BoS Week 3 (American League)

"Choo: The Little Engine that Could"

Choo & the Imps' lineup is once again a train that can't be stopped.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

South Shore Fighting Imps are not sure what to make of their recent play, they ended up losing a division series against the Bombers (3-2), won their series 4-2 (including a walk-off sac fly by Joe Mauer in extas) against up-and-coming Chicago; making them 6-5 in their last 11 games. Their lineup once again (like last season) is leading the league in hitting with a .275 batting average (24 points higher than Fairgrove & Buffalo, tied at .251). They have 4 of the top 8 hitters in batting average: Allen Craig (3rd/.328), Carlos Beltran (6th/.318), Shin-Soo Choo (7th/.314) & Matt Holliday (.294/8th). Choo is making an early case for A.L. MVP; leads A.L. in OBP (.400), runs (18) & had the season's longest hitting-streak (12 games), while ranking second in Runs Created (15.1), Total Average (.981), hits (22) & doubles (6). The team has left many players on base & may be contributing to their recent record, with other teams taking advantage on a clutch hit. Choo, for example, has been great for most part, his Achillies Heel has been leaving men on base (ranking 4th), leaving 28 stranded. Everything for the most part, indicates that the Imps will only get better, with them ranking 2nd in pitching (3.01 ERA) & leading the A.L. in scoring differential (+23).

The Swatara Eliminators have tied South Shore in first place, with a 4-2 series victory over the tough Tigers of the A.L. West. -- winning 8 of their last 11, and moving up 3 games in the standings during the stretch. Swatara leads the league in fielding (.991 pct), with only 6 errors committed in 17 games. A.J. Burnett and Jose Quintana have been getting it done on the mound, as the team is 4th in ERA (3.49), to go along with the good defense; Burnett is 2-0, with a 1.17 ERA & 17 K's in 23 IP, while Quintana is 2-1, with a 2.54 ERA & 20 K's in 28.1 innings. Zack Greinke has been effective, 2-0 record, with a 3.80 ERA, with 19 K's in 21.1 innings of work -- he should only improve. Victor Martinez is showing that he is the leader of this lineup, leading the team in average (.324), home runs (4, tied with Desmond) & RBI (11). While Yadier Molina has cooled off, Ian Desmond has emerged, batting .282, 4 HR & 9 RBI. At this point, Swatara appears to be the Imps' challenger in the A.L. East.

Manager Jeff Tritthart has to be pleased with the Bronx Bombers' record at this point of the season, a 3-2 series victory over the World Champs a week ago, and now a 4-2 series victory over a much-improved Buffalo team. James Shields has been a huge reason for this with his 4-0 record, 1.53 ERA & 28 K's, with Adam Wainwright being better of late -- evening his record at 2-2, lowering his ERA to 3.13, while showing some strikeout power (27 K's in 31.2 IP). Ivan Nova has been showing he can hold his own, with a 3.86 ERA & 18 K's in 23.1 innings. The lineup, unfortunately has to do a lot of platooning due to many part-time positional players on the roster, so the lineup can suffer due to that. Of their 8 players, batting over .300, none of them qualify for the batting title or team lead -- Stephen Drew is batting .333 (33 AB's) & Daniel Nava is batting .302 (43 AB's) in limited play. Carlos Santana leads league with 22 RBI, but is only batting .212. Kyle Seager continues to struggle, batting .119 (7-for-59). The team will enjoy their success for now, being 9-8 (1 GB) with a +18 run differential at this point, but chances are it may not last.

The Boston Bravos won the first 3 games against Brooklyn, in which they outscored the Mets 12-3 -- it took a rain out (called game) for the Mets to regroup and win the last two games, in which they outscored the Bravos 15-5. Boston has the worst fielding in the American League (.973 pct), most errors committed (16) & most stolen bases allowed (23). Their lineup is not helping (.218 BA/7th), with the lowest HR output (14), while only averaging 3.6 runs a game (ranking 7th out of 8). The one thing the Bravos can hang their caps on is their pitching staff (3.40 ERA/3rd), with acquisition Kris Medlen leading the way; Medlen has a 3-1 record with 32 K's in 34.1 innings -- he did get roughed up last time out, allowing 8 ER's & 11 hits in 7.1 innings, inflating his ERA from 2.00 to 3.67. Chris Capuano continues to shock everyone -- last season, he went 17-9, with a 3.74 ERA & is now 1-1, with a 2.12 ERA & 18 K's in 17 innings. The team will have to find some sort of consistency, as they have been either Yin or Yang -- the pitching does show a troubling sign of opponents batting .263 against them.

The Fairgrove Tigers are in a familiar place, first place -- three weeks into the season. The team is 4-1 in one-run games. Teams are batting only .198 against them (a league best), while they lead the league with 146 K's & a 2.92 ERA. Madison Bumgarner leads the charge, 4-0, 2.70 ERA & 32 K's in 30 innings, while C.J. Wilson has a low ERA of 2.05 with a 2-1 record. Joe Nathan leads the league with 5 Saves, while leading a bullpen that sports a 1.91 ERA & 42 K's in 33 innings of work. Both Paul Goldschmidt & Adam Jones continue to lead their teams in most offensive categories, while both struggled in their series against Swatara; Goldschmidt went 1-for-20, while Jones went 4-for-25. The team's batting average went up 5 points regardless, meaning that some guys are stepping up.

The Chicago Nine (7-10) are a interesting team with a bit of intrigue & mystery -- when looking at the output of statistics by the ball club. They could have walked away with a split with South Shore, losing a game 1-0 in 11 innings; Chicago is 0-3 in extras this season. The team's pitching is 5th with a 3.54 ERA, while allowing only a .239 batting average against them (3rd best/A.L.). Their fielding is the third best in the league (.984 pct). The lineup is 6th in hitting (.234), leads league with 22 HR's, yet is only averaging 3.8 runs a game. Shelby Miller is still rocking at 2-0, with a 1.29 ERA & 26 K's in 21 innings, as "King Felix" Hernandez has split his decisions at 2-2, sporting a respectable 3.33 ERA, while striking out 28 batters in 27 innings of work. The Nine need to see improvement from their other starting pitchers. Former MLB Red Sox teammates David Ortiz (.286, 3, 12), Jacoby Ellsbury (.267, 3, 10 & 13 steals) & Ian Kinsler (.254, 6 HR* & 12 RBI) are the team's offensive leaders. This team is certainly on the rise, and have a legit shot at second place this season, fighting Buffalo & Brooklyn, as Fairgrove appears to be standing alone in this division.

The Buffalo Yankees currently sit in second with a 8-9 record (2 games out), they started 5-2 this season, and have faltered in their last 10 games (3-7). The bullpen has been getting a work-out, while keeping a good, respectable of 3.03 -- due to the fact that the starting pitching has dropped the ball. The Yankees' two best starting grade pitchers Jordan Zimmermann (6.45 ERA) and Wade Miley (6.84 ERA) continue to struggle; Ricky Nolasco & Ian Kennedy's seasons have improved over the week. Miguel Cabrera nearly won the Triple Crown in the A.L. last season, at this point he's not duplicating that performance, he leads the team in hitting (.279), along with his 4 HR's & 8 RBI. Adrian Gonzalez (A.L. Batting Champ), Marlon Byrd & Starlin Castro have all under-performed to this point, while the team (despite those down stats) is batting .251 actually. The silver lining is that this team could be better than they have played so far.

The Brooklyn Met's bullpen has been lights out -- the unfortunate thing is that the bullpen has been used mostly for mop-up duty. The Mets' pen is sporting a 1.50 ERA (.690 WHIP) in 42 innings. The reason the bullpen has not been used for its main purpose, is due to a lineup that has a horrible batting average (.201), a league-low 3.1 runs per game, and its overall floundering pitching (4.47 ERA) -- the starters are at fault here. The team hopes that many of its hitters get it together, starting with Dustin Pedroia (.193, 0, 1 in 57 at-bats). Matt Cain gave Brooklyn a reason to celebrate during the week, with his no-hitter against the Bravos -- becoming the 3rd pitcher in BoS history to throw a no-no. Justin Verlander (the 1st ever to throw a no-hitter, last season) has yet to log a win (0-2), but has a 3.33 ERA & 26 K's in 24.1 innings. Meanwhile, Tim Lincecum fell back to Earth, while Jered Weaver & Yovani Gallardo's pitching lines have been pathetic. If their lineup & rotation gets it together, then they can take advantages of the perks that come with a great bullpen.

Matt Cain becomes 3rd pitcher to throw a No-Hitter in BoS History.

*** This concludes the A.L. Highlights ***