The 2073 Daily Keg - Week 12

July 3, 2073

Montreal was the week’s best team by a wide margin, going 6-1 to push its winning streak to five games, and Phoenix was right behind at 5-1 on its own five-game streak, closing to within 2.5 games of Los Angeles in the Bock. On the other end, New York had the league’s other rough week at 0-6, extending its skid to seven straight losses and leaving the Cyclones 17.5 games back in the Stout. Pittsburgh’s dominant season hit a wall this week as well. The Millers went 0-7, stretching their losing streak to 10 games, and while they still lead the Ale by 9 games over Indianapolis, it’s the most stunning collapse of the season for a team that had been running away with its division.

Alec Ford and Ike Calabrese were honored as the week’s top players, with Ford hitting .455 with three home runs and ten RBI for Indianapolis and Calabrese hitting .611 with three home runs and six RBI for Seattle. The league also handed out its monthly awards, with Braedin Kim of Montreal taking home both the Domestic League Batter of the Month and Rookie of the Month awards, Nathan Yarnes winning the Import League Batter of the Month for Washington, Steven Durham and Franklin Pennell claiming the Pale Ale of the Month honors in their respective leagues, and Tom Cyr winning Import League Rookie of the Month for Windy City. The week’s biggest injury blow was to Hartford, where Seth Hefler will undergo Tommy John surgery and is expected to miss about 14 months. Windy City also took a hit, losing Tasher de la Cruz to a strained latissimus dorsi for 5 to 6 weeks.

1) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (130.6, +)
2) Phoenix Roadrunners (121.5, ++)
3) Los Angeles Sharks (118.9, -)
4) Washington Bats (110.8, +)
5) New Orleans Voodoo (107.8, -)
6) Toronto Canadians (107.5, o)
7) Wilmington Wildcats (101.2, +)
8) Montreal Exports (100.1, ++)
9) Pittsburgh Millers (96.8, --)
10) Indianapolis Clowns (96.8, -)
11) Baltimore Bulldogs (91.0, ++)
12) Seattle Sasquatch (90.9, ++)
13) Philadelphia Freedom (89.8, -)
14) Maine Guides (87.0, -)
15) Windy City Blues (85.7, --)
16) Denver Bulls (82.3, --)
17) Batavia Muckdogs (81.9, +)
18) Carolina Tobs (77.3, +)
19) Dallas Drillers (77.1, --)
20) Pawtucket Patriots (75.1, +)
21) Hartford Whalers (70.0, -)
22) California Kodiaks (57.3, +)
23) Syracuse Snappers (51.4, +)
24) New York Cyclones (47.3, -)

LF Devyn Glover, MON - Glover put together the best game of his season on June 28th, going 4 for 4 with a home run and three singles, two runs scored, and five RBI in Montreal's 11-1 rout of Dallas. He was named Player of the Game, and it's a rare standout moment in an otherwise quiet year, as the 30-year-old left fielder carries a .252 average with just 2 home runs and 12 RBI and a -0.7 WAR across 59 games. It's exactly the kind of game that can turn a season around, even if the numbers say it's an outlier.

2B Asher ‘Junior’ Albano, SYR - Albano, the 3rd overall pick in this year's draft, has begun his pro career in the Rookie League for Syracuse's Atlantic City affiliate, hitting .213 with 6 stolen bases through his first 12 games. The early average doesn't tell the full story. He was a monster at the college level this spring, hitting .379 with 14 home runs, 44 RBI, and a 1.133 OPS in 48 games, and his speed has translated immediately as a pro. It's a small, uneven start, but the tools that made him a top-three pick are still very much part of the profile.

1. Brad Zook has the best ERA in the league, and almost nobody’s noticed. The Pawtucket right-hander leads the Domestic League with a 2.24 ERA, comfortably ahead of the next closest competitor at 2.78. It’s not a compiler’s number either. Zook also tops the league in opponents’ slugging percentage (.324) and opponents’ OPS (.610) allowed, and his 1.07 WHIP and 7.4 hits allowed per nine are both among the league’s best. He’s doing all of this at a .750 winning percentage on a Pawtucket club that sits under .500 overall, the kind of quiet ace season that tends to get buried when the team around him isn’t winning.

2. Pittsburgh’s collapse isn’t a pitching problem. Even in the middle of a 10-game losing streak, Rohan Zezulka has been nearly untouchable. He’s tied for the Domestic League lead in wins with 10, and at an .833 winning percentage, that works out to just 2 losses on the year. His 2.88 ERA ranks fourth in the league, and his 2.7 WAR is tied for third among all pitchers. Whatever has gone wrong for the Millers during this stretch, it clearly isn’t their ace. If Pittsburgh is going to snap out of this and hold off Indianapolis in the Ale, Zezulka has already done his part.

3. Keaton Ang has taken over as the Import League’s best all-around player. The Phoenix slugger now leads the league in WAR at 3.7, edging past Philadelphia’s Alec Bridges for the top spot. He backs it up with real thump, topping the league in slugging percentage (.667), OPS (1.049), and isolated power (.365), the kind of complete offensive profile that makes him nearly impossible to pitch around. With Phoenix sitting just 2.5 games back of Los Angeles in the Bock, Ang’s emergence as the league’s top position player gives the Roadrunners a middle-of-the-order threat capable of carrying them the rest of the way.

4. Collin Edson's perfect season keeps getting better. The Los Angeles right-hander is 6-0 on the year, still perfect with no losses through 16 starts, and he's actually lowered his ERA to a league-best 2.22 in that stretch. He's backed it up with real dominance on the mound, striking out 89 over 101.1 innings with a sharp 1.02 WHIP, good for a 2.7 WAR. It's further proof that the Sharks' pitching-first formula starts at the top of the rotation with an ace who simply doesn't lose. As Los Angeles keeps rolling toward the Bock title, Edson's unbeaten record stands as the most remarkable individual number on the league's best pitching staff.

5. What’s on tap?

• Phoenix Roadrunners (47-31, 21-15 Road) at Seattle Sasquatch (39-40, 24-18 Home), July 3, 2073, 3-game series
  - Phoenix enters on a 5-game winning streak, and the season series sits tied at 3-3, making this a real swing series in the Bock with Phoenix just 2.5 back of Los Angeles. Dave Scott gets the start for Phoenix at 8-4 with a 4.27 ERA against Seattle’s P.J. Belcher (4-6, 3.83 ERA). Ace Franklin Pennell isn’t lined up for this game, but he’s won 8 straight decisions and hasn’t lost in 13 consecutive starts, giving the Roadrunners a weapon to lean on later in the series.

• Windy City Blues (37-39, 18-23 Road) at Denver Bulls (37-41, 27-20 Home), July 3, 2073, 3-game series
  - Bock rivals meet again with the season series tied 3-3 and both clubs hovering right around .500. Kaleb Hunt takes the ball for Windy City at 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA against Denver’s Ben Buus (5-9, 5.61 ERA), a matchup that looks like it could turn into a slugfest given both starters’ numbers.

• Santo Domingo Rum Runners (54-24, 25-11 Road) at Montreal Exports (40-39, 24-18 Home), July 3, 2073
  - Two hot teams collide as Santo Domingo brings a 4-game winning streak into Montreal, which is riding a 5-game streak of its own. Dylan Montgomery starts for Santo Domingo at 8-4 with a 3.51 ERA against Montreal’s Brandon Flynn (4-5, 4.96 ERA), with the Lager-leading Rum Runners looking to keep their foot down against a Montreal club that’s quietly been the league’s best team over the last week and a half.

• Syracuse Snappers (21-57, 9-30 Road) at Pittsburgh Millers (50-27, 29-7 Home), July 3, 2073
  - Pittsburgh’s stunning collapse continues into a matchup with the league’s worst team, with the Millers now riding a 10-game losing streak of their own. Steven Durham, fresh off winning the Domestic League Pale Ale of the Month award, starts for Syracuse at 7-6 with a 3.84 ERA against Pittsburgh’s Davon Arechiga (6-2, 2.23 ERA). It’s about as unlikely a measuring-stick game as the league has seen all year.

• New York Cyclones (27-51, 9-33 Road) at Baltimore Bulldogs (39-39, 20-18 Home), July 3, 2073
  - New York carries a 7-game losing streak into Baltimore, looking for anything to break the slide. Javis Navarro starts for New York at 2-3 with a 6.38 ERA against Baltimore’s Tommy Humes (6-2, 4.10 ERA), a tough draw for a Cyclones club that has scored just enough to lose all week.

• Baltimore Bulldogs (39-39, 19-21 Road) at Seattle Sasquatch (39-40, 24-18 Home), July 6, 2073, 4-game series
  - Baltimore leads this season series 3-1 as the two clubs open a four-game set. Both teams sit right at .500, making this one of the more even matchups on the schedule this week. No probable starters were listed for this series, so I left pitching out rather than guess.

• Los Angeles Sharks (50-29, 19-18 Road) at Washington Bats (44-33, 24-14 Home), July 6, 2073, 3-game series
  - The best series on the schedule this week pits two division leaders against each other, as Los Angeles brings its Bock-topping record into Washington's building for the first time all season. Los Angeles has completely owned this matchup so far, sweeping all four meetings between the clubs this year, and Washington will be looking to finally get on the board against a team that has given it trouble in every previous encounter. With both clubs playing meaningful October baseball, this is as close to a measuring-stick series as the league offers this week. No probable starters were listed for this series.