AGBA 30 Game into the Season (Central League Recap)

 

The Central League consists of the Cobb Division, and the Young Division (named after Cy Young obviously). 

We will start in the more exciting division of the two, the Cobb Division in which the Cleveland Spiders (21-8-1), best record in AGBA Baseball. The Spiders opened the offseason by shocking their fans by trading away Cuban pitching star Luis Tiant to the Seattle Captains in exchange for a handful of prospects in SP Mike Hampton, 2B Fernando Vina, and veteran RP Adam Warren, plus draft picks. The Spiders were trying to cut some salary by trading away players to fit the roster salary cap, and didn't simply wanted to release Tiant for nothing in return.

The Spiders' lineup is one of the best in baseball to go with a superb rotation. The lineup consists of Kenny Lofton, Jose E. Ramirez, Albert Belle, Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley and Edwin Encarnacion, while the pitching consists of ace Sam McDowell, Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger, and Sonny Siebert. The team is also stacked with prospects such as Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Shane Bieber, Hampton, Vina and more.

During a 15-game stretch, the Spiders had a 13-1-1 record, but have looked vulnerable of late, going only 6-5 during their last 11 games. Albert Belle has been ice cold all season, batting only .187 with 3 HR & 11 RBI. Meanwhile, the Spiders' best hitters have been Francisco Lindor (.292, 10 HR, 29 RBI with 13 SB & 26 runs), Jose Ramirez (.297, 11 HR & 24 RBI, 7 SB & 26 runs), and Carlos Baerga (.304, 4 HR, 21 RBI & 14 runs).

The Detroit Wolverines may have been one of the league's biggest enigmas entering the season. It was obvious that they had a strong lineup with great bench options as well, but no one knew what to expect from the pitchers. No one thought Detroit would start the season, 12-4. The Wolverines picked up P Ross Stripling in the waiver draft, and has since signed lefty specialist Oliver Perez as well. The Wolverines at this point appear to be a solid bet to reach this upcoming postseason, they have pieces to possibly make their team better coming up during All-Star break. Word from the inside, they are buyers, not sellers. Cleveland should still be able to win the Cobb Division.

The Kansas City Monarchs sporting the colors of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers have stuck around despite their ups and downs. The team started the season, 6-1, and then lost 6 of their next 7 games. The Monarchs recently have won 5 of their last 6 games, with a stretch that included 3 consecutive 11-Inning games (going 2-1 in those games). The Monarchs of late, have also plugged Salvador Perez behind the plate, while moving Mike Macfarlane to the DH role, which seems to be bringing the team and pitching staff more stability. 

The Toronto Reds have a talented lineup, but lack solid starting pitching outside of Bobby Bolin (4-0, 1.75 ERA). Prior to the Reds losing their last 3 straight games, the team had its most successful stretch, going 7-2. The team has the best 1-2 combo on the base paths in Rickey Henderson (14 SB) and Roberto Alomar (20 SB), while also hitting 1-2 in the lineup as well. 

The Chicago Union had high expectations with their superb pitching staff and bullpen, thinking that they should be competing for the top-half of the division. It unfortunately has not been that way, and has been a frustrating season so far for Chicago. Their top of the rotation consists of three Grade A starting pitchers in Joe Horlen (A), Tommy John (A-Y) and Wilson Alvarez (A-YW), while the rotation is rounded out by two B-YZ's in Jack McDowell and Alex Fernandez. The team has a solid bullpen foursome, in which the Chicago faithful have quietly dubbed 'The Four Horsemen' in Wilbur Wood, Bob Locker, Roberto Hernandez and Hoyt Wilhelm.

The Nashville Jukes (13-16-1) might not be as bad as their record reflects, but they are unfortunately in a tough division, and tough league. Clayton Kershaw, Carlos Carrasco, and Gary Bell have all pitched really well for the Jukes. The bullpen is capable of doing better as David Robertson and Blake Treinen have been the only good choices. The batting has been the worst element for Nashville, batting .216 as a team, with only Jose Cardenal (their leadoff man) and catcher Rick Wilkins being the two best bats.

We now switch to the Young Division, where currently the Milwaukee Braves sit on top of the division with a 19-9-2 record. 

Milwaukee was playing roughly .500 ball through their first 18 games, but have caught fire by winning 11 of their last 12 games. The team is not too flashy, and may have only one true superstar per se in Christian Yelich, while Greg Vaughn is possibly the next best star. The team is gritty though, and seem to capitalize on other team's mistakes. Their leading hitter at the moment is Darryl Hamilton, leading the team with a .316 batting average. They have a lockdown bullpen and have been able to close things out with a lead from the 6th inning on, consisting of Graeme Lloyd, Mike Fetters, Jesse Orosco, Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress. The rotation has no true strikeout artist, while it's two starting pitchers from 1968 that have lead the charge as the team's 1-2 punch in Jim Hardin and Ray Washburn.

The Braves' closest competition are the St. Louis Saints. The Saints started the season, 5-2 before hitting a rough patch, then appeared to have found momentum in a 6-game winning streak, before once again hitting another losing skid, losing 5 of their next 8 games. The Saints in many ways are a complete opposite of the Braves, in which St. Louis does have strikeout guys like Bob Gibson, Jack Flaherty and Steve Carlton. While though three pitchers are quite nice to have in a rotation, the two starting pitchers with the lowest ERA's are Nelson Briles (2.52) and Bob Tewksbury (2.81). On the hitting side, Gregg Jefferies has been the team's best hitter, sitting among the league leaders in multiple categories, while batting .341 with 4 HR, 23 RBI, 7 doubles & 9 stolen bases. 

The next three teams all sit at 12-18...

• The Chicago Legends started off in 1st place at 9-3, and remained in first through their first 17 games. After their 9-3 start, the team lost 7 straight, and have gone 3-15, and are currently on a 5 game losing streak. The Legends problem might have more to do with not having a consistent starting lineup, while 11-12 players are fighting over 9 slots in a lineup. 

• The Cincinnati Buckeyes have never found their stride, winning no more than 2 games straight (which they only did that twice). The Buckeyes lost 7 straight, being swept by the Milwaukee Braves, 4-0, and losing their first 3 games to the lowly New Orleans Pirates, before winning the series finale. 

• The Twin Cities Giants appeared to be heading towards a long, lost season, starting the season with a 1-10 record. At the 21-game mark, the team sat with a 4-17 record, and appeared to be dead and buried. The team released 1B-Kent Hrbek, traded away SP Frank Viola, and added a few pieces in DH/1B Luke Voit and 1B/OF Jerald Clark. The team has now won 7 of their last 8 games, but had nothing to do with the moves, but more to do with moving struggling leadoff man Chuck Knoblauch to the 9th slot, and bumping up Jorge Polanco (to leadoff), Brian Harper & Chris Sabo in the lineups. During the Giants' recent 7-1 run, their starting pitching has a 7-0 record, 2.28 ERA, 1.014 WHIP & 2 complete games.

The New Orleans Pirates just coming off a 3-1 series (with a bit of an upset) victory against Cincinnati, has not had much to celebrate this season. Pitching ace Steve Avery has been on the bad luck side, sporting a 0-5 record, with his ERA being recently bumped up from 3.26 to 3.96, while leading the team with 23 strikeouts through 36.1 innings. Avery, along with possibly Miles Mikolas (2-2, 2.52 ERA) could be sought out buy teams who are buyers come trade deadline. The Pirates really don't have much pieces to sell, besides possibly OF Matt Kemp (.264, 5 HR & 21 RBI) and SS Bert Campaneris. Newly signed IF/DH Jose Vizcaino has quickly won a starting job, batting an impressive .417 (20-for-48) through 12 games, while OF Andrew McCutchen has been disappointing, batting .167 (16-for-96) with 2 HR & 7 RBI.