We won five of the six series we played this past chapter, and split the other. Our offense is really beginning to gel as the players who began the season mired in deep slumps have rebounded nicely. We hit .301/.361/.476 as a team last chapter, with strong splits against both lefties (.887 OPS) and righties (.815). Our pitching staff continues to be a disappointment, but we're hoping to see some improvement in the second half.
To that end, we went out and acquired an important piece of our bullpen puzzle just hours before the trading deadline. Nate Jones hasn't been overly impressive for the Niagara Locks this year (3.67 ERA in 34+ IP, with 734/680 splits), but we're hoping our pitching coach, Greg Maddux, can turn him around. If Jones pitches as well as he did in MLB last season, he will be our go-to guy in key situations.
THE GOOD:
-- The two newest members of our pitching staff performed well in Chapter Three. Clay Buchholz tossed six shutout innings in his only start of the chapter, and Liam Hendricks posted a 1.17 ERA in 15+ innings, filling the role he shares with Rubby de la Rosa (who had a fine chapter himself: 2-0, 2.38 ERA in 11+ IP).
-- Stephen Matz and Junior Guerra combined to go 6-1 with a 3.28 ERA in seven starts last chapter.
-- David Phelps (2-0, 1.59 ERA in 17+ IP) was the workhorse of our bullpen in Chapter Three. The acquisition of Jones should lighten his workload.
-- Our newest member (aside from Jones), Martin Prado, had an unbelievable chapter. He hit .536/.581/.786 in 28 at-bats, with a pair of homers and five RBI's. Needless to say, he can't maintain this pace, but he has already given us more production against left-handers than Jorge Soler.
-- Since we need to rest Gary Sanchez quite often, we have to rely on our backup catchers to carry most of the usage load. Both Carlos Ruiz (.424/.513/.455) and Travis d'Arnaud (.379/.400/.517) performed remarkably well last chapter in their dual backup role.
-- After a very slow start, Elvis Andrus has picked up the pace big-time over the last two chapters. He hit .364/.450/.545 last chapter, and is now hitting .321/.395/.472 on the season. He will most likely represent the Cowtippers in the all-star game, either as a starter or reserve.
-- Also a slow start, Odubel Herrera really came into his own last chapter, hitting .354/.449/.431 with 13 runs scored.
-- Jose Ramirez (.344/.402/.510 on the chapter) also continues to rake while playing three different positions on the diamond.
-- Little Trea Turner hit .308/.349/.769 with five home runs in limited time (just 39 AB's). Even Littler Jose Altuve hit .305/.345/.486 last chapter, with four homers and 21 runs scored.
THE BAD:
-- Cameron Maybin hit just .200/.234/.267 in 60 AB's, with three walks and thirteen K's. He is hitting just .260/.312/.315 on the season, with an OPS that is 174 points below his MLB OPS.
-- We were expecting great things from Jon Gray at the start of this season. We're still waiting for those great things to happen. In five starts (31 IP) last chapter, Gray went just 1-3 with a 4.94 ERA. He allowed more hits (33) than innings, and served up five home runs. On the season, in only 58% of his MLB innings, Gray has nearly matched the number of home runs he allowed all of last MLB season -- while pitching in Coors Field. Someone explain that one to me.
THE UGLY:
-- Alex Dickerson (.111/.172/.111) went 3-for-27 in Chapter Three. He is hitting just .232/.310/.449 on the season. Given his MLB ballpark factors, we were expecting much more out of him this season.
-- Jayson Werth began this season on fire, but cooled off considerably (.095/.222/.238) in Chapter Three. Essentially, against left-handed pitching, Prado took over where Werth left off, and Werth took over where Soler left off!
-- Stephen Strasburg is supposed to be the ace of this pitching staff. Instead, he went 0-2 in four starts last chapter, with a 6.75 ERA. As has been true throughout his BDBL career, his biggest problem is serving up one longball after another. In 80+ innings this season, he has allowed 12 home runs. All of last MLB season, in 147+ innings, he allowed only 15.
-- When we acquired Mike Montgomery, we envisioned a quality long reliever who could pitch multiple innings in key situations and contribute the occasional spot-start against good left-handed lineups. Instead, what we got was a below-average pitcher that struggles against both lefties and righties, and has blown four times as many saves as he tallied all last MLB season. Chapter Three's performance (6.48 ERA in 8+ IP) was his worst to date.
2018: A Look Ahead
We're nearing the all-star break in MLB, which is usually a good time to assess our team next season. Had we not traded Aaron Judge and Miguel Sano last winter, we would have two of the top fifteen hitters in baseball (by offensive WAR) right now. Had we not traded Avisail Garcia last chapter, we would have three of the top twenty. Had we not traded Josh Harrison and Starlin Castro, we would have five of the top 35. Had we kept Justin Upton, we'd have six of the top forty hitters in the game today.
But wait. It gets worse. If we hadn't traded Travis Shaw, and if we hadn't released Scott Schebler, we'd have EIGHT of the top fifty hitters in the game of baseball. If we didn't trade Neil Walker, we'd have nine of the top sixty.
Unfortunately, we did all of the above. As a result, you need to scroll all the way down to #68 before finding a single member of the 2018 Cowtippers (Jose Ramirez.) Andrus is #74, and Miguel Cabrera is #94. No other Cowtipper ranks among the top 100.
On the pitching side, Strasburg ranks as the #4 pitcher in the game based on WAR. Daniel Norris (#46) is the only other Cowtipper among the top fifty.
Like many other teams around the BDBL, Salem's 2018 season has been plagued by injuries. Stephen Matz missed the entire months of April and May, and just recently made his first appearance of the season. Jon Gray has missed most of the season, and won't return until later this month. Junior Guerra has made only four starts all season. Miguel Cabrera missed a chunk of time and hasn't been himself all year. Alex Dickerson has yet to play a single game and has no timetable to return. Martin Prado, Gary Sanchez, and Trea Turner also missed portions of the season.
At this point, the 2018 season does not look promising at all for Salem, but you never know what will happen in the second half.
