Power Pros Forum

As awesome as that is, that's something you shouldn't really point out yourself. That's something you squeeze in there, and hope someone picks up on it. Sorta like an Easter Egg

May 29th, 2015
6:00 PM
New York, NY

It was not long after our third loss to the Yankees, and the team was preparing for our flight to Chicago. I looked down at the scouting report I held in my hands, but I had already memorized it. High 80's fastball, good slider, average changeup. I decided I had put it off long enough and headed over to Paul Casey.

*(censored)*, I really don't want to do this.

Paul saw me coming towards him and greeted me. "Hey Skip!"
"Hey, Paul."
"What's up?"
I looked around and saw most of the other players just milling about. "Paul, I respect you too much to do anything but cut to the chase, and I wish I had better news for you, but I don't. So here goes: You won't be boarding the plane to Chicago."
"I... I don't understand."
I sighed. "Instead, you'll be flying to Pasadena. With the Mustangs."
Paul realized what I was talking about. "Oh."
"Hey, you're still young. We just feel you need a little more seasoning in the minors." I thought about what I said, then added, "Of which you've had none."

Paul was visibly upset but didn't say anything more. I gave him an fantastically awkward pat on the shoulder and walked away.

May 29th, 2015
7:30 PM
Chicago, IL

We arrived in Chicago and I found Casey's replacement, Ken Harp, waiting for me. His 1.13 ERA as the closer for the Mustangs had made the decision easy.

"Nice to meet you, Ken."
"The pleasure's all mine."

Series Preview: Honolulu Gunmen (28-25) vs. Chicago White Sox (29-24)
May 30th-June 1st

Key Players:

Tim Illard - DH
.239, 3 HR, 26 RBI
2, A, B, E, F, D, D, Contact Hitter, Bases Clearer, Walk-off HTR, Pull Hitter, VS Lefty 2, Cautious STL
Bio: Illard will be turning 38 in August, and this fact has been represented by the fact that his power numbers have decreased gradually; that's not to say he's not still an incredible hitter, however.
Analysis: Illard is struggling mightily so far this season. His age may finally be catching up to him. Then again, it may just be a slow start.

Paul Konerko - 1B
.350, 14 HR, 59 RBI
4, C, A, E, C, C, B, Power Hitter, Hot Hitter, Intimidator, Throwing 4, Durability 4, Consistency 4, Barehand CTH, Star, Patient Hitter, Cautious STL, Aggressive FLD, Gd Eye
Bio: Konerko has been a staple of the White Sox offense for years, and will probably continue to be through the end of his career. He possesses tremendous power which sometimes overshadows his excellent fielding abilities.
Analysis: Konerko has been incredible in both hitting for average and power. He'll obviously be someone to watch out for in this series.

A.J. Pierzynski - C
.265, 10 HR, 31 RBI
3, D, B, E, E, D, C, Bases Clearer, Throwing 4, Consistency 4, Trash Talk, Gd Block, Gd Catcher, Gd Rain, Clutch Hit 2, Timely Whiff, Aggressive HTR, Cautious STL
Bio: A bit of a controversial player, Pierzynski is widely disliked throughout the league and is known for attempting to unsettle hitters with trash talk. His arm is fairly weak while his bat certainly is not, although he strikes out quite a bit and sometimes can get rattled in clutch situations.
Analysis: Pierzynski has been his usual self these first couple of months by hitting for power, playing solid defense, and being a doucheface.

Jermaine Dye - RF
.344, 15 HR, 42 RBI
4, D, B, E, D, C, B, Power Hitter, Hot Hitter, Tough Out, Consistency 4, HD 1st Slide, Gd Day Game, Gd Rain, Slugger, Aggressive FLD
Bio: Dye is an impressive power hitter with above average fielding abilities. He tends not to strike out very often, and hits 30+ home runs yearly. And if it's raining at a day game... God help us all.
Analysis: He edges Konerko by one home run at the moment but trails in average and RBI.

Projected Pitching Match-ups:

Game 1
Cesario Castillo (2-5, 3.88) vs. Gavin Floyd (1-3, 5.04)

Game 2
Charlie Huff (5-2, 3.16) vs. John Danks (4-1, 3.23)

Game 3
Brendan Bikowski (3-2, 3.56) vs. Ehren Wasserman (1-0, 5.59)

Ehren Wassermann is in their rotation lol

hmm, I'm curious. how did you and PPJ decide how to give all the players you guys added in different abilities? I imagine it would be hard to make each player unique and not duplicate any.

Actually, I think he's just a middle reliever, but thanks to Power Pros and everyone essentially having Recovery -6 he is projected to start.



You mean the guys like Illard? I don't really know, I guess the fact that I made them all within the course of a week means I had a general idea of how many I had of each player type. Plus, there are only about one or two per team so it's nothing compared to what PPJ did.

Yeah, like Illard. I think adding in a few created players does make things more interesting. That's why I enjoy this and the Slayers log a lot.

May 30th, 2015

Honolulu Gunmen (28-25) vs. Chicago White Sox (29-24)

Final Score:
Honolulu Gunmen - 3
Chicago White Sox - 2

Cesario Castillo pitched well, Matt McCarthy homered for the 15th time this month, and Rick Allen converted his 16th consecutive save opportunity. Things got a little bit nerve-wracking when Mike Colyer gave up two singles and a double without recording an out in the 8th, but Rick Allen came in and danced out of danger before getting the Sox 1-2-3 in the 9th for the six out save.

Box Score
Win: Cesario Castillo (3-5)
Save: Rick Allen (16)
Loss: Gavin Floyd (1-4)
HR: A.J. Pierzynski (11), Matt McCarthy (18)

J. Medrano - 2-4, CS, .286
M. McElroy - 2-4, R, .329
J. Hernandez - 0-4, K, .286
M. McCarthy - 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R, .271
D. Wayne - 2-4, R, .347
P. Warr - 2-4, K, .274
D. Wilde - 1-3, RBI, SH, .280
S. Bernard - 0-4, K, .291
C. Raines - 0-3, .267

W: C. Castillo - 5 IP, 5 H, 4 K, 2 BB, ER, HR, 3.71
H: K. Harp - 2 IP, 2 K, 0.00
M. Colyer - 3 H, ER, 3.81
SV: R. Allen - 2 IP, 2 K, BB, 5.48

May 31st, 2015

Honolulu Gunmen (29-25) vs. Chicago White Sox (29-25)

Final Score(10):
Honolulu Gunmen - 3
Chicago White Sox - 2

Huff pitched a great game aside from two mistakes (both to Jermaine Dye); it's a shame he didn't get the win. In the 10th, with the score tied at two, Marcus McElroy doubled home Steve Bernard. Rick Allen then came on and closed it out.

Box Score
Win: Viet Trieu (1-0)
Save: Rick Allen (17)
Loss: John Danks (4-2)
HR: Jermaine Dye (16, 17), Jose Medrano (4), Matt McCarthy (19)

J. Medrano - 2-5, HR, RBI, R, .289
M. McElroy - 2-5, 2B, RBI, .330
J. Hernandez - 0-3, .282
PH - D. Millwood - 0-2, .310
M. McCarthy - 1-4, HR, RBI, R, .271
D. Wayne - 0-4, .340
P. Warr - 2-4, .279
D. Wilde - 1-4, 2B, .280
S. Bernard - 2-4, R, .296
C. Raines - 0-4, .261

C. Huff - 7.1 IP, 4 H, 8 K, 2 ER, 2 HR, 3.08
W: V. Trieu - 1.2 IP, 3.38
SV: R. Allen - IP, H, 5.24

June 1st, 2015

Honolulu Gunmen (30-25) vs. Chicago White Sox (29-26)

Final Score:
Honolulu Gunmen - 2
Chicago White Sox - 0

Great performance by Brendan Bikowski, and a couple of opposite field home runs by Derek Wayne and Donnie Wilde turned out to be all we needed in terms of offense.

Box Score
Win: Brendan Bikowski (4-2)
Save:
Loss: Ehren Wasserman (1-1)
HR: Derek Wayne (10), Donnie Wilde (4)

J. Medrano - 1-4, 2 K, CS, .288
M. McElroy - 0-4, .324
J. Hernandez - 1-4, K, .282
M. McCarthy - 0-4, .266
D. Wayne - 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI, R, .343
P. Warr - 1-4, .278
D. Wilde - 1-4, HR, RBI, R, 2 K, .279
M. MacKenzie - 1-3, SB, .268
C. Raines - 1-2, K, SB, .263
PH - D. Millwood - 0-1, .305

W: B. Bikowski - 9 IP, 5 H, 7 K, 3.00

Medrano is finally remembering how to hit. That was a bad stretch for him.

Yes, it was. I was playing most of the games, too, and I don't really know what happened. :/

I guess that gigantic contact zone just kind of psyched me out.

May (and June 1st) in Review

Player Statistics

SP - Charlie Huff
5-2, 3.08 ERA, 64.1 IP, 40 K
Charlie was 3-0 this month and brought his ERA all the way down from 5.54 to 3.08. He struck out 28 in 38.1 innings, much better than the 12 he K'd in his first 26. He's really settled into his ace role and will be vital to our playoff run.

SP - Brendan Bikowski
4-2, 3.00 ERA, 57.0 IP, 51 K
Like Charlie, Brendan got off to slow start but was excellent in May. Finishing the month with a 2-0 record and bringing his ERA down from 5.27 to 3.00, he and Huff have cemented themselves as the best starters on the team.

SP - Akinori Otsuka
3-2, 5.33 ERA, 52.1 IP, 38 K
Despite his elevated ERA, Otsuka had a good month. He finished April with an ERA over 6, so 5.33 is certainly an improvement. As long as he keeps trending upward, we'll have no issue.

SP - Johnny Rivera
1-3, 4.67 ERA, 44.1 IP, 39 K
Johnny was kind of the opposite of the previous three guys. He had a 2.37 ERA coming into May, but it now stands at 4.67. Hopefully he can regain his prior form in June.

SP - Michael Davis
5-0, 3.81 ERA, 52.0 IP, 39 K
Michael has been our most consistent pitcher and his 5-0 record shows that. He may not be lights out, but he limits teams to three or fewer runs just about every time out.

SP - Cesario Castillo
3-5, 3.71 ERA, 60.2 IP, 32 K
Castillo had a good month despite going 2-3. His ERA fell from 5.28 to a solid 3.71. While far from a strikeout pitcher, he does a good job using his forkball to get ground ball outs.

RP - Paul Casey (now in AAA)
13 G, 1-1, 6.95 ERA, 22.0 IP, 17 K, 0 SV, 1 HLD, 1 SVO
It's easy to see from his ERA why I had to send him down to AAA. Teams were jumping all over his fastball, and he wasn't effectively keeping guys off base with his changeup. Hopefully he can fix things down in AAA.

RP - Ken Harp
1 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.0 IP, 2 K, 0 SV, 1 HLD, 1 SVO
He's only had one appearance at the big league level, but he looked quite good in it.

RP - Evan Lorrier
16 G, 3-1, 0.68 ERA, 16 G, 26.2 IP, 27 K, 0 SV, 2 HLD, 4 SVO
Lorrier has been incredible out of the bullpen so far. I might move him into a set-up role if he continues at this pace.

RP - Viet Trieu
17 G, 1-0, 3.38 ERA, 16.0 IP, 10 K, 1 SV, 3 HLD, 4 SVO
Viet has been pretty good in middle relief so far, converting all of his save opportunities (whether into holds or saves).

RP - Devin Edwards
18 G, 1-1, 2.88 ERA, 25.0 IP, 22 K, 2 SV, 1 HLD, 3 SVO
Edwards has been very good out of the bullpen. He's obviously not on Lorrier's level, but I don't think anyone is.

RP - Adam Wilson
22 G, 2-1, 2.81 ERA, 20 K, 0 SV, 7 HLD, 9 SVO
With an ERA of 2.81, Adam has been the better of our two set-up men thus far.

RP - Mike Colyer
21 G, 2-3, 3.81 ERA, 28.1 IP, 20 K, 0 SV, 8 HLD, 12 SVO
He may have one of the best sliders I've ever seen, but his tendency to overuse it causes him to get hit hard sometimes.

CP - Rick Allen
22 G, 0-4, 5.24 ERA, 22.1 IP, 9 K, 17 SV, 17 SVO
He's leading the Majors in saves and has converted all 17 of his opportunities, but the five games that haven't been save situations... oi.

C - Matt McCarthy
.266, 19 HR (1st), 45 RBI (1st)
McCarthy, who ended April with just a .248 average and 3 home runs, is coming off one of the best months of baseball I've seen in a long time and now leads the entire MLB in home runs.

1B - Juan Hernandez
.282, 17 HR (2nd), 43 RBI (2nd)
April's rookie of the month struggled in May, allowing his batting average to drop 48 points from .330. His power numbers were still good though; he hit 7 homers.

2B - Steve Bernard
.296 (3rd), 8 HR, 26 RBI
Although he didn't hit even a single home run this month, he's still performing way above expectations.

3B - Donnie Wilde
.279, 4 HR, 17 RBI
Donnie has consistently batted around .280 this year, which is pretty much what I expect from him.

SS - Jose Medrano
.288, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 13 2B (1st), 10 SB (1st), 5 CS
Medrano was... pretty awful this month. He's still one of the best defensive shortstops in the league, but we need him to do a better job getting on base for Hernandez and McCarthy.

LF - Marcus McElroy
.324 (2nd), 4 HR, 30 RBI (3rd), 5 3B (1st), 8 SB (t-2nd), 2 CS
Marcus has been a better table setter than Medrano and was actually able to keep up his excellent hitting, raising his average from .315 to .324 over the course of the month.

CF - Colin Raines
.263, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 7 SH, 8 SB (t-2nd), 1 CS
His HR and RBI numbers are laughable, but his .263 average is pretty good for a 9-hitter and he's been our most efficient base stealer. He's also got 7 sac bunts.

RF - Derek Wayne
.343 (1st), 10 HR (3rd), 26 RBI, .896 OPS (1st)
Derek was great this month, batting over .350 and slugging 7 home runs. He's our team leader in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS.

DH - Patrick Warr
.278, 9 HR, 24 RBI
Patrick has been a steady 6-hitter, providing a decent average and some power.

2B/3B - Matt MacKenzie
.268(11-41), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 SB, 0 CS
Matt has done a good job getting breaks for Steve Bernard and Donnie Wilde by hitting .268 and playing solid defense.

OF - Danny Millwood
.305(18-59), 4 HR, 10 RBI
A great bench bat, three of his four homers have come as a pinch hitter. He just becomes a completely different person against lefties, so despite not being a starter, he's invaluable.

RF - Roy Schapp
.190(8-42), 1 HR, 2 RBI
Obviously the weakest link of the three bench guys, he'll be the first to go if we need help from AAA on the infield.

Team Statistics

ERA: 3.75(2nd | Prev: 18th)
RA: 218(2nd | Prev: 18th)
H: 485(2nd | Prev: 9th)
HR: 47 (t-2nd | Prev: t-3rd)
K: 366 (31st | Prev: 23rd)
BB: 132 (1st | Prev: 24th)

You can really see how much our pitching has improved; the only category we dropped in was strikeouts. But hey, for being 2nd in ERA? I'll take it.

BA: .289 (6th | Prev: 6th)
R: 256 (t-22nd | Prev: t-9th)
H: 593 (5th | Prev: 2nd)
HR: 82 (1st | Prev: t-3rd)
SB: 41 (t-20th | Prev: t-6th)

Just as I suspected, we had a huge dropoff in run production while maintaining a steady team batting average. I don't know what our team average is with runners in scoring position, and I'm not sure I want to.

AL West Standings
1. Sacramento Dolphins - 33-23
t-2. Los Angeles Angels - 31-25
t-2. Honolulu Gunmen - 31-25
4. Texas Rangers - 24-32
t-5. Seattle Mariners - 22-34
t-5. Oakland Athletics - 22-34

American League Players of the Month

Player of the Month: LAA RF Raul Alcarez (.358, 10 HR, 42 RBI)
Rookie of the Month: HON RP Rick Allen (1.93 ERA, 11 SV)
Pitcher of the Month: OAK SP Lenny DiNardo (5 W, 2.17 ERA, 31 K)
Reliever of the Month: Not Awarded

Congrats to Rick Allen, who had a great month. Not sure why they'd give him Rookie of the Month but not Reliever of the Month, but oh well.

National League Players of the Month

Player of the Month: PHI CF Shane Victorino (.390, 6 HR, 21 RBI)
Rookie of the Month: HOU SP Chad Reineke (3 W, 1.85 ERA, 35 K)
Pitcher of the Month: PHI RP Tom Gordon (0.00 ERA, 11 SV)
Reliever of the Month: PHI RP Tom Gordon (0.00 ERA, 11 SV)

G.Romero is Chad Reineke, I believe. Also, Alcarez is trying too hard to be the next Trout.

I liked the update, btw.

Ah, I'll change that then.

And Alcarez is actually an edited Vlad Guererro, so he's like 30 or something.

Gotcha. Is he taking Vlad's place, or a different player with the same attributes, or just same age and different attributes?

Raul Alcarez - 3, B, B, D, C, D, B, Clutch Hit 5, Hot Hitter, Tough Out, Gd IF HTR, Rally Hitter, Throwing 2, Durability 2, Star

He's pretty similar in terms of abilities, but is a completely different person. But he is taking his place, as in Vlad doesn't exist in this universe.