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.