Why did Maple Management look to improve at 3B?

Rosters have expanded in the ABL in season #10 - 2021.  Maple is in a great position to win the Billy Martin division in the TML.  Jersey and South Carolina are giving us a run but, a double digit lead this late in the season places the Marauders in an unique position they have never been in before.  This division usually comes down to the wire but, this year Maple has to decide to continue to plug away with the regulars are look to rest some players for the post season.  We are not counting a playoff spot until we pop the champagne but, with a magic # down to 16 we are close.  We have a tough game remaining tonight versus South Carolina who is 1 of only 2 teams we have a losing record with this year (Eureka is the other team).  Then we fly north to Jersey to face a strong team coached by a GM that actually spoke today or yesterday - I can't remember.  Then we continue to fly north home to face a team that we aspire to be after this season is over and that is an ABL Championship club.  Kansas City is still fighting for their playoff lives with a slim lead in the Wild Card race in the TML.  Maple would love to play spoiler here for sure.

So rosters expand and this is an exciting time of year.  So many players in the organization so many choices.  Some are personal & some are made with smarts.  Our first move prior to the SIM tonight is having Bill "The SINGER" Nelson, OF on a REHAB stint to Astoria, NY.  Bill is a critical player to our offense and we don't want to take any chances prior to the playoffs.  My second move was a sentimental one in calling up Don Strickland, 1B from Astoria AAA to the big club for his last hoorah! in the ABL.  Those original ABL GMs will remember his early days on Maple where he started his career as a R18 pick in the inaugural draft #423 overall.  Don had a dream first season, winning a gold glove, player of the week twice and rookie of the month.  Nobody expected him to hit .332 bavg with 20 homers that season!  Don will have some value on the team during the stretch run as his defense is still very solid and he will give some late inning rest to Blake Reynolds.  Our other moves included;  Archie Sardeson INF, Brian Daniels MR, Jake Robinson SP and Martin Jenkins OF being called to Maple for the stretch run.  This will be the last stunt with Maple for Archie as he will become a Free Agent in the offseason.  Daniels and Robinson are getting close looks for next years team.  Martin Jenkins was a highly touted player in our organization acquired from New York.  His OF defense will be a welcomed addition late in games.

So back to the title of this PR - why did Maple look at 3B before the trade deadline?

The answer is clearly below:

By Position (regular season games only)

Split G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS C 136 531 64 150 27 1 19 84 34 104 0 0 .282 .324 .444 .769 1B 136 533 80 140 22 1 29 80 46 120 2 0 .263 .327 .471 .798 2B 136 551 76 154 50 3 11 61 39 113 18 8 .279 .324 .441 .765 3B 136 494 60 109 18 6 7 41 34 86 9 5 .221 .276 .324 .599 SS 136 494 49 106 27 4 3 52 34 128 23 10 .215 .264 .304 .568 LF 136 527 85 160 34 4 24 83 44 92 10 4 .304 .364 .520 .884 CF 136 506 90 145 28 6 30 87 65 116 28 14 .287 .378 .543 .922 RF 136 519 80 154 22 10 9 71 54 38 16 12 .297 .369 .430 .798 DH 136 542 86 158 36 5 24 85 49 85 15 2 .292 .349 .509 .858

Good luck to everyone in the stretch run!

Maple in July finished at 14-10 and has started August in a disappointing 2-5 record.  Maple continues to lead the TML Billy Martin Division by 8 games over Jersey and the pesky Bombers of Sout Carolina by 10.  San Francisco is looking towards the 2022 season.

We haven't done well since being swept by Portland in a 4 game series, said #GOLDI.  Playing .500 ball the rest of the way may still get us in the playoffs though.  Like many other teams in the ABL, we have suffered through our share of injuries and when that begins to hit the consistency of the team is thrown off a bit.  Namely the hitting has been off of late and when our big guys get back we will be fine.  Pitching has no doubt been a blessing for us this year.  Gould, Nelson, Ramos and the sparkling pen have been simply awesome.

Some interesting statistics about Maple so far this year:

We have an upcoming series vs. South Carolina and what I have learned about our batters versus them this year is not so impressive.  We are hitting .215 against them the 2nd worst of any ABL team (SoCAL #1 @.194).  An important 4 game set tonight to see if Maple will hold server, take a bigger lead or will another team such as South Carolina bring some pressure to the race.

Maple is 61-5 after leading through 8 innings this year.  Maple is 3-31 after trailing through 8 innings.  Maple is 53-11 when we score at least 5 runs in a game.

Maple is a remarkable 19-0 versus the following ABL teams:  Cabo San Lucas 7-0, Brooklyn 3-0, Carolina 3-0, Seattle 3-0 and Duke City 3-0.

Prospects Watch:

CF Felipe Navarro has taken off since being picked in R2 #44 overall in the past years Amateur draft.  He started off in Single A and after batting .377 with a 1.100 OPS he was promoted quickly to Double A where he has settled in at .270 and .808 OPS.  Our scouts didn't see a lot of raw talent there but, we saw a hard working player that tries hard at everything he does in life.  He plays an excellent CF and can handle 1B too.  He also has top notch speed.

Maple Marauders Update

Big Club UPDATE:

Maple jumped out in front in the Billy Martin Division in the TML very early on and appear destined to win another division title.  We have a 7.5 game lead over Jersey and despite a recent tail spin the pitching should no doubt carry this club into the playoffs.  South Carolina and San Francisco are both double digits behind as we near the Allstar game.  Maple has had some lineup inconsistencies, however; we are getting healthier despite Bill Nelson OF going on the 60 day DL this past SIM.  What has been a great surprise has been our over matching pitching in both the starters and bullpen.  We are 1st in the TML in ERA, Starters ERA, Bullpen ERA, RA, HA, Opp AVG and Ks.  The bats though are pretty much in the middle of the pack if not lower in major hitting categories.

We are doing well equally vs. southpaws and RHP.  We are doing great in 1 run games 18-14 with our only poor record coming in Extra Inning games at 3-6.  Our Winning Pct though has been dropping each month from .750, .643 to .571.  In July we are sitting 2-1, .667 but it is still early.  We suffered a huge sweep vs. Portland that has sent the team in a bit of a tail spin at 3-7 in our last 10.

Our best bat has been Arama "Valley" Huanu OF, .332 AVG, 16 HR, 61 RBI, 9 SB.  Our best arm has been Maurice "Doughboy" Gould SP, 11-4, 2.34 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 8.46 K/9.  John Jones from the University of South Carolina (Gary thanks) - has been dominant in the CL role, 4-2, 2.09 ERA, 21 SV, 0.98 WHIP and 15.28 K/9.  The staff features 2 other star SPs in Jose "Smooth" Ramos and Jake "The Snake" Nelson each with ERA well below 4.00.

Amateur Draft Summary:

Round 1 #15 overall

Srinivasan Shubhashish, SP

He is currently starting in A Ball for Kingwood but, will most definitely anchor a bullpen in the near future for Maple.  He is elite in all categories including 2 elite pitches.

Round 2 #44 overall

Felipe Navarro, CF

He is currently playing in A Ball for Kingwood.  Not sure he will ever make it to the ABL level unless he improves his contact.  His defense at a hard to play position in the ABL may see him as a 4th OF type.

Round 3 #73 overall

Greg Green, RF

He is currently playing in A Ball for Kingwood.  We like his batting abilities and especially his power to all fields.  He needs to work on his defense otherwise he may end up as a DH only in the ABL.

Round 4 #99 overall

Wayne Soileau, 2B

He is currently playing in A Ball for Kingwood.  Very similar to Greg Green we love his bat and also his speed.  He will need to work on his defense if he wants stick with a middle infield position at 2B in the ABL.  If not, he might be a DH type player.

Farm System:

Astoria AAA is in 2nd place 3.5 games back while Sandy Springs AA and Kingwood A are both in 1st place in their respective divisions.  The Maple farm system has been one of the best in terms of results the past several years and this year we look to be in position once again to possibly send all three minor league affiliates to the playoffs.

The OSA ranks the players within our organization in dead last #24 overall.

Key players include:

Dustin "Bird" McMahon, 3B (#49 ranked) - acquired from Duke City recently, this hot corner man has been promoted to Maple and is seeing full time play.  A .521 OPS is not a great start by any means but, we are going to give him more than a fare shake at keeping this job.  To make room for him on the roster, Garrett Bennett was demoted to AAA.

Loeck "No Name" Jurgens, SP (#87 ranked) - discovered in the Netherlands and promoted to A ball from the International Complex this SP has been effective with very average statistics.  4-3, 4.32 ERA in 17 GS, WHIP 1.65.  We love his change up and control and based on that we feel he will be at the ABL level within the next 3 years.