Maple poised for another division title....

Maple is starting to play some good baseball as we enter mid-August of the 2020 season.  The Marauders sit in last place in the TML Billy Martin Division at 4 games back of Jersey.  In addition to playing some better baseball through the summer months, they also have the experience of "being there" when it counts.  We don't expect Jersey to hang around when October comes along.  In August so far Maple has a 6-2 record.  In tonight's sim we have 4 at home vs. Jersey and 2 at home vs South Carolina.  This will be another big sim in this division with a target number of wins set to be 85 in order to win this division again this year.  The team has recently called up two future stars of the ABL in Pete Moore OF and Arama Huanu OF.  The free spot on the roster became available shortly after Marty Silver hit the DL before the trade deadline.

A great addition to the offense has been Bartolo "LEGACY" Valentin OF who probably will be a Super 2 this year and seek a big contract.  He has a 5.7 WAR after 91 games.  The big ?mark for him will be health.  He has missed big chunks of games before and has already seen the DL this year.  Watch out this year for the speed game from Maple who feature Top 3 SB man Bill "THE SINGER" Nelson with 32 swipes so far this season.

A great addition to the pitching staff has been Jose Ramos, SP who was recently acquired from Mile High.  He is on FIRE right now after his two impressive starts with Maple vs. Mile High and San Francisco going 2-0.  Quietly Maple is #2 in the TML in FIP as well.  Lets not forget about Maurice Gould, SP as well.  Maple may have its better staff since the inaugural season in the ABL.

Down on the farm, Maple's organization is in 1st place at the AAA, AA and A levels.  We have a ton of players asking for promotions but, nowhere to play them :-(  We were hoping to make 1-2 more deals at the deadline but, activity this year was "quiet".

We remain confident that we will be on top by seasons end in the Billy Martin division.  We have better hitting, speed and pitching vs. last years club.  We also feel with some luck we could be representing the TML in the World Series.

Maple heads into the Allstar break in 3rd place in the Billy Martin Division, 3.5 GB of San Francisco.  The team troubles vs. Southpaws is becoming a big concern for management.  Currently, Maple is 11-18 vs. Lefties on the season while 31-29 vs. Righties.  Maple also has been subpar on the road at 17-25 while 25-22 at home.  Our record vs. Lefties and on the road will need to improve if we are going to win this division again this year.

Entering the trade deadline, Maple will be on the market for a SP and will be looking to trade from one of the deepest farm systems in the league.

Maple for the first time, will feature two of its top prospects in the OF in Arama Huanu and Pete Moore due to injuries suffered by Bill Nelson and Marty Silver.  We are excited to see what these kids can do up with the big club.  Another surprise this year is the bullpen.  Currently, the pen is 3rd in ERA at 4.09 and improving each month.  Joshua Goldberg who struggled poorly as a Starter is showing signs of bouncing back for a decent year in the pen as a long reliever.  Kent Tukulve Jr. has also been a nice surprise.  Kent is the son of the former MLB submarine closer of a team called the Pirates.  I wonder what happen to that league?  I'm glad the ABL exists!

Maple overall is more balanced as a team so we remain confident we can make the playoffs again this year and hopefully get past the 1st round.

Down on the farm;  Astoria in AAA, Sandy Springs in AA and Kingwood in A ball all lead their divisions.  We have a ton of prospects ready for the promotion but, really no where to put them.  Our best SP prospects Rick Hill and Gabresilassie Cherono have pitched well.  Unfortunately, Rick "BOY" Hill went down with an injury last sim and will miss some time.  Good news is nothing serious about this injury the doctors say;  just a sore shoulder.

This years draft pick is turning heads - John Stroud in A Ball Kingwood.  Stroud has posted a 2-0 record in 4 GS with a 3.28 ERA in 24.2 IP.  We loved him out of College and was really happy to see him slip to us in Round 1 Supplement Pick #2.  This kid is a winner at Auburn and a former allstar caliber player.

We end July with some big series;  4 @ South Carolina, 3 H vs. Jersey and 1 H vs. San Francisco  prior to the Trade Deadline.