Chapter Three Review

After splitting the first four series we played in Chapter Three, we won seven of our last eight games, giving us a record of 15-9 for the chapter. Overall, we own a .663 winning percentage, which is second only to the mighty Los Altos Undertakers.

We have a few deals in the works, and hope to make an announcement by the end of this chapter. We are also preparing for the mid-season farm draft, so that will be covered in the next post as well.

The Good

The Brothers Gray were outstanding in Chapter Three. Jon went 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 28 innings, and Sonny went 3-1 with a 1.97 ERA in 32. Our newest member, Rowan Wick, was excellent as well, sporting a 1.04 ERA in 8+ innings. The seldom-used Ken Ryan (1.50 ERA in 6 IP) was also surprisingly good.

Rafael Devers (.361/.394/.722) continues to do nothing but rake. At this point, he looks like he could possibly become the first Cowtipper to win the MVP award since John Olerud way back in 1999.

Trea Turner (.333/.400/.611) was only 2-for-4 in stealing attempts in Chapter Three, but hit four home runs and eight doubles.

Tom Murphy (.333/.360/.667) and Cameron Maybin (.333/.362/.511) have been consistently good from the beginning of the season.

The Bad

Shohei Ohtani whacked five home runs and added a pair of triples in Chapter Three, but hit just .212/.254/.545 overall.

Jose Ramirez (.205/.271/.397) has struggled most of this season. Our MVP from a year ago has been all-but-useless at the plate, and has already committed eight errors while playing out of position at second base.

Max Scherzer (3.97 ERA in 34 IP), Stephen Strasburg (3.52 in 38+), and Anibal Sanchez (3.31 in 16+) weren't bad, per se, in Chapter Three, but they weren't exactly the Cy Young-caliber pitchers they should be. Scherzer pitched a real stinker (7 ER in 5 IP) against Great Lakes last chapter. Strasburg got lit the fuck up (5+ IP, 13 H, 7 R, 5 ER) against Kansas City. Sanchez was just...meh. I expect better from these guys.

The Ugly

Christian Walker (.160/.266/.259) pretty much took the chapter off. He's our only real first baseman, so we have to plug him into the lineup every day, but man, has he been useless. At least his Ex glove takes some of the sting away.

Bryan Holaday (.130/.167/.174) had a horrendous chapter, to the point where we may just cut him loose.

I wish we could cut Andrew Benintendi (.174/.240/.290) loose as well, but he's under contract for many years to come. The face of our Jumbotron a year ago has turned out to be an automatic out at the bottom of our lineup.

New guy Mark Melancon (6.35 ERA in 5+ IP) had a rough debut as a Cowtipper. Usually-reliable Sam Dyson posted a 6.75 ERA in 8 IP in Chapter Three, and blew two saves.

But the worst of the worst in Chapter Three was Trevor May: 7 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, and 4 (count 'em, FOUR!) home runs allowed. Where the hell did that come from? May was pretty much lights-out in the first two chapters. He completely choked against Saskatoon, Las Vegas, and Kansas City last chapter. We need him to turn it around in a big way.