The
Clubhouse Report
Northern Virginia APBA Baseball
League
September 2014
Farewell to a New Manager
We are sad to see it not work out with David Neely after
only one month. The league has two teams
looking for new managers.
The Standings
W
|
L
|
%
|
GB
|
|
39
|
25
|
.609
|
--
|
|
43
|
29
|
.597
|
--
|
|
35
|
25
|
.583
|
2
|
|
32
|
28
|
.533
|
5
|
|
30
|
34
|
.469
|
9
|
|
26
|
34
|
.433
|
11
|
W
|
L
|
%
|
GB
|
|
46
|
30
|
.605
|
--
|
|
16
|
12
|
.571
|
6
|
|
25
|
23
|
.521
|
7
|
|
30
|
38
|
.441
|
12
|
|
26
|
46
|
.361
|
18
|
|
20
|
44
|
.313
|
20
|
CPC 2
|
at
|
SEA 2
|
STP 2
|
at
|
ARL 2
|
CPC 1
|
at
|
STO 3
|
SEA 2
|
at
|
OAK 2
|
SEA 2
|
at
|
ARL 2
|
OAK 1
|
at
|
ARL 3
|
STO 2
|
at
|
SPR 2
|
STP 3
|
at
|
DEL 1
|
ARL 3
|
at
|
DEL 1
|
STP 3
|
at
|
CV 1
|
STO 2
|
at
|
DEL 2
|
CV 2
|
at
|
STP 2
|
SEA 2
|
at
|
SPR 2
|
DEL 1
|
at
|
STP 3
|
CV 2
|
at
|
STO 2
|
CV 4
|
at
|
OCC 0
|
Who’s Hot and Who’s Not
The records for the teams during August are:
Sterling 13-7, (32-28) The
best team in August was Sterling who made trades to compete this month and the
results showed. They are up around the
level of Roswell now, just below the big 3.
With Delphi and Columbia Pike throwing in the towel, the Pirates are
sure to be a playoff team. A big
“congratulations” goes out to Walt in turning the season around and especially
getting in enough series this month to meet the deadline. The next big deadline is only 30 days away,
he will have to play 4 series this month to avoid the penalty. The penalty would be a 5th round
pick if this is their second offense, because their 6th round pick
has been traded.
Arlington 10-6, (25-23) I
can’t speak to what Arlington is like, but Bart and Bob have played a lot of
games and this team is up to 48. In the
post draft rankings that were included in the February newsletter I had this
team coming in around 9th. So
this record above .500 is a little bit of over-achieving and a little bit of
Occoquan having thrown in the towel before the games started, and the higher
ranked Vermont having played only 28 times.
Chino Valley 9-7 , (16-12)
Chino is a team with a lot of bite, and a great closer if they get a lead. One game against Sterling showed their
colors. The Pirates took a 6-2 lead in
the third, but Chino did not lose heart and hit a 2 run homer in the 6th
to close the gap. A Sterling insurance
run in the 8th, did not hold up as Chino hit a 3 run homer in the 9th
to tie the game and put it into extra innings.
The team kept grinding and hit two solo home runs in the 13th
to take a lead for the first time since the 1st inning. Kimbrel pitched the last 3 innings for the
win. It’s a good team. Chino has played 28 games now and is starting
to catch up to having a reasonable amount of games under their belt.
Stonehenge 9-7, (33-15)
Stonehenge played 4 times this month and went 9-7. The splits with Springfield and Chino Valley
were about as expected. The wins vs.
Columbia Pike were as expected. The
split vs. Delphi might have been a 3-1 series if the dice rolled evenly. Dwight has no worries though, he is close to
winning the Piedmont division title. The
worst record Stonehenge could finish with is 46-42, so If Washington loses 4
more times in the final 20 games or Stonehenge wins 4 more times, the Senators
will be eliminated by virtue of the Druids taking 7 of 8 from them this year.
Seacoast 8-8,(20-44) A .500
month for the worst team in the league, with 4 splits played. Two of those splits came against very good
teams Springfield and Oakton. What was
once a cellar door that was slammed shut has opened up a crack. Seacoast has not won a single series this
year, which is phenomenal. If they win a
series it will make the Hamner race a lot closer.
Springfield 4-4, (39-25) The
Cardinals split with Stonehenge and Seacoast.
The Stonehenge series was packed with playoff level excitement. In the series with Seacoast the results were
disappointing, a chance to move into sole possession of first place was
squandered. Still Springfield has been
active in acquiring players through trades, and joins Oakton and Stonehenge on
paper as the top teams in the league.
Oakton 3-5, (35-25)
Splitting with the worst team in the league, and losing 3 of 4 to Arlington was
not a good month for the Aviators. They
need to step up their dice to compete for the division title. Oakton has 28 games left to play and are 2
games behind the pace set by Springfield and Roswell. It’s still do-able, but it is looking like an
exciting race over the next two months.
Oakton will have to play 16 games in September or one per week to avoid
losing their 8th round pick.
Columbia Pike 3-5, (26-34) The
Cubs have thrown in the towel, selling at the trade deadline. What we see here with a 3-5 record is about
what we would expect the rest of the way out.
Steve is looking at the #3 overall pick for 2015, but Delphi is ready to
challenge. Hopefully umpiring is winding
down because Columbia Pike is another team with only the minimum number of
games played.
Delphi 5-11, (30-34) George has thrown in the towel this year. Delphi was the primary team selling players
at the trade deadline. The Oracles are
currently in position to draft 5th overall in the free agent draft
next year.
Roswell 0-0, (43-29) Thanks
Bob, for helping out with Chino Valley and Arlington. Roswell is tied for first place in the
Coastal. The Greys have had good
management and good results this year, but on paper they are rated a bit below
the big 3.
Washington 0-0, (30-38) Bart
went into make-up mode for Arlington and Chino Valley, and didn’t play any
games for Washington. Thanks Bart for
being willing to take on this additional load.
By the way, according to the by-laws rule XI.A, Chino Valley and
Arlington will be treated as if they don’t exist for purposes of determining
playoff spots. The Senators are on track
to participate in the playoffs as the 2nd place team in the Piedmont
division. If I understand the rules
correctly, for purposes of the draft Chino Valley and Arlington would be
positioned in the order of their won-loss record, so Washington would slip down
and draft in the 4th position if the winning percentages stay nearly
the same throughout the rest of the year.
Occoquan 0-4, (26-46) Since
trading Juan Uribe in July, Occoquan has scored only 5 runs. On paper, I would say Occoquan has reached
the point of being the worst team in the league, but Seacoast has a much worse
record. There is so little pop left in
this lineup that it felt like a strange feeling when I did some substitute
management this month for Chino Valley and the players were getting on base,
hitting home runs, and scoring chunks of runs.
Transactions
- CPC sends Rajai Davis, SPR #8 to SPR for Marcell Ozuna, SPR
#9
- OAK sends Robbie Ross, Kevin Chapman to STP for STP #6
- WAS sends Craig Gentry to SPR for Cody Ross, OCC #7
- DEL sends Giovani Soto to STO for STO #7, Anthony Varvaro
- DEL sends Ivan Nova to STE for STE #7
The selling began prior to the trade deadline and we saw
Columbia Pike, Washington, and Delphi basically throwing in the towel, while
Oakton sold off two relievers for a profit who would not be making their 25 man
playoff roster. The biggest
benificiaries were Sterling and Springfield, who became very good teams with
these pickups.
Sterling has picked up a 18*wg lefty, 12*yzg lefty, and
12yg righty for the home stretch to the playoffs.
Springfield has picked up a lot of speed on the base
paths as if they didn’t have enough.
Davis is a B-34 lefty killer, and Gentry is D-34 solid bat with 15 safe
numbers.
Stonehenge has picked up a catcher with almost the same
card as one they have, but with -8/3 splits instead of 0/-2, plus a better
throwing arm. That will be a big help to
the Druids vs. righties the rest of the way.
2015 Kilg Korner
Hitting
|
Pitching
|
Overall
|
Team OPS Rank Top Player
OAK 0.790 1 Tulowitzki
SEA 0.780 2 Stanton
STE 0.755 3 Martinez
STO 0.744 4 Encarnacon
CPK 0.736 5 Puig
CHV 0.735 6 Freeman
DEL 0.731 7 Bautista
WAS 0.730 8 Pence
ARL 0.728 9 N.
Cruz
SPR 0.719 10 Mesoraco
ROS 0.715 11 Gattis
OCC 0.697 12 A.
Ramirez
|
Team ERA Rank Top
Player
OAK 3.01 1 Kershaw
STO 3.18 2.5 Wainwright
ROS 3.18 2.5 Cueto
STE 3.35 4 Sale
DEL 3.49 5 Darvish
SEA 3.55 6 Hamels
CPK 3.58 7 Hudson
WAS 3.60 8 Gray
SPR 3.67 9.5 Smyly
ARL 3.67 9.5 Iwakuma
CHV 3.75 11 Teheran
OCC 3.98 12 Porcello
|
Team Rank
OAK 1
STO 2
STE 3
SEA 4
CPK 5.5
DEL 5.5
ROS 7
WAS 8
CHV 9
ARL 10
SPR 11
OCC 12
|
OAK – Hitting and Pitching are both ranked first. Kershaw is a big reason for the pitching
figures being good, and the offense has several solid bats for next year. Once again, Larry will be a contender. How many years in a row is this? Something like 5 or 6, I’ve lost count.
STO – Stonehenge now has 6 starters with 2014 ERAs below
3.00. Their hitting is great also. Stonehenge holds only the STO 9th
pick, which has a chance of being the last overall pick in the draft. Can a team compete without any draft? It will be an interesting question. Stonehenge will be able to contend with
minimal effort, perhaps losing a couple of 2016 draft picks if they choose to
do that.
STE – The Pirates are looking good and they have preserved
their key draft picks for next year, as is Walt’s style.
SEA – Second and hitting and sixth in pitching = playoff
team. Lot’s of draft picks to go with
this = contender.
CPK and DEL – The Cubs break away from being tied with
Washington the last time we did this, and now they are tied with Delphi. These two teams will be having a good draft
also.
ROS – Roswell looks to be a playoff team by having a good
draft.
WAS– Dropping, hoping for a good September, otherwise it
will be a rebuilding year.
CHV and ARL – This will have to be a rebuilding year.
SPR – Chris sees the writing on the wall with this team and
decided to go for it in 2014.
OCC – The Ospreys are the opposite of the Druids. They are no team whatsoever and hoping there
is enough talent in the draft to become good, but if not, another rebuilding
year.
Keeping it going.
This will be a busy month in the league as the 76 game
deadline approaches. Thanks for keeping
it fun for all.
Funny, all it took was trading away Robbie Ray and Kevin Chapman and I jump to #1 in KILG!
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