Rash of pitcher injuries taking huge toll

By Dave Renbarger

Spencer Strider is out for the year. 

So is Eury Perez.

Same with Shane Bieber.

Tommy John surgery is upcoming for all three highly prized I-75 aces, and the hits just keep on coming for league managers as the great elbow epidemic of 2024 rages on across the MLB landscape.  

There seems to be no end in sight.

Framber Valdez and Josiah Gray:  Come on down!  You guys are the latest to join the IL crowd just this week.

Then there is the gold-plated list of previously injured super studs:  Gerrit Gole, Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw.  Those five guys have won a combined 12 Cy Young awards and have yet to pitch an inning this season.

And let’s not forget about all the other premium starters also the shelf:  Sandy Alcantara, Walker Buehler, Brandon Woodruff, Shane McClanahan, Kodai Senga, Kyle Bradish, Justin Steele, Eduardo Rodriguez and others.  The list goes on and on, and it should also include the King himself — Shohei Ohtani (who is not on the IL but will not step on the mound until 2025).

And the season is barely two weeks old, for crying out loud.

The big question:  What is causing this horrible rash of injuries?  Some blame the pitch clock and others point to the new emphasis on max effort and max spin rate for every pitch thrown these days.  But no one really knows for sure.

The bigger question:  Which I-75 staffs are the hardest hit?  That is also hard to judge.  In terms of most pitchers on the IL, the Volcanoes take the crown with nine.  But most of them are spare relievers, who can be easily replaced in the next draft.  

In terms of the most quality starters on the IL (guys you can’t really replace in the draft), the Huggers are the clear winner.  Believe it or not, Boulder currently has six starters on the shelf (and that amazingly does not include Chris Sale, who you know will be on there any minute now).

Least affected?  The Gophers (not previously known for their ability to stockpile healthy hurlers) with just one IL pitcher.

According to my unofficial count, a total of 63 I-75 pitchers are on the IL right now — 40 starters and 23 relievers.

Here is the team-by-team breakdown:

Applegate (4):  Josiah Gray, Eury Perez, Gavin Williams, Gregory Santos.

Bismarck (5): Gerrit Cole, Ben Lively, Michael Lorenzen, Max Scherzer, Chase Silseth.

Boulder (8):  Nick Lodolo, Drew Rasmussen, Jordan Romano, Justin Steele, Robert Stephenson, Spencer Strider, Jameson Taillon, Framber Valdez. 

Bushwood (1):  Edward Cabrera.

Carpe Diem (5):  Kyle Bradish, Jacob deGrom, Johan Duran, Matt Pivetta, Emmet Sheehan. 

Dyersville (3):  Walker Buehler, Jake Junis, Tommy Kahnle.

Greendale (5):  Felix Bautista, Matt Brash, Clayton Kershaw, Wade Miley, Julian Merryweather.

Margaritaville (9):  Shane Bieber, Ian Gibaut, Colin Holderman, Carman Mlodzinski, Sam Moll, Kodai Senga, Justin Topa, Devin Williams, Brandon Woodruff.

New New York (2):  Ryan Borucki, Erik Swanson. 

Olympic Coast (5):  Lucas Giolito, Alek Manoah, Dustin May, Dauri Moreta, Paul Seward.

South Grand Prairie (4):  Taj Bradley, Tony Gonsolin, Luis Medina, Bryan Woo.

Savannah (3):  Brusdar Graterol, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Williamson.

Superior (2):  Braxton Garrett, Taijuan Walker.

Tatooine (5):  Tristan Beck, Alex Cobb, Shane McClanhan, Shohei Ohtani, Justin Verlander.

West Atlanta (2):  Sandy Alcantara, Johan Oviedo.

They say you can never have enough pitching.  I guess they were right.  Of course, all these teams will be just fine for innings this season, but many will be scrambling to draft healthy pitchers next March.

Are you for real? March 2024 edition

What we love about March results is that they are our first opportunity to evaluate expectations against outcomes. And then we can ask, “Are you for real?”

• Are you for real, South Division? All five teams in double-figure win totals? Applegate, 13 wins, really? You suck on paper. Must be great managing. Mackenzie Gore, who is horrible, went 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA. One more win and he’ll match his 2023 Applegate win total. South Grand Prairie, 10 wins? Didn’t you draft a pitching staff of promising fifth-graders? You were outscored 113-85 and posted a 5.64 ERA. How does that translate to 10 wins? Oh… 5-0 in one-run games….
• Are you for real, Bismarck Bombers? First place in the West, only team in double-digit wins with 10? Probably got a big lift from your No. 1 overall pick, Nolan Jones. Checking, checking…. nope, that’s not it. Nolan checked in with a .148 average in 54 at-bats, one of six guys to hit below .200 while playing in 11 or more games.
• Are you for real, Dyersville’s Matt Olson? Eleven (11) homers, on pace for (OPF) 88? That would be a record. We know you hit 54 in real life (IRL), but come on. And Dyersville, with your 43 team homers?
• Remarkably, Olson’s total seems completely plausible when compared to Jazz Chisholm, a Margaritaville dude who can’t possibly be for real. Had 8 homers (OPF 64) in just 52 at-bats, compared to 19 in 352 IRL last year.
• And, we would be remiss if we didn’t point out that Mr. March, Bryan Reynolds, was at it again with 7 homers for Applegate in March (OPF 56 vs. 24 IRL). We already know Reynolds isn’t for real, as he pulled this stunt last year, hitting 5 in March — all against Bushwood — and then struggled to get to 20 for the year, following his 2022 IRL total of 27.
• But back to the gimmick. Are you for real, Boulder Tree Huggers? Just 4 wins? This was your worst month since … your last month, October 2023. A record of 7-33 in your last 40 games? Time to trade Mike Trout? Jameson Taillon had a noteworthy month, making 13 appearances (tied for league high), hurling 41 2/3 innings (league high) and finishing 10 games (league high). Also tops in the league in hits allowed, runs allowed and earned runs. Yet his 6.05 ERA was third-best on Boulder.
• Bushwood Gophers, is your power for real? Every active hitter on your squad homered in March except for Jeff McNeil, who just hit .306 instead. Your leading slugger was scarfed up in the fourth round (Jake Burger). Your 34 homers were fourth-best in the league.
• Are you for real, Savannah “We don’t need no stinkin’ first-round pick” Scorpions? Just 6 wins? You were outscored by 40 runs, 108 to a league-fewest 68. Your bullpen meltdowns didn’t help, allowing a league-worst 46.4% of inherited runners to score.
• Which was for real, West Atlanta, your record (9-11) or your gleaming stats? The Crush weighed in with a .304 team batting average (first) and a 3.86 ERA (third) and outscored their opponents by 23 runs. Seems that should have computed to a dozen wins or more. And nice that 1e8 Nico Hoerner gets 619 at-bats, but you’ve already used 95 of them in March.
• Are you for real, everybody, with all the steals? We wondered what impact the MLB rule changes would have on speed in the Strat league. We now have a glimpse. A total of 233 stolen bases in March, OPF 1,864. Last year’s league total: 1,205. We’re on pace for a 55% increase. Ronald Acuna Jr. had 17 for Carpe Diem. Applegate had 29 as a team. Bismarck’s Yasmani Grandal allowed 29.
• Are you for real, Olympic Coast? The schedule maker smiled on you with 15 home games and you lost 10 of them. What were you thinking with that Lucas Giolito pickup on draft eve? He’s already given up 15 longballs, OPF 120!!!
• Superior and Carpe Diem, our fears are that you are for real. Superior cruised to a 15-5 mark by outscoring its foes 111-69, with a sub-3.00 team ERA (best in the league) and a .284 batting average (second in the league). Carpe Diem was second to the Titans in team ERA at 3.43 and notched the second-best run differential at +25. The rest of the league could be in real trouble.

‘Best Convention Ever,’ 45 years running!

Back row, left to right: Dave Renbarger, John Renbarger, Ryan Renbarger, Jason Renbarger, Mike Renbarger. Front row: Jamin Rader, Steve Hart, George Scienski, Gary Kicinski. Photo by Lynn Renbarger.

This year’s rendition of Best Convention Ever had a unique spin to it, as it seemed everyone walked away happy with the outcome of their draft.

Clearly some teams were drafting for the here-and-now and some were looking longer term, but somehow everyone seemed content with their haul.

The 15-round draft to kick off the 45th season of the I-75 League saw nine managers in attendance in Phoenix and six more drafting remotely, and the draft came off without a hitch once we figured out where Google moved the chat function to on Google Sheets.

The main table at the Strat draft

Ryan (left) and John Renbarger brought a portable table and dueling electronic devices.

George Scienski ordered ahead but still lost out on Nolan Jones; the OmegaWatts settled for Marcell Ozuna.

Commish Dave Renbarger’s setup included laptop, ranking sheets and physical cards.

View from our seats for Mariners-Brewers on March 9.

View from our not-enough-legroom seats at Rangers-Angels on March 11.

Jet’s Pizza provided some mid-draft nourishment for onsite managers. Plenty of spring training action entertained the gang before and after the draft, with most of the managers taking in Mariners-Brewers on Saturday and Rangers-Angels on Monday.

We (me) lost a key to the Strat house and had to overcome an encounter with a tire slasher, but those were the worst of the tragedies. Nobody gagged on drafting enough at-bats or innings, nobody tried to draft someone who was already taken.

Jamin Rader made his first convention appearance and George Scienski made his second, joining a veteran crew of convention regulars: Dave Renbarger, Gary Kicinski, Mike Renbarger, Steve Hart, and John/Jason/Ryan Renbarger. Former manager Ken Kuzdak and Lynn Renbarger were also on hand.

No one had any clue what the Bismarck Bombers were going to do with the first pick, but they managed to take the guy the Carpe Diem OmegaWatts were planning to take with the second pick — Rockies star Nolan Jones. The OmegaWatts drowned their sorrows by adding yet another 40-homer hitter to their beastly lineup in Marcell Ozuna.

With picks at 3 and 5, Applegate went after the highest-ceiling pitcher and highest-ceiling hitter in the land, Eury Perez and infielder Elly De La Cruz. It took less than a week for Perez to get injured and De La Cruz likely won’t be far behind. With the sandwich pick at 4, after apparently lusting after Perez, West Atlanta settled for Dodgers ace Bobby Miller.

Bushwood was next up at 6 and 8, and it landed top-of-the-round prospect quality in picks Royce Lewis (6) and Evan Carter (8). Between those selections, Boulder snagged Reds middle infielder Matt McLain to handle the bulk of the second-base load.

Catcher Yainer Diaz fell all the way to Superior at No. 9, and South Grand Prairie began its run of prospects by taking Grayson Rodriguez at No. 10.

Starting pitchers also went at 11 and 13, with Dyersville claiming Tanner Bibee and Margaritaville happily landing Kodai Senga. At 12, Olympic Coast added some right-handed thunder with first baseman Wilmer Flores.

The New New York Hypnotoads finished off the first round by filling their second-base void with Zack Gelof at 14 and bolstering their backstop ranks with highly touted catcher Francisco Alvarez at 15.

Still that left many top-quality players for the second and third round too, and suddenly what was billed in advance as a potentially “weak” draft didn’t seem so bad afterall. Some other draft highlights:

• Bismarck tabbed four Tigers among its first seven picks (Tyler Holton, Alex Lange, Jake Rogers and Parker Meadows.)
• If he’d been available a year ago, Jordan Walker might have gone high in the first round; a ‘5’ fielding rating must have scared people away this year and Applegate landed him in the second round at pick 21. Noelvi Marte‘s stock rightfully dropped following news of his half-season suspension, but the Paperclips think he’s a bargain as a fifth-round pick at 72.
• The wheeling-and-dealing Hypnotoads traded away their second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-round draft picks and made several in-draft maneuvers to position themselves to snag a desired player. Their success this year might hinge on the effectiveness of their “I’ll get starters at the end” strategy, as Andrew Abbott, Tanner Houck and James Paxton were taken in three of the last four rounds, barely dragging New New York across the 1,500-inning finish line at 1,501.
• South Grand Prairie loaded up on young arms, following up its GrayRod selection with Taj Bradley, Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo and J.P. France.
• Dyersville and Tatooine were also active traders; the Treblemakers swapped six of their original picks and the Rebels five; Tatooine’s maneuvers included their first, and fourth-through-seventh-round picks. The Rebels’ strategy was to deal picks for players prior to the draft rather than pick up sloppy seconds while drafting at the back of each round.
• In the 12th round, Savannah nabbed Super Freak Dairon Blanco, who already put his pinch-running abilities into practice by swiping a base and scoring the tying run in the Scorpions’ come-from-behind win in Game Five of their season-opening series with Applegate. Yow.
• Mr. Irrelevant honors went to Kyle Farmer, a seven-position player whom the Bombers reclaimed after opting not to retain him at the end of the 2023 season.

And with that, for the 45th time in league history, it’s time to play ball!

One week away from a ‘weak’ draft?

Is it a weak draft this year? Is the stockpile of available talent significantly below what we’ve seen in other years?

As we sit here one week away from the draft to kick off the 45th season of the I-75 League, we can’t help but compare this year’s field of availables to last year’s, when it seemed there were plenty of two-way players who were stalwarts on offense and defense, and there were some dynamic pitching cards available too.

I mean, Gunnar Henderson was chosen with the 10th pick! Corbin Carroll with the 11th!

Last year’s first round also included Adley Rutschman, Michael Harris, Andres Gimenez, Steven Kwan and Christian Walker. All five of those guys were 1-rated fielders. Julio Rodriguez, Henderson and Carroll weren’t too shabby either.

How many 1-rated fielders do you think will go in the first round this year?

The most likely answer to that question is: None.

And how about the pitching? While most teams retained a full lineup or maybe have one or two positions to fill, a lot of clubs still need a starter or two and a big chunk of a bullpen. There’s a bunch of guys with about 30 innings of eligibility who have good cards, but who can afford more than one or two of them when you have to draft 1500 innings of eligibility?

We’re not asking for much, just give us a guy with a balanced card who doesn’t give up a lot of homers or lets people run crazy on him.

You can pretty much count those kinds of pitchers who are available on two hands. Expect the run on pitchers to come fast and furious with the offensive star power and prospect glamour fairly tame, as the pitching depth turns mediocre very quickly.

Be happy you’re not in the shoes of Dyersville or New New York. While both feature nice offenses, those clubs currently have only five eligible pitchers (they each retained a sixth pitcher who has no card). The Hypnotoads have to draft 892 innings to get to 1500; the Treblemakers 930! They will probably have to spend 12 or 13 of their 15 picks on pitchers. And commit early draft picks to the likes of high-innings retreads Kyle Gibson (192 and bad) and Lance Lynn (184 and horrible) just to have a shot at being constitutional.

Justin Verlander is aging and went in the first round last year, but he had a card that merited such a selection — 175 innings, arguably best card in the set, draftable or retained.

Last year another one of the top pitching cards belonged to a draftable player in Spencer Strider, who went third overall.

This year the handful of pitchers who are either a) good, with innings or b) consensus top prospects is thin, they will be gobbled up quickly, and by the second round already we’ll be picking over the ruins of guys who either get torched on one side or the other, have low innings availability or sport the dreaded +9 hold factor.

With these fairly obvious drawbacks to this year’s pool, it’s surprising there haven’t been more pre-draft trades. But there’s often a final-week and draft-eve flurry of deals as reality sets in and the sea begins to part separating the haves from the have-greater-hope-for-next-years.

It also puts a greater emphasis on drafting strategy, preparation and prospecting. And that in and of itself can still make drafts an exciting time, regardless of the depth of the talent pool.

So, let’s draft!

Six guys whose draft stock might be falling

Mock drafts in which folks are drafting for other teams are all fine and good, but when it’s your player you’re drafting for your team, for real, your considerations might be more risk-averse. This can result in players’ stock plummeting — or, another way of looking at it, good players becoming bargain picks if acquired later than expected.

As we hit the two-week mark before the draft to kick off the 45th season of the I-75 League, here’s a look at some players whose stock might be falling.

Kodai Senga, SP, Mets — Arguably the best right-handed starter available, with 166 innings, a 6 for his endurance inning, high strikeout counts both ways, low batting average card both ways. But: He’s starting the season on the IL, with a shoulder injury no less, and he’s 31 years old. Potentially narrows his list of suitors to teams “going for it” this year without consideration of his long-term value.

Marcell Ozuna, OF/DH, Braves — The only player in the draft who hit 40 homers last year, Ozuna offers power both ways and the ability to play full-time with 530 at-bats. But he’s a 5(+4)e4 in the outfield, so unless you have a DH vacancy or an X-chart death wish, he may not be a great fit for your team. And his value will diminish depending on your ballpark. He’s also already 33, but he is part of a monster-laden Braves lineup, and as long as he stays on the right side of the law, could continue to be productive for a couple more years. But you just never know with Ozuna.

Noelvi Marte, 3B, Reds — OK, different scenario. Not a “going for it” pick like Senga or Ozuna, Marte’s challenge is an overcrowded Reds infield. The team is already packed with hot young stars who made their debut last year, many of them playing multiple positions (Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, Will Benson, Christian Encarnacion-Strand). Marte, a top-30 prospect by just about every rating service, clocked 114 at-bats and impressed with a card that offers an OBP north of .400 each way. He looks to be the third baseman of the future, but the Reds signed veteran corner infielder Jeimer Candelario this winter as well — to a three-year, $45 million contract. There’s only 26 spots on the roster, so the Reds won’t be paying Candelario to sit on the bench. Book it: On the eve of Opening Day the Reds will be announcing that Marte (or possibly CES) will start the season in the minors, “so he can get regular playing time.”

Francisco Alvarez, C, Mets — A lot of teams need help at catcher. Some (Superior, Carpe Diem, South Grand Prairie) have complete voids there. But if you don’t get Yainer Diaz and his big bat against righties and minus-2 arm, are you investing a high pick in Alvarez, with his sub-.200 average each-way, and +1 throwing arm card, despite his revered top-5 prospect list status among many services? Immense potential to fall to the second round; equally likely potential to be looked back at in a few years as the bargain of the 2024 draft.

Nolan Jones, 1B/3B/OF, Rockies — Jones was a pretty middling prospect with the Guardians who had up-and-down seasons in the minors before he was dealt to the Rockies for Juan Brito. The Guardians are probably regretting that move after Jones’ 20-homer, 20-stolen base, .931 OPS 2023 season that gives him one of the best offensive cards in the draft. But will he come back down to earth or is he a future batting champion in Colorado? If you’re looking at him as a “going for it” guy, where does he play? The minus-5 arm is great in the outfield but it comes with a 4 fielding rating. He’s already 25 as he’s bursting onto the scene. There weren’t any ‘4’ fielders drafted in our first round last year. He’s only a 3 at first base (a 4 at 3B), but he’s ticketed for LF this year. The offensive numbers are so great with a healthy 367 ABs that somebody will likely bite the bullet on him early. It just might not as early as one might think with that great of an offensive card.

Esteury Ruiz, OF, A’s — In MLB’s new era emphasizing speed, you’d think the game’s stolen base leader (67) would be an attractive high pick. But many teams will conclude that to eat up a precious roster spot you have to bring something more to the table than basestealing. Ruiz’s offense is nothing to write home about, and he’s a 4(0)e11 in center field. He has a 75% chance of getting a good lead and (20,16) numbers, which is very, very good, but not Super Freak good. Projections have him stealing more like 50 bases this year, so it’s not like experts expect him to leap up to 80. Thus his modest future value dampens the likelihood of him going in any round before the pizza break.

What happened to the 2022 first-round picks?

By Jamin Rader

Jamin Rader

I joined the I-75 League in 2021, and participated in my first draft in 2022. It was a nerve-racking experience — it felt like every pick was boom or bust for my new team. I took a look back at that first round to reminisce and came away with a surprising question: what happened to the 2022 first-round picks? While many of the first-rounders were difference-makers in 2022 and 2023, almost none of them will be major contributors in 2024.

Here are the numbers: Of the 15 players taken in the first round of 2022, only six (picks 1-5, 12) are currently rostered. Only Kyle Gibson has a card with a full* season of usage (192 IP) in the upcoming draft. Only two players (Wander Franco and Brandon Marsh) have genuinely good cards going into 2024, but of these two, only Marsh has a clear future in the MLB.

So what happened? Let’s dive deeper.

No. 1: Wander Franco

Drafted by: Superior

“I Wander if he’ll ever play again” — Manager Mike Renbarger, probably. If it wasn’t for Shohei Ohtani’s massive deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the investigation into Franco’s relations with a minor might have been the biggest story of the offseason. Franco sports a fantastic card, especially against left-handed pitching, and a gleaming 1e14 at shortstop, but it may well be his last.

No. 2: Tyler O’Neill 

Drafted by: Bismarck

O’Neill put up .292/.366/.557 with 35 bombs for the Bombers in 2022, but he has yet to live up to his second-overall hype since. He’s headed to Boston this season. Maybe the change of scenery will get him back on track. Maybe he’ll stay off the IL. He’s just too talented to give up on… maybe.

No. 3: Alek Manoah

Drafted by: Olympic Coast

What happened here? Manoah delivered consecutive sub-3.00 ERA seasons in ’22 and ’23 while going 22-11 for the Orcas. Manoah quickly turned into Manure in an upside-down season that renders his 2024 card useless. He was retained by the Orcas, however, in hopes that he will return to his Cy Young-finalist form.

No. 4: Jonathan India

Drafted by: Boulder

The 2021 Rookie of the Year put up a glimmering .353 OBP for Boulder in 2022 and has been MLB-average ever since. MLB-average play doesn’t win games in this 15-team league. India, like O’Neill and Manoah, is still young and may yet re-emerge into a cornerstone for Boulder’s lineup. But in 2024? He doesn’t have much more to offer than a just-OK bat and an unreliable glove.

No. 5: Jarred Kelenic

Drafted by: Margaritaville

Kelenic was traded to Applegate last season, directly before he suffered a self-inflicted foot injury, furthering Applegate’s rebuilding woes. The top prospect has yet to live up to his fifth-round pick potential, but he is still just 24. He will have a change of scenery in Atlanta. Will he finally break out? Or will he get ‘clipped before the season’s end?

No. 6: Mitch Haniger

Drafted by: West Atlanta

Unlike the first five players on this list, Haniger will be available in the 2024 draft! Haniger mashed 29 home runs for West Atlanta in 2022, and has yet to play even half a season in the MLB since. Crush’d by injuries, Haniger was released by West Atlanta at the end of the 2022 season and hasn’t seen I-75 action since.

No. 7: Carlos Rodon

Drafted by: Savannah

Rodon was unstoppable in 2022 and 2023, going 25-14 with a 3.31 ERA in that span. Rodon won the Pittman Cup with the Tatooine Rebels in 2023. Instead of a handshake and a “thanks,” the Rebels gave Rodon the axe. Add Rodon to your empire for cheap in the upcoming draft. 

No. 8: Ranger Suarez

Drafted by: Dyersville

Suarez was unstoppable in 2022. 22 wins? Not a problem. A 2.51 ERA? Of course. 67 relief appearances? You know it. But unfortunately for Suarez, he’s a lefty, and only the most dominant and consistent lefty pitchers can make it in the I-75 League. Suarez was released by Dyersville after the 2023 season. 

No. 9: Nicky Lopez 

Drafted by: Applegate

Nicky Lopez had one thing the rest of the 2022 draftees didn’t. A platinum glove and a solid bat. He was pivotal up the middle in Applegate’s 2022 playoff season (.989 fielding percentage), but his card has been unusable since. If you’re looking for a glove-first option at 2B in the upcoming draft, look further than Lopez.

No. 10: Akil Baddoo

Drafted by: Margaritaville

Where is he now?

After a strong 2022 season with Margaritaville and West Atlanta, Baddoo do bad. Given his inability to hit lefty pitching, he needs to be part of a platoon. Unfortunately, he’s apparently forgotten how to hit righties too. 

No. 11: Anthony Desclafani

Drafted by: Destin (now Carpe Diem)

Here is list of all Desclafani’s injuries since the 2022 draft: Ankle (4/22/22), Ankle (7/1/22), Toe (5/13/23), Shoulder (7/2/23), Elbow (7/27/23). Desclafani delivered a 4.08 ERA for Destin, then was cut. From Beach Bum to beach bum, Desclafani remains unrostered. There still remains an outside chance he plays with an I-75 club in 2024. 

No. 12: Brandon Marsh

Drafted by: South Grand Prairie

A prospect-y pick in 2022, Marsh finally broke out in the 2023 MLB season. The Warriors have waited patiently and now get so see his elite defense and strong card versus righties play in tandem.

No. 13: Robbie Ray

Drafted by: Greendale

Robbie, the third of four lefty pitchers taken in the first round of the 2022 draft, met a similar fate. A mediocre 4.32 ERA in 2022 was followed by a mediocre 4.48 ERA in 2023. Injuries led to his final demise, and he was cut from the Zealots’ roster last December.

No. 14: Trevor Rogers

Drafted by: New New York

Rogers looked like a great young prospect in 2022. He hasn’t been good, or healthy, since. He’s unrostered, but he’s in good company. 2022 draftees Tyler (40th overall), Jake (110th), and Taylor (124th) Rogers are also on the hunt for a job in the I-75 League.

No. 15: Kyle Gibson

Drafted by: Tatooine

You have to give credit to Gibson. Unlike the rest of the players picked in the first round of the 2022 draft, Gibson actually played a full season in 2023 (192 IP). Looking for some filler innings? Find Gibson in the mid-to-late rounds of the 2024 draft.

If you want to revisit what we were thinking at the time, here’s our 2022 draft preview and recap.

*Full season is defined as 3 ABs/game, or 1 IP/game.

Gimme all the Super Freaks. All of ’em.

Last season was emotionally demoralizing for the Clips, knowing their noncompetitive team was playing for “next year” and only winning 74 games. Now “next year” is here and the prospects for the playoffs look even worse.

If we’re not gonna win games we gotta find some way to keep it fun, so we’re here to unveil, as a public service, our complete drafting strategy as we head into our March 10th retention draft to kick off the 45th season of the I-75 League.

So we’re going after the quirky cards, the unusual cards, the unique cards, the freaky cards. Cue Rick James. Presenting the Applegate Super Freaks, who this year will never let our spirits down.

First round: OF Evan Carter. Yes he’s a beast against righties, but a chance to own this historic card against lefties cannot be passed up. This guy’s card tilts so far to the right I’ll be surprised if it aligns horizontally on the screen. Besides the .000 average against lefties, Carter’s card sports an unheard-of 84 strikeouts against lefties, if the Strat rankings are to be believed. That’s a card you don’t take home to mother. He also has 10 walk chances and 11 gb(a) chances, with no ballpark single chances, so that’s 105 of the 108 chances on a hitter’s card. We can practically predict his card right here: 3 column, all strikeouts. 2 column, all strikeouts. 1 column, walks at 1-5, 1-6 and 1-12. Groundball (a) at 1-7 and 1-8. Lineout at 1-10. Rest strikeouts.

First round, second pick: 1B/3B/OF Nolan Jones. This guy is apparently the second coming of Roberto Clemente with a minus-5 arm, yet somehow is paired with a 4 fielding rating. I guess he lets balls fall in for a double and then throws them out trying to stretch it to a triple? Do you play him for his arm or DH him for his lack of athletic ability in the field? We have the perfect solution. We’ll play Jones at first base, where he’s a better fielder than Joey Meneses, then when a runner is trying to go first to third, or score from second, or tag up, while the play’s in progress we’ll make a defensive substitution to get Jones’ howitzer into position to throw out the runner. This is a little-known legal maneuver in 48 of the 50 states. How’d we get a second pick in the first round, you ask? We will trade Aaron Judge and his inadequate minus-4 arm to gain a pick to snag Jones.

Second round: OF Nelson Velazquez. Who? Velazquez fills our all-important seventh outfielder spot on the club thanks to super freaky righty-on-righty power numbers along with 162 at-bats. How freaky? Well, he has 15.6 pure homer chances against righties plus the maximum 8 diamond chances. Split the difference on those ballpark chances and that’s 19.6 homer chances against righties. For perspective, that’s 47% more than Aaron Judge, who has 13.3. On occasion you’ll see this kind of power against lefties but rarely against righties, especially from a righty. I’m snagging him before the Coors Field Volcanoes, now in our division, do, where on sunny days Velazquez might have up to 23 homer chances.

Third round: OF Jorge Soler. Now that we have all these studs against righties I’m a little concerned about teams throwing lefties at us. Soler is the perfect defense against that, with the same 19.6 homer chances against lefties that Velazquez offers against righties. He becomes our eighth outfielder, but I’m snagging him before the Coors Field Volcanoes, now in our division, do, where on sunny days Soler might have up to 23 homer chances.

Fourth round: One of those Blue Jays infielders. I’m sort of set up the middle with Xander Bogaerts and Bryson Stott, but the constitution requires two guys at every position, so this round I’m eyeballing either Ernie Clement or Davis Schneider. Clement’s card is beyond super freaky; no strikeouts or walks on either side. Hits .545 against righties, .466 against lefties. I’m leaning toward Schneider though, because of more at-bats (116 vs. 50), and a .586 OBA vs. lefties with 15.5 homer chances. Plus, he can fill in as our ninth outfielder in a pinch.

Fifth round: LHP Andrew Saalfreak: No way I’m passing up the chance to draft a guy named Saalfreak for the Applegate Super Freaks. To begin with, he got a card even though he only pitched 10 innings. For another, he’s a lefty with a .000 batting-average-against card vs. lefties, with just 6 walk chances. He’s the perfect guy to bring in against Greendale when Juan Soto strides to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the third inning. Don’t want to pinch-hit for Soto this early in the game, do ya Greendale??? “Here’s the pitch… and Saalfreak gets Soto to ground meekly to second base. So that gets Applegate out of the jam, and we go to the top of the fourth, and the score remains, Greendale 10, Applegate 2.” I can do this 30 times over the course of the season, keeping me in games and making this draft pick well worth the investment. P.S. I’m presuming by the fourth round that other nearly-blank freak cards such as righties Shelby Miller and Jeff Hoffman and lefties Tyler Holton and JoJo Romero will already be gone. P.P.S. This just in, it’s Saalfrank, not Saalfreak. No matter.

Sixth round: C Martin Maldonado. Back in the day, when speedsters ruled the top of the order, “A-B” guys were the choice du jour for a two-hole hitter. This meant an A bunter and a B hit-and-run guy. On the off-chance that your speedster failed to get a lead, you could burn the defense with an easy sacrifice bunt (often for a hit), or a hit-and-run play that often resulted in runners at first and third. Sadly this lost art of bat control has given way to Kyle Schwarbers batting leadoff and teams’ best hitters batting second, guys whom you don’t want giving themselves up. But 37-year-old Maldonado with his 1-8 speed is bringing that lost art back. Out of the 523 hitters retained and eligible to be drafted this year, there’s only one who is an “A-B” player. His name is Martin Maldonado. Maldonado was cut by the Clips so there’s a potential holdout situation brewing but we’re confident we can get him to report to camp eventually. And after a dozen game-winning squeeze bunt RBIs, we predict that some wise guy next November will propose a rule that says you can’t bring your backup catcher off the bench to pinch-hit and lay down a squeeze bunt.

Seventh round: OF Dairon Blanco. In 1982, Tim Raines stole 195 bases for the Paperclips, a record that stands to this day. We’re drafting Blanco to challenge that mark. And serve as a 10th outfielder. How’s he gonna do it? He’s a star stealer with 2-11 chances for a good lead. (That’s 97.2%). He has a 20 for his first number. On those 2.8% of occasions he fails to get a lead, he has a 16 for his second number. This is also the number he’s starting with to steal third. So unless you’ve got a pitcher-combo catcher in the negative range, even if he’s held at second you almost can’t stop him from stealing third (70%). And wait! “Now Blanco’s edging off third… there he goes!!!” South Grand Prairie used a light variation of this strategy in 2021 as Billy Hamilton stole 15 bases despite just 20 at-bats. He was an automatic good lead runner (2-12) and had 18 and 16 as his lead numbers. As a pinch-runner deluxe who steals two bases a game, Blanco will have Raines’ record by the end of July and be available to the highest bidder for their stretch run in exchange for some freakish next-year talent. He may not be much of a hitter, but he’s alright. He’s alright! He’s alright with me. Hey, hey, hey, hey!

Eighth round to 15th round: Will need several 200-inning pitchers, a starting third baseman, some help at first base and a DH upgrade.

Yow!

The draft of the unknown soldiers

So many unknowns about our March 10 partial retention draft in Phoenix to kick off the 45th season of the I-75 League.

Unlike many years when the No. 1 pick is fairly obvious, this year it’s not.

The pool of great this-year-cards-who-will-help-me-make-the-playoffs is thin.

The pool of first-year player cards is deep overall, but thin at the top.

Add to that the fact that it’s a little hard to forecast picks for the top three teams. You never know what Bismarck’s gonna do in any draft, this is only the second draft for Carpe Diem, and Applegate’s season is so hopeless that it needs help just about everywhere other than right field for 100 games.

Then there’s the speed factor. The change in MLB rules for 2023 has resulted in seemingly every player suddenly becoming a star stealer. What impact will that have on our typically bombs-away collective mentality?

These are the things we think about as we prepare to choose our soldiers and go to war for yet another season.

• Have you looked at starting pitching? Assessing available right-handed starters with six innings of endurance, I count exactly two guys available with a balanced card: Kodai Senga (who’s already 31) and Bobby Miller. Everyone else gets fairly well roasted from one side of the plate or the other. You might as well take your chances with lefties after that.
• Never heard of Kutter Crawford, Cole Ragans, Tyler Holton? Better get familiar with these unknowns. Don’t be surprised if they get snapped up in the first round or early second.
• That lefty-long-relief strategy pioneered by Boulder’s Framber Valdez in 2021 (212 innings, almost all in relief) and ridden to success in 2022 in Dyersville with Ranger Suarez when he went a ridiculous 22-3 for the Treblemakers? Hard to see that being utilized this year; Ragans is the best candidate with 96 innings, and Greendale has retained Matt Strahm, who’d be serviceable with 88, but the rest of the lefties with innings get hit pretty hard by righties.
• There is an abundance of good relief cards, but many of them are 1-inning pitchers and many of those have low inning totals for the season. With the 105% rule stripped out this year, managers risk falling short of their required 600 at-bats and 1500 innings pitched to comprise a constitutional roster.
• And again, the speed. Not only will stolen bases increase, but so will the frequency with which you’ll have to hold runners. That puts increasing value on pitchers’ hold factors and catchers’ throwing arms. And, on middle infielders’ fielding ratings, which will worsen on more X-rolls than before. What kind of value does that give to a card like Ezequiel Tovar, a 1e7 shortstop with 581 at-bats but only a .695 OPS? How about Patrick Bailey, a 1(-3) catcher with 326 at-bats but only hits lefties?
• Catcher overall will be a fascinating position to watch in the draft, as there’s only one good all-around catcher available with 300-plus at-bats in the person of Yainer Diaz at 3(-2), and there’s no less than three teams (Carpe Diem, Superior, South Grand Prairie) that have a complete void at catcher going into the draft. Bismarck might as well have a void, as its only backstop is the middling Yasmani Grandal, a 3(+3). Hmm. Is it too early to take Diaz at No. 1 overall? No. 2 overall? Doubtful he’ll still be around on the second pass.

Maybe these unknowns will achieve clarity in the five weeks between today and the draft, or maybe our 45th draft will feature more draft-day intrigue than most. Stay tuned!

With chance to improve their team, these nine clubs never wavered

It’s just one player, and historically that one player never makes much of a dent in a championship run or even sticks around a long time. But just the chance that one might — so you’re saying there’s a chance — was enough for nine clubs to retain just 17 players instead of 18 and gamble on a hidden gem in our annual waiver draft.

Nine teams in the draft is more than we usually get, and many managers were eyeing the same players. You’re not likely to land your everyday cleanup hitter in the waiver draft, but starting pitching, lefty mashers and other role players were the most prized commodities. Superior and Bismarck had two former players each claimed, while single draftees came from five other clubs.

Here’s a recap of the one-round, nine-pick drama that played out over eight days to put some spark in the winter break. Comments are from the drafting managers:

1. Superior Titans: OF Robbie Grossman

Cut by: Bushwood
From Mike Renbarger — Why I took Robbie Grossman: There were 3 lefty-mashing outfielders available that could play a vital platoon role for the Titans in 2024.  I selected Grossman for his .952 OPS vs. LHP, a strong second half of the season … yet despite his 4 rating in LF/RF. 
Did you get the guy you wanted? Yes, of course.  I “earned” the first pick.
Other players I considered: It came down to a choice between the 3 available lefty-mashing outfielders: Grossman, Harrison Bader and Randall Grichuk. Bader was tempting, but his projected CF-1e11 scared me away.  Grichuk was tempting, but his lefty-mashing took place mostly in Coors Field, and I got scared away by SOM’s propensity to devalue BA-driven performance from Colorado players. All three got taken in the Waiver Draft. 
“Good pick!” Somebody else’s pick I admire and why: Josiah Gray, by the Clips. I initially thought that I would reselect my first cut, SP Josiah Gray, with no risk, since I was drafting first.  So all options were judged for value against Gray. I decided to pivot to Grossman, given that the Titans have an overabundance of starting pitcher innings already on the roster, but I expect Gray to continue to develop into a quality starting pitcher.

2. Carpe Diem OmegaWatts: IF Tommy Edman

Cut by: Greendale
From George Scienski — Why I took Tommy Edman: Positional flexibility (2B, SS, OF), enough AB to cover required AB for 2B, SS and all OF positions, good defense, decent speed, still young enough at 28, one more year of arbitration eligibility before free agency — so maybe he ups his game. (Edman becomes the first play to don an OmegaWatts uniform; Carpe Diem is changing its name from Cardinals for the ’24 season.)
Did you get the guy you wanted? With the second overall pick, I was confident that I would get my choice.  
Other players I considered: My fallback was pitching probably Gray, Jack Flaherty, Yu Darvish, Reid Detmers, Ranger Suarez.
“Good pick!” Somebody else’s pick I admire and why: Even when you get the guy that you think that you wanted, it’s so easy to think that you made the wrong decision.  A kind of buyer’s remorse.  I should have taken pitching or looked closer at Grichuk. I’m still trying to figure out how to value players.  At this point, last year I had 3 picks — Austin Hays, Whit Merrifield, and Wil Myers (and he is out of baseball).

3. Bismarck Bombers: C Yasmani Grandal

Cut by: Superior
From Steve Bizek — Why I took Yasmani Grandal: Mostly because he had 360 or so AB’s. Also like having a switch-hitter. Felt as though I needed a catcher. He appears to be a professional hitter. Knows the strike zone. Hoping he’ll be a decent fit for the Bombers.
Did you get the guy you wanted? Grandal was the player I coveted.
Other players I considered: Also considered Travis D’Arnaud
“Good pick!” Somebody else’s pick I admire and why: Liked the Grichuk pick (by West Atlanta) … probably my 18th keeper.

4. Savannah Scorpions: SP Yu Darvish

Cut by: Olympic Coast
From Steve Hart — Why I took Yu Darvish: There aren’t many starting pitchers in the draft with more than 120 IP worth drafting. Drafting Darvish as my sixth starter frees me from drafting two starting pitchers in the draft to equal Darvish. Additionally, despite his age, I consider Darvish to have a decent chance to put up good numbers (and being retainable) this MLB season. I was pleased he fell to me with my pick.
Did you get the guy you wanted? Yes
Other players I considered: Tommy Edman (to play the OF to share playing time with Leody Taveres and/or Alex Verdugo) and Gio Urshela (to share playing time with Gunnar Henderson at 3B) were numbers two and three on my list. 
“Good pick!” Somebody else’s pick I admire and why: The lefty mashers who went were good picks, IMHO.

5. Boulder Tree Huggers: OF Harrison Bader

Cut by: Bismarck

6. Applegate Paperclips: SP Josiah Gray

Cut by: Superior
From Gary Kicinski — Why I took Josiah Gray: I was licking my chops over a few lefty mashers but given my bleak 2024 outlook had to stay disciplined and try to take the youngest player I could find who had the potential to develop into a good, if not great, player for 5 to 8 years, even if his current card was nothing to write home about. The Nats like Gray, whom they obtained from the Dodgers in the Scherzer/Turner deal, and he should be a No. 2-3 starter for them at worst for a good long time. At age 26 he was the youngest of the three starting pitchers I was hoping would still be around with the sixth pick. And innings are becoming ever more of a precious commodity; boosting me closer to 1500 now will give me a teeny bit more flexibility to pursue position player prospects in the March draft.
Did you get the guy you wanted? Yes
Other players I considered: Dean Kremer, Clarke Schmidt, Randal Grichuk, Harrison Bader.
“Good pick!” Somebody else’s pick I admire and why: Randal Grichuk for West Atlanta is a beast against lefties, .995 OPS, one of the top 13 OPS in all of MLB vs. lefties among qualified hitters. A steal with the eighth pick.

7. Bushwood Gophers: SP Jack Flaherty

Cut by: Dyersville
From Dave Renbarger — Why I took Jack Flaherty:  Can never have enough pitching…He is still young and was a legit Cy Young contender just a few years ago…Like having Tigers on my team…Read a news story that suggested Jack is a great bounceback candidate, even though his card for this year won’t be much…Made two relief appearances last year so will have relief on his card.  Can serve as a mopup bullpen guy this year and hopefully a valued rotation guy in future years.
Did you get the guy you wanted?  Not at all.  I was lusting after three of the six players that went ahead of him.
Other players I considered: As a 1 in center who kills lefties and steal bases, Harrison Bader was the obvious No. 1 on my draft board, and I was stunned that Mike passed on him.  Then a couple of other guys also passed on him and I was getting my hopes up when the Huggers snagged him at No. 5.  Next on my list was Tommy Edman, a perfect fit for my team which is thin at second and center field (he is a 2 at both spots).  But George snagged him at No. 2.  Next up was Darvish, but Steve Hart told me he was gonna grab him at No. 4, so I knew he was out.  After Bader went at No. 5, I knew either Josiah Gray or Flaherty would be there for me at No. 7 and would be happy with either.  Liked Gray better but had a strong hunch that the Clips would take him.  Before pulling the trigger on Flaherty, I started wavering between him and Teoscar Hernandez (still young, decent card on a down year) but finally settled on Jack.
“Good pick!” Somebody else’s pick I admire and why: Would say that the two best-value picks were Bader at No. 5 and Randal Grichuk at No. 8.  Both guys should be heavy contributors in 2024.

8. West Atlanta Crush: OF Randal Grichuk

Cut by: Bismarck
From Jeff Richards — Why I took Randal Grichuk: For his 900+ ops vs lefties. He’s a 3 in LF so playable there.
Did you get the guy you wanted? I was looking at Bader, but when he was selected, Grichuk was the next best choice for that role. 
Other players I considered:  Well, Bader (see above).  However, if Grichuk had been taken, I would looking at Dean Kremer as a ‘fill-in-the-innings’ SP.
“Good pick!” Somebody else’s pick I admire and why:  See above regarding Bader.  900+ ops vs lefties, and a 1 fielder.

9. Olympic Coast Orcas: SP Reynaldo Lopez

Cut by: Boulder
From Jamin Rader — Why I took Reynaldo López: At the ninth pick, the guys I’d wanted for next-year benefit were gone, so it left me to pick someone who could benefit my team in 2025, and hopefully in future seasons as well. Reynaldo had a sizzling second half and will provide a decent 66 IP for my 2024 team. He signed with the Braves and, given that Chris Sale and Max Fried are both starters with big question marks when it comes to health, I think there is a good chance he starts next year. 
Did you get the guy you wanted: I wanted Robbie Grossman, Randal Grichuk or Harrison Bader, due to their splits against lefties. However, focusing beyond the 2024 I-75 season, I think Reynaldo has more future potential.
Other players I considered: RHP Jordan Hicks, LHP Nick Lodolo.
“Good Pick!” Somebody else’s pick I admire and why: Randal Grichuk going as late as eighth was a definite surprise to me — kudos to West Atlanta. They really needed offense vs. lefties in their outfield. Jack Flaherty wasn’t even on my radar, and if he can stay healthy, he could be an ace for future Bushwood ballclubs. Good picks.

2020-23 Quad Cup honors go to Volcanoes

They may not have won any World Series in the past four years, nor posted the league’s best record, nor did they even win a division title, but the Margaritaville Volcanoes emerged as the winner of the Quad Cup for having the best record over the past four years.

Tatooine’s World Series win brings to a close the four-year block of our present divisional alignment. New divisions take effect in 2024, where each division features two returning playoff teams.

As we look back on the 2020 through 2023 seasons, the Volcanoes edged out the Bushwood Gophers for Quad Cup honors with a record of 352-288 (.550). North Division rival Bushwood was just two games back at 350-290 (.547).

While those clubs were the model of consistency and success, the pinnacles of postseason achievement came from the West Division, where Tatooine (which was third overall in regular-season winning percentage) twice held down league best-record honors and won one World Series. Division rival Superior, meanwhile, won two World Series and captured best record one time.

Bushwood and Dyersville were the only teams to make the playoffs in three of the four years. Collectively, 13 of the league’s 15 franchises made the playoffs at least once in the quadrennial. Every franchise in the North made the playoffs at least twice.

The South Division had four different champions in four years. It also only had one wild-card representative in four years. The Greendale Zealots, who had the fourth-best overall record in the quadrennial, led that division in wins handily at 339.

Here’s a look at the numbers. A .500 record would be 320-320. Two franchises changed hands over this time period; Satellite Beach became Olympic Coast in 2021, and Destin became Carpe Diem in 2023.

WEST	2020 W	2021 W	2022 W	2023 W	Total W	WS titles	Best rec.	Div titles	Playoffs
TAT	52	113	76	105	346	1	2	2	2
DYT	89	65	93	91	338		1 (t)	1	3
SUP	96	85	89	44	314	2	1	1	2
APP	83	64	89	74	310				1
BIS	75	45	63	63	246
NORTH	2020 W	2021 W	2022 W	2023 W	Total W	WS titles	Best rec.	Div titles	Playoffs
MAR	91	84	77	100	352				2
BUS	92	87	93	78	350		1 (t)	2	3
NNY	57	97	66	102	322			2	2
DES/CDC	76	87	93	59	315	1	1 (t)		2
SAT/OCC	90	54	68	95	307				2
SOUTH	2020 W	2021 W	2022 W	2023 W	Total W	WS titles	Best rec.	Div titles	Playoffs
GRZ	84	92	85	78	339			1	1
BTH	96	86	73	73	328			1	1
WAT	74	79	81	81	315
SAV	83	70	89	69	311			1	1
SGP	62	92	65	88	307			1	2

No. 1 overall picks for these four years were Julio Rodriguez (New New York, 2023); Wander Franco (Superior, 2022); Ke’Bryan Hayes (Destin, 2021); and Vlad Guerrero Jr. (New New York, 2020). 

Superior was the Quad Cup winner for the last quadrennial, 2016 to 2019.

The Force was with the Rebels in WS thriller

In 1991, the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins played one of the most memorable World Series ever. The Braves went up 3 games to 2 and were on the verge of clinching in Game Six when Kirby Puckett homered in the ninth for a walkoff win to force a Game Seven (“And we’ll see you … tomorrow night!”)

That Game Seven saw a pitchers’ duel between the Braves’ John Smoltz and the Twins’ Jack Morris that kept the game scoreless through nine innings, before the Twins broke through for a 1-0, 10-inning, Series-clinching, walkoff win on a outfield-in single with one out and the bases loaded by Gene Larkin. (“And the Minnesota Twins … are the champions of the world!”)

That is the only 1-0, Game Seven, walkoff win in baseball history to culminate a World Series, giving some perspective to the epic nature of the Tatooine-South Grand Prairie clash that the I-75 League just witnessed.

The Rebels took the crown in the bottom of the 10th in Game Seven when J.P. Crawford and Brandon Nimmo connected for back-to-back doubles off Evan Phillips to give Tatooine a 1-0 win over the Warriors and hand manager Nick Calderon and Tatooine their first I-75 League World Series title and the Pittman Cup.

“I can’t say how amazing winning it all feels,” said Nick after the title had sunk in.  “Going up against the foremost Strat-o-Matic brains in the country and coming out on top is definitely surreal.”

Adding to the drama of the series was the fact that every game was low scoring and close. The home team won every game, meaning the top-seeded Rebels went up 2-0 at home, then Garth Lewis‘ third-seeded Warriors surged in front with three straight wins at home, putting them one win away from claiming their fourth World Series crown.

But the Warriors not only couldn’t win another game, they couldn’t score another run, as Zac Gallen anchored a 1-0 Game Six win and the Rebel bullpen pitched seven innings of one-hit ball in the 1-0 Game Seven win.

“After the three games in Boston,  I thought it was over,” said Nick, referring to the Warriors’ home park. “Garth is a great tactician and he pitched starters that took advantage of my lefty-heavy lineup.  I knew I had to rely more on my bullpen, so I tightened the leash even more once we returned to Tatooine.”

It was a tough way for the Warriors to bow out, having fought their way through the Southern Division gauntlet to slip into the playoffs as the third seed despite having the fewest wins of any of the six postseason teams. The Warriors got hot in October with a 15-5 month and then knocked off No. 6 Dyersville and No. 2 New New York in five and seven games, respectively.

“We got to where we wanted to be, we just came up short when we needed a run,” said Garth. “We had a special team — scored enough throughout the season despite not being a home-run hitting team. It was a fun group and I’m disappointed in how things turned out.”

The losing team never scored more than one run in this series. Tatooine won the first two games 2-1 and 4-1; then South Grand Prairie got cooking with some home cooking and reeled off 3-0, 6-1 and 3-1 wins, setting the stage for the return to Tatooine and the back-to-back 1-0 nail-biters.

“Scoring just two runs in four games at his park was brutal,” said Garth. The Rebels played at Cleveland’s Progressive Field, a slight hitters’ park where homers favored lefties.

The Rebels were the wire-to-wire division winner of the Westbound Division and overtook New New York in the final month for the No. 1 seed with a 105-55 record. Although the No. 1 seed has only captured the World Series crown in five of 12 years during our 15-team era, that homefield advantage paid off in this postseason.

Gallen had an incredible postseason for Tatooine, allowing only one unearned run against the Warriors and posting a 0.31 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 29 innings in the postseason. “His stuff is elite and we feel like he doesn’t always get the recognition he deserves,” said Nick.

Other key factors Nick cited were Freddie Freeman (.364 in the Series), Shohei Ohtani (Game One win in the Series and a complete-game win plus a .333 average in the semifinal series win over No. 4 Margaritaville), and the 1-2 bullpen punch of Edwin Diaz and Emmanuel Clase (combined 8 2/3 innings of 0.00 ERA in the Series).

Tatooine hit just .203 in the postseason but its 2.50 team ERA was its trump card.

Paul Goldschmidt hit seven homers and drove in 17 to carry the Warriors, who hit .230 in the postseason and posted a dazzling 2.89 team ERA, but came up short by the slimmest of margins.

“I look forward to defending the title and creating an I-75 dynasty!” said Nick.

Tatooine, South Grand Prairie to meet in Series

The steady-all-year-long Tatooine Rebels and the catching-fire-late South Grand Prairie Warriors will meet in the 2023 World Series.

The series pits the division champions from the Westbound Division and the Southbound Division, and pits the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds.

It also matches up the playoff teams with the best regular-season record (Tatooine at 105-55) with the worst regular-season record (SGP at 88-72). But the Warriors of October and November haven’t been playing like the Warriors of the first seven months of the season.

SGP was just 73-67 and struggling to fend off three other teams in its own division before breaking out with a 15-5 October.

Entering the playoffs as the 3 seed, the Warriors then knocked out all remaining Renbargers, ousting Ryan’s Dyersville Treblemakers in five games, and Jason’s New New York Hypnotoads in seven games.

Warrior pitching held Dyersville to 10 runs and a .145 average in that series, and was the decisive factor against New New York too when Tony Gonsolin teamed with three relievers on a two-hit, 4-0 shutout in Game Seven. Prior to Game Seven, the home team won each of the first six games.

Tatooine had a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed, and faced No. 4 Margaritaville after the Volcanoes defeated No. 5 Olympic Coast in six games, five of which were decided by one or two runs.

The Margaritaville-Tatooine series was tied 2-2 when Rebel arms tightened the screws on the high-powered Volcano offense, holding it to one run over the final two games, with Tatooine prevailing 7-1 in Game Five and 1-0 in Game Six. Zac Gallen, Carlos Rodon and a dynamic bullpen provided the hurling heroics.

That sets up South Grand Prairie’s challenge of Tatooine in the championship. Tatooine went 7-3 against the Warriors this season.

But those games were played before October.

Thought the playoff seedings were pretty much set. Turns out all Betts were off.

After seven months of play with very little drama, our 44th season wrapped up its eighth and final month with more tension than a league should legally be allowed to have.

As it turned out, some of it wasn’t legal.

The month of October began with six teams all but assured of playoff berths and the only question remaining was the order of the playoff seedings. The expectation was there would be a battle for:

• the top seed between Tatooine and New New York, each with 92 wins
• possibly the Southbound crown, where three teams were within four games of South Grand Prairie’s 73 wins
• the order of the 4-5-6 seeds, where Olympic Coast (85), Margaritaville (83) and Dyersville (80) were the contenders.

Tatooine did its part, reeling off a 13-win month to glide into the postseason with 105 wins and the top seed.

South Grand Prairie quickly snuffed any flickering title hopes of its challengers with a 15-win month to capture the division and secure the third seed.

Olympic Coast and Dyersville did what they needed to do, locking down playoff berths with solid months: 10 wins for the Orcas gave them 95 and the fifth seed; 11 wins for the Treblemakers gave them 91 and the sixth seed.

That left the Volcanoes and the Hypnotoads and the Northbound crown. Trailing New New York by nine games entering the month (92 wins to 83), it didn’t seem fathomable that the Volcanoes could catch or surpass the Hypnotoads, who had double-figure win totals each month of the year.

But then came 4-1 series wins for Margaritaville over Bushwood and Olympic Coast, while New New York merely broke even against those two foes. That gave the Volcanoes a net gain of three.

New New York went 3-2 against Carpe Diem, while Margaritaville swept the Cardinals to pick up two more games. All of a sudden, the season was coming down to a final five-game showdown between New New York and Margaritaville. But the Volcanoes still needed an improbable sweep to sneak into first.

Four victories later, the Volcanoes had the Hypnotoads’ division title hopes on the ropes. A finish for the ages was at hand. Hollywood was alerted.

Each team had 100 wins. Entering the ninth inning of Game Five, neither team had a run. The game went extra innings. Leading off the bottom of the 10th, the Volcanoes’ Nolan Arenado poked a two-run ballpark homer off Ryan Helsley, and the Volcanoes had victory No. 101.

But hold the phone.

In that earlier New New York-Carpe Diem series it came to light that Nathan Eovaldi, who was out of innings, started and pitched a complete game 4-2 win in Game Five for the Cardinals. League officers had no choice but to award New New York a forfeit victory, giving them 101 wins.

Then it was revealed that in that Game Five of the New New York-Margaritaville series, the Volcanoes batted Mookie Betts with two out in the bottom of the ninth even though Betts had used his last at-bat for the year in the bottom of the seventh. Betts popped out in the ninth, played the field in the 10th, and was the “ghost” runner on second who scored the winning run on Arenado’s homer.

This circumstance threw the legitimacy of Margaritaville’s 101st win into question. The league officers wrestled with varying perspectives and consulted impartial managers. Everything from forgive to forfeit and everything in-between was considered. Ultimately the league took the unprecedented step of ordering a replay from the point at which Betts took his illegal at-bat.

And in that replay, pinch-hitter Albert Pujols struck out, Willie Adames hit a two-run homer in the top of the 10th for the Hypnotoads, and New New York held on for a 2-0 win.

That gave New New York 102 wins (including the forfeit win over Carpe Diem) and the Northbound crown. Margaritaville finishes with 100 wins and the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.

Had Margaritaville prevailed in the replay, both teams would have had 101 wins and the Volcanoes would have been awarded the title based on an 8-7 advantage in head-to-head play.

With all of that finally settled, the playoffs can proceed with an unparalleled field that features three teams with 100-win seasons and a sixth seed that won 91 games. The matchups are:

• No. 3 South Grand Prairie (88-72) vs. No. 6 Dyersville (91-69). Winner gets No. 2 New New York (102-58).
• No. 4 Margaritaville (100-60) vs. No. 5 Olympic Coast (95-65). Winner gets No. 1 Tatooine (105-55).

The Carpe Diem forfeit, the Margaritaville overuse of Betts that forced an unprecedented replay, and other overusages across the league also led to other postseason penalty decisions.

So a quiet season that saw an early determination of the haves and have-nots has wrapped up in the most chaotic manner imaginable.

Here’s hoping for a clean postseason settled between the lines.

Clip Files for 2023

A 9-11 October wrapped up a 74-86 season for the Clips, better than they expected but unfortunately not very successful in setting the stage for much of an improvement in 2024.

Injured and underperforming players kept the Clips languishing near the bottom of the Yahoo standings, where they finished second-to-last in homers, slugging and OPS, and dead last in WHIP.

Slugger Aaron Judge came into October with 57 homers and he pounded four in the first 10 games, leaving him just one shy of his real-life American League record of 62. But alas he was totally blanked in those final 10 as-played games against Superior and Tatooine, forcing him to settle for a league-leading 61, which frankly was more than we were expecting given the cavernous ballpark we chose.

The strategy with that selection was to try to keep the Clips in games at home, reducing the opposition’s ability to outslug us. That paid off in the Clips outhomering the opposition 83-80 at home and surprisingly 104-95 on the road for a total homer advantage of 187-175. The homers allowed figure was 10 off from the league best.

The Clips hit a woeful .199 with 60 runs scored in October. For the year they hit a league-worst .220. Five players with 87 or more at-bats finished below the Mendoza line, including Riley Greene (.182 in 379 at-bats, 71 points under his real-life .253) and Jesse Winker (.179 in 470 at-bats). … After hitting .186 in October, Judge finished at .258 for the year (53 points under his real-life .311) with 109 runs scored and a league-high 116 RBIs. … Willson Conteras hit exactly .200 in 436 at-bats (43 points under his real-life average). He only hit 14 homers, nine shy of his 105% total of 23. His season was most notable for a league-high 30 hit-by-pitches. … Xander Bogaerts hit 48 points below his real-life average (.259 / .307) … Jon Berti got only 273 at-bats (hitting .198) but still managed to steal 31 bases. …

On the pitching side of things, no Clip pitcher reached double figures in wins. Matt Manning, acquired in a trade with an eye toward next year, made the most of his 10 innings in October with just four hits allowed, but was unable to record a win. Limited to 82 innings, Freddy Peralta had a nice year at 6-5, 2.96 ERA with just 53 hits allowed. Marcus Stroman was the only other starter who did not have a losing record, going 9-9, 3.83 in 145 2/3 innings. Dakota Hudson somehow went 5-0 out of the bullpen, including 3-0 in October. … Applegate was plus-10 in one-run games at 28-18, one of only three teams that could make that claim (New New York, West Atlanta). … Clip pitchers teamed up with Contreras and Martin Maldonado to allow the fewest stolen bases in the league (39) and fewest attempts (55).

Only one player, Eduardo Escobar, was in double figures for error total, as the Clips led the league in fewest errors at 53.

Having drafted and made trades with 2024 in mind, the Clips now fear they will have to look even further into the future. Recapping those moves:

First round: Riley Greene, decent season (.288, 11 HRs, .796 OPS) but cut short by injury (378 AB).
Second round: Joey Meneses, chosen as trade bait, couldn’t find a trade partner, now stuck with a DH with no power (.275, 13, .722)
Third round: Roansy Contreras, flamed out with Pirates.
Fourth round: Pete Fairbanks, chosen as trade bait, packaged with Byron Buxton to Margaritaville for Jarred Kellenic, who fractured his foot in a fit of anger, hit .253, 11, .746 in just 372 at-bats.
Fifth round: Mackenzie Gore, failed to blossom, 7-10, 4.42 ERA, needs more seasoning.
Sixth round: Oswald Peraza, looked like a starting SS in spring training, job went to Anthony Volpe, Peraza primarily languished in minors until garbage time, .191, 2, .539 in 173 ABs.

Besides Kelenic, the Clips picked up Matt Manning, who was having a good season (5-4, 3.58 ERA, 1.04 WHIP) when he was hit by a 119-mph line drive by Giancarlo Stanton and fractured his right foot.

And of course, Aaron Judge, the only player Clips fans pay to see, tore a toe ligament crashing into an outfield gate in Dodger Stadium and was limited to 367 ABs.

Two years ago the Clips suffered through a 64-96 season and rebounded to 89-71 in 2022. A similar 25-win improvement in 2024 seems highly improbable.

Dead heat for top seed with 20 games to go

At the seven-eighths pole of our 44th season, there isn’t much drama about the wild-card race. There’s a mammoth 10-game difference between the team currently holding the sixth playoff spot and the teams on the outside of postseason competition.

But Tatooine and New New York are neck-and-neck heading into the homestretch in pursuit of the league’s regular-season title, each with 92 wins. And the South Division, which is destined to claim the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, is a four-team horse race with 20 games to go. South Grand Prairie is on top with 73 wins, but Boulder and West Atlanta are preparing their playoff kick with 70 wins and Greendale is just one length back at 69.

But the battle for the treasured title of regular-season champion will likely come down to Tatooine or New New York, both of whom are seven games ahead of Olympic Coast (85 wins) and nine games ahead of Margaritaville (83 wins), which also have all but sewn up postseason berths.

The Rebels and Hypotoads are both on the brink of completing remarkable turnarounds from losing seasons in 2022, when Tatooine won just 76 games and New New York only 66.

Who is the favorite to hit the tape first? With intradivisional play on tap, Tatooine might seem to have the easier path, as collectively the Westbound Division doesn’t sport as many strong teams as the Northbound Division that the Hypnotoads have overcome. The Orcas and Volcanoes have the third- and fourth-best records in the league and New New York’s four opponents have an average win percentage of .521, while Tatooine’s four October opponents have an average win percentage of .405. Only Dyersville at 80-60 has a winning record, and Superior, coming off a 4-win September, is just 35-105.

Tatooine is 27-13 inside its division while New New York is 23-17.

But before we anoint the Rebels, note that Tatooine has some pitching limitations that could handcuff it. Never-used Ian Anderson is slated for two starts, trade acquisition Noah Syndergaard will make his first starts for the Rebels, and Tatooine’s other sterling starters have an average of five innings per start to work with. Its bullpen will require careful managing as well.

So we expect Tatooine and New New York to finish 1-2 in some order, and Olympic Coast, Margaritaville and Dyersville to finish 4-5-6 in some order.

The No. 3 seed will go to the champion of the South, where West Atlanta is the only contender playing like it wants to win the division. The Crush have won 13 games each of the last two months, while South Grand Prairie has won just 8 and 9, Boulder has won 9 and 9, and Greendale has won 9 and 10. Someone will prevail, but the other three have virtually no chance at squeaking in as a wild-card team.

WILD-CARD STANDINGS

DIVISION LEADERS	W	L	Pct.	GB
TATOOINE	92	48	.657	—
NEW NEW YORK	92	48	.657	—
SOUTH GRAND PRAIRIE	73	67	.521	—
WILD-CARD RACE	W	L	Pct.	GB
OLYMPIC COAST	85	55	.607	+5
MARGARITAVILLE	83	57	.593	+3
DYERSVILLE	80	60	.571	—
BOULDER	70	70	.500	-10
WEST ATLANTA	70	70	.500	-10
GREENDALE	69	71	.493	-11

How Olympic Coast Orca-strated a contender

Two-plus years ago Jamin Rader was a newbie to the league and largely to Strat. He took his lumps the first year, 106 of them (only 54 wins) and improved by 14 games (68-92) in the 2022 season.

This year he’s already surpassed that total with 72 wins, following a 13-7 August that allowed his Olympic Coast Orcas to leap over Margaritaville for both second place in their division and fourth place in the wild-card standings.

And furthermore, the Orcas are just five games back of New New York for the Northbound Division lead, as Tatooine has established itself as the division leader that is a lead-pipe cinch to win a division title, a mantra that seemed certain to reside in New New York after the Hypnotoads’ 31-9 start. Tatooine has opened up a 13-game lead in the Westbound Division over Dyersville, while South Grand Prairie clings to a three-game lead in the struggling Southbound Division.

The Orcas recorded three 4-1 series wins in August, including one such outcome in an intradivision showdown with Margaritaville on the road. Olympic Coast coasted past South Grand Prairie and Bismarck by the same margin.

“I think August play highlighted how much luck plays into these matchups,” said manager Jamin of his Orcas. “In the series against Margaritaville and the Warriors, it really felt like one split could have changed the outcome of each game.”

The Rebels provided a bit of a reality check though, as Tatooine turned the 4-1 tables on the Orcas. “The losses to Tatooine didn’t feel nearly that close — Nick is fielding a team that should have a lot of luck in the playoffs, unless, of course, the curse continues,” Jamin said.

The Rebels did enjoy the league’s best month at 14-6, solidifying their status as the projected postseason No. 1 seed with an 80-40 record, three better than New New York.

But the Orcas look to be on target for 90 or more wins, with the potential to do some postseason damage.

“I am confident that the Orcas have a shot at the Pittman Cup this year,” Jamin said, “but we still have holes, most notably at shortstop against reverse righties and we lack any of the best relievers in the league.

“The trade deadline pickups of (Jeff) McNeil and (Gio) Urshela will make a big difference. We are crossing our fingers that luck stays on our side through the playoffs. Winning the whole thing is always the goal, but winning a series will be celebrated almost as much.”

Even making the postseason for the first time would seem to be an accomplishment on what might appear to be an accelerated pace for the franchise in only its third season. Jamin stepped into a managerial vacancy in May of 2021, so he’s had only two drafts and two trade deadlines to fashion his club into a contender.

“Our sights have really been set on the 2024 season,” admitted Jamin. “Being in a playoff spot this deep into 2023 is exciting, but I’ve had to remind myself that we aren’t going for just one year. We traded away some really good young talent in Logan Webb, Nolan Gorman and Keibert Ruiz (who got hot right after the trade), but thanks to bounce-back seasons from Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager, I think we are in a good place moving into 2024.” 

Jamin said that not being in contention the first two years enabled him to sell at those trade deadlines, and build a formidable pitching staff that is second in the league in ERA (3.66) to Tatooine (3.29). Alec Manoah, drafted as the third overall pick in 2022, leads the league in wins (16) and is second in ERA (2.69).

“Next year looks like it will be the exact opposite, as we have a decent pitching staff and some really good batters, particularly against righties,” Jamin said.

But with the Orcas having a whale of a season in 2023, he’s in it to win it this year as well.

“Heading into the final 40 games, it would be nice, but not expected, if we were able to claim first in the Northbound Division,” said Jamin. “Avoiding the Rebels in the playoffs (for as long as possible) and getting a bye would help, especially since the games will largely be won (or lost) on luck.”

The field is beginning to separate heading into September, as wild-card leaders Olympic Coast (72), Margaritaville (69) and Dyersville (67) are a hefty six games or more ahead of Boulder (61) for the final playoff spot. Longshots Greendale (59), West Atlanta (57), Bushwood (57) and Applegate (57) are even more unlikely to leap into the playoff picture. Boulder, Greendale and West Atlanta are closer to a division title in the South than they are a wild-card berth, with the Crush coming off a 13-7 month to draw five games closer to the Warriors.

In a showdown of division leaders and potential World Series preview, Tatooine dispatched New New York 3-2. Those teams are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds if the season were to end today, which it won’t. The Rebels’ 14-6 month was even more impressive considering it came against three teams that are likely to make the postseason tournament.

Rebels With a Cause: Postseason Redemption

A lot can happen in a 20-game month, as the Tatooine Rebels found out in June. The Westbound Division leaders paid a visit to mighty Margaritaville, and Tatooine manager Nick Calderon reported of the 1-4 outcome, “The series against the Volcanoes did not go well, to say the least. We were outhomered 13-5, outpitched (7.00 to 4.31 ERA), and basically left to wonder if this was the beginning of the end.”

But the Rebels managed to right the ship the rest of the month, posting a 12-8 record for July that was good enough for a 66-34 record after 100 games, overtaking New New York for the league’s best record by one game.

Tatooine spanked Savannah 5-0 and went 3-2 against both Bismarck and Southbound Division-leading South Grand Prairie to boost its division lead over Dyersville to eight games.

Nick said after the Margaritaville series he briefly “began to panic with memories of the 2021 postseason sweep,” but the Rebels bounced back behind Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and Adley Rutschman. Freeman, who leads the league in hitting at .324, hit .400 and .526 against Savannah and SGP respectively. Ohtani had seven homers and a 2.63 ERA, and Rutschman had his first month hitting over .300.

“Overall, we put it together and showed the resilience we’ll need to go far in the postseason,” said Nick.

To that end, the Rebels have already begun fine-tuning their roster, strengthening their pitching staff via deals with Bismarck and Savannah. The Bismarck deal netted study lefty Carlos Rodon and famed righty Noah Syndergaard, while the Savannah swap secured stud reliever Jordan Romano.

“After reviewing our stats this month, we did notice that (Gerrit) Cole was having major issues with the longball,” said Nick, referencing 26 homers allowed, second-most in the league. “We worried that he would cost us games in the playoffs. During our series with the Bombers, we were very impressed by Rodon’s performance. To keep it short, we believe Cole can help Bizek next year and Rodon can help us get to the Pittman Cup this year. The other players (Jon Gray and Harrison Bader) were there to help ease Steve’s iron grip on Mr. Rodon.”

The Rebels are still shopping for a righty-hitting shortstop, but otherwise are hopeful this postseason can erase the bad taste of the 2021 collapse, when they won the Westbound Division by 28 games with a league-best 113 wins but suffered a sweep at the hands of the Destin Beach Bums in the semifinals. Destin went on to win the World Series that year.

“As for the postseason, well, quite frankly everyone is a threat,” said Nick. “You don’t get there by accident in this league. Hopefully our pitching staff stays strong and Jedi Master Freeman will keep us strong in the force.”

One team that is becoming a stronger threat with each passing month is Margaritaville, which had July’s top performance at 14-6 to climb within five games of first-place New New York in the North. The Volcanoes clubbed 53 homers — yes, 53! — while scoring 140 runs. For those bad at math, that’s seven runs per game. Leading the way was newly acquired center fielder Byron Buxton, who bashed 10 homers in 62 at-bats and drove in 23.

Margaritaville won all four of its July series, taking three of five from the Hypnotoads on the road to help narrow the gap in that division and overtake Olympic Coast for second place. The Volanoes and Orcas rank No. 4 and No. 5 in the current wild-card standings.

All five teams in the nasty Northbound Division posted double-figure win totals in July, from Margaritaville (14) to never-say-die Bushwood (13) to gritty Olympic Coast (12) to both New New York and Carpe Diem (10 each).

In the Southbound Division, Boulder sliced one game off of South Grand Prairie’s lead, trimming the margin to four games while going 10-10 to the Warriors’ 9-11. Greendale remains six games back, unable to make up any ground with a nine-win month.

Dyersville went 11-9 and it currently holds the sixth spot in the wild-card standings at 58-42, six games ahead of Boulder and eight ahead of Greendale in the bid for postseason entry.

 

16-win June puts Warriors in a golden state

One minute the South Grand Prairie Warriors are treading water, bobbing along in third place just two games over .500 at 31-29. And the next minute they are on a 94-win pace and leading the Southbound Division by five games.

A 16-4 month will do that as the Warriors posted an eye-opening June mark to stake their legitimate claim as a postseason threat behind their dominant starting pitching staff.

SGP’s 3-2 series wins over Greendale and Applegate were commendable, its sweep of Bushwood improbable, but its sweep of previously invincible New New York can only be rated as incredible. As in, difficult to believe. But it’s true. “Amazing pitching,” said Warriors manager Garth Lewis of the conquest. “I believe we had a 1.40 team ERA in the series. We were getting enough timely hitting and they weren’t hitting a thing.”

The Warriors went from two games behind to five games in front in the South, shooting past Boulder and trading places with Greendale in the standings. Lefty Nestor Cortes leads the staff with an 11-1 mark and 3.14 ERA, well supported by Cristian Javier (8-3, 2.70), Tony Gonsolin (6-3, 2.82), Dylan Cease (7-6, 3.50) and Matt Manning (4-3, 3.38).

A huge factor has been SGP’s home-field advantage, playing in Fenway Park, which helps mitigate any power advantage visitors might have had. “Being 33-12 at home (best in the league) has been huge,” said Garth. “And the fact we’ve actually outhomered our opponents at Fenway is pretty telling considering we’ve been outhomered by 25 on the road.”

Garth added he expected his starting pitching to be strong going into the season, with four top-flight starting pitching cards. “But after starting the season 8-12, I wasn’t so sure this bunch had it in them to be worth anything. But the bullpen settled down and the bats were good enough.”

First baseman Paul Goldschmidt leads the league in hitting at .322 and in runs scored with 68. He is fourth in doubles and sixth in homers with 22 in each category, and is fifth in both RBIs (57) and walks (42).

And now we face the pivotal month of July, with a trade deadline coming up and interesting matchups on tap. Garth says the Warriors would like to beef up the bullpen but isn’t looking to make any sweeping changes. And on the heels of its knockoff of league-wins-leader New New York (55), SGP gets another chance to prove its mettle with a visit to Tatooine, which posted a 17-win June and is suddenly nipping at the heels of the Hypnotoads for best record (54).

The Rebels actually have pitching that can go toe-to-toe with the Warriors and then some, with a league-best ERA of 3.05 (to SGP’s third-best 3.70). Tatooine swept Greendale in June on the road, and went 4-1 against Boulder, Superior and Bushwood to pad its lead in the Westbound Division to a comfortable seven games over second-place Dyersville, which lost five games in the standings despite a 12-win month.

A game to watch in that SGP-Tatooine series: Game 2 pits Nestor Cortes against Shohei Ohtani. The Rebels are 12-6 against lefties, tied for the league’s best percentage in that category with New New York (10-5).

If the season ended today, 47-win Dyersville, 47-win Olympic Coast (13 of those in June, including a sweep of Superior) and 46-win Margaritaville would be the other postseason entrants, but Boulder (42) and Greendale (41 after its first losing month of the year) are just one jumbled month away from reinserting themselves into the top six.

Some other noteworthy occurrences in June:
If SGP’s sweep of New New York rates as incredible, then what do you call Carpe Diem’s sweep of the Volcanoes in Margaritaville? Unfathomable perhaps? The Cardinals went homer-crazy and used the sweep to post their first winning month at 12-8, while the Volcanoes were held to a 9-11 mark.

If SGP’s sweep of New New York rates as incredible, then what do you call Carpe Diem’s sweep of the Volcanoes in Margaritaville? Unfathomable perhaps? The Cardinals went homer-crazy and used the sweep to post their first winning month at 12-8, while the Volcanoes were held to a 9-11 mark.

Savannah got in on the sweeping fun with a 5-0 blitz of Bismarck en route to a 14-6 month that allowed the Scorpions to lift themselves out of the South cellar, one month after going 5-15.

New New York’s 16-15-14 trend blew up with just 10 wins, thanks largely to getting swept by the Warriors. The Hypnotoads are still on pace for 110 wins and 318 homers, even after mustering just four homers against Applegate (mashing 25 doubles instead).

Aaron Judge is on pace to exactly match his American League record 62 homers at the season’s halfway point with 31, but Boulder’s Mike Trout is on pace for 70 with 35 already. Trout only has 192 at-bats remaining though to Judge’s 305.

With so many legitimate contenders jockeying for position, July shapes up as an intriguing month for trade possibilities as well, with the deal deadline coming up prior to August play.

May is ‘Moving Month’ as races tighten

If Saturday is ‘Moving Day’ on the PGA Tour, May was ‘Moving Month’ in the I-75 League as two divisional races tightened and six teams posted win totals in the teens.

South Grand Prairie’s 13-win month turned the Southbound’s two-team race into a three-team race, while Dyersville’s 14-win month in the Westbound Division trimmed Tatooine’s previous four-game lead in half despite its own 12-win month.

Meanwhile in the Northbound Division, Margaritaville racked up a 14-win month only to gain absolutely no ground at all on frontrunning New New York, which matched that win total to maintain its eight-game lead. And despite Olympic Coast’s eye-popping 15-win month, which included a 5-0 sweep of Savannah, the Orcas still stand 11 games back of the Hypnotoads.

Greendale needed just 10 wins to leapfrog the slow-rolling Boulder bunch in May after the Huggers’ eight-win struggle, which included 1-4 outcomes against nasty New New York and average Applegate. Thus just two wins separate the Greendale-Boulder-South Grand Prairie threesome.

New New York has now gone 16-15-14 to open the season, so there might be hope for the rest of us if that trend persists and we were to play 13 more months, but alas there are just five.

Tatooine only won two of its four series, but one of those was a 5-0 whitewashing of Applegate where the Rebels outscored the Clips 41-9, hitting .325 and posting a 1.20 ERA. But the Rebels went 2-3 on the road in their big showdown with the unstoppable Hypotoads. Dyersville gained ground by winning all four of its series.

In June, New New York will get another challenge from a first-place team when Greendale pays a visit. The Zealots also have first-place Tatooine on their schedule in a home series, as well as division rival South Grand Prairie and suddenly-hot Olympic Coast.

Meanwhile, Bushwood and Carpe Diem kicked off the trading season with a seven-player swap anchored by Jacob deGrom and Carlos Correa.

It’s the second time the Gophers have traded away deGrom, and the Cardinals will be the sixth uniform worn by deGrom in the I-75 League. Here’s his transaction history:

DeGrom was drafted by the Chatfield Choo-Choos, a franchise managed by Phil Roselli, in 2015 as the first pick of the second round. Roselli dealt him to Wisconsin, a franchise managed by Dan Wilson, in a 3-for-5 deal near the trade deadline in July, and Chatfield went on to win a league-best 103 games, one of 15 trades Chatfield made that season between December and July. Here’s the 3-for-5 deal:

July 17, 2015 — Chatfield sends P Jacob DeGrom, OF Jay Bruce and SP Bartolo Colon to Wisconsin for OF Corey Dickerson, SP Matt Garza, RP Joaqiun Benoit, RP Fernando Abad and RP Neil Ramirez.

When Chatfield, Hickory and Wisconsin all exited the league at the end of 2015, Dyersville, New New York and West Atlanta came on board, and New New York made deGrom its first pick in the three-team 2016 dispersal draft. Subsequent to that:

June 19, 2017 — New New York sends SP Jacob deGrom and 3B Mike Moustakas to Bushwood for 3B Jake Lamb and SP Sonny Gray

Dec. 20, 2019 — Bushwood sends SP Jacob deGrom, pick No. 53 and pick No. 113 to Boulder for 3B Yoan Moncada, pick No. 14 and pick No. 29.

July 28, 2022 — Boulder sends P Jacob Degrom, P Ryan Tepera, P Tanner Houck and OF Brett Phillips to Bushwood for DH Yordan Alvarez and P Kyle Hendricks.

May 27, 2023 — Bushwood sends P Jacob deGrom, OF Joey Gallo and IF Kevin Newman to Carpe Diem for SS Carlos Correa, SP Lance Lynn, RP Chris Martin and 1B Tristan Casas.

Correa, if you’re curious, was the first pick in the 2016 draft by the Destin Beach Bums, which retained his services until the franchise was taken over by the Carpe Diem Cardinals.

NNY continues to Hypnotize, mesmerize opponents

Even New New York Manager Jason Renbarger knew a 16-win pace was not sustainable throughout the season.

“Even I knew a 16-win pace was not sustainable throughout the season,” said Renbarger after his Hypnotoads exploded out of the gate with a 16-4 March.

So it came as no surprise that in the month we celebrate Earth Day the Hypnotoads came back down to earth.

To a 15-5 record in April.

If you’re scoring at home, that’s 31-9 at the quarter pole, a pace for 124-36, which would topple the league’s win mark of 123-37 set by Phil Roselli’s Littleton Lumberjacks in 2005.

But Jason isn’t thinking that big. “I figured out if I go .500 for the rest of the season I still will end up with 91 wins on the year,” he said.

Jason, don’t let the Strat gods hear ya. Even a .500 month isn’t guaranteed. Look no further than:

• The 2022 Savannah Scorpions, who followed up a 14-7 June with a 7-13 July.
• The 2018 Bushwood Gophers, who negated a 14-6 June with a 4-16 July.
• Or even the 2021 Hypnotoads, who posted a 7-13 clunker in the same year as a 17-3 sparkler.

Still, 31-9 is the best March/April record any team has posted as far back as we have such records (2014). New New York’s 15-5 April featured 4-1 road wins over South Grand Prairie and Bismarck, a 2-3 setback at the hands of the Olympic Coast Orcas, and a 5-0 sweep of the Dyersville Treblemakers. That series saw No. 1 overall pick Julio Rodriguez go OFF, to the tune of six homers, a double, a triple and a .500 batting average. Rodriguez alone outhomered Dyersville in that series, as the Treblemakers were held to five while New New York exploded for 19.

Fast facts on NNY’s fast start:

• Rodriguez now has 18 homers on the year (one behind league leader Mike Trout) with eight doubles, two triples, eight stolen bases and a slash line of .298/.353/.735/1.088. His 111 total bases lead the league.
• The Hypnotoads lead the league in homers with 90 and runs scored with 246, while posting the second-lowest ERA at 3.60.
• The Hypnotoads’ top three relievers (Ryan Helsley, David Bednar and Yancy Almonte) have a combined 43 innings pitched with 59 strikeouts and only four earned runs allowed for a 0.84 ERA.

New New York opened up an 8-game lead in the Northbound Division after April, despite three other clubs (Margaritaville, Bushwood and Olympic Coast) all notching 11-win months.

There was a change at the top of the Southbound Division though, as Boulder escaped the grips of Greendale to surge one game ahead at 24-16 with a 13-win month to the Zealots’ 12. A 5-0 conquest of Carpe Diem highlighted a Tree Hugger month that otherwise was a mix of 3-2s and 2-3s. Trout’s 45 RBIs already puts him on pace for 180; he also leads the league in homers with 19 while hitting .316, fourth in the league.

One back of Boulder is Greendale at 23-17, riding the hot bat of Jose Ramirez, who leads the league in batting average (.339), hits (58) and doubles (15).

In the Westbound Division, Tatooine holds first place with the league’s second-best record at 25-15 following an 11-win month that no team in the division was able to improve upon. A glittering 3.00 team ERA and .214 batting average against have been the Rebels’ early hallmarks, along with allowing the fewest homers and walks in the league and striking out the most. The Rebels’ hot start comes in spite of a dismal offensive showing by Shohei, hitting .203 with three homers.

May’s marquee matchup will see the league’s top two teams (by record) squaring off as Tatooine (25-15) visits New New York (31-9). The Hypnotoads will be further tested by road challenges at Boulder (24-16) and Bushwood (21-19) along with a home series versus West Atlanta (17-23).