SHL Expansion Two–To the Rear March
The Padres grabbed onto the last place Kansas City Royals at the beginning of the last week of April and used them to catapult into the Expansion Two lead. They swept the lowly Royals, winning three straight. Since then no team in the division has been able to win and the Padres lead by default. Bruce Hurst is showing All-Star form and leads the league with four complete games, tossing a complete game shutout and getting two additional wins to keep his struggling mates afloat.
No team is really close to a winning record in the division and no one has been able to put together any kind of win streak. Milwaukee lost four in a row after making a run at .500. Washington’s front office has shaken up the lineup, moving Jeff Fassero out of the rotation and sending Woody Fryman to Ottawa, but they remain four games below .500.
Padre Island (13-15): Tony Fernadez has been as hot as Bruce Hurst, but he is out for the rest of the week with an injury. Robbie Alomar (.322), Steve Finley (14 RBI), and Tony Gwynn (.338) are still carrying a timely attack, but the pitching that has been good at home has been unable to win on the road. Randy Jones beat Kansas City at home but reverted to form the next time out. The future for the Padres will continue to deteriorate if they cannot win on the road. The team has won only three times outside San Diego and they have a long road trip ahead.
Nothing Fermenting for the Brew-lots (12-16): Milwaukee has lost its last four games, beaten by Cleveland’s Bob Feller and Sam McDowell most recently. Robin Yount (.327) is pacing the offense with support from Prince Fielder, but the starting rotation has slipped steadily and the bullpen that had kept the team in the running early, hasn’t had many leads to protect. Chris Bosio has been the best option and he has three wins. Milwaukee also has extensive road trips in the offing and their ability to hang on to their position in the division may be precarious.
Up and Coming Nationals (12-16): GM Jonah Keri has shaken up his team and achieved some success in the doing. Dennis Martinez has anchored the rotation that had been awful in the first two weeks, but he has more walks than strikeouts and may be pitching on borrowed time. Keri moved Jeff Fassero–the only lefthander on the active roster–and Woody Fryman out of the rotation. Fassero remains in a loogy role, but Fryman was sent down while Charlie Lea moved into his spot and responded to the opportunity with a win in late April. Steve Rogers has pitched better and the rotation could be coming together.
Al Oliver, Rusty Staub, Gary Carter, and Vlad Guerrero give the team tremendous punch, but Keri has had problems getting a dependable supporting cast. Jose Vidro was optioned to Ottawa as Delino Deshields has been effective at second base and doing well in the leadoff spot. But the rest of the infield is a work in progress. Bob Bailey at third and Hubie Brooks at short have shown almost nothing. Tim Wallach was called up from Ottawa and has shown more than Bailey. I see the Nationals taking advantage of an upcoming stretch at RFK to leapfrog into the division league before the end of May–it’s a stretch to think any team in this division can win consistently, but someone has to emerge from this car wreck and I think it’s going to be Washington.
Worst in Show (6-22): The Kansas City Royals took over the worst record in the SHL from Florida with an awful week. Actually, the Royals have been remarkably consistent. They have won six times in six weeks–a pace that will be hard to sustain. Kevin Appier beat Mike Mussina and the Orioles in a rare win. Appier has two of the six wins, but it is difficult to see the Royals building off of a single win. GM Sam Mellinger has his work cut out for him. The team is consistently at the bottom of every offensive and defensive category. Carlos Beltran has played well, but George Brett has been slumping and those are the two top hitters on the team. The pitching staff should be better, but has not gelled. The good news is that it cannot get worse.
