The Dark Side - May Report

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away (AP) - "Well piss!"  That was the Evil Empire's GM Travis Hays' quote as he walked into the press room after losing 2 of 3 to division rival Cabo San Lucas Toreros.  After a 18-9 April and a 2.0 lead in the division LA has tanked in May going 9-16 and dropping 6.0 gms back of arch rival Boston Cardinals.

The key to the drop in the division is soley based on poor play vs the division.  LA lost 3 of 4 in a big series vs Boston then 2 of 3 to both Cabo and even the cellar dwellers Jacksonville Jacks.

Injuries have ravaged a very thin team in so far this season and May was no difference.  Heading into the month LA had already lost it's #3 SP Eric Brown for the year and starting RF Neil Adams and CF Jeremy Flanagan for the 1st 2 weeks of the month.  It didn't get any better when starting 3B Andy Miller went down for 1-2 weeks and then the teams best pure hitter 1B Joseph McKee had two seperate injuries (dtd for 2 wks, then out 3 days).  And then in the last sim both RF Adams and CF Flanagan go down once again.  It's the 3rd injury for 35-yr old Adams and 2nd injury for Flanagan.

April's TM league batter of the month Chance "Mt." Everett (.349/.415/.615/1.029 7 HRs, 22 RBIs, 6 2Bs) has fallen off quite a bit.  In may's he's only hitting .232/.333/.384/.717 3 HRs, 10 RBIs, 4 2Bs.  With not a lot offensive weapons in the lineup the slumping of "Mt." Everett is a killer.

Some bright news is that the franchises 1st rd selection Evan "The Emperor" Warner is having a dominating May.  In 4 starts this month he is 3-1 with a 1.97 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 29 K's to only 5 BB's in 32.0 IP averaging 8.0 IP per start. So far this season in 10 starts he has 6 QS and is 4-3, 3.38 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 54 K's, 14 BB's.  He's been very unlucky with a .321 BABIP but has an impressive 2.52 FIP.


With King "Fish" Crawford anchoring the staff as the dominate veteran, "The Emperor" is starting to really find his groove and settle into that 2nd ace the team needs. Now if only they can get some kind of consistency from the 3-5 guys and the pen.

When asked about the current state of the team, Hays said "When your closer is tied with your ace for team wins, that's says a lot about the state of your club."  *Hays then gets up and walks out of room without taking anymore questions.*