Maple had a better 2nd month of the season managing to play .500 ball at 13-13. This is a far cry from the previous two playoff seasons but, nevertheless a step in the right direction.
Maple continues to struggle vs. LHP (1-8) so far this season. Also away from Maple the team is not gelling (8-16) and close games the Marauders are blowing them (9-13).
The team is not hitting and not pitching to their abilities. The only bright spot from the bats is the power department (3rd). Meanwhile, the pitching staff is 3rd in Opponents Avg and BABIP so hopefully they will get a few breaks the rest of the way to improve. The SPs rank 10th in the league in ERA which is a surprise considering the amount of money, time and focus spent on the starting rotation from day 1 in the ABL.
If things dont' turn around a few interesting pieces maybe available to a contender: CL/MR Millard Marshall and SP Ray Lester.
Down on the farm, player development has been slow. We do feature a top ranked 3B in Dave Guenette who is AA ball is batting .249 in 44 games. Neither Minor team affliliate is leading their division but there has been a noticeable improvement in A ball with Kingwood. The Knights have been the laughing stock of A ball the past 2 years but, this year we are trying to reach .500 for the season (Currently 23-28, 7 back).
The fans are worried and it shows in the seats. Attendance is down -7.3% over last year and Maple ranks 11th so far in the ABL in total tickets sold.
HOME OF THE 10TH MAN
HOME OF THE 10TH MAN
Friday, February 15, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Maple - Year III - Opening Month Review
The Maple Marauders coming off back to back playoff appearances in the ABL get off to a real slow start in Year III posting a 8-14 record in April. The good news is the TML Billy Martin division features 4 teams all under .500 so Maple is near the top of the division despite playing 6 games under .500.
The biggest disappointment so far this season is with our Starting Rotation. Maple ranks 12th (last) in the TML at 5.66 ERA. This is also our biggest surprise since most of the past success with Maple has been on the mound and in the pitching staff the past couple of seasons. When your ace (Roberto "Styx" Martinez) opens the season at 0-4, 4.99 ERA you know you are heading for problems real quick.
Offensively, the Marauders are beginning to show the power expected of them. Anthony Shelton and Eric McSwan have combined for 19 dingers so far this year. Meanwhile Vic Jennings acquired last year from Las Vegas leads the team with 20 rbi. Part time utility players Tom Hunter has swiped 5 bases already this season.
The minor league system is playing much better baseball compared to the past two seasons. Astoria, Sandy Springs and Kingwood all are around .500 are above and are looking like contenders this season in their respective leagues. Dave Guenette 3B and David Picot OF are the two top prospects in the Maple organization according to BA writers. Both players are seeing regular play time in Single A Kingwood this year.
The biggest disappointment so far this season is with our Starting Rotation. Maple ranks 12th (last) in the TML at 5.66 ERA. This is also our biggest surprise since most of the past success with Maple has been on the mound and in the pitching staff the past couple of seasons. When your ace (Roberto "Styx" Martinez) opens the season at 0-4, 4.99 ERA you know you are heading for problems real quick.
Offensively, the Marauders are beginning to show the power expected of them. Anthony Shelton and Eric McSwan have combined for 19 dingers so far this year. Meanwhile Vic Jennings acquired last year from Las Vegas leads the team with 20 rbi. Part time utility players Tom Hunter has swiped 5 bases already this season.
The minor league system is playing much better baseball compared to the past two seasons. Astoria, Sandy Springs and Kingwood all are around .500 are above and are looking like contenders this season in their respective leagues. Dave Guenette 3B and David Picot OF are the two top prospects in the Maple organization according to BA writers. Both players are seeing regular play time in Single A Kingwood this year.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Season II - September Report - Maple heading to the Post Season again...
Maple is heading to the playoffs for the 2nd consecutive season. Maple also clinched the Billy Martin division in the TML for the 2nd consecutive season. We felt Jersey was the up and coming team this year especially after their strong finish last year but, we are proud of our team on how they battled and got better each and every month. Currently we 14-8 in the month and have 3 home games vs. Jersey and one road game vs. SF left in the regular season.
Whos Hot entering the playoffs? Robert Martinez is 13-2 with a 1.62 ERA in his past 19 GS. He also is the only other 20 Game winner in the TML behind some guy named Gould for Vegas. Vic Jennings acquired from Las Vegas at the trade deadline is on fire batting .500 with 2 homers in his last six games. Then we have our powerful DH Eric McSwan who had one of the greatest individual sim performances in ABL history by hitting 5 homers in his last 5 games. Cale Hines 3B also has been steady all season long and is hitting .500 over the past 8 games. RP Villa, Wilson, Wilder, Costello and Coleman are all on fire entering the playoffs.
From a team perspective Maple is #1 in HRs in the TML and #1 in Runs allowed. Power and Pitching will have to carry this team if they are to have a shot at the ABL World Series in Year II.
Down on the farm; Astoria collapsed with an 0-7 sim to fall 4.5 games back and all but eliminate them frmo AAA playoff contention. Sandy Springs sits at 110 wins and is one of the most dominant AA teams in the league. In Single A we are hoping for Kingwood to hit .500 or better in the final sim. Currently 79-80 with 3 games left. Knights need a 3-0 or 2-1 sim to do it! A great turn around by the Knights after a miserable Year 1.
Baseball America has improved Maple up to 14th overall in the Top Minor League Systems Standings. 3B Dave Guenette in Single A is starting to hit the ball well for Kingwood, Dave Picot has some some flashes of brilliance in Single for Kingwood and finally our R1 pick last year Joshua Goldberg continues to climb up the charts now sitting at 86th overall. Two sims ago he entered the top 100 at 98th overall. When I asked my son what he thought about this he just "shaked his head"....
Whos Hot entering the playoffs? Robert Martinez is 13-2 with a 1.62 ERA in his past 19 GS. He also is the only other 20 Game winner in the TML behind some guy named Gould for Vegas. Vic Jennings acquired from Las Vegas at the trade deadline is on fire batting .500 with 2 homers in his last six games. Then we have our powerful DH Eric McSwan who had one of the greatest individual sim performances in ABL history by hitting 5 homers in his last 5 games. Cale Hines 3B also has been steady all season long and is hitting .500 over the past 8 games. RP Villa, Wilson, Wilder, Costello and Coleman are all on fire entering the playoffs.
From a team perspective Maple is #1 in HRs in the TML and #1 in Runs allowed. Power and Pitching will have to carry this team if they are to have a shot at the ABL World Series in Year II.
Down on the farm; Astoria collapsed with an 0-7 sim to fall 4.5 games back and all but eliminate them frmo AAA playoff contention. Sandy Springs sits at 110 wins and is one of the most dominant AA teams in the league. In Single A we are hoping for Kingwood to hit .500 or better in the final sim. Currently 79-80 with 3 games left. Knights need a 3-0 or 2-1 sim to do it! A great turn around by the Knights after a miserable Year 1.
Baseball America has improved Maple up to 14th overall in the Top Minor League Systems Standings. 3B Dave Guenette in Single A is starting to hit the ball well for Kingwood, Dave Picot has some some flashes of brilliance in Single for Kingwood and finally our R1 pick last year Joshua Goldberg continues to climb up the charts now sitting at 86th overall. Two sims ago he entered the top 100 at 98th overall. When I asked my son what he thought about this he just "shaked his head"....
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Season II - August Report - Maple playing their best baseball now...
The Maple Mauraders continued their great July result (15-11) by doing even better in August (17-9) with two games remaining vs. Las Vegas. Maple has extended their lead in the TML Billy Martin Division by 13 games and unless they completely collapse they are a shoe in to win their 2nd consecutive division title. Maple is winning the close games this year going an impressive 11-5 in extra inning frames and 24-19 in one run games. Maple has to be one of the surprises so far this season especially considering Ray Lester SP, Dave Kruse SP and Millard Marshall CL haven't seen the field.
Maple has used the long ball to help their turn around (Ranked 3rd in the TML). The strength of the team reamins in the pitching staff (Ranking 1st in ERA, Runs Allowed, Strikeouts in the TML). Maple also has 12 more home games down the stretch than road games. The trade deadline acquisition of Vic Jennings is also serving benefits.
Vic Jennings is hitting .296, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 13 Runs and 10 Base on Balls in 98 ABs so far since joining the Mauraders.
Down on the farm, Maple's organization has made strides at each level this year. Astoria is battling for a division title in AAA ball (75-58, 2.5 games back). In AA ball, Sandy Springs has been dominant this season (88-45). The nicest surprise has been Kingwood in A ball; despite being under .500 at 64-69 and 27.5 games back in the division they are showing signs of life and the player morale is improving!
The prospect watch has a new entry. The son of the owner Joshua Goldberg has made the top 100 in Baseball America's top prospects. Drafted in Round 1 last year, Joshua started off pretty hot in A ball but, did not fare so well in his brief promotion to AA ball. Recently demoted Joshua Goldberg is now pitching his best baseball with Kingwood. Right now the experts have him penciled in as the #98 ranked prospect. We expect his stock to rise in the coming sims!
Maple has used the long ball to help their turn around (Ranked 3rd in the TML). The strength of the team reamins in the pitching staff (Ranking 1st in ERA, Runs Allowed, Strikeouts in the TML). Maple also has 12 more home games down the stretch than road games. The trade deadline acquisition of Vic Jennings is also serving benefits.
Vic Jennings is hitting .296, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 13 Runs and 10 Base on Balls in 98 ABs so far since joining the Mauraders.
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| I'm glad to be back in the World Series hunt! |
Down on the farm, Maple's organization has made strides at each level this year. Astoria is battling for a division title in AAA ball (75-58, 2.5 games back). In AA ball, Sandy Springs has been dominant this season (88-45). The nicest surprise has been Kingwood in A ball; despite being under .500 at 64-69 and 27.5 games back in the division they are showing signs of life and the player morale is improving!
The prospect watch has a new entry. The son of the owner Joshua Goldberg has made the top 100 in Baseball America's top prospects. Drafted in Round 1 last year, Joshua started off pretty hot in A ball but, did not fare so well in his brief promotion to AA ball. Recently demoted Joshua Goldberg is now pitching his best baseball with Kingwood. Right now the experts have him penciled in as the #98 ranked prospect. We expect his stock to rise in the coming sims!
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| 11-9, 2.80 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 167 Ks in 151 IP |
Friday, October 26, 2012
Season II - Month 4 - Maple turns it around in July!
Maple got hot before the trade deadline going 15-11 to open up a 6.0 game lead over Jersey in the TML - Billy Martin Division. In order to send a message to their fans, the Marauders made a trade with Las Vegas acquiring a bat in 1B Vic Jennings (Allstar) and a relief pitcher in Michael Coleman. Both are expected to be in the lineup for the sim opener in August. So far Maple has over achieved on the mound as they continue to lead the TML in ERA and RA. So management decided to get the team a boost in the lineup by adding the power hitting 1B Jennings.
Roberto Martinez was one of the reasons the Marauders turn things around in July. He was named TML pitcher of the month for July. He posted a 4-1 record with a 1.02 ERA.
Meanwhile on the farm, Triple A OF Chris Stephens won batter of the month honours. He batted .319 with 9 homers, 22 rbi and 27 runs scored. The OF has been a back and forth call up due to injuries on the Maple team. The OF is loaded in Maple so it will be interesting to see if Stephens stays or goes next season. Another hot player who won player of the week honours was called up to Maple during the last sim of the month - Anastasio Rincon 1B/3B. Rincon had been batting .347 with 21 homers and 69 RBI for Astoria. It will be interesting to see how much play time he gets at 1B now since the arrival of Vic Jennings.
In Double A, OF Hidekazu Matsuura won the player of the week honours the last week in July. he hit .450 with 3 homers and 13 RBI. Matsuura wasn't the starting OF when the season began but, he has solidified himself as the starter the past few weeks.
In Single A, SP Joshua Goldberg; son of the commish received a promotion to AA ball in the last sim of the month. In his very first start in Double A, he got the victory pitching 5.2 innings giving up 9 hits and 7 runs in a 12-8 victory over CIN. Not a great start to his Double A career but, as he said after the game all that counts are team wins!
Roberto Martinez was one of the reasons the Marauders turn things around in July. He was named TML pitcher of the month for July. He posted a 4-1 record with a 1.02 ERA.
Meanwhile on the farm, Triple A OF Chris Stephens won batter of the month honours. He batted .319 with 9 homers, 22 rbi and 27 runs scored. The OF has been a back and forth call up due to injuries on the Maple team. The OF is loaded in Maple so it will be interesting to see if Stephens stays or goes next season. Another hot player who won player of the week honours was called up to Maple during the last sim of the month - Anastasio Rincon 1B/3B. Rincon had been batting .347 with 21 homers and 69 RBI for Astoria. It will be interesting to see how much play time he gets at 1B now since the arrival of Vic Jennings.
In Double A, OF Hidekazu Matsuura won the player of the week honours the last week in July. he hit .450 with 3 homers and 13 RBI. Matsuura wasn't the starting OF when the season began but, he has solidified himself as the starter the past few weeks.
In Single A, SP Joshua Goldberg; son of the commish received a promotion to AA ball in the last sim of the month. In his very first start in Double A, he got the victory pitching 5.2 innings giving up 9 hits and 7 runs in a 12-8 victory over CIN. Not a great start to his Double A career but, as he said after the game all that counts are team wins!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Season II - Month 3 - Maple below .500 in June...
Maple entered June in 1st place and leave June in 1st place, 1 game ahead of Jersey despite a 13-14 W/L record that has the Marauders at 43-39 W/L overall.
We are hoping that the June result isn't a sign of things to come as the pitching staff which has been torn apart by injuries is starting to show some signs of weakness. Maple sits in 2nd in ERA, 2nd in bullpen ERA, 1st in RA, 2nd in Ks which by most is a big suprise even playing in a big stadium. Of their 82 games only 35 of them have been at home so far.
Meanwhile the bats have been average so far but, this years big difference is the power. Maple sits 8th in Bavg., 8th in OBPct., 6th in SLGPct., but, 1st in HRs with 105. Another good aspect of the Marauders game is their defense which sits in 5th.
The above rankings are based against teams in the TML.
The minor league system sits in 16th place with two surprises in the top 100 list including Dave Guenette, 3B and David Picot, RF who are both having horrible seasons in Single A Kingwood.
Meanwhile, Maple took hit in the Top 20 list as Frank Powers, OF dropped out eventhough he is hitting .302 bavg, .370 obpct., with a .497 slugging pct. including 19 homers and 47 rbi. and our best player Roberto Martinez, SP has really struggled statistically this year despite his W/L record of 9-5. His 3.80 ERA is higher than expected and has given up 128 HA in 106.2 IP while striking out 86 and walking 26 with a below average whip of 1.44.
On a positive note, each of the minor league systems have improved. In Triple AAA, Astoria is in 2nd place 2.5 games back eventhough they are struggling through a 1-9 W/L stretch. Look for Anastasio Rincon 3B to get a shot at a late season call up to play for Maple. In Double AA, Sandy Springs is in 1st place. Look for Kevin McConnell 1B and Ramon Villa OF to get a call up to Triple AAA soon. Finally in Single A, Kingwood is actually playing competitive baseball despite being 24.5 games back. Joshua Goldberg, R1 pick in this years draft is having a stellar year sitting at 6-7 W/L with a stingy whip 1.10 and a 3.17 ERA in 99.1 IP while fanning 103 batters.
Should be a very exciting finish in the Billy Martin TML division. It would not surprise us to see this division race settled in the very late sim of the season just like last year.
We are hoping that the June result isn't a sign of things to come as the pitching staff which has been torn apart by injuries is starting to show some signs of weakness. Maple sits in 2nd in ERA, 2nd in bullpen ERA, 1st in RA, 2nd in Ks which by most is a big suprise even playing in a big stadium. Of their 82 games only 35 of them have been at home so far.
Meanwhile the bats have been average so far but, this years big difference is the power. Maple sits 8th in Bavg., 8th in OBPct., 6th in SLGPct., but, 1st in HRs with 105. Another good aspect of the Marauders game is their defense which sits in 5th.
The above rankings are based against teams in the TML.
The minor league system sits in 16th place with two surprises in the top 100 list including Dave Guenette, 3B and David Picot, RF who are both having horrible seasons in Single A Kingwood.
Meanwhile, Maple took hit in the Top 20 list as Frank Powers, OF dropped out eventhough he is hitting .302 bavg, .370 obpct., with a .497 slugging pct. including 19 homers and 47 rbi. and our best player Roberto Martinez, SP has really struggled statistically this year despite his W/L record of 9-5. His 3.80 ERA is higher than expected and has given up 128 HA in 106.2 IP while striking out 86 and walking 26 with a below average whip of 1.44.
On a positive note, each of the minor league systems have improved. In Triple AAA, Astoria is in 2nd place 2.5 games back eventhough they are struggling through a 1-9 W/L stretch. Look for Anastasio Rincon 3B to get a shot at a late season call up to play for Maple. In Double AA, Sandy Springs is in 1st place. Look for Kevin McConnell 1B and Ramon Villa OF to get a call up to Triple AAA soon. Finally in Single A, Kingwood is actually playing competitive baseball despite being 24.5 games back. Joshua Goldberg, R1 pick in this years draft is having a stellar year sitting at 6-7 W/L with a stingy whip 1.10 and a 3.17 ERA in 99.1 IP while fanning 103 batters.
Should be a very exciting finish in the Billy Martin TML division. It would not surprise us to see this division race settled in the very late sim of the season just like last year.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Season II - Month #2 - Maple continues to battle for 1st place!
Maple entered the 2nd month of play with a 16-12 W/L record. The experts had written off the Marauders after losing 60% of their SP rotation and their allstar CL. However; Pat Sellers, SP was scheduled to return at the end of the May. GM Goldberg was asked if Sellers would see time in a rehab stint in Triple A. He replied, "No we need arms in Maple right now"! In his first start in the ABL this year, Sellers pitched effectively earning the Win after going 5 IP, giving up 3 hits and 2 ER, walking 1 and striking out 2 in a 9-2 win over South Carolina! With one sim left this month, Maple stands at 12-12 W/L record in May and 28-24 W/L overall in 2nd place 1 game back of Jersey for the Billy Martin Division in the TML. The two hot streaking players this month have been on the mound, SP Roberto Martinez their staff ACE and fill-in CL Brandon Wilson. Martinez is 4-0 is his last 4 starts with a 1.63 ERA while Wilson has 3 Saves, 1.13 ERA in his last 13 games. The bats cooled off a bit in May, however; allstar game hero RF Frank Powers gained his stride hitting, .322 avg, .400 obpct, .538 slugpct with 14 HRs and 33 RBI.
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| Powers says, "I'm seeing beach balls"! |
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| SP Martinez is one of the best in the ABL! |
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| I'm glad for the CL opportunity! |
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