Gameday, 7/27 - Week 7: Fordline Elementary

◢ SCORESHEETS ◢ ENTER STATS

GAMES 1 & 2   —   12:00 PM   —   FIELD A
10 - 11 - 1 .185 .371 7.5 3.11 1.69 2.3 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			13 - 6 - 2 .263 .442 7.1 2.91 1.41 2.8 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 1
	2	WP: J. Skinner HR: J. Skinner (8)		0	LP: Kujawa
GAME 2
	1	LP: C. Skinner		2	WP: Villarreal HR: G. Brannan (5)
ACE WIN SEASON SERIES 5-1

GAMES 3 & 4   —   12:00 PM   —   FIELD B
14 - 3 - 4 .226 .471 5.8 2.13 1.64 1.7 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			8 - 13 - 1 .236 .439 9.7 3.95 1.65 2.7 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 3
	7	WP: C. Phillips HR: Tomlinson (7,8)		3	LP: N. Braden
GAME 4
	9	WP: Bayley HR: C. Phillips (14,15,16),  Tomlinson (9,10), Bayley (3,4)		5	LP: Paquin HR: N. Braden (4)
ELD WIN SEASON SERIES 4-1-1

GAMES 5 & 6   —   2:30 PM   —   FIELD A
4 - 18 - 0 .117 .196 17.5 9.66 2.78 1.3 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			15 - 6 - 2 .263 .442 7.1 2.91 1.41 2.8 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 5   * ACE forfeit win *
	0			4
GAME 6
	0	LP: Linebrink		1	WP: Villarreal
ACE WIN SEASON SERIES 4-2

GAMES 7 & 8   —   2:30 PM   —   FIELD B
8 - 15 - 1 .236 .439 9.7 3.95 1.65 2.7 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			11 - 9 - 2 .282 .531 6.3 3.22 1.16 3.6 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 7  * 7 innings *
	0	LP: N. Braden		2	WP: Strojny HR: Strojny (8)
GAME 8
	8	LP: Paquin HR: Paquin (6,7), Castle (4,5)		10	WP: Zeller HR: Strojny (9,10,11), Zeller (9),  Corbett (7)
DUX WIN SEASON SERIES 5-1

GAMES 9 & 10   —   5:00 PM   —   FIELD A
4 - 20 - 0 .117 .196 17.5 9.66 2.78 1.3 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			12 - 11 - 1 .185 .371 7.5 3.11 1.69 2.3 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 9
	4	LP: Robert		12	WP: Burchfield HR: M. Phillips (2,3), C. Skinner (2),  Burchfield (2)
GAME 10
	2	LP: Linebrink		9	WP: M. Phillips HR: Burchfield (3)
STN WIN SEASON SERIES 6-0

GAMES 11 & 12   —   5:00 PM   —   FIELD B
16 - 3 - 4 .226 .471 5.8 2.13 1.64 1.7 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			11 - 11 - 2 .282 .531 6.3 3.22 1.16 3.6 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 11
	12	WP: C. Phillips HR: C. Phillips (17,18),  Tomlinson (11,12,13), Bayley (5,6)		2	LP: Strojny
GAME 12
	16	WP: Tomlinson HR: C. Phillips (19,20),  Tomlinson (14,15,16,17)		14	LP: Zeller HR: Strojny (12,13), Zeller (10),  Corbett (8,9,10)
ELD WIN SEASON SERIES 4-1-1

Gameday, 7/20 - Week 6: Danger Zone

◢ SCORESHEETS ◢ ENTER STATS

GAMES 1 & 2   —   12:00 PM   —   FIELD A
4 - 14 - 0 .128 .212 16.7 10.50 3.30 0.8 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			12 - 5 - 1 .282 .462 7.3 3.30 1.56 2.4 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 1
	0	LP: Bruen (1-2)		9	WP: Kujawa (4-1) HR: Giguere (3)
GAME 2
	0	LP: Bruen (1-3)		2	WP: Villarreal (7-2) HR: Giguere (4), Kujawa (1)
SEASON SERIES TIED 2-2

GAMES 3 & 4   —   12:00 PM   —   FIELD B
9 - 9 - 0 .180 .378 6.8 3.60 1.76 2.3 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			8 - 9 - 1 .259 .490 8.2 3.66 1.52 2.8 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 7
	3	WP: Lollio (2-2) HR: J. Skinner (6)		0	LP: Castle (2-2)
GAME 8
	3	WP: C. Skinner (3-7) HR: J. Skinner (7), LaDouceur (6)		1	LP: Paquin (4-4) HR: Castle (3)
SEASON SERIES TIED 2-2

GAMES 5 & 6   —   2:30 PM   —   FIELD A
7 - 9 - 2 .218 .388 8.4 3.87 1.31 3.2 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			8 - 11 - 1 .259 .490 8.2 3.66 1.52 2.8 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 5
	10	WP: Strojny (6-2) HR: Corbett (5,6), Irwin (4), Zeller (3)		0	LP: Castle (2-3)
GAME 6
	3	WP: Irwin (1-5) HR: Strojny (6), Zeller (4)		0	LP: Paquin (4-5)
DUX LEAD SERIES 3-1

GAMES 7 & 8   —   2:30 PM   —   FIELD B
12 - 3 - 3 .244 .523 5.2 2.36 1.73 1.6 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			9 - 10 - 1 .180 .378 6.8 3.60 1.76 2.3 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 7
	0			0
GAME 8
	1	WP: Tomlinson (5-0)		0	LP: C. Skinner (3-8)
ELD WIN SEASON SERIES 2-1-1

GAMES 9 & 10   —   5:00 PM   —   FIELD A
12 - 3 - 4 .244 .523 5.2 2.36 1.73 1.6 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			12 - 5 - 2 .282 .462 7.3 3.30 1.56 2.4 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 9
	2	HR: C. Phillips (13)		2
GAME 10  * Postponed in the 3rd inning / Will resume 7/27 if necessary *
	1			0
ELD LEAD SEASON SERIES 2-0-1

GAMES 11 & 12   —   5:00 PM   —   FIELD B
4 - 16 - 0 .128 .212 16.7 10.50 3.30 0.8 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB			9 - 9 - 2 .218 .388 8.4 3.87 1.31 3.2 AVG SLG PA/RS ERA WHIP K/BB
GAME 11
	1	LP: Adams (0-1) HR: Adams (1)		9	WP: Strojny (7-2) HR: Zeller (5,6)
GAME 12  * 4 innings *
	0	LP: Adams (0-1)		10	WP: Irwin (2-5) HR: Zeller (7,8), Strojny (7), Irwin (5)
DUX WIN SEASON SERIES 3-1

Clown Shu Forecast After 16 Games

Sixteen pitchers is probably the largest ranking comparison of players we've ever published. Why sixteen? That is the number we project will reach the 30 IP eligibility for the Clown Shu. All are ranked individually in five stat categories: earned run average (ERA), walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP), batting average against (BAA), strike outs per walk (K/BB), and strike outs per six innings (K/6). Then, the average of those five is taken to reach the final overall ranking. The large sample size should be an opportunity to shake things up, right?

CLICK TO EXPAND LISTS FOR INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS # PLAYER ERA 1) Scott Kujawa 0.94 2) Nick Braden 1.24 3) Kyle Tomlinson 1.29 4) Chandler Phillips 1.30 5) Sam Hatt 1.31 6) Travis Strojny 1.60 7) Nicco Lollio 1.71 8) Craig Skinner 2.92 9) Mike Villarreal 3.07 10) Ray Brown 3.52 11) Chris Paquin 4.00 12) Michel Bayley 4.33 13) Caden Irwin 4.41 14) John Skinner 5.29 15) Mike Giguere 6.32 16) David Castle 8.12 # PLAYER WHIP 1) Nick Braden 0.79 2) Scott Kujawa 0.81 3) Travis Strojny 0.87 4) Kyle Tomlinson 1.29 5) Craig Skinner 1.37 6) Caden Irwin 1.53 7) Chandler Phillips 1.57 8) Chris Paquin 1.60 9) Sam Hatt 1.62 9) Mike Villarreal 1.62 11) Nicco Lollio 1.79 12) Ray Brown 1.86 13) John Skinner 2.12 14) Mike Giguere 2.35 15) Michel Bayley 2.39 16) David Castle 2.76 # PLAYER BAA 1) Chandler Phillips .042 2) Scott Kujawa .111 3) Travis Strojny .112 4) Michel Bayley .129 5) Nicco Lollio .143 6) Nick Braden .157 7) Ray Brown .163 8) Kyle Tomlinson .164 9) Craig Skinner .175 10) Sam Hatt .207 11) Mike Villarreal .220 12) Caden Irwin .241 13) Chris Paquin .250 14) John Skinner .282 15) Mike Giguere .318 16) David Castle .370 # PLAYER K/BB 1) Nick Braden 7.88 2) Scott Kujawa 6.21 3) Travis Strojny 4.55 4) Craig Skinner 3.34 5) Chris Paquin 2.52 6) Sam Hatt 2.48 7) Caden Irwin 2.30 8) Mike Villarreal 1.86 9) Nicco Lollio 1.78 10) Chandler Phillips 1.76 11) Kyle Tomlinson 1.69 12) John Skinner 1.56 13) Michel Bayley 1.54 14) Ray Brown 1.51 15) David Castle 1.18 16) Mike Giguere 1.00 # PLAYER K/6 1) Michel Bayley 18.00 2) Scott Kujawa 16.31 3) Chandler Phillips 15.13 4) Craig Skinner 14.83 5) Nicco Lollio 13.71 6) Travis Strojny 13.33 7) Sam Hatt 12.56 8) Ray Brown 11.59 9) Nick Braden 11.12 10) Chris Paquin 9.00 11) John Skinner 8.82 12) Mike Villarreal 8.67 13) Caden Irwin 8.12 14) Kyle Tomlinson 7.07 15) David Castle 7.06 16) Mike Giguere 5.84

#	PLAYER	ERA RANK	WHIP RANK	BAA RANK	K/BB RANK	K/6 RANK	OA RANK
1)	Scott Kujawa	1	2	2	2	2	1.8
2)	Nick Braden	2	1	6	1	9	3.8
3)	Travis Strojny	6	3	3	3	6	4.2
4)	Chandler Phillips	4	7	1	10	3	5.0
5)	Craig Skinner	8	5	9	4	4	6.0
6)	Sam Hatt	5	9	10	6	7	7.4
7)	Nicco Lollio	7	11	5	9	5	7.4
8)	Kyle Tomlinson	3	4	8	11	14	8.0
9)	Michel Bayley	12	15	4	13	1	9.0
10)	Chris Paquin	11	8	13	5	10	9.4
11)	Mike Villarreal	9	9	11	8	2	9.8
12)	Ray Brown	10	12	7	14	8	10.2
12)	Caden Irwin	13	6	12	7	13	10.2
14)	John Skinner	14	13	14	12	11	12.8
15)	Mike Giguere	15	14	15	16	16	15.2
16)	David Castle	16	16	16	15	15	15.6

Wrong. Scott Kujawa still finds himself first or second in every category, and with a commanding lead as a result. Early in the season there were rumblings that Scott's rotation-mate Mike Villarreal could hopefully be a new name in the running, but he's now outside the top-ten. Chandler Phillips has been dominant and it feels like he should be higher on this list, but - as usual - the walks are dragging him down. Those aren't really hurting his on-field results, though, so don't count him out. Nick Braden is following up a career-best 2018 campaign with even better numbers this year; the 7.88 K/BB (63 K, 8 BB) stands out as the most impressive of his numbers. Travis Strojny is also in the thick of things with this chase group; while he's not ranked better than third in any of the categories, he does lead the league in the number of shutout games this season with five. Back to the leader, Kujawa says he doesn't even want to win the Clown Shu. Well, if that's the case… it's not what you say, it's how you pitch, bitch! Maybe try going out and getting shelled sometime. Just not against Griffleball (or anyone else) this weekend in Morenci, please.

One Week to the Trade Deadline

The trade deadline is one week away. Don't expect any major moves between now and then, though, after the heavy lifting that went down Saturday. In case you missed it, four total trades were completed, three of them were significant, and two included four-plus players/picks. One busy day with Isles purging (yet somehow coming away with a larger roster), Diablos taking a flier, Aces selling first then buying, and Nuts buying before reclaiming a trade piece following what we'll call reported "fan backlash." Below is a recap of the four trades made Saturday:

TRADE #1 STN GET ISL GET ◢ Craig Skinner ◢ 2nd Round Pick ◢ 4th Round Pick ◢ 1st Rd Pick ◢ 3rd Rd Pick ◢ John Robert ◢ Kyle Tarcia ◢ Case of PBR	TRADE #2 ELD GET ACE GET ◢ Michel Bayley ◢ 3rd Rd Pick
TRADE #3 ACE GET ISL GET ◢ Mike Giguere ◢ Preston Baker ◢ Grady Baker ◢ 2nd Rd Pick	TRADE #4 STN GET (back) ISL GET ◢ Kyle Tarcia ◢ 6th Rd Pick ◢ Green Dot Lunch

While there was a lot of moving parts, some of those big, we'd hesitate to call any of these a blockbuster. Stinky Nuts' acquisition of Craig Skinner will probably be seen as the biggest get, and that's a pretty safe claim: he's an everyday elite arm (ignore his last outing) to slide in alongside Hatt and Lollio, making a deep rotation. His addition drops the Nuts' ERA and WHIP by -0.40 and 0.23, respectively, while the net result also sees marginal increases of between +.008 and +.010 in team AVG, OBP, and SLG.

The final numbers on the Giguere-to-Aces trade actually provide the biggest jump in team offensive production, though: +0.75 in AVG, +0.50 in OBP, and +0.97 in SLG. Their streamlined roster features just four players, and won't be an easy lineup for pitchers to work through. They'll just need to get all hands are present for it to work.

Bayley going to El Diablos, on the other hand, is more of a wildcard. Yes, Bayley's one of the hardest throwers in the league, but his addition to El Diablos rotation actually increases their ERA and WHIP by +0.37 and +0.13, respectively. Not egregious increases, but with Tomlinson and Brown having handled the number-two role well, in a way, this feels kind of like a "why not?" eligibility move; with 8 games to play Shore needs 6 more games, Sessions needs 5 more, Bayley just needs 3. Although, if Diablos get Bayley eligible, bonus: that is another dangerous arm they'll have at their disposable.

Where to from here? As mentioned, there do not seem to be many potential moves on the table. Redux are on record that they are not selling. King Friday is in the hunt and unlikely to move anybody. Aces, Nuts, and Diablos all are in good-to-great shape, and the Islanders have sold out of their prized commodities. If there are any moves to come in the next seven days, the 'biggest' (scare quotes warranted) we expect would be minor eligibility moves, or possibly - stretching on this one - adding 5th or 6th man depth. As it probably should be, it looks like we shot off all our fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend.

Rookie Rundown After 16 Games

Deep into the season now, and all teams finally are matched up at an equal sixteen games played. We had an MVP-for-each-team article lined up, but yesterday's trades made that obsolete. Quick to adapt: instead our rookie of the year forecast gets pushed up. All rookies hit. Not all rookies pitch. So, we'll just look at hitting stats for the time being. Nine hitting stats are ranked individually (hits, batting average, on-base percentage, total bases, slugging percentage, runs batted in, plate appearances per RBI, home runs, and at-bats per home run), then an overall average of those rankings is taken to estimate who would be rookie of the year in the present day.

# PLAYER H 1) Caden Irwin 13 2) Preston Baker 9 3) Grady Baker 8 4) Will Burchfield 6 5) Blake Sell 2		# PLAYER AVG 1) Will Burchfield .316 2) Caden Irwin .200 3) Preston Baker .155 4) Grady Baker .127 5) Blake Sell .069		# PLAYER OBP 1) Will Burchfield .519 2) Blake Sell .357 3) Preston Baker .355 4) Caden Irwin .350 5) Grady Baker .225
# PLAYER TB 1) Caden Irwin 23 2) Preston Baker 15 3) Grady Baker 14 4) Will Burchfield 14 5) Blake Sell 2		# PLAYER SLG 1) Will Burchfield .474 2) Caden Irwin .354 3) Preston Baker .259 4) Grady Baker .222 5) Blake Sell .069		# PLAYER RBI 1) Caden Irwin 14 2) Preston Baker 8 3) Grady Baker 7 4) Will Burchfield 4 5) Blake Sell 0
# PLAYER PA/RBI 1) Caden Irwin 5.7 2) Will Burchfield 6.8 3) Preston Baker 9.5 4) Grady Baker 10.1 5) Blake Sell n/a		# PLAYER HR 1) Caden Irwin 3 2) Grady Baker 2 2) Preston Baker 2 4) Will Burchfield 1 5) Blake Sell 0		# PLAYER AB/HR 1) Will Burchfield 19.0 2) Caden Irwin 21.7 3) Preston Baker 29.0 4) Grady Baker 31.5 5) Blake Sell n/a

Burchfield holds the edge in percentage stats, to be sure. However, he lacks the plate appearances to really be considered for the award so far. Irwin's played in 13 of his team's 16 games, is first in most of the counting stats, and also toward the top in all percentage stats. The final rookie of the Year likely will be a race between these two... as long as Will makes it to 60 PA. Grady and Preston Baker had flirted with the potential early on, but both waned. They'll need a huge uptick, now being Islanders, to reengage.

PLAYER	H RANK	AVG RANK	OBP RANK	TB RANK	SLG RANK	RBI RANK	PA/RBI RANK	HR RANK	AB/HR RANK	OA RANK
Caden Irwin	1	2	4	1	2	1	1	1	2	1.67
Will Burchfield	4	1	1	4	1	4	2	4	1	2.44
Preston Baker	2	3	3	3	3	2	3	2	2	2.56
Grady Baker	3	4	5	4	4	3	4	2	4	3.67
Blake Sell	5	5	2	5	5	5	5	5	5	4.67

A New Era?

A question mark on the title is needed, and I will tell you why. Hang tight. The 2019 WSEM Dads will be playing in their 8th NWLA Tournament next month. They had one big era change that no one can dispute. The 2012-13 teams led by manager Carl Coffee changed names, manager, and the rules changed to allow two extra players. Alex Shore took over and his era went 18-2-2 and won two titles. It’s a two-year run of dominance unlikely to ever be matched.

A third era then began, the Chandler Phillips era. His first two years of manager mirrored the Alex Shore teams, and his 2017 title team only allowed four runs all tournament. A record I doubt will ever be broken. Chandler came back in 2018 to manage and became the first WSEM manager to run the team for a 3rd year. WSEM’s four-year run of dominance ended in 2018, and they went home with a disappointing 9th place finish.

So, here we are at now the 4th era, the David Castle era. He inherits a talented team that underachieved last year, and he is expected to only make a couple of small roster changes. Castle has often been the team’s 9th man, a spot that meant he only would play if someone dropped out last minute. That never happened, but he did play in both of the WSEM Dads regional teams. Castle was dominant in regionals, with 4 career home runs and a slash of .375/.467/.917. He often had to sit on the sidelines watching many WSEM players struggle at the plate during nationals and could do nothing about it. That could upset many players, but Castle still supported his league-mates and waited for his chance. Having a chip on your shoulder might be an understatement with Castle.

A New Era? What does that really mean? Will a manager really change things when the roster isn’t very different? It is hard to predict a team like WSEM. It is a team littered with many unproven top caliber pitchers and hitters who can be clutch but can also get in long droughts . One thing I know for sure though, Castle deserves this chance finally. No one has earned it more.