Lighting Up The Trop (The Show 17, PS4)

[enyc718]

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Things were still still going well in our next ten games. We improved our record to 12-8.

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The growing concern right now has to be Chris Archer. Another two losses puts his record at 0-4 early this season. His struggles have stuck out like a sore thumb. If it was a five inning game, he would probably have 4 wins. But his inability to get out jams in late innings is hurting him and the team. Archer in 22.2 IP has an ERA of 5.56

Alex Cobb, Jake Odorizzi, Nathan Eovaldi and Blake Snell each have two wins thus far. Although Blake Snells 18 walks and 25 strikeouts is a bit of concern, we'll take his two wins right now.

Evan Longoria has gotten off to a very quick start. Batting .329 with 4 homeruns and 13 RBI's through 20 games. Kevin Kiermaier has had a horrendous start, batting a measley .171 with 1 homerun and 5 RBI's.


News & Tidbits

-SS Matt Duffy had an 11-game hit streak snapped against the Astros

-One injury to note is LF Colby Rasmus. He broke his hand and will be out 2-3 months. He hurt it while playing against the Tigers.

-SP Matt Andriese will be out 1-2 weeks with Finger Contusion

Prospect Watch

-Brent Honeywell (AA, SP) - 27 IP // 3-1 // 3.67 ERA // 26 K // 5 BB // 1.04 WHIP.....Ranked #32 prospect in the Top 50

-Jose De Leon (AAA, SP) - 20.2 IP // 2-0 // 1.31 ERA // 26 K // 11 BB // 1.26 WHIP.....Ranked #8 prospect in the Top 50

-Jake Bauers (AAA, RF) - .296 AVG // 1 HR // 13 RBI //.....Ranked #49 prospect in the Top 50


A few team stats:
Batting AVG - .281 (2nd)
ERA - 4.10 (18th)
GIDP - 13 (T-23rd)
Homeruns - 28 (T-3rd)
Blown Saves - 3 (T-20th)

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[enyc718]

Editors Note:
I'm horrible with the whole graphics thing, so pen and paper if you know what I mean. If you're reading and wanna see me include anything else to make this a tad more interesting, feel free to let me know.

Thanks.

[enyc718]

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The next 10 games took us into the month of May which included a sweep of a 4-game home and home series against the Marlins, took 2 out of 3 from the Orioles and lost 2 out of 3 to the Blue Jays.

Last 10 Games
4/24 @ Orioles – W, 6-4
4/25 @ Orioles – L, 2-3
4/26 @ Orioles – W, 9-5
4/28 @ Blue Jays – W, 6-3
4/29 @ Blue Jays – L, 3-5
4/30 @ Blue Jays – L, 4-5
5/1 @ Marlins – W, 7-3
5/2 @ Marlins – W, 4-0
5/3 vs Marlins – W, 7-6
5/4 vs Marlins – W, 7-0

A beautiful week like this put us atop the AL East with a record of 19-11. Not much of a lead though as only 6 games separate us and the last place Toronto Blue Jays

Steven Souza had his 12-game hit streaked snapped against the Orioles, in the same game that saw us down 1-0 in top of the ninth only to hit back-to-back homeruns with Brad Miller and Wilson Ramos to take the lead. Only to have the Orioles tie it up in the bottom of the ninth and then walk us off on JJ Hardy’s game winning double.

After losing 2 of 3 to the Blue Jays, Alex Cobb flirted with a no-no against the Marlins. Cruising through 7-2/3, Martin Prado said hold son…..singled to right on a blooper…No-No was gone…still got the win and a masterful performance by Cobb, including 10 strikeouts. We almost lost the third game of the series to the Marlins. Being up 6-2 and the Marlins comeback to score four runs in the 8th off Brad Boxberger…..Luckily we won in extras 7-6.

Logan Morrison has himself quite the ten game stretch. Going 9 for 28// 3 HR // 6 RBI // 8 Runs // 5 Doubles // and 1 stolen base. On top of that he has 1.045 OPS so far through thirty games. He has walked a total of 12 rimes but I would like to see his strikeouts go down a bit. He has 29 so far.

Kevin Kiermaier remains as cold as ice. Batting .208, has only walked five times and struck out 22 times. Not ideal for a bat at the top of the lineup.

Jake Odorizzi remains unbeaten with a record of 3-0….Totally opposite of Chris Archerwho finally won a game, now has a record of 1-4, but with an ERA still over five at 5.14…….Alex Cobb remains our best pitcher to date. A 3-1 record and the only starter with an ERA under three (2.77)……

As I mentioned earlier Brad Boxberger blowing a 6-2 lead, let’s look at his numbers through 30 games so far…..NOT GREAT…..13.1 IP // 20 K // 6.75 ERA // 1.43 WHIP // 8 BB.

Tommy Hunter on the other hand has been lights out in relief….In 7.2 IP he has given up ZERO runs, struck out 5 and only walked 2 and also has a save under his belt.


Prospect Watch
-Jake Bauers (AAA, RF) - .302 AVG // 1 HR // 17 RBI // 13 BB // 9 K // 12 Doubles // .871 OPS – #47 in Top 50
-Willy Adames (AAA, SS) - .244 AVG // 1 HR // 9 RBI // 12 BB // 17 K // 6 Doubles // .715 OPS - #11 in Top 50
-Brent Honeywell (AA, SP) – 38 IP // 4-2 // 37 K // 11 BB // 3.79 ERA // 1.18 WHIP - #33 in Top 50
-Jose De Leon (AAA, SP) – 26.1 IP // 2-1 // 32 K // 18 BB // 2.39 ERA // 1.41 WHIP - #7 in Top 50

MLB Standings - Updated: May 5, 2017
AL EAST	W	L	GB
Tampa Bay	19	11	-
Boston	18	11	.5
NY Yankees	17	10	.5
Baltimore	13	14	4.5
Toronto	12	16	6
AL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Minnesota	21	7	-
Cleveland	14	15	7,5
Detroit	13	16	8.5
Chicago	12	16	9
Kansas City	11	17	10
AL WEST	W	L	GB
Los Angeles	18	12	-
Texas	16	13	1.5
Oakland	14	15	3.5
Houston	14	16	4
Seattle	11	18	6.5
NL EAST	W	L	GB
Washington	18	10	-
NY Mets	17	12	1.5
Atlanta	14	14	4
Philadelphia	9	19	9
Miami	8	20	10
NL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
St. Louis	16	13	-
Chicago	15	13	.5
Milwaukee	14	16	2.5
Cincinnati	12	17	4
Pittsburgh	11	17	4.5
NL WEST	W	L	GB
Los Angeles	20	9	-
San Francisco	17	12	3
Colorado	14	15	6
Arizona	13	17	7.5
San Diego	10	20	10.5

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MLB Injuries
Francisco Liriano (Tor) – Shoulder Tear // 2-3 weeks
Lorenzo Cain (KC) – Dislocated Ankle // 6+ months // .271 AVG // 3 HR // 7 RBI
Albert Pujols (LAA) – Shoulder Seperation // 2-3 weeks // .342 AVG // 5 HR // 13 RBI
Aaron Hicks (NYY) – Cartlidge Damage in Knee // 1-2 months // .255 AVG // 1 HR // 10 RBI
Michael Wacha (STL) – Strained Pectoral // 1-2 weeks // 3-1 // 1.41 ERA // 31 K
Jon Lester (CHC) – Torn Pectoral // 2-3 months // 2-1 // 4.10 ERA // 24 K
Stephen Strasburg (Was) – Dislocated Shoulder // 1-2 months // 2-1 // 1.50 ERA // 32 K

[enyc718]

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Last 10 Games

5/5 vs Blue Jays – L, 0-5
5/6 vs Blue Jays – W, 3-1
5/7 vs Blue Jays – L, 2-5
5/8 vs Royals – L, 3-7
5/9 vs Royals – W, 7-5
5/10 vs Royals – W, 6-4
5/11 vs Royals – L, 0-5
5/12 @ Red Sox – W, 5-2
5/13 @ Red Sox – W, 3-0
5/14 @ Red Sox – L, 1-4

After splitting these last ten games, and the Yankees playing good, we were tied for firt place in the AL East with New York. The rest of the division was playing well too as now the last place Blue Jays were only 3 games back of first. The red Sox are third and one game behind, and the Orioles are in fourth place and two and a half games behind.

Our pitching took a step back these last ten games. Chris Archer again put us behind the eight ball. Archer gave up a grand slam to Tulowitzki that put the game out of reach for us.

Chris Archer’s next start looked similar once again, but the lineup was able to bail him out. This start was against the Royals. We ended up splitting the series.

We engaged in a 3-game set against the Red Sox. Both teams came into the series ranked 2nd and 3rd in team batting average. Chris Sale dominated the first game and Alex Cobb pitched well but not good enough. Cobb left the game trailing 2-0…..In top of the 7th Chris Dickerson cut the lead to 1 run with a solo shot to straightaway centerfield. Beckham followed with a double and ends up scoring to tie the game thanks to a single by catcher Wilson Ramos. In the eighth inning, we score three more runs as we put together a string of extra base hits and won the game 5-2.

In the middle game of the series, a pitchers duel. Matt Andriese vs David Price. They both combined to give up 1 run and 6 hits….Price struck out 12 Rays but came out early in the sixth due to having bruised ribs…we end up winning 3-0….a gem pitched by Andriese….a complete game shutout.

Our pitching has been strong early on. It’s taken a bit of a hit these past ten games. Of course most notably Chris Archer….the bullpen has been alright.

Our hitting keeps on hitting….homeruns….homeruns are good but got to manufacture runs a different way…..I don’t want to be a homerun hitting team.

Corey Dickerson (11) and Steven Souza (10) lead the charge in homeruns
Evan Longoria and Corey Dickerson

News & Notes
-RP Johnny Venters was recently called up. We only have one lefty in our bullpen and thought that a second one will help. Venters has not been great in AAA with the Durham Bulls. 0-0 record but his ERA is 7.94 in 5.2 IP in 9 appearances. We hope a call up to the majors will help.



Prospect Watch
-Jake Bauers (AAA, RF) #44 MLB Prospect - .292 BA // 1 HR // 21 RBI // 16 BB // 13 K // 16 Doubles // .845 OPS

-Willy Adames (AAA, SS) #10 MLB Prospect - .227 BA // 3 HR // 19 RBI // 16 BB // 24 K // 8 Doubles // .703 OPS

-Jose De Leon (AAA, SP) #3 MLB Prospect – 39 IP // 2-1 // 45 K // 23 BB // 3.00 ERA // 1.33 WHIP

-Brent Honeywell (AA, SP) #33 MLB Prospect – 51.1 IP // 4-3 // 45 K // 13 BB // 3.51 ERA // 1.13 WHIP





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SP/RP Nathan Evoldi has pitched well as the 6th starter/long reliever: 3-0 // 24 IP // 15 K // 6 BB // 2.25 ERA // 1.00 WHIP

SP Matt Andriese – 1-1 // 42.2 IP // 20 K // 8 BB // 2.95 ERA // 1.10 WHIP

RP Shawn Tolleson – 4-1 // 16 IP // 17 K // 4 BB



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Corey Dickerson - .261 BA // 11 HR // 27 RBI // 25 R

Rickie Weeks has been a nice fill-in for giving others rest and has actually started a few games: .338 // 4 HR // 6 RBI // 9 R // 23 H in 68 at-bats/24 games……not bad for a bench player.

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-Toronto Blue Jays have crept up in the division by going 8-2 in their last 10 games.

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What’s Wrong With Kevin Kiermaier?

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His struggles have gone noticed through the team’s first 50 games and the press has made a note of it. Earlier last week before a game against the Blue Jays, a reporter had asked Kevin Kiermaier a couple of tough questions about his performance as of late and Kiermaier seemed to take it to heart. Although the reporter’s questions were accurate, it ticked off Kevin.

Manager Kevin Cash unaware of what had happened moments earlier, already had in mind of sitting Kiermaier before the game. Both talked behind closed doors and Kiermaier agrred to sit.

Kiermaier was a struggle once that happened and went 6-30. The speedy 26-year old has flashed some leather this season, but at the plate his batting average has suffered. He does have 6 homeruns so far, which is half of what he had all of last year. Maybe one or two games of sitting out will help..

Alex Colome Looking Sharp Early in Season

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Coming off a 37 save season, Alex Colome looks to be on pace to break his own mark provided the Rays bats give him an opportunity for a save. Colome has issued only 2 walks so far this season and has struck out 15 batters while posting a 0.59 ERA. The 28 year old, Dominican born is a huge reason the Rays have not completely fallen out of it early on. The rest of the bullpen has been far from stellar but Colome has showed that he can take care of his business.

Never Too Early To Look To The Future

We are only 50 games into this season, but it’s never too early to prepare for the future, or atleast start thinking about it.

The Rays have only four players locked into a contract beyond this season: Evan Longoria, Wilson Ramos, Chris Archer and Kevin Kiermaier. Wilson’s contract is up after the 2018 season, Kiermaier and Longoria’s are up after 2021and Chris Archer in 2020…

Like I said, still early in the season. Longoria will be 35 when his contract is up and you have to wonder if the Rays will be buyers at some point and try to actually compete. Or, will Longoria want to chase the chance at a ring somewhere else.

Besides Longoria, there is no centerpiece on this Tampa Bay team that you would consider a franchise player.

With the draft coming up in a few weeks, let’s take a look at a few names the Tampa Bay Rays are scouting…..

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With the first year player draft slowly approaching in a couple of weeks, I just wanted to go through a few names I was considering on drafting. After all, it is our future at stake and a chance to examine these draftees closely and hopefully strike GOLD….

Being a third baseman myself (in little league and high school) I would love to draft Evan Longoria’s successor for the future. I love the position and would love to draft the next A-Rod….Let’s take a look at a few scouted prospects.


So, I took a look at and scouted 18- year old 3B Art Lujan, born and raised in New York. According to scouts he is currently a 55 overall and has a potential of 65. He is 5’11” – 185 lbs – bats and throws right handed. A break down of his scouting report projections:

MLB Ready - 2021
Hitter Tendency – Balanced
Contact vs R – 50
Contact vs L – 50
Power vs R – 50
Power vs L – 55
Plate Vision – 50
Plate Discipline – 55
Fielding – 80
Arm Strength – 65
Arm Acc – 55
Reaction – 75
Speed – 65
Stealing – 80
60-yard dash – 6.61



3B Alfredo Chavez – 18 years old // 6’4” // 221 lbs // Cuba

MLB Ready – 2021
Overall – 45
Potential – 80
Hitter Tendency – Balanced
Contact vs R – 60
Contact vs L – 65
Power vs R – 45
Power vs L – 55
Plate Vision – 55
Plate Discipline – 55
Fielding – 55
Arm Strength – 55
Arm Acc – 50
Reaction – 60
Speed – 40
Stealing – 45
60-yard dash – 7.07



I also liked Jay Newberry’s scouting report. A switch hitting second baseman who won’t shock you with power but will make very good contact, has an above average arm and is speedy on the basepaths….21 years old // 5’11: // 211 lbs

MLB Ready – 2018
Overall – 65
Potential – 80
Hitter Tendency – Push Hitter
Contact vs R – 80
Contact vs L – 70
Power vs R – 45
Power vs L – 50
Plate Vision – 70
Plate Discipline – 65
Fielding – 65
Arm Strength – 70
Arm Acc – 65
Reaction – 65
Speed – 70
Stealing – 80
60-yard dash – 6.55


SP Luis Vaccaro – With 5 pitches in his arsenal (4-seam, Slider, Curveball, 2-seam, Changeup) the right hander has an excellent break on his curveballs and his command on pitches is well above average even though his velocity won’t blow you away but neither did Greg Maddux….

21 years old // 5’11” // 187 lbs // Venezuela
MLB Ready – 2021
Overall – 60
Potential – 70
Stamina – 80
H/9 – 70
K/9 – 45
BB/9 – 70
Control – 60
Velocity – 60
Break – 80
HR/9 – 80
Fielding – 30
Arm Strength – 75
Arm Accuracy – 70
Reaction – 45


CF Hans James – A pull hitter with above average contact and power….his potential is at 60 but what scouts have seen are making teams believe he can be close to elite…..

20 years old // 5’10” // 170 lbs // Texas
MLB Ready – 2021
Overall – 65
Potential – 60
Hitter Tendency – Pull Hitter
Contact vs R – 60
Contact vs L – 75
Power vs R – 65
Power vs L – 70
Plate Vision – 65
Plate Discipline – 70
Fielding – 65
Arm Strength – 65
Arm Acc – 65
Reaction – 70
Speed – 65
Stealing – 65
60-yard dash – 6.63

[enyc718]

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Last 10 Games

5/15 - @ Indians – L, 3-6
5/16 - @ Indians – L, 3-7
5/17 - @ Indians – L, 0-6
5/19 – vs Yankees – L, 1-6
5/20 – vs Yankees – L, 1-13
5/21 – vs Yankees – W, 4-3
5/22 – vs Angels – L, 1-7
5/23 – vs Angels – W, 4-1
5/24 – vs Angels – L, 5-6
5/25 – vs Angels – L, 2-3

What a rough ten game stretch that was…..an absolute mess. 2.2….yup that’s the number of runs per game during these 10 games. A 2-8 record moved us back to third place in the division while the Yankees are surging and increased their first place lead to 5.5 games over the Boston Red Sox.

We had to endure a 6-game losing streak. We overcame that by beating the Yankees in the finale where Chris Archer suffered a minor injury and had to come out of the game. He was diagnosed with elbow strain but should still be in line to make his next start

Up 5-1 in the eighth against the Angels, Mike Trout tied the game up on a groundout and then in the ninth, Luis Valbuena takes Tommy Hunter deep to overtake the lead as we go on to lose the game.

Against the Indians, we tried showing some heart but we just ended up getting behind too early, which pretty much was the moral of the story for these 10 games.



Team Stats
Batting Average – 22nd - .249
Runs – 13th – 200
Homeruns – 1st – 78
GIDP – 30th – 31 (2nd most)
ERA – 21st – 4.17

Batting Stats
Corey Dickerson - .254 BA // 28 R // 48 H // 12 HR // 28 RBI // 16 BB // 52 K

Evan Longoria – .276 BA // 22 R // 51 H // 11 HR // 31 RBI // 11 BB // 41 K

Steven Souza – .283 BA // 27 R // 51 H // 10 HR // 23 RBI // 11 BB // 55 K

Kevin Kiermaier - .207 BA // 18 R // 35 H // 6 HR // 15 RBI // 7 BB // 38 K

Brad Miller - .220 BA // 18 R // 35 H // 9 HR // 22 RBI // 13 BB // 35 K

Wilson Ramos - .234 BA // 11 R // 37 H // 5 HR // 10 RBI // 6 BB // 37 K

Matt Duffy - .267 BA // 11 R // 40 H // 2 HR // 16 RBI // 8 BB // 26 K

Logan Morrison - .268 BA // 21 R // 37 H // 8 HR // 19 RBI // 18 BB // 48 K

Peter Bourjos - .215 BA // 15 R // 26 H // 3 HR // 11 RBI // 9 BB // 34 K

Rickie Weeks - .292 BA // 11 R // 26 H // 4 HR // 6 RBI // 10 BB // 30 K

Tim Beckham - .203 BA // 10 R // 15 H // 5 HR // 12 RBI // 1 BB // 25 K

Derek Norris - .211 BA // 4 R // 8 H // 2 HR // 3 RBI // 3 BB // 11 K

Injured – Colby Rasmus - .267 BA // 2 R // 4 H // 0 HR // 2 RBI // 1 BB // 6 K


Pitching Stats
Alex Cobb – 5-2 // 62.1 IP // 15 BB // 42 // 2.74 ERA // 1.09 WHIP

Jake Odorizzi – 4-3 // 64.0 IP // 26 BB // 51 K // 4.92 ERA // 1.63 WHIP

Blake Snell – 4-4 // 61.2 IP // 31 BB // 63 K // 4.67 ERA // 1.46 WHIP

Shawn Tolleson – 4-1 // 18.2 IP // 4 BB // 20 K // 3.86 ERA // 1.07 WHIP

Nathan Eovaldi – 4-1 // 39.0 IP // 14 BB // 27 K // 3.00 ERA // 1.21 WHIP

Chris Archer – 2-6 // 54.2 IP // 27 BB // 57 K // 5.43 ERA // 1.54 WHIP

Danny Farquhar – 2-1 // 23.1 IP // 9 BB // 25 K // 4.24 ERA // 1.59 WHIP

Matt Andriese – 1-2 // 55.1 IP // 13 BB // 26 K // 3.42 ERA // 1.23 WHIP

Alex Colome – 0-0 // 12 Saves // 15.1 IP // 2 BB // 15 K // 0.59 ERA // 0.85 WHIP

Xavier Cedeno – 0-1 // 3 Saves // 10.2 IP // 1 BB // 10 K // 5.91 ERA // 1.50 WHIP

Johnny Venters – 0-0 // 4.0 IP // 0 BB // 3 K // 0.00 ERA // 1.00 WHIP

Tommy Hunter – 0-1 // 1 Save // 13.1 IP // 3 BB // 10 K // 4.73 ERA // 1.13 WHIP

Brad Boxberger – 0-0 // 20.0 IP // 11 BB // 31 K // 6.30 ERA // 1.50 WHIP


Prospect Watch
Brent Honeywell (SP, AA) #27 Prospect – 5-3 // 63.1 IP // 14 BB // 51 K // 3.13 ERA // 1.06 WHIP

Jose De Leon (SP, AAA) #1 Prospect – 3-1 // 52 IP // 28 BB // 61 K // 2.94 ERA // 1.33 WHIP

Jake Bauers (RF, AAA) #41 Prospect - .295 BA // 27 R // 41 H // 3 HR // 25 RBI // 20 BB // 17 K

Willy Adames (SS< AAA) #8 Prospect - .232 BA // 17 R // 35 H // 3 HR // 24 RBI // 19 BB // 32 K



Other Minor Leaguers
Michael McKenry (C, AAA) - .341 BA // 19 R // 44 H // 3 HR // 23 RBI // 11 BB // 31 K

Jacob Faria (SP, AA) – 3-1 // 51 IP // 18 BB // 39 K // 1.94 ERA // 1.24 WHIP

Diego Moreno (RP, AA) – 3-1 // 15 IP // 5 BB // 14 K // 0.00 ERA // 1.20 WHIP

Adam Kolarek (RP, AAA) – 2-0 // 27 IP // 1 BB // 24 K // 2.00 ERA // 0.78 WHIP



Around the Division News & Notes
-Red Sox leads the league in blown saves with 12….a broken forearm to Craig Kimbrel could be the cause of that.
-Yankees have 22 saves, 20 of those are from Aroldis Chapman
-Yankees 3rd in majors in team ERA with 3.13
-Yankees have made the least amount of errors
-Red Sox 3rd in majors in batting average
-Yankees have called up prospect Jorge Mateo….batting .235 // 4 Hits // 1 RBI // 4 SB
-Blue Jays have activated SP Francisco Liriano from the DL

[enyc718]

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Last 10 Games (3 series)
5/26 @ Twins – W, 5-3
5/27 @ Twins – W, 7-5
5/28 @ Twins – L, 3-5
5/29 @ Rangers – W, 5-1
5/30 @ Rangers – L, 3-11
5/31 @ Rangers – W, 5-0
6/2 @ Mariners – L, 1-8
6/3 @ Mariners – W, 3-1
6/4 @ Mariners – W, 8-2

These last 3 series (9 games), were all on the road. We lost 3 games. First we faced the NL Central leading Minnesota Twins who had red hot hitting Brian Dozier. Both us and the Twins came in #1 and #2 in the majors in homeruns.....the Twins were also 2nd in MLB in Batting Average and RBI's.

Chris Archer is starting to come around it seems like. He went 7 strong in the opener and left the game with the lead having thrown 108 pitches.

Of course, Brad Boxberger would give up the lead as the Twins tied it on Dozier's RBI double in the bottom of the 7th.

Luckily we were able to score a few more runs and Alex Colome struck out Dozier to end the game.

Alex Colome was able to get another save in the next game, striking out Byron Buxton with runners on 1st and 2nd.


Brian Dozier would burn us in the 3rd game. He hit a 447 foot homerun to left center to give the Twins the lead....Byung Ho Park added to the lead with a homerun of his own to follow.


Corey Dickerson continues to hit. He's 12-28 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs, including (3) doubles and 4 runs during these last 3 series.

And Jake Odorizzi continues to struggle. Odorizzi struggles have gone noticed after starting the season 4-0, has now lost 4 straight decisions. And the losses have been terrible….Take a look

May 11, 2017-----vs Royals--------5.1 IP // 7 H // 5 R // 5 ER // 4 BB // 7 K // 3.85 ERA
May 16, 2017-----@ Indians-------6 IP // 14 H // 7 R // 7 ER // 3 BB // 4 K // 4.55 ERA
May 22, 2017----vs Angels---------6.2 IP // 14 H // 6 R // 6 ER // 2 BB // 4 K // 4.92 ERA
June 2, 2017------@ Mariners-----5.2 IP // 11 H // 8 R // 8 ER // 4 BB // 3 K // 5.51 ERA

All resulted in team losses…..we’re going to need him to turn things around quickly.

Blake Snell had the worst line of the season for us so far. In a game against the Rangers he pitched 5.2 innings, gave up 12 hits and 10 earned runs. Snell has been just awful so far.

The good part of this is we were able to win 2 out of 3 from all three series. A look at the AL East Standings:


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*Baltimore has won 5 in a row…beating the Yankees and Red Sox
*Boston has lost four in a row
*Yankees just lost 3 out of 4 to the Blue Jays
*Toronto bats are second in the majors in walks
*Boston has struck out the second fewest times in MLB
*Toronto has grounded into the most double plays
*Orioles Chris Davis showing off power and average while still striking out 25% of the time


Around The Minors

RP Adam Kolarek (AAA) – He has been on fire lately in relief. Has a 5-0 record // 2.12 ERA // 0.88 WHIP // 33 K // 4 BB in 34 innings pitched. I can definitely see him getting a call up, especially how Brad Boxberger has been pitching as of late. Boxberger has been limited in relief by Kevin Cash due to his inconsistency.

Our AAA affiliate, the Durham Bulls have won 12 games in a row and have a record of 40-17.

Currently #2 MLB prospect, Jose De Leon (AAA) has had some good outing as of late. He’s 4-1 with a 2.97 ERA, 81 strikeouts and 43 walks. His last few games:

May 20, 2017-----(W)-----7.2 IP // 6 H // 0 R // 0 ER // BB // 7 K // 2.94 ERA
May 26, 2017-----(W)-----6.0 IP // 6 H // 1 R // 1 ER // 3 BB // 9 K // 2.79 ERA
May 31, 2017-----(ND)----5.0 IP // 5 H // 3 R // 3 ER // 7 BB // 7 K // 3.00 ERA
June 5, 2017------(ND)----6.2 IP // 4 H // 2 R // 2 ER // 5 BB // 4 K // 2.97 ERA

Not bad starts. The walks are what concerns me a bit. But if he keeps up the quality starts, I can see him in the majors sometime this year.



Prospect Watch

-Jake Bauers (RF, AAA) - .293 AVG // 5 HR // 30 RBI // 25 BB // 21 K – Loving that his walks total is higher than his strikeouts

-Willy Adames (SS, AAA) - .228 AVG // 4 HR // 30 RBI // 22 BB // 38 K – Would like to see his OBP a little higher than what it is (.316)

-SP Brent Honeywell (AA) – Although his last four starts he has only factored in a decision once, which was a win, one can blame the offense. Honeywell is sure to climb to AAA sooner than later, as his pitching has earned the thought of doing so…..a quick look at his last 4 starts:

May 18, 2017-----(W)-----6 IP // 5 H // 1 R // 1 ER // 1 BB // 1 K // 3.29 ERA
May 24, 2017-----(ND)-----6 IP // 3 H // 1 R // 1 ER // 0 BB // 5 K // 3.12 ERA
May 30, 2017-----(ND)-----5 IP // 8 H // 2 R // 2 ER // 1 BB // 1 K // 3.16 ERA
June 4, 2017-----(ND)-----6 IP // 9 H // 2 R // 2 ER // 0 BB // 5 K // 3.14 ERA

Nothing overpowering from Honeywell, he’s not showing he is a strikeout pitcher but knows how to locate his pitches to get outs.