Whale Watch: Midseason Report

By Jamin Rader
In 2021, it took Olympic Coast a full season to accumulate eight series wins. Now, just five months into 2022, the Orcas stand one series win from tying that franchise record. 

It’s a bittersweet success for the young team. Low preseason expectations were met by a surprising start that saw the Orcas race to a 28-22 record midway through May, good for the third-most wins in the league after Dyersville and Destin (both 29). Was this a zero-to-hero fairytale in the making? 

Unfortunately for the Orcas’ players and fans (dubbed “the Pod”), this is no fairytale season. With hope at an all-time high after 50 games, the team crashed harder than the S&P 500, posting an 11-34 record in the following 45 games, and 3-12 so far in July. The Orcas are beached. 

What’s to blame for this downward spiral? Some point to the trade that sent RHP Charlie Morton and OF Lorenzo Cain to Tatooine in late May. In the first three months of the season, Morton was tied for the team lead with five wins and Cain boasted a .834 OPS along with superb fielding in center. Others point to the aggressive trading strategy of the organization that has seen 22 players exchanged over the last year. How can you sustain team morale when everything is in flux? They might be asking the same questions in Savannah…

While losing an ace on the mound and a premier bat in the lineup was certainly a big blow to the team, there is a little bit more nuance to the change in tide. In part:

1. In the first 50 games, Olympic Coast played just half of its series against teams with winning records. The average winning percentage of those teams is 0.481 (as of the June standings). In the nine series since, the Orcas have faced only one team with a losing record, good for an average opponent winning percentage of .538.
2. Clutch performances are at an all-time low. In the first 50 games, the Orcas were 13-9 in games decided by two or fewer runs. Since, the Orcas gone an abysmal 5-24 in those matchups. Between the July sweeps by Applegate and Dyersville, the Orcas lost nine games with the tying or winning run at the plate.

As the team oscillates between dominance and disgrace, Olympic Coast expects the remainder of the season to be a lot less volatile. After all, not everything is black and white. To punctuate this point, the Orcas’ front office will sit out the July 28th trade-a-thon, instead opting for Mai Tais and sunsets on the beach. They still plan to make moves before the trade deadline, however, and believe that there may be trade interest for solid RHP Nathan Eovaldi (3.54 ERA, 73 innings remaining), RHP Matt Barnes (unused closer, 58 innings), and RF Avisail Garcia (solid bat, glove, ~190 ABs), among others.