Two wins but improvement is slow
The Red Crescents are still in the mire, but at least they have now won two games in a single week, something they hadn’t done so far in 2047. They also won their first series of the season after opening the week by winning the rubber match with Jerusalem to take the series 2-1. A split decision on the two games in Manama was also good, Riyadh had run the season series with the Pearls close last year as they are doing in 2047. In between was a heavy sweep by Tripoli, disappointing as we had only lost one of our six meetings with the Piranhas in 2046.
I had thought we were particularly well off in the catching department after Mike Schofield hit 18 homers last year and worked 18 walks while Pablo Espinoza hit .243, 30 walks and 22 EBH. It appears I was wrong though as both are hitting around the .100 mark and have just a single homer each between them and only one other EBH so far in this second season. Masaki Sato is at least producing, with five homers and 15 RBI, he should at least get near his 2046 totals which got him three batter of the week awards and a batter of the month award. New boy Grady Fern also leads the team with a batting average of .381 and is second only to Sato with 13 RBI.
The rotation so far owns a 2-12 record with three of them having an ERA north of five. Juan Rodriguez has at least brought something into the Red Crescents, being responsible for one of those wins and striking out 22 batters in 27 innings while only walking four. Raul Correa will shortly be losing his stopper’s job as he has a 1-3 record, no saves, an ERA above eight and he’s given up 12 runs which is more than two of the rotation. On the other hand Francisco Cardona in ten outings & 8.2 innings pitched hasn’t given up a run and opponents are hitting just .172 off of him.
Prospect Watch
Walakino set for 2047 debut in South Guam
17-yr-old Micronesian pitcher (one of four pro Micronesian players currently, two are in the Riyadh system) Kononae Walakino, drafted in the second round of the 2046 draft, is set to make his 2047 debut next week in A-ball South Guam. Last year in Rookie Ball Walakino went 2-3 with two saves and a 3.56 ERA, pitching 55 innings mostly out of the bullpen, striking out 78 batters with a 1.02 WHIP. Finishing off 2046 in South Guam he posted a 2-2 record there in four starts, striking out a further 20 batters in 21 IP. He will start 2047 as the sixth starter and the staff are excited for him. He has worked hard all off season, he’s added a decent sinker to his repertoire giving him four strong pitches and a slightly dodgy changeup. He also has upped his effort and now can touch 98-100 mph on the radar gun. This means that we’ll have three teenage pitchers from the franchise’s first amateur draft in the Saints’ rotation, we look forward to seeing if the team can move forward with them.
2047 Riyadh Results against the UMEBA
Vs BURT
| Team | HW | HL | AW | AL | RF | RA | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baghdad | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 0-3 |
| Beirut | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 0-3 |
| Jerusalem | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 33 | 2-5 |
| Manama | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 35 | 3-4 |
| Team | HW | HL | AW | AL | RF | RA | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| Bucharest | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| Cairo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| Mumbai | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| Tripoli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 0-3 |