Hello there, baseball fans! Believe it or not, more than one-third of the way into this season, the Salem Cowtippers are the leaders in the OL wild card race. That's right; if the season ended today, your Cowtippers would be playing year-end bonus baseball. Who woulda thunk it?
Coming into this season, our primary goal was to build a team to compete in 2017. It seemed unlikely that we would be competitive this season, as we traded most of our best talent last winter in exchange for future considerations. So how on earth did this happen?
It hasn't exactly happened because of luck. Our Pythagorean record is nearly identical (+1 win) to our actual record. We haven't taken advantage of any home-field fluky factors, as our home record (16-12) is nearly identical to our road record (15-13.) It hasn't happened because we play in a weak division, as our divisional record stands at just 13-11. So why on earth has it happened?
The best explanation to date is: lack of competition. The Flagstaff Outlaws, Bear Country Jamboree, and Granite State Lightning were supposed to be the main competition for the runner-up trophy this year. Instead, Flagstaff is eight games below .500, Bear Country has been outscored by nearly 40 runs, and the Lightning are sporting the worst winning percentage in the Ozzie League.
The Los Altos Undertakers (+127) are outscoring their competition by more than 100 runs so far this year. The New Milford Blazers (+123) trail closely behind in that category. Care to guess which team ranks third? That's right, the Cowtippers -- at just +14. The third best team in the Ozzie League is outscoring their competition by only 14 runs after 56 games have been played. How pathetic is that?
We somehow managed to go 18-10 in Chapter Two, despite batting just .238/.312/.397 as a team. Our pitching was respectable, as we posted a team ERA of 3.10 (third in the OL) and struck out more batters than innings pitched. Travis Shaw (.295/.354/.511) was once again our Hitter of the Chapter, and Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 1.42 ERA, 31 K in 25+ IP) was our top pitcher. Our bullpen was extraordinary as well. Zach Duke, Xavier Cedeno, and Huston Street managed to allow just one earned run in nearly 38 innings combined.
We didn't lose a single series in Chapter Two despite playing a tough schedule. We split four series, took three out of four in two series (against Flagstaff and New Milford), and closed our chapter with a sweep of the Lightning.
So, where do we go from here? We can squeeze another chapter out of the players that we have used throughout the first two chapters of the season. Beyond that, we will need some help to complete the usage requirements. Whether or not we trade for that help or pick it up off the free agent scrap heap remains to be seen. If we have another chapter like this one, it would seem dishonest not to make an effort to finish this season as strong as possible. With Los Altos and New Milford dominating the league as they are, however, trading away the future for a million-to-one shot in the postseason is not something that we will do.
Meanwhile, all eyes in our front office are focused with laser-like precision on the 2017 season. The month of April was more than disheartening, as several of the players we were counting on to carry us to contention in 2017 stumbled out of the gate. But it's a long season, and anything can happen over the next five months.
No one expected the Salem Cowtippers to be in a position to even consider the possibility of trading away a bit of the future for a better chance to contend this year. 2016 has been a pleasant surprise -- so far.
