Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Season 15 Wrap Up

Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City Bombers (NL)
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Oklahoma City goes back-to-back and takes the Season 15 crown!

The Season 15 playoffs have concluded, and Oklahoma City has broken the mold of only winning titles in even-numbered seasons to win back-to-back titles for the first the team.  In an unusual spot for them as the #3 seed, they beat Cincinnati in the Play In Series, and then outlasted Honolulu in tough a 5 game series in the DCS.  Facing St. Louis, an upset winner over Buffalo, in the NLCS, just about every game was very tight and Oklahoma City won in 6 games.  In the World Series, they faced a tough New Britain team that took them to six games, but Oklahoma City came out on top.  It was the toughest road of any of Oklahoma City's titles, but they still won it all.  It will be interesting to see what this means for their streak of even-numbered season championships next season.  There are certainly some strong contenders in both leagues that could challenge them.

Meanwhile, regular season awards were also handed out.  Here's a recap of the winners.

Most Valuable Player
American League - Vasco Correa, Oakland - .271 AVG 57 HR 144 RBI
The young 23 year-old slugger took home the AL MVP award in his first full season of Major League play.  Correa led the AL in Home Runs, RBI and runs, made the All-Star team, and won a Silver Slugger this season.  Correa looks to have many good seasons to come, as he is one of the most powerful bats in the league.

National League - Richard Brohawn, Honolulu - .288 AVG 62 HR 154 RBI
Brohawn, the offensive force leading the way for one of the best teams in the NL, Honolulu, took home his first MVP award at age 25.  Brohawn led the NL in Slugging, tied for the lead in Home Runs and RBI, made the All-Star team, and won a Silver Slugger award.  Like his AL counterpart, Brohawn has several more stellar seasons ahead of him. 

Cy Young Award
American League - Valerio Baez, New Britain - 19-10 3.14 ERA 191 K
In a season where there really wasn't a single dominant pitcher in the AL, the 23 year-old hurler from the AL Champion New Britain squad took home the Cy Young.  Baez led the league in Innings Pitched and Quality Starts, while tying for the league lead in wins.  He also made the All-Star team.  It wouldn't surprise us at all if he was back in this spot one day, as he is one of the best young hurlers in the AL. 

National League - Che-Bang Kata, Oklahoma City - 22-5 2.61 ERA 161 K
Breaking the trend of winners in their early 20's is an all-time great, perhaps the greatest pitcher in Kenny Powers history.   Kata took home his 4th Cy Young award leading the way for another Oklahoma City title.  He may not have the velocity anymore that led to him accumulating the top 5 seasons in strikeouts in Kenny Powers history, but is still an extremely efficient pitcher at Age 38.

Rookie of the Year
American League - Duane Roundtree, New Britain - .290 AVG 34 HR 87 RBI
Roundtree was a runaway winner of the AL Rookie of the Year award putting up strong numbers at the hot corner for the AL Champions.  Roundtree has very good power and tremendous splits that should make him a valuable asset for seasons to come, especially since he can play 3rd base at a decent, albeit not spectacular, level. 

National League
Miguel Casilla, St. Louis - .245 AVG 18 HR 76 RBI 23 SB
Livan Cordero, Tucson - .300 AVG 21 HR 56 RBI 20 SB
The Rookie of the Year race in the NL was a lot closer, in fact it ended up being a tie!  Probably because the co-winners are very similar players, both have nice power and good speed, as shown by their season 15 output.  As far as upside goes, Casilla's ceiling is probably a little bit higher, but Cordero will be a nice player as well, and is also a lot better in the field. 

Fireman of the Year
American League - Zachrey Coleman, Toronto - 1.82 ERA, 39 SV - 2nd win
National League - Jolbert Camacho, Honolulu - 1.05 ERA, 36 SV, 1st win

That concludes the Season 15 Wrap Up, thanks to everyone for making it a great one, hope to see everyone back for Season 16!

Friday, July 11, 2014

Season 15 League Leaders

With the playoffs in full swing, it's time to take a look at the League Leaders for Season 15.  Here we go!

OFFENSE

American League
In the American League, Achilles Sadler won the batting title and also led the league in OBP (.411).  Vasco Correa won the Home Run (57) and RBI (144) titles and also led the league in runs (122).  San Francisco's Sherman Dunston led the league in both Slugging and OPS.  Torey Guerrero of Oakland had the third most hits in Kenny Powers history with 220, while Marshall Wood and perennial stolen base king Weldon Rando swiped 100 bags each, tying for 5th all-time. Here are the complete AL Offensive leaders!

Batting Average Achilles Sadler Detroit .327
Home Runs Vasco Correa Oakland 57
RBI Vasco Correa Oakland 144
Stolen Bases Marshall Wood Pittsburgh 100

Weldon Rando Toronto 100
Hits Torey Guerrero Oakland 220
Runs Vasco Correa Oakland 122
OBP Achilles Sadler Detroit .411
SLG Sherman Dunston San Francisco .616
OPS Sherman Dunston San Francisco .997

National League
In the NL, Randall Holt took the batting title and led the league in hits (202).  Alex Sanchez and Richard Brohawn both finished with 62 Home Runs (3rd all-time) and 154 RBI to lead the league in both categories, how about that.  Brohawn also led the league in Slugging.  Jeremy Randall led the league in both OBP and OPS. Here are the NL offensive leaders!

Batting Average Randall Holt Rochester .338
Home Runs Alex Sanchez Tucson 62

Richard Browhawn Honolulu 62
RBI Alex Sanchez Tucson 154

Richard Browhawn Honolulu 154
Stolen Bases Jerry Jenner Burlington 91
Hits Randall Holt Rochester 202
Runs Albert Valenzuela Buffalo 124
OBP Jeremy Randall Buffalo .443
SLG Richard Browhawn Honolulu .642
OPS Jeremy Randall Buffalo 1.051

PITCHING

American League 
In the AL, Valerio Baez led the league in Innings Pitched and Quality Starts, while getting in on a 4-way tie for the lead in wins at 19.  Lawrence Crabtree also got in on the share of the league lead for wins, and led the league in WHIP.   Matty Posada led the league in strikeouts and shutouts, and yes, also had 19 wins. Here's the full AL pitching leaders!

ERA Tito Fox Pawtucket 2.74
Wins Lawrence Crabtree Seattle 19

Matty Posada Nashville 19

Nicholas Miller New Britain 19

Valerio Baez New Britain 19
Strikeouts Matty Posada Nashville 209
Saves Yorman Vincente Pittsburgh 42
WHIP Lawrence Crabtree Seattle 1.06
Innings Pitched Valerio Baez New Britain 263.2
Quality Starts Valerio Baez New Britain 27
Complete Games Calvin Yoshii Little Rock 7

Ted Wagner Toronto 7
Shutouts Matty Posada Nashville 3

National League
On the NL side, Tampa Bay's Ellis Brock led the league in strikeouts (235), complete games (10) and shutouts (3).   Charles Mazzaro of Honolulu took the ERA title and led the league in WHIP and the legendary Che-Bang Kata led the league in wins with 22 in his first season for Oklahoma City. Here are the rest of the NL Pitching leaders!

ERA Charles Mazzaro Honolulu 2.40
Wins Che-Bang Kata Oklahoma City 22
Strikeouts Ellis Brock Tampa Bay 235
Saves Marcus Nelson Rochester 41
WHIP Charles Mazzaro Honolulu 1.03
Innings Pitched Jim Forbes Burlington 246.2
Quality Starts Cy Sanders Rochester 27

Jimmie Soto Buffalo 27

Russ Robinson Buffalo 27
Complete Games Ellis Brock Tampa Bay 10
Shutouts Ellis Brock Tampa Bay 3

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Season 15 Final Power Rankings

Season 15's Regular Season is in the books and it's time for the final rankings before the playoffs begin.  At the top of the rankings, we decided to make Honolulu the #1 squad by a very close margin over Buffalo.  They had a better finish and better offensive and pitching numbers.  But really, you could make a solid argument for either team.  3-8 remained the same from the previous rankings, so there wasn't much movement, but the playoffs will be interesting with 3 strong teams in each league, and some other teams capable of making a run as well.  Here are the complete final rankings, good luck to all in the playoffs!


Team  W L PREV    Comments
1 Honolulu 106 56 2 A little bit better than Buffalo numbers wise, very solid team
2 Buffalo  108 54 1 Great season, and certainly a World Series contender
3 Oklahoma City 102 60 3 Another solid season, better offensively than the top 2
4 Seattle 101 61 4 Finished up strong, earning the AL's top seed
5 New Britain  98 64 5 Edged out Detroit for division, with numbers up the last 40
6 Detroit 98 64 6 Barely lost division, but pitching was better over last 40 
7 Pawtucket  91 71 7 World's top offense, how will pitching hold up in playoffs?
8 St. Louis 90 72 8 Didn't put up a ton of offense, but very solid pitching 
9 Tampa Bay 83 79 17 Nice finish for them, just missing out on the wildcard
10 Indianapolis 85 77 12 Winning the division is a huge step forward for them
11 Toronto 88 74 9 Not great down the stretch, but earned a wildcard
12 Rochester 80 82 11 Tough break for them, their record should have been better
13 Scranton 79 83 16 Over .500 down the stretch, and had a great offense 
14 Tucson 82 80 10 Pretty solid team, although the pitching struggled a bit 
15 Nashville  82 80 13 Finished with pretty solid numbers, and won division
16 Little Rock  80 82 14 Pretty middle of the road numbers wise this season
17 Cincinnati 84 78 15 Solid enough pitching to earn wild card, but bats struggled
18 Durham 80 82 19 Typical Durham numbers, top offense, very high ERA
19 Oakland 73 89 23 Nice finish, they have a great offense, pitching was rough
20 New York  77 85 21 Over .500 finish, showing improvement overall the last 40
21 Helena 76 86 22 Pretty mediocre numbers wise, will be looking to rebound
22 Cleveland 69 93 25 Very nice offense, and the pitching improved the last 40 
23 Chicago (AL) 72 90 27 .500 since last rankings, with numbers improving overall
24 Memphis  65 97 30 Finished strong, but the first three quarters were rough
25 Salt Lake City 68 94 24 Pitching was a problem for them, but bats are good 
26 Burlington 72 90 26 Pitching is good, but not enough to overcome bad offense
27 Pittsburgh 74 88 18 Really struggled down the stretch with not much to play for
28 Jacksonville 71 91 20 Pitching got a bit roughed up, but offense is promising
29 Chicago (NL) 68 94 29 Still need to improve the offense some to compete 
30 Louisville 65 97 28 The rebuild continues as they look to get back in it 
31 San Francisco 63 99 31 A little bitter pitching wise, but they still have a ways to go
32 Vancouver 62 100 32 Pitching improved the last 40, but a rough season overall