Power Pros Forum

My 2 power hitters? Who are you, Scott Boras?

Cust at third? Who are you, the Miami Marlins, moving players all around for no real purpose?

Hah! Left field just seems like a waste of a "c" arm!

Yes, I AM BORAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I hope I don't have to renegotiate both contracts in the same year!

Naw, you're a turkey leg.

Don't worry, it'll be alright. Maybe...

6 – 30 –2008: country versus Orioles

In this 1st of a three game series against the Orioles, David Harris is back with the team, but not ready to start, Sweeney is starting in right for Spilborghs and Huisman is playing ss with McCurty at catcher. The Country and Orioles traded HRs in the 1st, Dan Johnson hitting a two run homerun and Mora hit a solo home run. 2-1 Country

In the 2nd, the Country scored a run on singles by McCurdy, Milledge, and Sanchez, but the Orioles scored 2 runs to tie the game, three – three, and then went up a run in the 4th (four – three).

In the top of the 5th, Cust singled home Milledge to tie the game at four and in the top of the sixth, consecutive singles by Sweeney, Chavez, and McGurty scored another run, but the Orioles tied it up on a home run by Roberts in the bottom of 6th (five – five) and pulled ahead in the seventh inning when Luke Scott doubled home aubrey huff.

The country tied the game in the top of the eighth when McCurdy doubled home Sweeney, but the Orioles went up by a run when Markakis drove home pinch runner, Bynum, putting them up seven – six, which would stand as the final score

Notable: Chavez was awarded rookie of the month of June. During that month, he batted 373 with one homerun and 15 RBIs.

With the season half over, the Country find themselves in last place in the AL Central at 36 and 46, one game behind the Royals and white sox, and three games behind the Indians. In the major leagues, only the Rangers, Padres, nationals, and honeybees have a worse record

For the month of June, the Country have 13 wins and 14 losses, which actually makes this their best month so far (in April, they were 13 – 15). During this month, they scored 124 runs, which is their lowest total of the season (one less then May). This is surprising since there were mid-June pick ups of offensive players Spilborghs and cust, Although the Cust trade occurred very recently. They did show improvement in terms of runs allowed, allowing only 129, 35 runs less than their previous best month of April

Compared to the rest of the AL central, country pitching is middle of the pack in terms of team ERA (4.95) and runs allowed (428), but they've allowed a division-worst 935 hits and 98 home runs. The country lead the AL Central in most offenses categories, including team batting average (311), runs scored (443), and hits (1056), but are last in the number of homeruns hit (71).

Looking at the American League as a whole, no Country pitcher is in the top 9 in any category. Offensively, Sanchez, Johnson, and Chavez are in the top nine in batting average and hits, and Johnson is second in the AL with 22 home runs (Alex Rodriguez has 24) and sixth in the league in RBIs. Chavez is tied for first in the league with sacrifice hits and Huisman and Harris are tied for second in the league for sacrifice flies.

Lastings Milledge, LF, CF, RF (EDBEED). everything the Country could have wished for and more when they got him from the nationals, his solid fielding and hitting (315 BA) have been great and his 13 steals lead the team by 10. He is 2nd on the team (to Johnson) in extra base hits and slugging percentage.

Ryan Spilborghs, LF, CF, RF (DCDDFD). Still early to tell, but Spilborghs has been solid defensively and amazing offensively (378 ave, 6 HR). A backup OF with the Rockies, he seems to have settled in very well into the starting RF spot. Right now, the Country is clearly Dan Johnson's team, but Spilborghs could challenge Johnson for the top leadership role next season.

Brendan Harris, ss, 2b, 3b (DBGDDE). Harris has been an absolute disaster at the plate, batting 260 with 5 HRs, and he is a liability at ss, with below average range and arm strength for the ss spot he has been playing. If the Country had a better option at short and could move Harris to 2nd (he can play short, 2d & 3rd), he would be less of a liability there, but his hitting won't be pushing Sanchez out of the lineup unless he significantly improves.

Chavez, 3b (EEDBEE). Chavez is a gutsy player who gives his all each and every day. The light-hitting 3b was nominated rookie of the week twice this season already, was awarded rookie of the month for June, has 2 or 3 walk-off hits this season, and his strong arm has made him very valuable at 3b. That being said, most observers consider Chavez to really be a backup who is making the most of his starting job on this team.

Huisman, C (DEECCD). Initially a disappointment at the plate, Huisman has improved lately (273 with 2 HRs), and we're told that his batting practice improvements should yield results in September or early next year. Defensively, he is already one of the top young catchers in the game, in terms of limiting passed balls, throwing out runners, and getting out of the box to field fly balls and bunts. We hear that the Country are so pleased with his athleticism (and with the defensive and offensive production of 1st round pick McCurdy) that they might look to convert Huisman to ss. We theorize that if Huisman does move to short, Harris and Sanchez will battle for the 2b spot, with Harris starting off with the inside track because of his better arm and offensive potential.

Erdos, LF (DDEEDD). A solid all-around player, insiders tell us that the team is pleased with the 303 average from this rookie the Country obtained from the Honeybees, and expect him to develop into a hitter with more extra-base power next year. A natural LF, we hear the Country might have him practice at CF next spring training to add to his flexibility

Jack Cust, LF/DH (EAFCEG). Too new to fully comment on, we are told that management has been really impressed with his arm strength and might want him to try some 3b or RF next spring. Certainly, if the various players play up to their potential, Cust is the 4th OF the Country would want to play everyday (along with Erdos, Milledge, and Spilsborghs), so they might be more open to examing a move to 3b with his C arm. On his hitting, the hitting coach had this to say: "he is a young player with an exciting amount of power, but we do want to reign him in a bit and up his average (in the low 250s this year with the A's). Aside from working on his general batting, as are most of our fielders, we want Cust to work on laying off pitches unless he can drive them. In other words, until he gets 2 strikes, he should be laying off the high outside pitches and looking for fastballs and changups in the lower-half of the zone."

Iowa City Country v. Baltimore Orioles

6-30 - 7-2-08
the country limped into Baltimore with the majority of their pitching staff and several key position players, including Milledge, Spillborghs, and Harris in poor condition

Baltimore took games 1 (7-6) & 2 (7-3), with the Country suffering from mediocre pitching. They also showed some poor defense in the 2nd game, with Harris dropping a Huisman throw to second that would have thrown out Roberts trying to steal and Cust, playing right field for the first time this year, dropped what should have been an easy pop fly. Cust homered in that same game.

The Country avoided a sweep with a strong pitching performance and timely hitting by Huisman in game 3, as Country starting pitcher Jimenez did not allow a run until the fourth inning and ultimately pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up one run on six hits with 10 strikeouts. Huisman tied the game the top of the fifth by singling home cust, and drove in the go ahead run in the top of the seventh, driving home Harris with an double. Huisman then scored on a single to right by Chavez, who scored on a Sanchez singled later in the 7th. Harris added a run in the 8th, so when Jimenez tired in the 8th, he left with a 5-1 Country lead in favor of reliever Andrew Brown who induced a double play after giving up a single to end the 8th. Brown struggled in the ninth, however, allowing the Orioles to come within 5-3, and he left with a runner at second base and nobody out in place of country closer Chamberlain, who retired the next three batters in order to clinch his 5th save of the season.

7-3-08

The country accepted a trade request from the nationals and will give up minor league second baseman Quarteto (EFEEDF) for nationals pitcher Michael O'Connor (89 EA SL – two, CB – one, CHG – two). O'Connor has five years before becoming a free agent and one year of experience in the majors

Is SL for Slurve or Slider?