Saturday, July 27, 2013

Season 20 Power Rankings #3

There's just 40 games to go in Season 20 and it's time to see how things are shaking out with another edition of the Power Rankings.  Dover is firmly entrenched as the world's top team, continuing their stellar play this season.  Little Rock stays at #2 with impressive numbers, despite falling off a bit in the win column.  Their numbers say they should have a better record.  Boston has the best record since the last rankings and comes in at #4, although their pitching numbers are still a cause for concern.  Here's the full rankings, good luck to all down the stretch!


Team  W L PREV   Comments
1 Dover 83 39 1 Continues to roll, offense is getting even better
2 Little Rock 72 50 2 Mediocre as of late, but still have the numbers to stay #2
3 Tampa Bay  74 48 5 Offense has really found its groove as of late
4 Boston  73 49 9 On a roll with great offense, but pitching still not great
5 Texas 74 48 6 Pitching has improved here, and are in the thick of things
6 Pittsburgh  77 45 11 Pitching good as always, and offense improved
7 Colorado Springs 71 51 3 Only .500 since last rankings, but hanging in there
8 Buffalo  69 53 4 Not great as of late, but pitching is still amongst the best
9 St. Louis 65 57 22 Have really come around, with all numbers improving
10 Los Angeles 65 57 14 Pitching is out of this world, and offense improving some
11 Vancouver  64 58 8 Pitching has come around, but bats in a bit of a slump
12 Atlanta  67 55 12 Offensive resurgence is keeping them in playoff race
13 Minnesota  68 54 10 Not playing great as of late, but team has a lot of talent
14 Detroit  60 62 7 Rough going since the last rankings all around
15 Kansas City  65 57 15 Holding steady, but pitching has been very bad this season
16 Omaha  62 60 19 Saw some improvement recently, especially on offense
17 Boise 62 60 17 Middle of the pack across the board this season 
18 Charlotte  62 60 20 Playing decent, with a little more offense, they'll be solid
19 Helena 55 67 13 Pitching not great, and big bats have slumped lately
20 Austin  58 64 16 Fell off a bit as of late, offense is just not there 
21 Philadelphia 55 67 28 Playing better as of late, winning record since last rankings
22 El Paso  52 70 24 Pitching has improved for this squad as of late
23 Syracuse  57 65 25 Pretty average across the board this season
24 New York  55 67 21 Numbers fell off across the board here since last rankings
25 Burlington  53 69 23 Numbers say their record should be better this season
26 Cleveland  59 63 18 Pitching is getting lit up recently, but offense is good
27 Colorado  48 74 29 Offense keeps them in games, despite horrid pitching
28 Durham  53 69 26 The wheels have fallen off this season, should be better
29 Honolulu  52 70 27 Pitching has improved as of late, and offense is not bad
30 Florida  44 78 31 Pitching is getting better, but offense struggling
31 Seattle  42 80 30 Horrible as of late, basically getting no offense at all
32 Washington  36 86 32 Holding steady all season here, that says a lot.  

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Season 20 All Star Coverage

The Season 20 All Star Game is upon us, coincidentally on the same day as the MLB All Star Game.  The AL team is led by 5 Colorado Springs players and 4 Tampa Bay players.   One of those Tampa Bay players being James Haselman who is making his 9th consecutive All Star appearance to start his career.  Amazing!  Honorable mention goes to Yamid Montanez, who is making his 8th appearance and Elston Lloyd, who is making his 7th.  13 players on the AL squad are making their first All Star appearance.

On the NL side, the team is led by 6 players from the top team in the most recent rankings, Dover, which seems appropriate.  5 players from Minnesota made it, followed by Little Rock with 4.  Andres Candelaria has the most appearances for this season's NL squad, this being his 8th. Jung Hasegawa and Al James are making their 7th appearances.  12 players on the NL squad are making their first appearance.

Here are the complete rosters, although home field in the World Series is not on the line, it should still be a great game!

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Starters

Player Franchise Appearance
C Vic Martinez Burlington 2nd
1B Eugene Brantley Tampa Bay 5th
2B Gerald Jacobsen Tampa Bay 1st
3B Roberto Bennett Vancouver 5th
SS Benito Beltre Vancouver 2nd
LF Donaldo Javier New York 1st
CF Aaron Kennedy Boston 2nd
RF John Pickett Helena 1st
DH Joey Ryan Kansas City 2nd

Pitchers

Player Franchise Appearance
P James Haselman Tampa Bay 9th
P Arthur Camilli Colorado Springs 6th
P Allen Cox Kansas City 6th
P Paulie Flynn Atlanta 1st
P Ned Meyers Colorado Springs 4th
P Thomas Hutchinson Atlanta 1st
P Walt White Charlotte 1st
P Alex Satou Colorado Springs 2nd
P Jonathan Lawton Cleveland 1st
P Jo-jo Strickland Cleveland 1st
P Allie Dunham St. Louis 1st
P Hipolito Estrada Tampa Bay 2nd
P Juan Belliard St. Louis 1st

Reserves

Player Franchise Appearance
C Elston Lloyd Vancouver 7th
1B Luis Alarcon Colorado Springs 2nd
2B Yamid Montanez Boston 8th
3B Carlos James Kansas City 3rd
SS Edgar Castro Colorado 2nd
LF Theo Waters Charlotte 1st
CF Vic Crowe Colorado Springs 1st
RF Lastings Morris Colorado 1st

AL All Stars by Team
Colorado Springs 5
Tampa Bay 4
Kansas City 3
Vancouver 3
Atlanta 2
Boston 2
Charlotte 2
Cleveland 2
Colorado 2
St. Louis 2
Burlington 1
Helena 1
New York 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Starters

Player Franchise Appearance
C Stan Dickens Dover 2nd
1B Pascual Hernandez Buffalo 2nd
2B Calvin Decker Little Rock 3rd
3B Pepe Guillen Minnesota 3rd
SS Albert Pineda Dover 4th
LF Andres Candelaria Minnesota 8th
CF Andrew Roberts Minnesota 1st
RF Cap Rivera Syracuse 3rd

Pitchers

Player Franchise Appearance
P Marvin Walsh Pittsburgh 3rd
P Don Monahan Dover 1st
P Willie Arredondo Dover 1st
P Pablo Gandarillas Syracuse 3rd
P Vicente Villano Texas 1st
P Will Ogden Dover 1st
P Jung Hasegawa Austin 7th
P Juan Seanez Little Rock 1st
P Cecil Milton Minnesota 1st
P Ringo Childs Minnesota 1st
P Welington Melendez Buffalo 1st
P Douglas Banks Buffalo 2nd
P Felix Wheat Pittsburgh 2nd
P Chip Torres Los Angeles 3rd

Reserves 

Player Franchise Appearance
C Dan Pall Honolulu 1st
1B Greg Riley Texas 1st
2B Steve Hansell Boise 1st
3B Geronimo Johnson Boise 2nd
SS George Fultz Little Rock 5th
LF Vic Gonzales Dover 4th
CF Bernie Hernandez Little Rock 2nd
RF Al James Pittsburgh 7th

NL All Stars by Team 
Dover 6
Minnesota 5
Little Rock 4
Buffalo 3
Pittsburgh 3
Boise 2
Syracuse 2
Texas  2
Austin 1
Honolulu 1
Los Angeles 1

Monday, July 15, 2013

Season 20 Power Rankings # 2

It's time for another edition of the power rankings!  And yes, there is a new number 1!  Since the last rankings, Dover has been on fire, establishing themselves as the league's top team.  Little Rock is still a strong # 2, even though they dropped out of the top spot.   Other highlights include a big jump for Texas vaulting from #21 all the way up to #6 with a solid run since the last rankings.  Overall though, the top of the rankings remained relatively stable.  Without further adieu, here are the complete rankings!


Team  W L PREV    Comments
1 Dover 61 27 2 Takes over the top spot, as they've been on fire lately
2 Little Rock 54 34 1 Still extremely solid all around and playing well
3 Colorado Springs 54 34 4 High numbers across the board, very solid team
4 Buffalo  51 37 5 Playing well, although offense has fallen off a bit
5 Tampa Bay  51 37 8 Pitching has been better, and offense has been solid
6 Texas 52 36 21 Playing fantastic since last rankings, improved all around
7 Detroit  45 43 9 Solid team, numbers say record should be better
8 Vancouver  46 42 13 The champs are hanging in there, don't count them out
9 Boston  48 40 7 Pitching has been roughed up as of late, needs to improve
10 Minnesota  52 36 3 Major all around decrease in production since last rankings
11 Pittsburgh  53 35 6 Pitching is keeping them in it, not getting much offense at all
12 Atlanta  46 42 16 Really coming around due to solid young players
13 Helena 42 46 25 Great since the last rankings, pitching is getting it together
14 Los Angeles 43 45 24 Playing well, offense is improving, pitching is lights out
15 Kansas City  47 41 12 Hanging in there, but pitching has been really bad. 
16 Austin  45 43 18 Need to get something going on offense to get back in it
17 Boise 43 45 26 Bounced back a bit since the last rankings
18 Cleveland  46 42 19 Getting it done, but the numbers are a bit low all around
19 Omaha  45 43 14 Pitching hasn't been great as of late
20 Charlotte  45 43 10 Numbers down all around, but could bounce back
21 New York  42 46 17 Playing just decent so far, but not amongst the elite
22 St. Louis 41 47 15 Offense dropped off a lot since last rankings
23 Burlington  40 48 23 Even though pitching improved, offense is just average
24 El Paso  36 52 22 Pretty much middle of the road across the board
25 Syracuse  41 47 20 Rough stretch since the last rankings, should bounce back
26 Durham  40 48 11 Really bad since last rankings, pitching fell off and bats cold
27 Honolulu  39 49 28 New owner aboard, offense is better, but pitching struggling
28 Philadelphia 36 52 31 Majorly improved pitching, but offense is still lacking
29 Colorado  32 56 27 Has the worse team ERA I've ever seen, but good bats
30 Seattle  35 53 29 Numbers improving, but not yet in the win column
31 Florida  31 57 30 Numbers not horrible, but has yet to break through
32 Washington  26 62 32 Numbers improved, but not enough to move up

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Season 20 Power Rankings # 1

Season 20 is well under way, and it's time for the first edition of the power rankings!  So far, it seems like this is a repeat of Season 19 in many ways.  Vancouver is the preseason #1, and then struggles out of the gate and takes a tumble, to be replaced at the top by Little Rock, your #1 team, just like last season!  It's almost eerie, but Little Rock's combination of solid pitching and the league's top offense puts them atop the rankings.  However, there are a lot of teams nipping at the heels, and it will be interesting to see if it continues to play out like last season, or if a new path will be set.  Here are the complete rankings:


Team  W L PREV    Comments
1 Little Rock 34 19 4 Also made #1 in the 1st rankings last season, solid squad
2 Dover 33 20 5 Pitching has been much better this season
3 Minnesota  37 16 11 Great squad, but offense is not quite amongst elite
4 Colorado Springs 35 18 7 The bats have been getting it done so far
5 Buffalo  31 22 2 This team is incredibly solid across the board.
6 Pittsburgh  36 17 3 Getting it done with the league's top pitching staff.
7 Boston  31 22 9 Offense has been firing, pitching is just average
8 Tampa Bay  31 22 6 Haselman led staff is only middle of the pack 
9 Detroit  28 25 12 Excellent pitching, and the offense is good enough.
10 Charlotte  29 24 27 Huge jump here, doing well with both pitching and offense
11 Durham  28 25 10 They are hanging in there, good but not great overall so far
12 Kansas City  29 24 8 Pitching has been roughed up so far, offense is solid
13 Vancouver  27 26 1 Typical opening season slump, they'll bounce back.  
14 Omaha  28 25 21 Numbers about what you'd guess for Omaha
15 St. Louis 25 28 22 Pretty much average across the board right now 
16 Atlanta  25 28 16 Showing signs of improvement, and will only get better
17 New York  26 27 25 Doing fairly well, pitching has been good
18 Austin  26 27 20 Pitching is one of the tops in the league, but little offense
19 Cleveland  27 26 17 Holding their own, but nothing spectacular about their play
20 Syracuse  27 26 19 Numbers are pretty much middle of the road
21 Texas 27 26 30 Improved pitching, but offense isn't there even in their park
22 El Paso  20 33 13 Numbers say their record should be better, bad luck so far
23 Burlington  24 29 15 Pitching has not been good, which is why they've struggled
24 Los Angeles 19 34 14 Elite pitching, with no offense, but they should improve
25 Helena 20 33 23 Pitching has been a major weakness this season
26 Boise 23 30 18 Surprised to see them struggling this much so far
27 Colorado  19 34 31 They're pitching staff has been killed, but good offense
28 Honolulu  25 28 26 Pitching has struggled so far, and offense has been sparse
29 Seattle  21 32 29 Pitching has been bad, especially given their home park
30 Florida  20 33 28 Still struggling, thought they might turn a corner this season
31 Philadelphia 20 33 24 Offense has been struggling, pitching has been mediocre
32 Washington  17 36 32 Atrocious pitching so far, and offense hasn't done much