Tag: Dwayne Murphy

TWIWBL 65.2 Spotlight on the Los Angeles Angels

On August 27, 2024

A team still in search of identity, but you can see some reason for optimism. I mean, if you squint.

The Angels inherit players from their namesake and from the New York Mets.

HOME PAGE | ROSTER | POSITIONAL STRENGTH | LEADERS

The Angels sit at exactly .500, closer to last than to first in the Cum Posey Division (5 games behind division leaders San Francisco, 3.5 games out ahead of last place Portland).

Honestly, a .500 finish is probably the goal for the year, so as far as that goes, they’re on track. It’s just hard to get all that excited about that. But you can see things happening for this team, both offensively and, if you look at the talent scattered throughout their minor league system, on the mound.

THE OFFENSE

There’s a budding superstar here, surrounded by a fair number of question marks. That’s not quite fair: Mike Trout is a budding superstar, but Bobby Grich and Doug Rader are both solid, Kal Daniels continues to demonstrate all the tools, and rookie OF Ichiro Suzuki looks set for a long WBL career.

Currently, though, this offense is just about the definition of league average, sitting 9th or 10th in almost all statistical categories.

#What’s Going Right

Trout is still not an elite power hitter, but every other part of his game is on point and Grich, who leads the team in HR with 10, produces far above the norm offensively for 2B. Veteran Carlos Delgado continues to deliver, and may end up being a pretty attractive trade piece if Los Angeles loses contact with the division leaders.

George Wright‘s return from injury has helped to settle the situation at SS, but Wright will always struggle to add much with the bat.

#What’s Not Going Right

Steve Garvey‘s continued struggles may send him down to the minors, and more and more it looks like his future will be at 1B, not 3B. C is a mess, with the platoon of AJ Pierzynski and Jeff Torborg struggling enough that the team plans to recall John Stearns from AAA this week.

With Suzuki, Wright, Garvey, and Mark Ellis all seeing at least semi-regular playing time, the Angels have a lot of players who are pretty allergic to taking a walk.

THE PITCHING

Los Angeles has somehow put together a top end pitching staff. It’s not likely to last top to bottom, but the higher end talent is very encouraging.

#What’s Going Right

Doc Gooden has been spectacular, with the 22 year old sporting a 2.60 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP, but only a 4-3 record across 8 starts. Last year’s ace, Gerrit Cole, has struggled a bit, but the contributions of Tom Seaver (3-2, 3.88) and Brett Anderson (3-2, 4.60), along with the steady innings eating ability of Pud Galvin, has given Los Angeles a very strong rotation. And Cole, at 25, is the veteran of the bunch.

Roy Patterson, Ross Reynolds, and Mike Smith have been excellent in the middle innings, and Joe Nathan has 8 saves.

Perhaps most of all, the Angels decision to send Nolan Ryan and Chuck Finley to the minors seems to have paid off, with each of them performing well at AA.

#What’s Not Going Right

Not a lot, although the back end of the bullpen has been a little weak, with Francisco Rodríguez and Julio Teheran struggling and Nathan’s peripheral numbers being far rougher than his record may indicate.

Lefty Noah Lowry has been very ineffective, and his holding on to his roster spot by his fingernails.

Derrek Lee has struggled, and is in danger of losing his job to Wally Joyner, although that would leave the Angels with 2 lefties at 1B.

THE FARM SYSTEM

TOP PROSPECTS | MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM

This is not a great system, although if you count Ryan and Finley (who passed their rookie limits last season) it looks much better. IF Xander Bogaerts and closer Bryan Harvey are probably the highest ceiling prospects, followed by IF Marcus Semien, professional hitter Babe Herman, and OFs Dwayne Murphy, Brian Nimmo, and Billy Hamilton.

Of those, only Bogaerts is doing well.

Veteran help is available at AAA in the form of OF Elmer Valo, Stearns, 1Bs Wally Joyner and Jack Hannifin, and 3B Pedro Álvarez.

WHAT’S NEEDED

The offense has to improve faster than the offense reverts to the mean.

Storylines to Watch

Key Questions from Spring Training

Who is going to fill out the rotation and the bullpen? This has been resoundingly answered so far, with the pitching staff performing as well as any in the league.
Will anyone step up at C? Not yet, no. We’ll see if Stearns, who will replace Torborg, improves the situation here.

FEATURED SERIES

The Angels head to Memphis for 4 games to start the week; we’ll follow those games as it will give us a chance to see the bulk of their rotation.

Projected Starters

Los Angeles starter listed first.

Brett Anderson (3-2, 4.60) @ Jon Lester (2-1, 5.53)
Tom Seaver (3-2, 3.88) @ Bill Doak (3-3, 4.53)
Gerrit Cole (1-4, 5.37) @ Len Barker (1-6, 4.63)
Dwight Gooden (4-3, 2.60) @ Stubby Overmire (2-4, 4.9-2)

Game One

This is what happens when your bullpen is toast. With Joe Nathan and Francisco Rodríguez needing rest, the Angels were forced to turn to Noah Lowry in a high leverage situation … and it did not go well.

Brett Anderson was strong over 6 plus innings, and the Angels held a 7-3 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th. But Roy Patterson and Lowry collapsed, giving up 5 runs, including a go-ahead 3 run shot by Manny Ramírez as Memphis claimed a come from behind victory.

LAA 7 (Lowry 2-1, 3 B Sv) @ MEM 8 (Miller 3-; Papelbon 4 Sv)
HRs: LAA – Trout (9), Daniels (6); MEM – Williams (9), Smith (11), Ramírez (9).
Box Score

Game Two

More of the same. Los Angeles roared out of the gate, with back-to-back homeruns to lead off the game from Don Buford and Kal Daniels. Bobby Grich added a 2 run shot later in the inning, and the Angels were up 4-0. They touched Bill Doak for another run, leading 5-0 after 3.5.

And then Tom Seaver began to struggle, giving up homeruns to Manny Ramírez in consecutive innings, tying up the ballgame at 5. After Ross Reynolds was forced from the game with a forearm issue, David Ortíz greeted Roy Patterson with a solo shot to give the Red Sox a 6-5 lead.

Bobby Grich hit his second of the game, taking Jonathan Papelbon deep in the 9th to tie it, but the Angels bullpen wasn’t up to the task, eventually surrendering a bases loaded single to Mookie Betts for the walkoff win for Memphis.

LAA 6 (Patterson 1-1) @ MEM 7 (Papelbon 2-2, 3 B Sv; Bell 3 H; Miller 4 H)
HRs: LAA – Daniels (7), Buford (9), Grich 2 (12); MEM – Ramírez 2 (11), Ortíz (6).
Box Score

The game was costly for each team, as Memphis’ Dobie Moore also left with an injury. Reynolds will miss about a week, landing him on the DL, with the Angels recalling Scott Rice from AAA. Rice has a shot at taking Noah Lowry‘s role as the pen lefty, depending on how his initial WBL outings go.

Moore’s status is still unknown.

Game Three

Don Buford led off the game with a homerun for the second consecutive game, staking Gerrit Cole to an early 1-0 lead. Cole wasn’t up for the task, giving up 1 in the bottom of the first and a whopping 6 in the 2nd before being chased from the game by a Mookie Betts blast in the 4th.

The Angels offense did well against Len Barker, touching him for 6 runs in 6 innings, and staying close enough that a George Wright homerun (!) in the 8th could make it a 1 run game, 11-10 Memphis. They put two runners on base against Heath Bell in the 9th, but were unable to break through, and the Red Sox take the first 3 games of the series.

Wade Boggs had 3 doubles for Memphis and scored 4 times.

LAA 10 (Cole 1-5) @ MEM 11 (Barker 2-6; Callahan 1 H; Bell 2 Sv)
HRs: LAA – Buford (10), Wright (3); MEM – Ramírez (12), Betts (5).
Box Score

Angels 3B Doug Rader had to leave the game, but isn’t likely to require a trip to the DL. There was great news for Memphis as well, as Dobie Moore will only miss about a day with his bruised shin.

Game Four

Don Buford didn’t lead off this one with a homer: he waited until the 5th inning to launch a 3 run shot, putting the Angels up, 3-2. Steve Garvey and Ichiro Suzuki added 2 RBIs each in the 6th, increasing the lead to 7-2.

Doc Gooden had given up a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 1st to David Ortíz, but had shut Memphis down after that, lasting 7 innings in a very strong outing. Scott Rice relieved Gooden for his WBL debut … and it did not go well, with Rice giving up 3 runs, allowing the Red Sox to close the gap to 9-5.

With a 4 run lead, the Angels turned to Francisco Rodríguez … who promptly loaded the bases to start the bottom of the 9th. A walk to Ted Williams made it 9-6, and brought in Los Angeles’ closer, Joe Nathan. Nathan whiffed two … and then gave up a walkoff grand slam homerun to Billy Bryan, giving the Red Sox the series sweep.

Buford–who had a great series–finished the game with 5 RBIs, giving him 3 homers and 7 RBIs over the 4 games.

LAA 9 (Nathan 3-2, 1 B Sv) @ MEM 10 (Callahan 1-1)
HRs: LAA – Buford (11); MEM – Ortíz (7), Bryan (4).
Box Score

What a miserable series … 4 winnable games, 4 collapses from the Angels’ bullpen, 4 different ways to steal defeat from the jars of victory leading to 4 straight 1 run losses.

Season Review: Los Angeles Angels

By mknn

On December 19, 2023

In Season Reviews, Team News

72 - 82, .467 pct.
4th in Bill James Division, 17 games behind.

Overall

Perhaps no team in the WBL has a larger gap between their obvious talent on the mound and their performance. Until the Angels figure that out, they are no better than a .500 team, if that, in spite of some useful pieces on offense.

What Went Right

Doug Rader had a career year, leading the WBL in RBIs up to the final few days of the season (his 134 finished 1 behind Babe Ruth, no shame in that), but perhaps the best news was the season-long development of CF Mike Trout, who only needs to add some power to move into the elite of the league.

Carlos Delgado–acquired when the Angels were still in the hunt–continued to mash the ball, and Bobby Grich was excellent at 2B all year long.

It’s unclear if the performances of Don Buford, John Stearns, or George Wright went right or wrong. They weren’t bad, but they also weren’t especially good.

For a team whose struggles were attributed to their pitching, the Angels had some surprising bright spots: the starting trio of Gerrit Cole, Pud Galvin, and Brett Anderson were excellent (when Anderson was healthy) and Jonny Venters and Francisco Rodríguez were excellent out of the bullpen. Cole, of course, was one of the better in the league for much of the year, finishing with 16 wins and Rodríguez will most likely challenge Joe Nathan for the closer role next season.

ALL STARS
P Gerrit Cole; 3B Doug Rader

What Went Wrong

There is so much talent on the mound here: the ball just explodes out of the hand for Doc Gooden, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Chuck Finley. But of them, only Gooden had anything close to a good season, and he finished 8-10 with an ERA over 5. It’s really that simple: if two of this group step up, they’re a borderline playoff team; if three of them step up, they’ll challenge for the division championship; if all four of them deliver, they could challenge for a championship.

Too much mediocrity from position players: C never got settled (John Stearns was decent, Ron Hassey poor), RF was OK, although Kal Daniels–for all his tools–is probably better suited for a platoon arrangement.

It’s unclear if the performances of Don Buford or George Wright went right or wrong. They weren’t bad, but they also weren’t especially good.

Transactions

March

None

June

OF Rusty Staub to Ottawa for IF Steve Garvey & OF Spud Johnson

Garvey played very well for LA, so call this one a push.

P Dave Bennett, OF Carlos Beltrán, C Jim Stephens & P Sean O'Sullivan to Ottawa for 1B Carlos Delgado

Remember, they were in contention. As such, it’s not a bad deal, although Los Angeles clearly did give up more talent.

C Brian Downing, IF Kurt Stillwell, P Dave LaRoche to San Francisco for OF Wally Moon, OF Dwayne Murphy, 4th Round Pick {John Lackey} & 6th Round Pick {Omar Olivares}

Feels like a win overall.

July

None

Looking Forward

SP

If things develop as expected, the Angels are loaded, looking at a rotation of Gerrit Cole, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Doc Gooden and Pud Galvin. And those are only the arms under long term deals.

RP

Lots of talent here, both at the WBL (Joe Nathan, Jonny Venters, Francisco Rodríguez) and in the minors, led by Carlos Mármol, Darren Holmes, Larry Anderson, and some others.

C

An area of need, especially if John Stearns cannot step up.

1B

Needs some talent long term, but Carlos Delgado has it for a little while. The Wally’s–Joyner and Pipp–have shown some promise as well. Steve Garvey may end up here, but it’s not clear if he’ll hit enough to warrant an everyday slot.

2B

Bobby Grich for the foreseeable.

3B

Doug Rader for now, with very little behind.

SS

George Wright is elite defensively, but offers little else. Andrelton Simmons should take over at some point.

LF

Don Buford was good enough, but they could take an upgrade here.

CF

Mike Trout, Mike Trout, Mike Trout.

RF

If Kal Daniels continues to struggle against lefties, a platoon may be in order.

The Rookie Draft

Rounds 1-4

Los Angeles needs star power. With the 8th pick in the first round, they get a player who should step right into the RF spot: Ichiro Suzuki. The Angels should spend the rest of the draft adding offensive talent–a luxury few franchises have, but the sheer glut of pitching potential in their system sort of necessitates it.

In the 2nd round, they took Babe Herman, who is probably a year away, but look like a masher; and in round 3, Marcus Semien, who is a few years away, giving him time to figure out where on the infield he might settle.

Los Angeles has back-to-back picks in the 4th round and looked to add some pitching in franchise pick John Lackey and using their final franchise exception on Estaban Loiza.

Rounds 5-8

The Angels’ 5th round pick, OF Brandon Nimmo, has aspirations to carry Mike Trout’s luggage.

They followed that with P Omar Olivares and Bryan Harvey with back-to-back selections in the 6th round and continued the focus on pitching with Tom Morgan in round 7 and Al Jackson in round 8.

Rounds 9-12

P Tom Hausman; 1B Casey Kotchman; IF Tony Womack; and P Randy Tate.

The Angels’ 10th round pick, Casey Kotchman, refused Los Angeles’ final offer, preferring to go back into next year’s draft.

Season Review: San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On December 15, 2023

In Season Reviews, Team News

72 - 82, .467 pct.
4th in Marvin Miller Division, 12.5 games behind.

Overall

What a disappointing season. There is talent here, they were in the mix at the all-star break, and then just totally collapsed throughout all of July. Much more is expected in Year II.

What Went Right

Reggie Jackson was an elite offensive force, finishing the year with an OPS over 1.000 and while there was a gap between him and the Sea Lions’ next best hitters, Bobby Bonds, Pedro Guerrero, and Rickey Henderson all look like they are set for quite some time.

Similarly, the top end of the rotation–Eddie Plank and Lefty Grove–look quite good, and both Nick Altrock and Bump Hadley impressed in limited starts. Ken Howell, Ron Robinson, and Rod Beck were excellent at the back of the bullpen.

ALL STARS
RP Rod Beck; P Lefty Grove; OF Rickey Henderson; RP Ken Howell; OF Reggie Jackson, P Charlie Root

What Went Wrong

The MI was never really settled. Jimmy Bloodworth was fine at 2B, Dick Lundy spent as much time injured as showing flashes of potential, and the SS job was eventually claimed by Roy Hartzell.

Gene Oliver ended up the primary backstop, which speaks to just how much Mickey Cochrane and Brian Downing struggled. John Beckwith couldn’t stick with the big league club, but at 18 he can be forgiven.

Tim Hudson imploded after being acquired from Birmingham, although he recovered a bit towards the end of the season. Nobody else really stepped up on the mound, with Dennis Eckersley and Dave LaRoche being especially disappointing.

Trade Evaluations

March

OF Pete Browning, P Rollie Fingers, SS Bert Campaneris, P Eddie Rommel & IF Mark McGwire to House of David for IF Dick Lundy, OF Bobby Bonds & P Nick Altrock

A true blockbuster with impact on both sides. As San Francisco got 3 players who spent most of the year as WBL contributors, they have to be happy with the deal, even with Browning’s performance.

June

P Rube Melton, OF Derrick May & 3rd Round Pick to Birmingham for P Tim Hudson

Hudson’s struggles make this look bad, but it still feels like a worthwhile gamble to have taken.

IF Steve Hertz & 2nd Round Pick to Homestead for IF Phil Garner

They wish they had the pick now.

OF Wally Moon, OF Dwayne Murphy, 4th Round Pick & 6th Round Pick to Los Angeles for C Brian Downing, IF Kurt Stillwell & P Dave LaRoche

Downing was supposed to solve the issues at C for San Francisco. He didn’t.

P Shawn Estes, P Turk Wendell & 5th Round Pick to Miami for P Tommy Bridges

Meh. I mean at this point the Sea Lions were still in playoff contention, and Bridges looked solid. Still. Meh.

July

P Charlie Root & P Chad Bradford to Detroit for IF Charlie Gehringer, P Red Ehret, IF Bill Sweeney & 4th Round Pick {Charlie Ferguson}

Oof. Root and Bradford helped Detroit to the Whirled Series, Gehringer was eventually released. A clear loss for San Francisco in this one.

Looking Forward

SP

Grove, Plank, and Eckersley are a solid top 3. One of the few teams with a decent amount of mound talent.

RP

Set for now, and this may be where Eckersley ends up, long term.

C

Mickey Cochrane is supposed to be the answer here, but he has to hit over .200. Some good young talent (Dave Duncan, John Mizerock), so there are options.

1B

Jack Clark will play here, but he’s really just waiting on Jimmie Foxx to come into his own. John Beckwith will factor in eventually, and newcomer Sid Bream looks impressive as well.

2B

Who knows. Keith Ginter was great at AAA, Dick Green has shown some talent, and Dick Lundy can play here when healthy.

3B

For now, Pedro Guerrero will see some time here, but it really looks like Sal Bando is the answer for a while.

SS

If Lundy can stay in the lineup, he should be here.

LF

When Rickey Henderson was hitting .230 he had some value; as he raised his average to .270, he locked this position down long-term.

CF

There really aren’t any natural CF’s here, so look for Bobby Bonds to continue to cover best he can.

RF

Everyone ends up here: Reggie Jackson for now, but it’s also the more natural position for both Bonds and Guerrero.

The Rookie Draft

Rounds 1-4

The Sea Lions only have 8 picks in the draft, and in the early rounds only 3 in the first 7 rounds (a 1st, a 4th, and a 7th). So there is a ton of pressure on their initial pick.

They reached deep for it, taking unheralded CF Turkey Stearnes. The pick thrilled many experts, even if it meant bypassing more highly touted CFers (Al Simmons, Earl Averill).

And then the Sea Lions did … nothing … until the 19th pick of the 4th round, where they picked up a project in SP Charlie Ferguson.

Rounds 5-8

And then nothing until the 7th round. The Sea Lions will be focusing on 1B, OF, and pitching, pitching, pitching from here on out, beginning with Pete Harnisch. Franchise pick Jed Lowrie proved too tempting in the 8th, even though IF isn’t an area of need, strictly speaking.

Rounds 9-12

OF Jules Thomas (final exemption); P Steve Ontiveros; P Dave Lemanczyk; and IF Nick Allen.

TWIWBL 24.20: The All Star Trades

By mknn

On May 10, 2022

In TWIWBL

{The day after the All Star break is the first major trading period of the season, followed by the day before the trade deadline. Trades are somewhat randomized and limited in a variety of ways, basically an effort to ensure that, over time, they are at least approximately even in value.}

Portland signaled their commitment to this year, sending prized P prospect Smokey Joe Wood and Devin Mesoraco to Kansas City for all-star 2B Rogers Hornsby, OF Vince Coleman, and a 4th round draft pick.

Perhaps the prize pitching performer on the market, Birmingham‘s Tim Hudson, went to San Francisco in exchange for Rube Melton, Derrick May, and a 3rd round pick.

Brooklyn sends P Don Sutton to the New York Gothams for Ps Ray Lamb, Gil Heredia, and Lew Krausse, Jr., OF Don Mueller, and both a 1st and 8th round draft pick.

Cleveland made a clear sign of intent to compete this year, sending four players (P Hardie Henderson and OFs Jap Payne, Darrell Miller, and Gibby Brack) to Philadelphia for all-star reliever Ron Reed.

The Spiders also picked up Houston‘s struggling OF Lance Berkman to add more pop to their lineup, sending OF Harry Stovey, IF Charlie Grimm, P Chad Qualls, and a 3rd round pick to the Colt 45’s.

Media darling Tom Herr has a shot at a championship after Birmingham shipped the all-star 2B to the New York Black Yankees in exchange for a haul of talent, including IFs Moose Skowron and Reddy Mack, OFs Bill Buckner and Charlie Keller, P Heathcliff Slocumb, and a 10th round draft pick.

The Black Yankees also picked up some help on the mound, sending IF Dick Bartell, OF Sam Thompson, and a 4th round pick to Ottawa for Gary Lavelle and Jamie Moyer.

Addressing an area of clear need, Baltimore traded for Miami‘s everyday 3B, Manny Machado. The Black Sox sent a package of P Mike Morgan, 1B Richie Sexson, 3B Joe Dugan, and C Chris Hoiles to the Cuban Giants.

The Black Sox also shored up their bullpen, bringing in Memphis‘ closer, Joe Beggs, in exchange for P Willie Sudhoff, OF Alex Johnson, and a 4th round pick.

Ottawa and Los Angeles pulled off a complicated deal, with the Angels receiving 1B Carlos Delgado, IF Steve Garvey and OF Spud Johnson, sending OF Rusty Staub and Carlos Beltrán, C Jim Stephens, and Ps Dave Bennett and Sean O’Sullivan to the Mounties.

The Chicago American Giants added two of the better starting pitchers on the market, acquiring Don Newcombe from Miami and Dick Rudolph from Birmingham. The American Giants also received RP Clay Condrey and a 4th round draft pick for Minnie Miñoso from Miami, and sent Melky Cabrera, A. Rube Foster, Adrián González, and a 2nd round pick to Birmingham for Rudolph and Hoyt Wilhelm.

The American Giants also brought in SS Freddy Parent, who is expected to step right into the starting lineup. To do so, they sent IFs Sibby Sisti and Rickie Weeks and OF Bob Watson to Ottawa.

Miami’s other significant trade piece, Tommy Bridges, heads to San Francisco for two minor league pitchers, Shawn Estes and Turk Wendell, and a 5th round draft pick.

Los Angeles picked up some outfield help in the form of San Francisco’s Wally Moon. Moon heads south along with OF Dwayne Murphy and 2 draft picks (one 4th round, one 6th) in exchange for C Brian Downing, IF Kurt Stillwell, and P Dave LaRoche.

Detroit looked to improve their position behind the plate, obtaining Ernie Lombardi from Indianapolis for IFs Donie Bush and Jorge Orta, OF Gene Martin, P Brandon League, and a 2nd round pick.

Brooklyn added another versatile piece, sending OF Curt Flood, IF Manny Trillo, and a 6th round pick to Birmingham for IF Frank Isbell.

Two clubs looking towards the future made a big move, with Houston sending a 5th round pick, P Stubby Overmire, 2B DJ LeMahieu, P Jim Kaat, and OF Hack Wilson to Memphis for P Roger Clemens.

Sammy Sosa struggled so much for the House of David, it was decided the young OF could do with a change of scenery, going (along with a 5th round draft pick) to Memphis in exchange for OFs Fred Lynn and Tony Conigliaro and a 2nd round pick.

Finally, in easily the most minor deal of the day, Homestead picked up a 2nd round pick and IF Steve Hertz from San Francisco in exchange for Phil Garner.

TWIWBL 24.18: Mid-Season Reviews – San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On May 4, 2022

In Team News, TWIWBL

Summary

The Marvin Miller is a hard division. The Sea Lions are over .500, and within striking distance of Portland, but it will take some doing.

What’s Gone Right

REG-GIE REG-GIE. Those chants may turn into MVP MVP MVP by the end of the year. Reggie Jackson is threatening the triple crown and while that feels very unlikely, well, he’s got a shot.

The Rest of the Lineup. Bobby Bonds and AAA find Pedro Guerrero have OPS’ just under .900; Jimmy Bloodworth, Rickey Henderson, Jack Clark, and Wally Moon follow them without a real weak link.

High End Arms. Lefty Grove, Rod Beck, Ken Howell, Charlie Root, and Diego Seguí have all performed excellently in their roles.

What’s Gone Wrong

The Rest of the Arms. Jim Devlin and Cy Falkenberg have pitched themselves back to AAA, but it’s not clear who is there to replace them.

Achilles’ Heels. Henderson has 52 steals and an OBP around .400 … but little else. John Beckwith hits the ball as hard as anyone in the league … but only to a .700 OPS. Clark has power … but not much else. There are significant questions about many key contributors.

Shortstop. Dick Lundy solved this … and then he got hurt, putting San Francisco back in the hands of Eddie Joost, who has a good eye, some power, but cannot put it all together in a way that lifts his OPS over .600.

Key Storylines

Can the new players–Guerrero, Lundy, Seguí–keep up their torrid pace? And can a team likely to stay pat during the trading period improve in the second half?

The continued development of Grove bears watching, and the OF has storylines at all three spots: is Jackson’s triple crown pursuit for real? Can Henderson improve offensively to complement his unworldly base-stealing? And can Bonds continue to perform at a very high level?

Trading Outlook

HOLDING.

Bob Cerv and Moon could each move on in search of more playing time, but that’s about it.

AAA Shuttle

Guerrero and Seguí look to be true gems, as did Lundy before his injury, and both Cerv and Miguel Cairo have started very well. Overall, it’s been quite a success.

Midseason Changes

Falkenberg and Devlin head to AAA, with Nick Altrock coming back, as well as Dennis Eckersley, who struggled mightily to start the year with the big league club.

Awards

All Stars: Rod Beck (P); Lefty Grove (P); Rickey Henderson (LF); Ken Howell (P); Reggie Jackson (RF); Charlie Root (P).

Offensive MVP: Reggie Jackson (OF)
Pitching MVP: Lefty Grove (SP)

Down on the Farm

AAA: San Jose Bees

Next to the Show: P Nick Altrock, 2B Ron Hunt, 3B Sal Bando

Prospects: P Bump Hadley (21)

Projects: P Nick Altrock (28), 3B Sal Bando (25), Ron Hunt (29)

Suspects: P Rube Walberg (34)

AA: Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

Prospects: 1B Jimmie Foxx (20)

Projects: P Chad Gaudin (22), OF Dwayne Murphy (24), 2B Dick Green (23), SS Bill Russell (20), P Shawn Estes (35), RP Turk Wendell (28), RP Joe Klink (28), P Matt Barnes (25).

Suspects: C John Mizerock (22),