the Top of the 1st before Jersey had a chance to bat.  But a sac fly and a passed ball in Jersey's half of the inning put the game back to 3-2.

The 2nd inning starting and things didn't stop.  D-bag killer Jaime "Gunner" Torres lifted off hitting a solo HR down the RF line to get a run back.  But veteran Leon Foster got the run right back for Jersey with a mammoth 452 run shot off of Bolden.  After the HR, a walk to Marvin Taylor, a single by Scott Powers and the eventual death blow came with catcher Luis Antonio Duran hit his 1st HR of the the postseason and 3 run blast that put Jersey up 6-4, a lead that would hold.

Macias would retire 13 of the next 16 batters before eventually being replaced and received a standing ovation from the Jersey crowd.  With Gomes replacing Macias and striking out Cuan and Rivas to end the 7th, Toronto replaced MR Cole with MR Jones, which turned out to be a mistake. A 2B, 1B, BB and HBP left a run in and the bases loaded with Al Ryan at the plate who tore open the game with his first postseason HR and first Glad Slam by a Jersey player in playoff history.  The Bags would add one more in the 8th before cruising to a 12-4 victory to the tie the series at 2 games apiece.

Who knew after the offensive explosion by the D-Bags in Game 4 that Game 5 would bring us the low scoring game of the series.  We would see Shawn Jackson start for Toronto and Rob Goodship take the hill for Jersey in what could have been the last game at the Shore for the season.  40,200+ fans showed up to cheer on their Bags.  Goodship made the first mistake in the 2nd inning when HR king John Crowe led the inning off with a solo HR to get the scoring started.  Jersey tied the score in the bottom of 3 when Sergio Rodriguez and Scott Powers both doubled.  Other than these two early runs, each starter was very good.  It wasn't until the bottom of the 7th when Sergio Rodriguez led off the inning and reached 1st when John Crowe bobbled the throw from SS Pete Harvey.  Shawn Jackson would retire the next 2 batters on a fly out and a sac fly before he was pulled in favor of the lefty Jung-Keun Li to face lefty Jose Ortiz.  Ortiz took a 1-2 pitch from Li and rapped into the corner for an easy stand up double and Rodriguez came around to score the go ahead run.  Goodship would cruise in the 8th and that would be his last inning of work.  In what you have to call the biggest game of his career, he was brilliant.  Throwing 8 IP, giving up 5 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB while striking out 9.  Mungo was called in to save the game and it only took 11 pitches to strike out John Crowe, Luis Gonzalez and German Rivas all swinging.  The crowd was in an uproar, Jersey had won 3 straight, all at home and took a 3-2 lead in the series going back to Toronto.

Game 6.  A rematch of Game 2 with Jerry Burgess facing off against Jose Brito.  Brito won the first match pitching brilliantly while Burgess was knocked around for 7 ER. Would this game be any different and could Toronto force that pivotal Game 7?  Brito was his usual efficient self facing 3 batters over the minimum in the first 4 innings and not letting any runner get past first base.  Burgess on the other hand lived dangerously.  Allowing runners 1st and 2nd with 1 out in the first get erased by a double play ball.  A walk, wild pitch and an error by SS Marvin Taylor allowed German Rivas to reach 3rd base in the 2nd inning before Pete Harvey grounded out to end the threat.  A single in the 3rd was wiped off the board with the 2nd double play of the day and in the 4th a Rivas single, stolen base and a walk to Fujita put 2 runners on before Burgess hunkered down and struck out Gunner Torres looking on a nasty slider that just brushed the outside corner.  Alberto Perez would lead off the 5th and thus far after taking over for Adam Morrow at 3B he was 0-17 in the series.  Something had to give, and it did.  He took a 2nd pitch fastball from Brito and pulled it deep and far and way back in the left-center field bleachers for his first hit of the series to give Jersey a 1-0 lead.  

Burgess would settle down and Jersey would turn their 3rd double play ending Toronto's 5th inning.  Both pitchers breezed through the 6th until some commotion in the 7th inning.  With 2 outs in Jersey's top half of the 7th the usual pinpoint Brito came way inside and hit catcher Luis Antonio Duran on the hand which immediately dropped him to the ground.  He had to be lifted from the game and came away gripping his hand.  We wouldn't find out til later he had fractured the hand.  Brito would get Taylor to ground out to end the inning.  In Toronto's half of the 7th, after a groundout Burgess came inside and hit the Toronto catcher Kyuso Fujita in the back.  Warnings were given to both sides and after 112 pitches, 6.1 IP and 0 ER Burgess was pulled in favor of Jose Gomes.  Gomes got out of the 7th without incident and we headed to the 8th.  A half check swing by Scott Powers combined with his upper echelon speed created a leadoff infield hit that chased Brito from the game.  Jose Murillo was brough in and pinch hitter Al Ryan surprised everyone when he laid down a perfect sac bunt to put the insurance run on 2nd base with 1 out.  Struggling superstar Mike Bryant came through knocking a hard line drive into RF, but Powers was held at 3rd giving the Bags runners at the corners.  Matt Doyle knocked a grounder into the hole that looked like a hit but a diving stop by Zaragoza managed to get Doyle at 1st by a half a step but couldn't prevent Powers from crossing the plate and Bryant advancing to 2nd.  The run gave Jersey a 2-0 cushion.  With 2 outs now veteran Leon Foster and put a ball right down the right field chalk line for a stand-up double easily scoring Bryant and pushing the lead to 3-0.  Murillo would get Manny Romero swinging to end the inning.  

Jose Gomes walked Lugo to lead off the 8th before striking out Cuan to end his night as he was replaced by Lucio Tapia to face John Crowe.  Tapia went 1-1 with Crowe until I can only describe as "the longest HR I have ever seen" on a 97 MPH fastball.  Crowe hitting left handed crushed it to CF and Powers barely turned his head to watch it travel 485 feet and give the Toronto crowd a reason to celebrate as Toronto was back in it and only down 3-2. A single and a walk gave Toronto the go ahead run on 1st base with only 1 out while the crowd was on their feet.  After a mound visit Tapia got the biggest out of his career by striking out All Star Kyuso Fujita before being pulled for closer Daniel Morris to face Gunner Torres.  Morris amidst the avoided danger by getting Torres to ground out on the first pitch on a 2 hopper to Doyle at first base.  Insurance runs at this point would have been nice, but Toronto brough in future HOF'er Martin Griffin to set the side down in order before heading to the bottom of the 9th.  Daniel Morris, the longest tenured D-Bag, would retire the side in order as LuGo would fly out to Leon Foster to end the game and send Jersey to their first ever series win and sending them to the CLCS to face their division rival, the waiting Greenville 84's.

We now will go live to GM Swain's press conference:

::Swain comes out, untucked button-up business shirt, D-Bags cap, and big smile:::

Reporter Vanessa Antuaco, Morgantown Today: "Mr. Swain!  You just won 4 games in a row.  We talked with Toronto GM Jason Goldberg earlier and in his tenure with the Titans this is his first 4 game losing streak, how'd your boys do it??"

Swain: "I told you at the last conference how what we needed to do to win this thing.  We needed some clutch hitting, Game 4 was full of that.  Hell, we scored 12 runs on only 8 hits!  I told you we would need another quality start and in fact we got 2 of them.  Goodship was fantastic in Game 5 and Jerry really bounched back for a great Game 6.  The bullpen stayed strong and we won the close games.  That's what October baseball is about!"

Reporter Dan Miles, NY Times: "Everyone and their dog though (Art) Ellis would be the starter for Game 6. He was brilliant, Burgess had been lit up, what were you thinking there?"  

Swain: "Burgess convo again?  I told you guys the first time through that Burgess had been better in Toronto.  Yes, Game 2 we saw him get lit up.  Art could have gone.  We thought he was close to 70% rested which would have been good enough to throw out there, but with a 3-2 lead, with us having confidence in Jerry, even a loss would have given us Ellis at 100% in Game 7.  I don't want to say I played this one right, but it worked out didn't it?"

Reporter Sally Trumpert, Trenton Free Press: "Duran left tonight's game with an apparent hand injury, can you tell us any more on what happened?"

Swain: "At this time the medical staff hasn't given us an update yet.  They have it on ice and we are waiting for the swelling to go down, but the said it doesn't look good, but we might not know for a day or two.  Losing Luis would hurt.  We already lost our 1-2 hitters against RH starters, losing 1-2-3 would almost be devastating.  But we showed this series that even losing key pieces like Larson and Morrow, we have the talent to overcome."

Beat writer Sam Toddenfield, BSAreport.com: "Speaking of Larson, will he play in the Greenville series?"

Swain: "At this point we feel as he can play towards the end of this week.  He will be added to the roster but will not travel to Greenville for games 1 and 2 but stay at home and rest and we will run some more tests.  If all goes well and there are no setbacks there's a great chance he will play in Game 3 or 4.  Last question guys!"

Beat Writer Melissa Franklin, Jerseysports.com: "You are very familiar with Greenville, what are the keys to beating them and can it be done?"

Swain: "Anything can be done.  Yes, Bosma's 84's have had our number over the past couple of seasons.  This will be a slugfest.  2 loaded offenses.  We will need some starting pitching performances and we will need someone to step up. Toronto held down our superstar bats in this series, don't expect that to happen in the next one.  Thanks everyone for your time, and I would like to congratulate you all on being here to see the D-Bags move on!"

:::Swain gets up to leave and stops:::: "Oh and one more thing.  Let me introduce you all to the 2015 CLDS MVP Al Ryan!"  :::Ryan walks out, waves, shakes a few hands and is presented with a the CLDS trophy:::

Ryan lead the team in batting during the series hitting .385, hitting 1 HR and driving in a team high 5 runs.  The bullpen was stellar and probably was the difference in the low scoring series.  They pitched 12 IP in 6 games, giving up 2 ER, 8 hits, 4 walks while striking out 18.  With Jersey knocking out Toronto and Greenville knocking out Seattle, 2015 will mark the first time in BSA history that the CL East will represent the CL in the World Series.

With Burgess going in Game 6, the probable rotation for Jersey in the CLCS is:

Game 1: Art Ellis

Game 2: Dan Macias

Game 3: Jerry Burgess

Game 4: Rob Goodship

Whatever happens will happen, but the CL East will have a representative in the World Series and here is to rooting for our D-Bags!

GO D-BAGS

 

Bags Stumble But Remain Hopeful

For the first time in Jersey Shore's history they were putting on the uniforms in the month of October.  In the visitor's clubhouse at CNE Stadium in Toronto wasn't home but this was the postseason.  "You could tell there were nerves in the air," SS Marvin Taylor proclaimed, "this is a fun loving bunch and before the game the only one yappin' like usual was Al (Ryan).  For the majority of this team this was their first postseason experience.  Their draw as the wild card was to take on the #1 seed in the CL, 110 win Toronto, which was second only to the mighty Hitmen in all of the BSA.  It is a 7 game series, but the first game was the first punch, who would land it?

  The veteran Ricky Bolden would get the start for TOR who was making his 22nd all time playoff appearance and 7th BSA playoff start. Dan Macias would get the start for Jersey marking his first BSA playoff start. He previously had playoff experience in '09 and '07 before the VBL-BSA take over.  After getting out of a 1st inning jam, disaster struck in the 2nd.  With runners on 1st and 2nd, Toronto SS Jordi Overbeek smashed a line drive between SS and 3B. Using cat like reflexes 3B Adam Morrow dove back into the hole and made a spectacular catch for the first out of the inning.  Sighs of relief came from the Jersey dugout until they noticed Morrow struggling to get up.  Trainers immediately rushed onto the field and helped him up.  Morrow obviously in pain grasping at his left shoulder as he was taken out of the game.  We would learn after the game the diagnosis: separated shoulder: recovery time, one month.  A blow to the offense.  In the last 3 weeks Jersey has lost both Adam Morrow and Peter Larson who ranked 2nd and 4th in the CL in OBP and were the team's lethal 1-2 on base machines in front of the big boys in Bryant and Doyle.  A big loss.  Things didn't get better from there, a 3 run 3rd inning capped off by a Ben Moss 2-run HR would all that Ricky Bolden would need as he cruised through 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 7.  A triple by Maximo Zargoza in the 6th would make the score 4-1 and essentially chase Macias from the game.  Jersey had a chance in the 7th after Ryan reached on an error, Ryan Cole replaced Bolden.  He got a K, gave up a BB and big RBI 2B by Marvin Taylor to put 2 runners in scoring position with the tying run on 2nd base with only 1 out.  He would get Alberto Perez and Jose Ortiz to fly out and the Bags never threatened again, dropping Game 1, 4-2.

Game 2 started differently, a double, wild pitch and a sac fly put the Bags up a run after only producing one out, but that's where the good fortunes would end.  Starter Jerry Burgess would give back 3 runs in the bottom half on a handful of hits and Jose Brito would do the rest.  He was brilliant in his 7 IP, allowing 6 D-Bags hits, the 1 run, 1 BB and 6 K's.  A Ben Moss solo HR in the 4th would make it 4-1 and Toronto added 3 more in the 7th to chase Burgess taking a 7-1 lead.  Toronto's bullpen would work 2 perfect innings to shut the door, giving the home team the 2-0 advantage.

The good news was that the series would head to Jersey.  The bad news was the offense was struggling,badly.  3 runs on 11 hits over 2 games.  The deadly duo of Bryant/Doyle had combined to go 3/15 without an extra base hit or and RBI.  Jersey played a lot better at home all season long, playing almost .700 baseball there.  Art Ellis would be on the mound, he had an ERA of 2.28 at home this season, something had to give, and it did.  Jersey nearly equaled their hit total from the first two games and Art Ellis pitched a gem leading Jersey to their first ever playoff win in front of a crowd of 40,000+.  It was a tight game most of the way through but Ellis refused to let Toronto back in, or even on base if he could.  He gave up 3 hits through 7 innings, 2 being solo HR's by Rivas and Crowe which would be all the offense the Titans would generate.  The Jersey offense took every advantage to score runs. They plated runs on a double play, wild pitch, walk and then finally on Mike Bryant's 2 run HR that put the game away for good.  It was the first HR of the series for Jersey and Bryant's first RBI as well.  Being down in a series 2-1 sure looks better than 2-0.  Jersey is still in this thing.

We now will go live as GM Josh Swain's press conference is just getting under way:

Reporter Sally Trumpert, Trenton Free Press:  "Mr. Swain, please give us thoughts on the loss of Adam Morrow."

Swain: "Losing Adam is big.  After Pete went down we were relying on Adam to be our spark plug, our table setter.  The kid is a hustler, first in-last out type of kids, really sucks to lose him.  That first game, which was tough enough already playing a team like Toronto in front of that raucous crowd and facing that all-star studded lineup, but as they helped Adam off the field it was like a punch in the gut that took the air out of the sails.  We will move on and the combination of Perez-Taylor on the left hand side of the infield will do fine, but we will miss the boy on the field."

Beat writer Sam Toddenfield, BSAreport.com: "You were criticized and 2nd guessed for starting Burgess Game 2 and waiting to use Ellis in Game 3.  We know how it turned out, have anything to add now and would you change anything?"

Swain: "No.  I will stand by that decision.  I know Burgess had struggled in much of September, but he had been good in Toronto.  We wanted Ellis at home.  Look, even if Ellis would have been on the mound for game 2 he would have had to been perfect.  We scored 1 run.  Brito was excellent that day.  We were hoping that either Macias or Burgess could lead us to a win and Ellis could put us up in the series pitching Game 3.  You need offense to win games fellas and I still feel it was the right choice."

Reporter Dan Miles, NY Times: "With the struggles of the offense, will there be changes for Games 4 and 5?"

Swain: "What do you expect me to do?  Yes, we had to make changes to the lineup to compensate for Morrow, but other than that it's all about timely hitting.  Yes, we haven't had that many hits, but when we have had opportunities, we haven't taken advantage.  We need to score those runners from 3rd with less than 2 outs, 1 clutch hit in game 1 and we had a tie game.  Game 3 should have been a blow out, so many runners left in scoring position.  The hits will fall.  We had the bases juiced with 1 out and had Bryant and Doyle coming up and we scored 1 run when Doyle was walked.  How often is that going to happen?  The lineup will be much of the same, but look for Foster to get the start in CF in Game 4. Last question."

Reporter Vanessa Antuaco, Morgantown Today:  "What are the keys for your team for the rest of the series, how do the D-Bags pull this out?" 

Swain: "Like I said before, some clutch hitting, we won't win games scoring 3 or less runs against this team.  The bullpen needs to stay strong, they have been nearly perfect thus far and need to keep that up.  Also we need to get on the board early and keep their starters pitch counts high.  Bolden only lasted 6 innings last time and is coming back on short rest, we need to get into that bullpen which we have had success against.  We need another quality start.  We will be going with Dan in Game 4 and we need a big time Macias start. Evening up the series 2-2 with one more game at home would be huge.  Thank you for your time and questions, hopefully we can have another one of these after the series.....a winning series. ;)"

Thus far the starters have given up all 13 runs in the series.  The bullpen like Swain mentioned has in fact almost been perfect.  In 5.2 IP they have surrendered 2 hits, 1 walk while striking out 7.  Dog Pound Gomes is the only reliever to be in more than 1 game and he has seen all 3.  He came into Game 3 in the 8th to strike out Cuan and Rivas back to back to end the 8th, the only 2 batters he faced.

Game 4:

SP Dan Macias

RF Scott Powers

DH Jose Ortiz

C Luis Antonio Duran

2B Mikey Bryant

1B Matt Doyle

LF Al Ryan

3B Alberto Perez

CF Leon Foster

SS Marvin Taylor

Rob Goodship is more than likely going to be the starter in Game 5.  Jersey was waiting to see how rested Jerry Burgess will be, but based on his first start it might not matter.  Toronto will see one of the lefties in Game 5.  That is all from the Bag Report, we wish the D-Bags luck!

GO D-BAGS

 

April 2015 In Review

It seems like the season just got underway and POOF we have a full month under our belts.  Technically we are 17% of the way through 2015 just like that.  This season started again with high expectations for your Jersey Shore D-Bags.  After winning a franchise high 94 games last season, they bring back a nearly identical team with added pitching ace Art Ellis. The season started in true D-Bag fashion, with the Bags dropping 3 in a row for a quick 0-3 start.  They would rebound at one time winners of 7 straight and even a 2-3 final week of the month the Bags finish with a 18-10 record, good for a share of the CL East lead with the Greenville 84's and a comfy 3 game Wild Card lead at this point in the season.  The April mark bests last year's 15-13 record by 3 games, but the Bags open May up with a tough stretch.  They will finish out their 4 game set with  the 84's with 2 more games, travel to defending BSA Champions Hendersonville for a 3 game set before coming home to greet the current NL West leaders Los Cabos for a 3 game tilt.  Also during month includes a trip to Toronto who holds a BSA record of 23-5 and also a visit by NL West leading St. Charles.  May will really determine how serious this team is about contending this year.

Players of the Month

SP Rob Goodship 2-0, 2.09 ERA, 25K.  After 1 month of play surprise, surprise Goodship leads the CL league in ERA.  In 6 starts he has given up 2 or more runs only twice and if he had any run support at all he would be sitting at 4+ wins.  It's great to see him finally turn a corner after a down Sophmore year.

SP Art Ellis 1-0, 2.49 ERA, 38K, 5QS.  Speaking of run support, where is it for Ellis??  Jersey is averaging 2.83 runs per game for his starts which shows with Ellis only having 1 win on record despite being superb thus far.  Any of the critics who said they gave up too much for Ellis is eating crow right now

MR Jose Ruiz 2-1, 1.38 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 10/3 K/BB.  While the likes of Saenz and Morris in the pen have been struggling, rookie Ruiz has stepped in nicely to add to an already formidable bullpen.  At only 22 years old look for Ruiz to be around for awhile throwing that high 90's heater.

3B Adam Morrow .355/.454/.445, 19R, 39H, 7 2B.  When Parker Morrow was traded giving way for rookie Adam Morrow to start I don't think anyone saw this hot start coming.  Hitting primarily out of the 2 hole Morrow has been an OBP machine on pace to best 100 runs scored and 100 base-on-balls.  Bryant then Doyle now Morrow, third year in a row a rookie could be an added impact bat in this Jersey lineup.   It's been almost 2 years since we broke down Morrow, read about what we thought about him then, right here.

RF Al Ryan .439/.500/.805.  3HE, 10RBI, 6 2B.  We saw what Ryan could do last year as he blasted 20 HR as a rookie for this team and he just continues to add to that this year.  He started out as a 4th OF but has slowly been taking playing time away from veterans Leon Foster and Scott Powers as he rakes with the hot stick.  He only played in 18 games, but is hitting .500/.570/.867 against RHP.  Hard to keep that out of the lineup.

Roster Questions, Changes and Answers

Even though we did have some nice breakout performers there were also those players who still have us scratching our heads.  First that comes to mind is CL Daniel Morris.  The usual steady rock has blown 5 saves already and attributed for 4 losses.  To put that in perspective that's as many saves as he has blown in the past 2 years combined.  He has already walked as many batters as he did all of last season as well in 43 less innings.  There have been talks of taking him out of the closers role to regain composure, we will see if it happens.

Matt Doyle, Luis Antonio Duran, Peter Larson and Antonio Ruiz are all hitting below the .225 mark.  These of course are all plenty below career marks and could be a concern.  On the bright side Doyle leads the team in HR and RBI while Duran and Larson both have matching OBP's of .379, not hitting could cause a decrease in playing time. 

While there may not be any roster changes for now, look for a mix up in the backup catching situation this month as Albert Lopez has struggled mightily having only 3 hits in 34 AB's.  Also former Rule V pick Jose Ortiz will have to be called up in the next 2 weeks as he rehab assignment will end and look for him to replace Taro Kino or possibly 1B Derrick Wright.  There are also a slew of players hitting the snot out of the ball in AAA, including CF Tim Duncan, 3B Alberto Perez, LF Sergio Rodriguez and 2B Aaron Bailey.  Depth is never a problem and you never know when an extra bat might come in handy.

May should be a tough month, let's hope the D-Bags can win enough to keep up with Greenville!

GO D-BAGS

2014 In Review

2014 started and finished in true D-Bag fashion.  After a 16-0 Opening Day loss in Dan Macias first ever Jersey Shore start, the season ended with the same Macias shutting out Greenville for his first career 20 win season and the first ever in Jersey history.  The year contained 4 winnings months, including a 21 win September, 2 losing months including a 12 win August and finished with the D-Bags notched a team record 94 wins and falling 2 games short of their first playoff spot.  This marked Jersey's 5th straight winning season where they have compiled a 440-370 record, good for a winning percentage of .540.  

Before the season Jersey built arguably their most talented team with bringing in of Macias, the emergence of 2nd year up and comer Mike Bryant combined with a young core group of players in their 2nd or 3rd seasons.  At the end of the year it was the veteran Macias combined with the bullpen on the pitching side and a young offensive core that drove Jersey's drive for a playoff spot.  5 of their 6 top offensive performers were all in their 1st or 2nd full season which creates an amazing buzz of hope for the future.

Offensive MVP - Mike Bryant

Unless you have been living in a cave, this is a no brainier.  Not only did he finish near the top of the league in every category, Mike "The Monster" Bryant also shattered nearly every record in the Jersey Shore record book.  His batting average of .329 bested the prevoius best by 1 point, his slugging percentage of .600 shattered  the old record of .567 set by Leon Foster.  His offensive VORP of 72 best Mason Bonniface's old record by 11.5, and his OPS was short that only of Bonniface's 2011 season.  He also set team records for hits (209), runs (113), total bases (381), HR (37), and RBI (130).  He won the CL player of the week award 3 times and player of the month award once.  He was selected as a starter at the All Star game and finished 2nd in MVP voting only to Morales of the 84's.  It was a season for the record books and it came in Bryant's full official season after playing 91 games his rookie year.  What else does Bryant have in store for us?

Runner Up - Matt Doyle (see below)

Pitching MVP - Dan Macias

Again like Bryant, another no brainier.  This 34 year old who came over in a trade with Orlando in the off season found his youth again pitching his best season since the 2008 campaign.  He became Jersey's first 20 game winner, the only 20 game winner in the CL, as well as the first Jersey starter to have an ERA under 4.00 for a full season, which he shattered by putting up a 2.82 ERA.  25 of his 36 starts were quality ones, including 2 shutouts and tying a career high of 227 strikeouts.  Despite finishing 2nd in Cy Young Voting to "Prince" Clemente of Madison, Macias's WAR this season was 9th all time since the inception of the VBL/BSA in 2010, only trailing seasons by the names Hill and JTF.  His VORP of 74.5 also ranks 9th all time. Both marks of those that Clemente posted, but it came down to the voters.  The only categories Macias trailed Clemente eas ERA and WHIP, but led him in W, K, FIP, VORP and WAR but regardless Macias had an amazing season.

Runner Up - Rob Goodship

Although Goodship's season numbers do not scream anything positive, he did finish 14-14 with a 4.44 ERA.  His overall season was a down step from his "rookie" year as a Jersey starter.  But not everything was negative.  Goodship won his last 7 starts in a row, beating 4 playoff teams in the stretch. His ERA for his last 12 starts was around 3.25 showing much promise on being a solid #2 on this staff.  If he had pitched nearly that good earlier in the season we might be talking playoffs. 

Rookie of the Year - Matt Doyle

#Call Up Doyle becoming a trending sensation in the early goings of the season while Doyle ripped up pitching in AAA during the first month of the season.  What Doyle did with the time he did have in Jersey was nothing less of sensational.  He finished with a line of 33 HR 108 RBI with a slash line of .326/.389/.570 with a VORP of 51.2.  He played 4 months in the big leagues and won the Rookie of the Month award for the CL 3 of those months.  Despite leading all rookies in the CL in OBP, SLG, OPS, wOBA, HR, RBI, BB and ISO he finished runner up in ROY voting to LuGo of Toronto.  Doyle also finished runner up to only LuGo in Avg, WAR, hits, runs and total bases.  Bryant and Doyle emerged this season as one of the most feared duos in all of baseball.  Combined they have played in only 380 games total, be prepared for the duo to bring fear to pitchers for the next decade.

Runner Up - Al Ryan

In a trade just days before the season started, Jersey acquired Al Ryan from division rivals greenville in exchange for MR Gabriel Barrentez. Ryan had showed some power promise hitting 16 HR in 294 AB for Greenville's AAA affiliate last season and figured to be a 4-5th bench spot.  Ryan played in 90 games, getting 273 AB's and fully took advantege of them .  He belted 20 HR combined with 50 RBI on way to a VORP of 12  giving Jersey another prominent lefty in their lineup.  In a normal year Ryan probably would have been a ROY candidate.

The Off-Season

Entering the off season Jersey will be short 3 players due to free agency.  Two of those players were acquired during the season in MR Gordon Brown and 3B David Paquette.  Paquette had the biggest impact, playing in 42 games for the Bags after coming over from Indianapolis hitting 7 HR, driving in 17 RBI hitting .297 with an OBP of .355.  The former All Star was asking for a big extension the Bags just couldn't sign at this point.  MR Brown came over from New Orleans after pitching a very good season could never get it going with the Bags.  In 19 appearances, he had an ERA arond 7.50.  He does carry a B-level compensation pick if he is signed.  The other FA the Bags are seeing leaving is MR Marv Williams.  Marv continued his Jekyl and Hyde performances this year after throwing a very respectable year last year.  Williams appeared in 14 games, sporting an ERA around 9.00 before tearing a muscle in his back ending his season.  

With only the 3 vacancies and 2 25-man roster spots don't expect much FA talk from Jersey this off season.  MR Jose Ruiz expects to challenge for the open MR slot in the spring and the combo of Adam Morrow/Alberto Perez plans to be a good one for the last spot on the offensive side of things.  

Rumors have it that Jersey is deep in talks with a couple of clubs to acquire another starting pitcher to pair up with Dan Macias and Rob Goodship, but nothing has been announced yet.  Stay tuned to the Bag Report for any moves, big or small upcoming the Jersey D-Bag world.

GO D-BAGS

D-Bags May 2014 in Review

After a complete up and down month in April which saw the Bags finish at 15-13, May come and went and proved to be no different.  Wins followed by losses, hot streaks, cold streaks.  At one point they lost 7 of 8 to Kansas City, Seattle and Vista;  Only to come and win 7 straight starting with a sweep of Regina.  We saw good pitching, horrendous pitching and pretty much a lack of offense.  They finished the month 13-15 for an even 28-28 record for the season.

Players Of the Month

Though the team was up and down as usual a couple carried the team and those we call the POTM, and they are as follows:

SP Dan Macias, 2-2, 2.61 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 38 K's - Macias who had a horrendous start in a D-Bag uniform, Macias turned it around and pitched like the guy Jersey thought they brought over in the trade with Orlando.  The 33 year old statesman finished the month with a 2-2 record, for a 4-6 record overall.  If Jersey is going to compete for the division, he will be leading the pitching charge.

2B Mike Bryant, .343/.393/.713  10 HR, 28 RBI, 37 Hits - After a strong finish to 2013 Bryant is attempting to put himself in that "elite" category.  He broke out hitting 10 HR in the month, which was almost 40% of the teams total HR's for the month.  He leads the 2B category in almost every hitting statistic across the league.

1B Matt Doyle, .308/.417/.450  7 HR, 23 RBI - As if we haven't had enough DOYLE talk this season so far, he comes out in his first month with a bang and wins our POTM, but not only that.  He also took home the CL Rookie of the Month award for May as well.  The kid has a bright, bright future.

On a side note, we would like to congratulate rookie OF Al Ryan on being named the CL Player of the Week for the first week of May.  After a monster April he has really settled down.  He currently has 10 HR and 28 RBI on the season.

Roster Changes, Questions and Answers:

After such a puzzling start, May saw the Bags make a few moves.  The first and biggest of course being Matty Doyle being called up and Derrick Wright going to AAA.  Nothing major was done until the end of the month.  After Jersey lost 6 of 7, OF Bob Thomas, C Albert Lopez, 3B Alberto Perez were all sent to Tuscaloosa and called up in their places were OF Ramon Tavarez, C Tomas Gutierrez, and coming from the DL was Manuel Vazquez.

Injuries during the month plagued two D-Bag players as well.  CF Scott Powers fractured a rib while diving for a ball that set him back 4 weeks while 3B Parker Morrow strained his rotator cuff which also set him back 4 weeks.  both will be eligible to come back during the month of June at some point.  

As we look into June the Bags sit well behind the division leaders and the wild card, one has to wonder that if they fall further behind...will some moves be made?  With most of the AAA talent up at the big club, trades would be the option.  Will they be sellers?  Can they make a comeback and be buyers?  Will they clear up money on a very tight budget?  Only time will tell.  As we bid you adieu, we will make a prediction and say the Bags will bounce back and go 16-11 for the month and crawl back into this race.  

GO D-BAGS