Eureka in Post Season, Ahead of Schedule

Eureka reached the postseason earlier than anticipated this season, squeaking ahead of Kansas City by two games with 88 wins.  The team was led by a stellar season from Mike Bergeron.  He managed to play all 162 games, with 40 HRs, 122 RBIs and Runs Scored, and a .339 BA/.402 OBP/.609 SLG batting line. 

Other young players and rookies were a big part of Eureka's success, too.  Royce Butterfield became the ace of the rotation, with a 14-8 record and a 3.28 ERA.  Paul Green became a reliable starter, with a 13-11 record and a 3.97 ERA.  Anthony Atkinson, a future ace, came up partway into the season and fashioned a 5-7 record with a 4.92 ERA.

There were some new and/or significantly improved offensive players this season, too.  Clement Milford came up for the last half of the season to plug a hole at shortstop, and brought significant energy to the top of the lineup: .289 BA/.348 OBP/.394 SLG, with 58 runs scored and 35 stolen bases.  Orlando Carranzo also brought energy to the top of the lineup: .285 BA/.346 OBP/.437 SLG, 22 HRs, 96 RBI, 93 Runs Scored.  Veterans Eduardo Gomez (.289 BA/.365 OBP/.481 SLG, 24 HRs, 108 RBIs) and Michael Brown (.306 BA/.370 OBP/.509 SLG) also contributed strong seasons.

Eureka heads into the playoffs with excitement and energy, hoping to advance beyond the first round. 

Injury Bug Flying Through Clubhouse

The Hornets have been getting batted down by injuries the past several weeks.  The first significant extended injury occurred to star secondbaseman Gary McLernon.  Then, as he was coming back, in quick succession top-of-the-order hitter Andrew Padgett was lost for four months with a broken kneecap, centerfielder Claude "Yes, I am overpaid and underperforming" Knight was lost for a couple of weeks due to a strained rib cage, and then backup/erstwile starting centerfielder Jesus Gonzalez was lost for six weeks due to a partially torn labrum.  Those three represent three of the top four outfielders on the team.  And this was consummated at the end of the trading period, leaving Eureka scrambling for options.

The team is wondering about getting a new trainer, and secondquessing having the outfielders run all the aisles in the stadium from bottom to top prior to games.

Youth Arriving to Stop the Slide

Clement Milford was brought up to help resurrect the offense and to inject some life into a Eureka team that had become suddenly listless.  Through his first 18 games he has done well, batting .344/.459/.492 with 11 steals in his first 13 attempts, 10 RBI and 10 RS.  He looks to be the real deal.  It is likely he will slide over to 2B eventually, but for now he is an adequate SS.

Whoa, Nelly, Not So Soon!

The Hornets continue to outperform expectations though little more than a third of the season, leading the TML in HRs, scoring, and OPS.  Star Bergeron is batting third and leading team in batting with a .335 BA and homeruns, with 15.  Veteran secondbaseman McLernon is leading in RBIs, with 45. 

The team was not expected to do well this early on, but the explosive offense and mostly-adequate pitching has helped them to be competitive.  Second-year starter Royce Butterfield leads the rotation with a 3.73 ERA at age 21.  Prospect Anthony Atkinson held his own in his first ML start, pitching 5 solid innings, allowing only 2 runs at the age of 19.  He is in his third level on the season, after starting at AA, where he had 6 starts and a .73 ERA, then moving to AAA, where he had 5 starts and a 1.95 ERA.   The Hornets need him to prove to be a consistent ML starter, because the starting rotation has proven to be the team's lone inconsistency to this point.

New Season, Better Look?

Eureka has gotten off to a good start in 2013, with a 9-5 record in the early going.  Eureka added only a few new names to the roster, including catcher Ronnie Wells via trade to fill the Hornets' biggest hole.  So far, Wells has not brought better lumber, going only 3 for his first 42 for an .071 average in the early going. 

With a young rotation and more young arms on the way in coming seasons, Eureka took steps to shore up its bullpen in the offseason, (re)signing closer Brad Austin, who was traded to Maple last season and signing setup man Jim Dorsey. So far, the bullpen has proven to be a strength, with the team going 1-0 in extra inning games, and 2-1 in one-run games.

The offense has also been productive in the early going.  Cleanup man Eduardo Gomez has 16 RBIs through the first 14 games, and secondbaseman Gary McLernon is batting .479 with a .597 on-base percentage.  So far in the early going the team has a .291 batting average, .371 on base percentage, and .467 slugging percentage, with a Thurman Munson League leading 86 runs.

The starting pitching will need to improve for Eureka to maintain good performance, but the early results are encouraging.

Limping to the End

Eureka is struggling to a sub-.500 finish, lower than the owner had hoped for.  The injury bug has continued to hit Eureka hard, which now lost starting SS Foster through the end of the season.  Those who follow the team closely are wondering if this season's injuries have just represented an inordinate amount of bad luck, or if the trainer needs to be replaced!  Oh, well.  There is always next year!

Rotation of the Future Looks Studly

Eureka is really, really struggling this year.  This was expected, since the focus early was youth, pitching, character, youth, fielding, hitting.  However, there are some young bucks who should load up a quality rotation in the very near future.  The prospects:

4-5 Star Potential:
1. Royce Butterfield (age: 21).  After seven AAA starts during which he was lights-out (3-1, 1.41 ERA), Royce was called up the the big leagues.  He has had some ups and downs, and currently stands at 3-4 with a 6.70 ERA.  However, he did show his potential on July 3rd when he pitched a six-hit shutout.

2. Jake Nelson (age: 18).  After 18 A starts and a 9-5 record with a 2.21 ERA, he was promoted to AA.  He has struggled some there, which is to be expected at this point in his career, going 3-1 with a 4.79 ERA.

3. Anthony "Pongo" Atkinson (age: 18).  He has spent the season in A ball, going 11-5 with a 2.71 ERA.

4. Dave Blake (age: 17).  He has spent the season in A ball also, going 8-9 with a 4.57 ERA.

3 Star Potential:

5. Jeff "Havoc" Olsen (age: 22).  He has struggled in AAA ball, with a 5-4 record and 5.12 ERA, but he is still very much in Eureka's plans.

The plan is to have all of them, with the possible exception of Olsen, move up a level next season.  In 2-3 years, the major league team should have a solid rotation.

Ouch!

Adding to Eureka's injury woes, firstbaseman Michael Brown suffered a broken kneecap, and will miss seven months.  Starting pitchers Francis Baker and Jerome Burnett, as well as outfielder Orlando Carranzo, were already lost for this season.

"It has been a tough season," Eureka GM Dalfiume said.  "We knew we were playing mostly young this season, but the injuries made what was going to be a challenging season even more challenging.  The upside is that other young players have had some opportunities to get their feet wet in the major leagues.  A bit ahead of schedule, but that is the way it works sometimes."

Gnats (A) Bat, Arm Both Players of the Month

18-year-old Martin Rivera, OF on the Nichols Gnats, won the player of the month award as the best Batter in the BOL for the month of June.  He batted .313 with 8 home runs, 16 RBIs, and 21 runs scored.  He has won the player of the week award three times this season, and has now added Batter of the Month.

Less of a surprise was that SP Anthony Atkinson, considered one of Eureka's top prospects, won the player of the month award as the best Pitcher in the BOL for the month of June.  He was 5-1 in six starts, 39.1 innings, with 42 Ks, and a miniscule 1.37 ERA. 

The Gnats are now 53-30 for the season.

Injuries Slamming Eureka!

Eureka has been beset by the injury bug.  Two of the five season-opening starters, Francis Baker and Jerome Burnett, are already out for the season.   OF and DH Orlando Carranzo is also.  Star Mike Bergeron is halfway through a month of inactivity, as are rightfielder Willis Parks and shortstop Dylan Foster.  The young team, which already had something of a AAA look, has an even stronger AAA look now!

Down on the farm, AAA reliever Eric Phillips and A reliever Gary Prince are out for the season.  AA reliever Sam Evans will be missing half the season.

Week 5: The Rotation is Turning

Two placeholder starters, who were brought in to be innings-eaters for one season only, have been underperforming.  Larry Smiley (5 GS, 7.29 ERA) and Chris Johnson (4 GS, 7.20 ERA) have been demoted to AAA.  Royce Butterfield, who is projected to be a solid long-term member at the top of the major league rotation, was brought up from AAA affiliate Pasadena.  In seven starts, he was 3-1 with a 1.41 ERA.  Matt Murphy was also brought up from Pasadena.  In seven starts he was 4-2 with a 3.97 ERA.  Matt may or may not have a long term future in the major league rotation.

Week 3: Climb to Mediocrity and a Catcher Spotlight

Eureka has begun to climb toward the level of mediocrity anticipated for the team by the owner, going 4-2 in week 3, to move to 7-12.  Though 3rd in the standings, the office is beginning to come around, and leads the division in doubles and triples.  However, the fast runners, who have been given a loose rein to run, have not cut loose on the base paths, stealing only 5 bases through the first 5 games.  Catchers Franklin Tucker and David Rivera are not providing much offense, but are very solid defensively, calling good games and demonstrating strong arms on throws to 2nd.  David Rivera, however, has the much better catcher ERA, with 3.45 to Franklin Tucker's 5.09 catcher ERA.

Week 1, 2012

Week One of the inaugural season for the Eureka Hornets got off to a rocky start.  The team is primarily built around youth, particularly young pitching.  But a 1-5 start was worse than expected.  Heck, the management expected at LEAST a 2-4 start!


One problem was the first big "Doh!" moment of the season, when manager De La Garza realized he had created only non-DH lineups.  As a result, the first week lineups were, creatively: 1. C, 2. 1B, 3. 2B, and so forth!  Needless to say, this next week will be a more accurate indication of the quality of the lineup!

The pitching for the next season or so will be less-than-stellar.  The Eureka strategy was to build for the long haul, so most of the team's best pitching is in the minors.  However, by 2014, there should be a competitive product on the field.

The Week One star was a veteran, 35-year-old secondbaseman Gary McLernon.  He had a .417 BA and .625 SLG for the week.  Go Gary!