SHL Expansion Two–Can’t Find a Winner

On June 6th, the anniversary of D-Day, Andre Dawson came ashore with a 3-for-4 day that capped a remarkable 5-game stretch where he went 13-for-21 and raised his average to .343. His offense has helped the Expos hang onto first place, but in SHL Two no one has been able to take the beach and hold it.

League Leaders: The Expos (32-35) won 2-of-3 in Houston behind Pedro and Dennis Martinez, then split with the Yankees after Whitey Ford beat them 7-4 when home run leader Babe Ruth hit his 15th home and Lou Gehrig his 13th. Dawson has taken over the team lead in almost every offensive category. Rusty Staub and Gary Carter contribute important punch as well. Vlad Guerrero has been reduced to a platoon with Rusty Staub.

Charlie Lea came back to earth with back-to-back losses and his spot was given to Pascual “Perimeter” Perez who lost to the Brew-lots, putting Lea back in the rotation, but he has yet to win after his flash-in-the-pan start. Dennis and Pedro Martinez give the Expos a good one-two punch at the top of the rotation, but there has been no consistency after that. Ken Hill has had several good starts of late, but GM Keri has been quit to pull his pitchers and is running a shuttle to Ottawa that is dizzying.

When SHL 2 division rivals come to north to Canada, however, they seem to know all the best fishing spots. First the Padres swept three games several weeks ago. More recently, Milaukee won both of their games in Montreal with Chris Bosio and Rollie Fingers pitching the Brew-lots to a sweep. These are squandered opportunities that may haunt the Expos late in the season.

Jonah Keri opines on management challenges in this interview. He has been pulling the levers with the zeal of a mad scientist, making probably more moves than anyone. Sending Steve Rogers to the minors after two wins in favor of Lea was not his best move. But the Expos are in first place and playing well. It is hard to argue with success.

Padre Island: San Diego (30-37) has settled into second place and stayed there for the past three weeks. The Expos had opportunities to open leads, but have not been up to the task. The Padres no longer lead the SHL in hitting but are still one of the best offensive machines in the league. Not only do they have five hitters who remain above .300 but also have five hitters with OBPs over .400 and as a team, their team OBP of .362 leads the SHL and explains how they are getting the amazing run production out of their less potent slugging.

On the pitching side, Jake Peavy won his last two games, striking out nine against Seattle and coming back to win against Arizona last night. But those were the only wins San Diego has seen in the past week. Bruce Hurst may be suffering from overwork. He has been hit hard two of the last three games and his ERA has ballooned, but remains respectable at 3.83.

Micro Brewing: Milwaukee (26-41) is an odd mirror image of the Padres. They have the worst offense in the SHL. They are the only team that does not manage to average 4.0 runs per game. They have no one hitting over .300–Paul Molitor leads at .285 and the highest OBP is Prince Fielder at .342. Jeremy Burnitz has hit fourteen homes but is batting only .238. Only Robin Yount is the only other player among the team leaders who is having a respectable season.

Their pitching is more respectable, giving up only 4.5 per game, but it is the differential that is killing Milwaukee. The bullpen continues to be among the best in the SHL with Rollie Fingers leading the way. Boxcar Bosio leads in ERA and Ben Sheets leads the rotation with nine wins.

The Brew-lots have lost four in a row, have won only two of their last ten and are in danger of falling into last behind the Royals who have been surging.

Kansas City: The Surge is Working: In their last ten games, the Royals are playing .500 ball.  They still have one of the worst records in the SHL, but it is the first sign of life that has been seen on a horizon that has been bleak the entire season.  They are only two games behind the Brewers who lost.  They have won four straight now, and over those games George Brett has three home runs.  He is the only Royals hitter to reach .300 and he is on the threshold of double digit homers.

In a rare display of power on June 11th, Kansas City (24-43) beat San Diego 13-8.  Fans were hopeful of a change then, but the hitting shoes did not stick. The team is still the second worst hitting team in the SHL, just one tick above the Brewers at 4.0 runs per game. The pitching is not much better. Carlos Beltran and George Brett are having good seasons, but there is no power source except Brett.

Like Milwaukee, their pitching is respectable, but David Cone, Bret Saberhagen, and Kevin Appier are the picture of mediocrity. Sam Mellinger is soliciting consultants to help turn around his team’s season. However, there may be no stimulus package in town that can pump life back into the Kansas City Royals.