Outlaws post seventh 20-win chapter in franchise history
Twenty wins is a nice round number for success in a chapter. It means a winning percentage just over 70% which is a sign of strong play that would correlate to a 110-win season if a team where to manage that all season.
Prior to this season, the feat had only happened five times in franchise history and never twice in one season.
When asked about this, Outlaws GM Greg Newgard sighed. “It’s a great mark to hit, especially twice this early in the season. It really serves notice that this team isn’t a fluke.
“41 wins at this point has never been done here before,” Newgard continued. “We had 39 back in ’09, but that team sort of limped toward the finish line and won 102 games, which is remarkable, but could have been more. In ’14 when we won the pennant, we only had 32 wins at that point. But we got hot late and managed to hit the line at 100 wins. This feels like something more.”
As the focus of the post-chapter informal press conference shifted from history to issues a bit closer to home, Newgard smile returned.
“It’s a fun ride when things when the results are there, but it’s not like there aren’t areas of focus that are needed. The offense picked it up a little, but we’re still not hitting like we should be. The pitching was there nearly all chapter until Vegas bombed us. Bear Country continues to be a thorn in our side. No team is perfect, but we aren’t going to rest of our laurels here.”
When asked about the recent hiccups with Bear Country, Newgard shrugged. “On one hand, you can’t win every series and we know that. Both series were well played on both ends, with runs at a premium. Both teams have strong bullpens that protect leads well. I think the breaks have gone there way.
“But the other hand has this nagging worry that there is something we don’t see that gives them some sort of advantage over us, which already has us concerned about any potential playoff matchup that might take place. We can’t get too worried about that, but when you look at the overall feeling that the bats just aren’t doing as much as they could be, it’s another data point to worry over.”
When asked why the Outlaws weren’t scoring as well as they could, Newgard laughed. “You’re guess is a good as ours! We know this team has a vibe of waiting around for the three-run homer like Earl Weaver’s Oriole bunch back in the 70’s had. We don’t have a ton of speed to take extra bases. Some of our slower players clog rallies. But we had three full-time players hit over .300 last month. Those kinds of performances should lead to bunches of runs, but it’s like all the hits are poorly timed and we don’t get the big innings we could or should.”
Aaron Judge was one of those players, posting team bests in nearly every major category (8 homers, 23 runs, 27 walks, 18 RBIs tied with Travis Shaw, .323/.476/.646 triple slash) and earned Hitter of the Month honors.
“Judge was awesome to see, but we had some nice rebounds as Elvis Andrus put up a great month after a slow start. Goldy warmed up late and ended up getting back on track. All those good performances were buoyed by prolonged slumps from George Springer, Travis Shaw, Joe Panik. It’s a case where we push one button or plug one leak and another one shows up. This team is better than 4.2 runs a game.”
On the pitching side though, things continue to roll for the Outlaws and their own consistent strength.
“What can you say,” Newgard said. “Greinke and Wood combine to 10-0 in 12 starts, all quality starts. Sale’s ERA climbed a bit, but he goes 4-1 in the front of our rotation to set the tone. Nick Goody and Blake Parker don’t have up a run in over 25 innings of relief, Jake McGee gives up one over 10, The starters are strong and back-end of the bullpen are as well. But we felt the bullpen is getting over worked, so that’s why we went out and got Bryan Shaw to try and soak up some middle innings or rest our setup guys.”
Zach Greinke was awarded Pitcher of the Month. In 44 innings, Greinke went 6-0 failing to get a decision against Kansas City despite allowed just two runs over seven innings of work. He allowed just 32 hits and six walks and struck out 36. He allowed six homers, but five of those were solo shots, minimizing their impact en route to a 2.45 monthly ERA and becoming the first 10-game winner in the BDBL.
Defensively, Flagstaff will like maintain their lead in fielding percentage when the chapter ends. The gloves have made only 21 errors, tied with the Ravenswood Infidels, but they’ve got a few more total chances that gives them a slight edge in fielding percentage.
“The gloves keep catching the ball, the catchers are throwing out over 40% of base-stealers,” Newgard claimed. “It’s as fine of a defensive effort as I’ve seen and the pitching staff can’t brag about it more. It’s a good sign that the players aren’t taking any hitting struggles out to the field with them.”
When asked about the middle chapters, Newgard was upbeat. “It’s another jaunt through the Ozzie League without division rivals, so that should bode well to keep things rolling, considering we haven’t lost a series outside our division yet. But it could also be time for a market correction, so we can’t get complacent. Then it’s a matchup with the Higuera Division from that other league. It seems to be a pretty strong division as Buckingham is 33-21 and Great Lakes is continuing to put pressure on them. Right now, both of those opponents could be playoff teams, so it’ll be fun getting to measure ourselves against that competition.”