After dropping both ends of the double header Thursday night against Syracuse, the Lynx began week twenty-two with a double header split Friday night, their second double header in two nights. Of course with four games in two days, there is always the possibility that one of the starting pitchers is going to have to take one for the team. Although new comer Gary Knotts, (0-1), pitched a decent game in his first start for the Lynx, he went the distance in game one and Syracuse defeated Ottawa again, this time by a score of 5-3. Ottawa lead 3-1 after two innings but Knotts tired and couldn’t hold the Syracuse club, giving up one run in the fifth and three in the sixth inning. The Lynx scored three off Syracuse starter Justin James but Chiefs bullpen, Scott Sauerbeck-(1-1), and Matt Roney, (his second save of the season), held them to only two hits over the final two innings. Adam Lind again had a big night going 3-3 with a home run, (he went 6-6 with two home runs and five RBI in his last two games and Howie Clark also chipped in with three hits. Lind and David Corrente each homered in the three run sixth. Ottawa second baseman Joe Thurston went 3-4 including his fourth home run of the year.
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Life In Triple A
Players come, players go, players come, players…well-you get the idea. A player can be gone and back before you know it. A player can get promoted, released, waived, resigned, reassigned quicker than the time it takes me to write this column. Some players skip one or two levels-briefly, and then are sent back to their original designation. Lately I’ve been reluctant to go to the washroom at the ballpark or take the elevator three floors to the concourse for a hot dog fearing that the roster sheet I picked up before the game that night only a couple of hours ago might be only half accurate by the time I return. Triple A players need cell phones in the likely event they are waiting in the airport lounge, (or bus terminal), to get to their next level of baseball only to be told they are going somewhere else, staying, or they’ve been released. The only thing which seems to stay constant is the odd veteran, the manager, the coaching staff and the office staff. I mean, somebody has to stay here and sort this all out. I now know why players names are usually only taped on the top of their locker.
Ottawa Lynx Week Sixteen(Part Two-Richmond)
Against the Braves, nothing went right as the Lynx slid further and further into last place, the team once again reverting back to poor pitching and hitting. They were simply out of games early against the Richmond Braves and once again were swept in a double header. Richmond got off to a very hot start this season and have continued to hold first place all season. They’re hot start can be attributed to a very good pitching staff and the combination of Braves pitching and Ottawa hitting didn’t bode well for Ottawa. The first three games in Richmond were awful, really bad and awful. The fourth was closer but again another loss. J.A. Happ was awful, Bubba Nelson gave up seven runs, closer Brian Sanches had to start the second game of a double header, (he got hit but a booted inning ending double play grounder didn’t help), and Fabio Castro went 4.1 solid innings but lost and the Lynx didn’t hit, (again), four runs in four games.
Continue reading Ottawa Lynx Week Sixteen(Part Two-Richmond)
Ottawa Lynx Week Sixteen, (Part One-Rochester)
As there are eleven games in week sixteen, I have split up the report this week. Part two tomorrow.
Six games-four days and two double headers in three days isn’t something which is likely to help a team struggling as badly as the Ottawa Lynx are and have been since May. It didn’t. To further complicate things for the Lynx and play potential havoc with the starters, Ottawa was hit with heavy rains all day Friday which let up only a couple of hours before the scheduled start. Due to the double headers, there was a real danger that the pitching staff would further collapse as John Russell might have little option but to either leave his starters in too long to save the bullpen, or be forced to overuse the bullpen due to non quality starts.
Continue reading Ottawa Lynx Week Sixteen, (Part One-Rochester)
Ottawa Lynx Week Fifteen
The Lynx were supposed to, after limping into the All-Star break, have caught their collective breath, looked in the mirror, dug their heels in, and start afresh and with renewed vigour and determination. Instead, week fifteen saw them lose four in a row and five of seven. It would seem that Ottawa will be lucky to escape last place, never mind making a run at the playoffs. Every phase of the game was bad, even the defence this time, and it left the team frustrated, silent and feeling hopeless despite the positive spin which was being put on the situation by players and management alike and finally a good start by J.A. Happ to end the week.
Ottawa Lynx Pitching First Half 2007-The Bullpen
The bullpen in the first half followed the lead of the starters: when they were good they were very good but…… As discussed in previous posts, much of the problem began with the troubles, (injuries-releases), experienced by the starting pitching. But some of it was just plain bad.
Continue reading Ottawa Lynx Pitching First Half 2007-The Bullpen
Ottawa Lynx Week Fourteen
The Lynx limped into the three day All-Star break losing three of four to Scranton/Wilkes Barre in a repeat of their previous four game home stand against the Yankees. In what has become the norm for this team in the 2007 season, two games were blowouts, (one was an Ottawa win), and two were one run games. Game one was especially ugly as J.A. Happ’s return to the rotation was a disaster. Happ had been hit hard in his major league debut and his return to the Lynx rotation was even more unsuccessful. Happ, (1-3), threw fifty pitches and retired only two batters. The game got so out of hand that outfielder Jim Rushford pitched the eighth inning. Scranton scored seven runs in the first innings, one in the second and three in the third. The Lynx scored four in the fourth and one in the fifth but Scranton scored another five runs in their half of the fifth. Jason Anderson went four inning and gave up seven runs. Yankee starter Chase Wright, (6-3), gave up seven runs in five innings of work but which the huge early Scranton lead, he didn’t have to be very fine and could just put the ball over the plate. Gary Burnham went 4-4 with five RBI for the Lynx and Dusty Wathan went 3-4 driving in three. Yes it was one of those games for certain but as we’ve seen through much of the first half, one of those games is becoming the norm.
Ottawa Lynx Pitching First Half, (Starters)
Starting Pitching: Thirteen different pitchers started games for Ottawa in the first half of the 2007 season. Injuries and ineffectiveness were the main culprits as manager John Russell was forced at times to use anyone he could find who was available to pitch in any capacity. The Lynx best starter left in May, ( Brian Mazone), the second best starter was out from mid May to early July, ( Matt Childers), and the promising J.A. Happ couldn’t go deep into games, was injured and then ineffective upon his return. By the All-Star break, two inexperienced and recently promoted to Triple A pitchers were becoming the most reliable members of a patchwork rotation.
Continue reading Ottawa Lynx Pitching First Half, (Starters)
Lynx Batting First Half 2007
Catcher: Jason Jaramillo was selected to play for the IL All-Star team and most deservedly so. He was hot in April, ice cold in May and hot again in June and to this point in July. This has all added up to an average of .275, (eleventh on the Lynx), 34 runs scored, (tied for third), 74 hits, (fourth), four doubles and a surprising three triples. Jaramillo was tied for second with five home runs and finished third on the Lynx with 37 RBI. He had 99 total bases, (fifth), walked 29 times, (third), and slugged .368 good for only eighth among the regulars. He was fifth in OBP, (.353), and seventh in OPS, (.721).
Ottawa Lynx 2007-The First Half-Overview
Ottawa Lynx 2007-The First Half-Overview
Last place, 14.0 games back, 35-52, (19-22 at home, 16-30 on the road). 11.5 back in the wildcard with 57 games to play. Ottawa have been in last place since June 11th and are four games back of fifth place Pawtucket. Even if division leading Buffalo win only half of their remaining 57 games, (78 wins total for the season), the Lynx would have to go 43-14 in the second half simply to tie for first, .750 baseball! A wild card berth looks equally daunting. Scranton, Rochester, Indianapolis, Durham and Louisville winning only half of their games still means the Lynx would need to win 39 games, a .684 percentage. Realistically nearly an impossible task. This team, which won the division playing in Scranton in 2006, appear done for the season. Explaining the performance of the team this year and why their statistics rank so low in the league would make me the one person who has all the answers and could turn this team around. But I’m not a baseball manager or coach, (ie not an expert), and I’m not out there on the field everyday. Is it just one of those seasons or was last year done with mirrors? Here is what has happened to date and the stats and the team rankings in several key categories.
Phuture Phillies 