This team was so lost last season, that anything could feel like progress. But a .500 finish would be a start.
Bob Gibson explodes onto the scene and additional quality arms are found somewhere while the offense continues to build around the core of Stan Musial, Albert Pujols, Willie McGee, and Boog Powell.
This turns into the worst pitching staff in the league and the offense just can’t compensate enough, especially if Pujols doesn’t make a step forward.
Not enough talent to really be active.
| POS | Elite | Strong | Solid | Meh | Weak | Unknown |
| C | Simmons | Ruel | ||||
| 1B | Powell | Murphy | ||||
| 2B | Canó | Frisch | ||||
| 3B | Pujols | |||||
| SS | Smith | |||||
| LF/ RF | Musial | Brock Evans Medwick | ||||
| CF | McGee | |||||
| SP | Hamlin | Castillo | Rijo Wood | Gibson | ||
| End | Kimbrel | Pfeffer | DiPino | |||
| RP | A.R. Foster Guardado Hermanson Shawkey |
It’s all pretty much apparent there: the offense, especially Albert Pujols, needs to shift left and the need for something positive to happen on the mound for the Monarchs to take a step forward. Gibson and A. Rube Foster becoming at least solid would be a huge boon.
| WBL | Minors | |
| Raw Power | U Dale Murphy | 1B Andre Thornton |
| Batting Eye | C Muddy Ruel | OF Fielder Jones |
| Contact | OF Stan Musial | IF Dave Cash |
| Running Speed | OF Lou Brock CF Willie McGee | OF Cool Papa Bell OF Jarrod Dyson U Rex Hudler CF Omar Moreno |
| Base Stealing | OF Lou Brock | OF Jarrod Dyson |
| IF Defense | IF Albert Pujols | IF Sam Mongin |
| OF Defense | OF Stan Musial | OF Fielder Jones |
| Stuff | P Smokey Joe Wood | P Larry French |
| Control | SP Luke Hamlin | P Jimmy Key |
| Velocity | RP Craig Kimbrel | P Giovanny Gallegos P Darren O’Day P Trevor Rosenthal |
| Rank | Age | POS | Name |
| 1 (1) | 21 | OF | Wade Johnston |
| 2 (6) | 23 | P | A. Rube Foster |
| 3 (7) | 20 | OF | Cool Papa Bell |
| 4 (11) | 25 | P | Jock Menefee |
| 5 (35) | 18 | IF | Carlos Baerga |
| 6 (41) | 21 | P | Matt Morris |
| 7 (83) | 22 | IF | Sam Mongin |
| 8 (97) | 22 | IF | Dink Mothel |
| 9 (100) | 25 | OF | Merv Rettenmund |
| 10 (116) | 18 | C | Johnny Bassler |
Clearly one of the deeper systems in the league, but one that has some complications: Bell and Johnston are blocked, Morris is injured, and only Foster will start the season with the Monarchs. But the scouts are drooling over all these guys, and 9 in the top 100 is pretty incredible–and that doesn’t even include top draft pick Hilton Smith.
| Most | Least | |
| Age | IF Jim Davenport, 37 | C Johnny Bassler, 18 IF Carlos Baerga, 18 |
| Height | P Adam Russell, 6’8″ | OF Heliodoro Hidalgo, 5’6″ |
| OPS | OF Stan Musial, .972 (WBL) | C Salvador Pérez, .572 (WBL) |
| HR | OF Merv Rettenmund, 28 (WBL/AAA) | C Muddy Ruel, 0 (—) |
| SB | OF Lou Brock, 49 (WBL) | Many with 0 |
| WAR | OF Merv Rettenmund, 5.4 (WBL/AAA) | IF Ivy Olson, -1.4 (—) |
| W | Sheriff Blake, 16 (—) | AJ Schugel, 1 (—) Félix Hernández, 1 (WBL/AAA/AA) |
| SV | Adam Russell, 25 (WBL/AAA) | |
| ERA | Sheriff Blake, 2.27 (—) | Dustin Hermanson, 15.35 (—) |
| WAR | Sheriff Blake, 5.2 (—) | AJ Schugel, -3.9 (—) |
Bill Byrd allowed 3 hits (2 by Tom Herr, who continues to impress) in a complete-game shutout of Birmingham. The 7-0 win moved Byrd to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to a sparkling 3.16. Curt Blefary, Larry Gardner, and Dan McGann had 2 hits each in support of Byrd, with McGann and Bryce Harper driving in 2 each.
The Black Sox finally ran out of patience with Miller Huggins, sending the struggling 2B to AAA in favor of OF Baby Doll Jacobson, who had been absolutely demolishing minor league pitching.
Shoeless Joe Jackson took Jimmy Key‘s first ever pitch in the WBL out of the ballpark for the first of his 2 homeruns on the day, setting the tone for a blowout victory for the American Giants over Ottawa. Damian Jackson–who started the day hitting .165–went 4-for-5 and six–yes, six–Chicago batters had 3 hits (Shoeless Joe, Frank Thomas, Eddie Collins, Duffy Lewis, Dick Allen, and Carlton Fisk). Thomas drove in 4, and Tricky Nichols improved to 6-2 with 7 solid innings on the mound.
Not all news was good for Chicago, as Cristobal Torriente had to leave the game with a leg injury that landed him on the DL. Rocky Colavito was recalled from AAA in his place.
As the American Giants try to solve their bullpen, Frank Smith was returned to AAA, with Joe Lake coming up to Chicago to compete with Joe Horlen for the final rotation spot. Despite his good day detailed above, The Damian Jackson experiment is clearly on its way out. While Jackson stays with the big league club–someone has to play 2B when Collins is out–Jack Doyle, way down in AA, provides the same defensive flexibility, and cannot hit any worse. Avisail Garcia was also sent down, with Magglio Ordonez coming up to the big leagues. Jim Davenport and Nellie Fox were both released to make room on the 40-man roster.
Mark Melancon picked up his 5th victory from the bullpen when Lance Berkman won the ballgame with a walk-off homerun against Cleveland. Jorge Posada also went deep and Jeff Bagwell and HR Johnson added 2 hits in the 4-3 victory.
Melancon did it again, moving to 6-1 when Jim O’Rourke provided a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 10th. Felipe Alou–perhaps playing to remain in the league–had 3 hits and 2 RBIs and Melancon, Dock Ellis, and Trevor Hoffman combined for 3.2 innings of 2-hit, shutout relief of an effective Stephen Strasbourg.
Just another day for Tim Raines: 2 hits, 3 runs scored, 3 stolen bases to lead Ottawa to a 7-2 win over Chicago. Freddy Parent added his 9th homerun of the year and Jim Clancy pitched well, allowing 5 hits and 2 runs in just over 5 innings, moving to 3-2 on the season.
Jimmy Key was waived and Clark Griffiths returned to AAA to make room for Ted Bowsfield and Steve Howe‘s return from injury. More dramatically, the Mounties sent down Steve Garvey, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Alex Rodriguez to AAA in an effort to jump start their offense. Rick Monday, Larry Parrish, and–surprisingly, all the way from AA–Harry Easterday were recalled, with Felix Hernandez being waived. The end result of all this is that Jackie Jensen and Roy Sievers will get a lot of at-bats for a while.
]]>Mark Baldwin has lost his spot in the starting rotation, with Ned Garvin taking his place.
Tricky Nichols is emerging as the ace of Chicago’s staff. He threw his second shutout of the season against Memphis, allowing only 4 hits in a 134 pitch effort. Frank Thomas went deep twice, and Mike Fiore and Duffy Lewis also homered, leading Chicago to a 5-0 victory. Nichols is now 4-0 on the season.
Two homeruns by Lewis were almost not enough, as Chicago gave up an early 5-0 lead to fall behind Memphis 6-5. But 4 runs in the bottom of the eighth, keyed by a pinch-hit double from Thomas, keyed a 9-5 American Giants victory. Sonny Dixon threw 2.1 scoreless innings of relief for the win, and AJ Minter picked up his 5th save with a perfect 9th inning.
Robin Ventura–whose OPS was under .400–was demoted to AAA, with Jim Davenport being promoted as Dick Allen‘s backup, and Kevin Mitchell went to the minors as Cristobal Torriente returned from injury.
Houston has been getting solid starts from surprising sources, the most recent being a 7 inning effort from Stubby Overmire where he only allowed 6 hits and 2 runs. Unfortunately, the Colt 45’s offense was totally shutdown, as they lost the game 3-0.
The performance moved Overmire into the rotation, despite Leon Day also making a case for regular starts. With Jeff Bagwell‘s production sky rocketing (he now leads the team in OPS), Paul Goldschmidt was demoted in hopes the big first baseman could find his stroke at AAA.
C Jason Castro has been the best player at AAA San Antonio, but the Colt 45’s already have three catchers on the roster, if you count Craig Biggio. As such, OF Felipe Alou was recalled to the big league club.
With Steve Garvey out for at least a week with the flu, the Mounties recalled Josh Donaldson from AAA, a move designed both to add some depth at 3B behind Anthony Rendon and clear room for the impressive Larry Parrish to get more playing time with AAA Montreal.
Roy Halladay got his first win of the year with 8 strong innings, allowing 1 earned run. The Mounties hit 6 homeruns in a 14-2 rout of Birmingham, with Emil Gross hitting 2 and Tim Raines, Roy Sievers, Carlos Delgado, and Rendon all going deep as well.
The Mounties may have found something in thirty-five year old Jamie Moyer. Helped by three hits from Alex Rodriguez, Moyer allowed only 1 run in 8 innings for his first victory of the year, lowering his ERA to 2.08 as Ottawa won 5-1.
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