This will be a more brief than usual monthly review as we are almost at the all-star break. I will do a lengthy half way through the season or at least to the all-star break, two or three part review late next week. I’m also going to have a few more interviews and maybe a couple of features. We’ll see how it goes. Anyway, on with June-a month which was most unkind to the Lynx and their fans.

In a month which had to be considered critical for the team by any standard, (well at least by my standards), the Ottawa Lynx fell flat on their collective faces. The Lynx went 9-19 in the month of June, falling into last place on June 11^th, 5.5 games behind Buffalo, and remaining in last place the rest of the month. At the start of July, Ottawa were 9.5 games behind the Bisons and continued to fall further and further behind. The continued lack of decent starting pitching was the main reason for the continuing slide and even the defence, which had been solid all season, was beginning to show some cracks. Everyone concerned was beginning to feel a sense of futility and urgency about the 2007 season. The Lynx were 5-11 at home for June, 4-8 on the road and finished the month with an overall record of 17-14 in one run games, 5-3 in extra innings and 1-8 in shutouts. Ottawa as a team in the month of June, (28 games), collected 258 hits. Among this total were 44 doubles, five triples, 18 home runs, 93 RBI , 96 runs scored and 77 walks. Team speed again this month was weak with only eleven stolen bases in twenty attempts. They had an OBP of .332, SLG .383 and a somewhat decent OPS of .715. The Lynx hit .270 in June.

Gary Burnham drove in 16 runs and tied for the team lead with Brennan King hitting five home runs. Joe Thurston and Chris Roberson each scored 17 runs in June and the team hit 18 of their team total 27 home runs for the season. Roberson stole six bases and hit .284. Jason Jaramillo followed up a hot April and cold May with an average of .322, driving in 14 runs and getting 28 hits in 25 games. His OBP was .410, SLG. 402 and OPS 812. All of this earned him a selection to the 2007 Triple A All-Star Game. Brennan King continued to show no ill effects from the broken thumb suffered earlier in the season hitting .313 for June with five home runs and 11 RBI an OBP of .404, a SLG of .688 and an OPS of 1.091, King had his best month so far. Gary Burnham saw his average drop as he hit only .269 for June but he continued to stay in the top ten in doubles, hitting six more in June and adding five home runs and 16 RBI. Joe Thurston continued to improve offensively each month, hitting .270 for June, (despite 18 strikeouts), and tying for the team lead scoring 17 runs. He also knocked in eleven. Jim Rushford had another solid month, hitting .286 and driving in eleven runs, hitting ten doubles but no home runs and scored only four runs in twenty seven games. Veteran Pedro Swann had limited at bats despite playing in twenty three games, (usually batting in the eighth spot), but scored 13 runs, hit four home runs and drove in seven.

Ottawa managed an injury free month for the position players which allowed John Russell to start virtually the same lineup and batting order for every game. This should allow players to get comfortable in their roles and usually results in consistent production. Danny Sandoval had the lowest average of the regulars, a respectable .260. But with the pitching staff giving up an average of 4.46 runs per game, an offense which scores 3.43 runs per game is not going to get you many wins in any case. Despite the solid .270 team bating average, runs were difficult to come by. While some of the Lynx had what look like impressive clutch hitting stats, those numbers can be deceiving and don’t really tell you much. Many times it was a case of a couple of guys on base followed by unproductive outs. Failure to at least advance the runner, missed bunt attempts or unsuccessful bunts, a poor stolen base success rate and either ten runs or two runs didn’t help much. The team also ground into thirty two double plays in June, the pitcher’s best friend and the killer of many a rally. There didn’t seem to be a lot of first to third or second to home base running either as a general lack of team speed really showed. Often, the offense didn’t put much pressure on the opposition.

At the end of June, Ottawa ranked second in average, (.268), dead last in runs scored, (325), last in home runs, (27), fifth in hits, (704), and tied for last in stolen bases, (36), and second last in walks.

But the real culprit again in the month of June was the pitching, more specifically the starting pitching. Far too often the team was taken out of the game early putting pressure on the bullpen and the offense. Far too often there was the sense of here we go again and the team couldn’t relax and just play the game. Too many pitches and at bats became critical early on in the game and this type of daily extra pressure led to mistake pitches and bad at bats.

The overall ERA for June was 4.53. June brought the release of Rick Bauer and the reassigning of Zach Segovia to Reading. Eude Brito went 0-2 with an ERA of 6.98. Segovia had an 0-4 record with an ERA of 11.17. Heath Totten went 0-2 and had an ERA of 7.20. Those were their “good” stats. Bubba Nelson was bad start, good start, bad start, good start, bad start and went 2-3 with an ERA of 3.89. When he was on he did quite well as his WHIP of 1.30 would suggest. But like the other Lynx starters, when he was bad the game was gone early. J.A. Happ made only three starts in June, no decisions and an ERA of 3.75. He was still averaging only four innings per start but that can be attributed to his time on the DL. His WHIP however, was high at 1.75 although his strikeouts still averaged more than one per inning, (12IP-14 Ks). Hopefully he’ll be fully recovered in July and can finally go deep into games for Ottawa.

The Lynx other starters, especially newcomers and relative newcomers Landon Jacobsen and Charles Weatherby III showed that they might be the answer to the Lynx starting woes. Weatherby appeared in seven games in June and started two games and was solid each time out. He had a record of 2-1 and an ERA of 3.72 with an excellent WHIP of 1.14. Especially impressive was his ability to start or relieve and it seems, (if additional starts in July are any indication), that Russell would love to leave him in the rotation and that the manager is quite pleased with what Weatherby has shown thus far. Landon Jacobsen made one start in June, (a late call up), won the game with six solid innings, allowed one hit, and no runs allowed and is scheduled for more starts. One start does not a season make but his second start in July was almost as impressive, (even though he was charged with a loss), giving some hope that a rotation of Nelson, Happ, Weatherby and Jacobsen and Durbin, (if he returns from Philadelphia), might be just the thing to salvage this 2007 season.

The saves leader on the Lynx, Brian Sanches, was recalled by Philadelphia in June despite being ineffective during that month. Sanches went 1-1 in six appearances with an ERA of 7.11 and a WHIP of 1.74. He did manage to record one save in two opportunities despite those numbers and did strikeout ten batters in 6.1 innings. Jason Anderson was very effective in eleven games, no decisions and one save but an ERA of 3.12 and an excellent WHIP of 1.15. Fabio Castro was very effective if one took only a quick look at his stats but was very lucky in June. He appeared in four games, winning one and recording an ERA of 1.04, but had a WHIP of 1.62. He threw eight innings, allowed eight hits and walked six. He also recorded six strikeouts. It would seem that he was allowing inherited runners to score before settling down and working out of trouble. Anderson Garcia did very well in June and as a result got the call from the Phillies on July 1^st. He appeared in eleven games, had no decisions and an ERA of 0.96 and a WHIP of 1.19. He recorded two saves in three chances and gave up only ten hits in 18.2 innings. Clay Condrey and Kane Davis made five appearances between them getting only one save chance, (no saves), and pitching a combined ten innings. John Ennis was for the most part ineffective in eleven chances, (0-2-4.58 ERA-1.81 WHIP and one save), and Joe Besinius went 01- with an ERA of 6.75 and a WHIP of 2.00 in three games.

The end of June saw Ottawa pitching ranking second to last in team ERA, (4.48), tied for second to last in hits allowed, (733), with only one complete game and one shutout and with a won-lost of 33-45. They were last in WHIP, (1.53), and tenth in saves, (21).

The month of June was an opportunity to gain some ground on Buffalo, Rochester and Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Instead, the Lynx continued to stumble through the 2007 season and will now play their divisional rivalries in what will be a sink or swim month of July.