Bridgewater is unbeaten, and nobody's had more to do with it than Lance Berkman. The 32-year old is 1st in the East in Runs, 2nd in Home Runs, and 3rd in RBI and Average. With the Fact or Fiction guys on vacation, Rey Bingo and John Krak decide if the Weasels can enter the All-Star Break without a loss.
Fact or Fiction
Rey Bingo & John Krak, EHSPN
1) Arlington will still be competitive with 9 inactive players on their roster.
Bingo: FACT
Last years surprise darling, the Arlington Warriors, are perched back near the top of the standings again this season. A lot of experts believe Arlington’s unfortunate injury and demotion woes will affect their ability to compete for a second consecutive championship. I am not one of them. Arlington has positioned itself nicely as we approach the halfway point. With many teams in the EHCC having down years, the door is wide open for Arlington to remain in the home field advantage race throughout the season. Key losses to slugger Matt Holliday and ace Fausto Carmona will undoubtedly hinder the Warriors in the short term, but both are expected back and productive well before the all-star break. If the playoffs were to start today Arlington would be toast. Luckily for GM Matt Skinner, he has plenty of time to brew up whatever Kool-Aid he was feeding them at the end of the 2007 campaign.
Krak: FICTION
Losing Matt Holliday and Fausto Carmona will destroy anyone's championship dreams. Fortunately for Arlington, injuries will (unless you're Mark Prior) eventually come to an end. While their out, however, don't expect much from the defending plaque holders. Holliday was having an MVP-ish season; Carmona was 4-2 with a 3.10 ERA; John Smoltz had 36 Ks in 27 innings with a 2.00 ERA. Don't get me wrong, Adrian Gonzalez is amazing, and Jose Contreras has been playing way over his head, but can the Warriors really stay on top with the way Rakeville and Bridgewater are playing? Probably not.
2) Peoria's pitching staff has been the biggest surprise of the year.
Krak: FICTION
I'll be honest, NOBODY expected Peoria to have the best pitching staff in the league... and they don't. Rakeville, Quebec City, and Weymouth still have the best hurlers in the EHCC, with Peoria an arguable 4th. Other then Cliff Lee, the Cardinals young arms have done exactly what was expected of them. Edinson Volquez and chad Billingsley were destined for great things, and Carlos Marmol is a proven strikeout guy.
The biggest surprise of the season has been Tokyo's offense, who seem to have forgotten how to hit home runs. The Omyoujis are 8th in the league in HR, 9th in RBI, Average, and Stolen Bases, and 12th in Runs. An outfield of Jeff Francoeur, Alex Rios, and Nick Markakis are hitting a combined .260 with 18 HR (for those keeping score, that's 2 less than Rakeville 2B Chase Utley has). JJ Hardy has been a complete disappointment after crushing 26 HR and 80 RBI in 2007. Billy Butler was banished to AAA Vermont after an atrocious May, and the team has no plan to call him back up anytime soon. A poll taken in March had 3/9 voters predicted Tokyo to win the Western Division this year. If their offense keeps going like this, it doesn't look good for the Far East.
Bingo: FACT
Scott Olsen, Luke Hochevar, Edinson Volquez, Shaun Marcum... before the season most onlookers would have said, "I sure hope whoever has this rotation has an extremely potent lineup." However Peoria GM Dave Grubb has a differing opinion. After dealing aces Chris Young and Cole Hamels in the off-season, it was assumed that Peoria would have little in the way of pitching success this year. Some how, the exact opposite has happened. 2007 acquisition, Edinson Volquez, has come out of the gate in 2008 like a bat out of hell. He is currently leading two of three triple-crown categories in the EHCC (ERA and K’s). Experts have argued that such rotation members Cliff Lee and Scott Olsen are aberrations and will not be able to hold steady in their performances. But, what experts don’t seem to realize is that for these pitchers pitching "over their heads", they have just as many pitchers that have yet to reach their expectations. Andrew Miller, Chad Billingsley, and Ubaldo Jimenez, all potential aces, struggled mightily over the first month or so of the season. Even if a few arms fall back down to Earth, it can be assumed that just as many will start stepping up to their potential. Even with six members of Peoria's rotation sporting ERA’s over 4.5 (Miller, Jimenez, Gallagher, Hochevar, Parra, Reyes) the team still sports the leagues top team ERA 3.30 by a substantial margin, a true testament to the depth of this teams rotation. The Cards are also second in WHIP, third in K's, and fifth in Wins. A few seasons ago Peoria fans had little to be excited about, but now with arguably the best pitching stats in the league, and a rotation with the average age under 25, Cardinals fans can not only be surprised with its teams pitching success this year, but they can be assured that this is only the beginning. One final good sign, all this was said without ever even mentioning All-Star candidate Adam Wainwright.
3) The 2008 Draft has been the biggest disappointment of the year.
Bingo: FACT
Without question, owners and fans alike will look back to the 2008 Major League Draft as one of the biggest flops in EHCC history. With no young prospect options like in years past, the 2008 draft already had a very different feel to it. Santo Domingo’s top pick was used on SP Franklin Morales who lasted exactly 25 innings before finding himself back on the AAA bus. Going second in the draft was CF Vernon Wells to Peoria, who as of May 10th is filling a DL spot until at least early July. In fact, arguably the top-performing draftee from this class, Aaron Rowand, lasted until just April 5th until WS, his drafting team, released him. In recent years, high quality players were available. Names like Lincecum, Matsuzaka, Chipper Jones, Verlander, and Zimmerman paced the draft boards. This year provided nothing close to competing with this level of value.
Krak: FACT
The reason that the draft was such a disappointment this year was the lack of fresh meat. 10 of 12 first round picks were players left off a team's 25-man roster (#1 Franklin Morales lost his minor league eligibility, while #12 Brandon Lyon was dropped prior to the offseason). In 2007, only 4 first rounders were 25-man rejects. The abundance of recycled players led to quite the boring first round, and it's no surprise that most of those players have been disappointing (after all, there's a reason teams did not want to keep them). Morales has found himself in the minors; Rafael Soriano, Andruw Jones, Jason Isringhausen, and Vernon Wells have all found themselves on the DL; Bronson Arroyo and Jeremy Guthrie are just now starting to pitch like they belong on an EHCC roster. And yes, guys like Brandon Lyon and Pat Burrell have had career years, but it's only a matter of time until they come down to Earth. Long story short (even though I already took the long road) we can only pray that March 21st, 2009 will be worth attending.
4) Tijuana will be winless by the All-Star Break.
Krak: FACT
The second-biggest insult to Hispanics baseball will be a Week 10 loss to Arlington, who may not even have enough players to field a full team. The biggest insult to Hispanics baseball will be a Week 11 loss to Winston-Salem, when their current losing streak will hit 12 games. Some people say that a win is a win no matter how much you win by, but Tijuana has hardly been the worst team in the league this season. They've scored at least 3 points in 8 of their 9 losses, and they are only in last place in 3 of 10 stats. Regardless, this team has quite the uphill battle this year and in the near future. And chances are that Tokyo's 26-game winless streak record is safe, but nothing is definite until the Hispanics break the funk and get that illusive victory.
Bingo: FICTION
Tijuana fans are once again suffering the angst of another long season of Hispanics baseball. At fear of a dirty Mexican hombre taking me literally, it might be time to just blow up the entire thing and start over. Tijuana has an uncomfortable mix of veterans and youngsters. The direction of this team is in flux and no true direction is apparent. The race to #1 will fuel our friends to the south all summer long. Santo Domingo and Tijuana could get really dirty as both vie for the top pick in the 2009 draft. All that said, Tijuana runs into an upset win in Week 11 when they visit Winston-Salem.
5) Bridgewater will be unbeaten by the All-Star Break.
Bingo: FACT
This is an easy one. Yes. Bridgewater will reach the halfway point unbeaten. In Week 3, Quebec City made a nice run at Bridgewater, but behind Derek Lee, the Weasels were able to sneak by. QC will look for revenge, and to serve BRW its first loss, when they host the Weasels in Week 14. A potential World Series preview.
Krak: FICTION
Not only has Bridgewater gone 8-0-1 this season, but they've done so in convincing fashion. A 4-3 win over Quebec City and a 5-5 tie against Arlington are the only "blemishes" on what has been an amazing resume. The offense is top 3 in 4 categories (6th in SB), led by Lance "Triple Crown" Berkman and Nate "Who Is This Guy" McClouth. The pitching staff, nearing an average age of 71, is also overpowering opponents. 2nd in wins, 3rd in ERA and Saves... there's nothing this roster can't do.
Even with all their dominating numbers, having to face Rakeville and Las Vegas over the next 2 games will put a damper on their unbeaten hopes. The Rockets are also in the top 3 in 4 offensive categories, and their staff has been just a bit better (most notably, 590 Ks to Bridgewater's 476). Las Vegas doesn't have the season numbers but they have been hot as of late, winning their last 4 by a combined 27-11. The Weasels have the best lineup in baseball, but can they beat two of the hottest?
Labels: Bingo, EHSPN, Fact or Fiction, Krak
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