[mikev]

Crusaders Enter Tie For First

Three weeks into June, and the Crusaders have pulled into a three-way tie for first place in the MBBA Pacific with a 40-28 record.

With one of the worst offenses in the MBBA, the Crusaders have been doing it with pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Jorge Enriquez has been masterful yet again this year, currently sporting an 11-5 record with a 2.46 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Francisco Reynoso has been holding his own, pretty much doing exactly what we expected from a 3rd/4th starter in a 4 man rotation with an ERA right around 4.00 and a 1.21 WHIP. There have been two big surprises though, starting with Joshua Pickup, who has been nothing short of brilliant with an ERA below 3 and a 1.17 WHIP -- obviously the OOTP gods saw it fit to injure him for 6 weeks, so we'll have him back partway through July. Next, Lindsay Blackley has caught lightning in a bottle, going 3-1 with a 2.95 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in his 6 starts to replace Pickup in the rotation. Sure, he's not likely to keep it up, but if we can squeeze another couple of good sims out of him I'd be a happy camper.

Offensively, it's been Jakob Forest as usual (.897 OPS, 25.3 VORP, 23 XBH), Francisco Mendez (44 SB, 10.9 VORP), and then everybody else. Mark Edwards is the only regular besides Forest with an OPS over .800, and there are heaps of guys with OBPs below .300. This is NOT a mikey-style offense.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that Ruvalcubu comes back and remembers how to hit righties, because he's absolutely shredding against LHP (1.100 OPS) but miserable against RHP. It's gonna hurt to make him a $15M platoon player, but dammit I need to find me some offense

The Next Crusade

6/21 - v. Jackson
6/22 - v. Jackson

6/24 - v. Chicago
6/25 - v. Chicago
6/26 - v. Chicago

6/27 - @ Baltimore
6/28 - @ Baltimore
6/29 - @ Baltimore

6/30 - v. Valencia