DEVIL DOODLES - 3-30
The defending NL Champion Blue Devils opened play in their 39th season in the FBN with middling results - struggling to a 10-11 record after Block 1. Last year, the team got off to a much better start at 14-7. Connecticut will look to put things together in the 2nd block of games.
The problem certainly hasn't been the pitching. The pitching staff has a 3.04 ERA with every active pitcher having an ERA under 3.68. Zach Eflin is the only pitcher over a 4.00 ERA at a respectable 4.26. Gerrit Cole has been outstanding with a 1.73 ERA allowing just 17 baserunners in 26 innings with 33 strikeouts. Yet he has a hard luck 1-2 record. Merrill Kelly leads the staff with a 3-2 3.41 ERA.
The team struggles have centered around a very disappointing offense. Expected to be a very good offense, the team batted .235 in the block scoring less than 4 runs/game. Bobby Witt Jr has gotten off to a brutal start batting just .179. He has only 2 HR's and 4 RBI in 21 games while leading the team with 20 K's. Without getting on base, he hasn't been able to utilize his speed either as he only achieved 1 stolen base all block. Corey Seager has also struggled batting just .226. He's hit 4 HR's but only has 7 RBI. Freddie Freeman has been the most productive with 6 doubles, 4 HR and 14 RBI but that is still below his normal output.
Gotta believe the offense will turn things around at some point . . . we'll see . . .
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US JARHEAD SCUTTLEBUTT - 4-1
Somehow the Jarheads are hanging just above .500 with a paltry BA of .226 and a total of 90 runs scored. The infield combined: Goldschmidt 1b .183, McNeil 2b .188, DeJong 3b .188, IKF ss .241, and not much help from OFers, Noel .167, Mullins .210 and Acuna .205.
Shrapnel:
USJ First round pick Yoshi Yamamoto posted a 2-1, 2.31 record in Block 1 but is headed down to Parris Island for inning
conservation. For Block 2, Bowden Francis was called up to fill his spot in the rotation.
Waiver Wire pickup Anthony Rendon(1-10 .100) was also sent down to PI and 4th round DP Trey Sweeny will get the call-up.
All or Nothing.
Mike Trout, is 4 for 11, and all 4 hits have been homeruns. (.364 4HR 9RBI) Trout started 1 game and was 1-2 with a HR. The
other 9 ABs were PH appearances, good for 3 more HRs.
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REPORT CARD FROM THE SCHOOL YARD - 4-14
After a 6-0 start in Block 1 the team finished with 2 losses at Wall Street for an overall record of 13-8. We moved into Block 2 by welcoming Hotlanta. We lost the first game. That gave us a losing streak of 3 games. We were able to take the next three from Hotlanta. Illinois was next to visit the School Yard. We won all three games by one run to match our opening streak of 6 games. Traveling to Connecticut we surprisingly won all three games to increase the winning streak to 9 games. Next we travelled to Burlington. We took the first two games to make our winning 11 in a row.
Burlington manager Robert Clemente said "We've had enough!" Burlington snapped our winning streak by winning game 3, 2-1. Burlington loaded the bases in the 7th. Caballero walked and stole 2nd. Andre Pallante replaced Tyler Anderson. A wild pitch put Caballero on 3rd. Another wild pitch scored the go ahead run. Pallante then K'ed, Marte and Urchela and got Castellanos to ground out but the damage was already done.
TEAM HI-LITES: - The team hired Fred McGriff to help Jim Hickman with left handed batters. The team has responded as it is hitting at a .269 clip compared to last year at this time when the team was hitting .219. LHB'ers hitting .299, RHB'ers hitting .264 and SHB'ers .259. The team has scored 162 runs and has hit 36 home runs.
Pitching coach Al Jackson has turned the pitching around this year. Last year the team ERA was 4.29 at this point. This year it is 3.11. When asked what is the difference, Jackson said five of the 6 starters have ERA under 3.50. The pen is 7-2-11 with a 2.83 ERA. "When everyone believes it makes things easier", said Jackson.
BATTER UP - Next up for the 89ERS is a visit by Klee's on the 22nd.
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89ERS REPORT CARD - 5-1
We finished block two at 27-13. We lost one series and that was to the mighty Klubbers. Klees hit 6 HRs and scored 20 runs in the 3-game series. Our ERA for the series was 6.67. Entering the series the team ERA was 3.40. "You have to give Klee's credit; they fought us tough to the end," said Casey Stengel.
Going into block 3 we needed to make a number of roster changes. Devin Williams and Dennis Santana went on the block 3 IL. Both pitchers need rest. They will be able to return to the club in block 4. In their place Nick Sandlin and Keegan Thomas were promoted. Sandlin in 13 games at AAA had an ERA of 2.28. In 23.2IP he had only given up only 10 hits while walking 6. He also had 32 Ks. Thomas ERA was 2.32. In 31IP he gave up 10 hits but he did walk 26. He'll need to improve his control to be of help in the FBN. He did K 44.
Austin Martin was sent down to AAA as he was batting .234 with 4D and 1HR. Casey and Stick Michael decided that they needed some extra power in the outfield. Promoted was Adolis Garcia. Garcia was hitting .241 with 16D & 4HR at AAA.
NOTE: Last night in Garcia's his first game after being called up he hit a HR, double and a single as he went 3-3 with 2 RBI and a SB. Garcia said, "It was just all timing. I had pretty good rhythm at the plate tonight. You've got to take advantage of mistakes when you finally get called up. A couple pitches were definitely up a little bit - right in my zone." We started Block 3 with a 2-2 split with California.
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ADMIRALS ORDERS - 5-14
In a recent series vs. Burlington, Brent Rooker lit up the scoreboard lights with the following 4 game numbers: 7-14, 4 HRs including a grand salami, 5 runs, 10 ribbies, and a stolen base. For the season, Rooker is hitting .369, a power line of 9-1-16, 43 runs, and 44 ribbies. Rook's OBP is .410 with a slug % of .622 for an OPS of 1.032 ........ Carlos Correa is also having a great 1st half, hitting .389. His OPB is .448, slug % is .678, with OPS an even better 1.126. Sadly, word on the street is that his old foot problems may be acting up again ........ Yorktown pitching has been somewhat better, with the team ERA reduced to 4.73. HRAs have not been as numerous, but 86 in 56 games played is still a macabre number ........ Josh Hader has picked it up after a slow start. Hader is now at 27-14-11-42 with an ERA of 2.33 and 42 Ks in those 27 innings. He also has 9 saves to go with 2 wins against only 1 loss.
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DEVIL DOODLES - 5-14
After floundering at or under .500 for the first two blocks of the season, the Blue Devils have finally showed signs of putting it together getting back to back sweeps of Yorktown and Hotlanta to move to a season high 30-22 record. Comparing to last season, the team was 37-15 - 7 games better at this point. However, it is certainly encouraging to be on an 8 game winning streak.
The pitching staff has been terrific all season and the team ERA is at its lowest point of the year at 2.99. Gerritt Cole is 4-2 2.23 in 7 starts having to miss Block 2 with an injury. Patrick Sandoval has been a nice surprise going 3-2 3.03. The only struggling starting pitcher has been Aaron Civale at 3-3 4.70 and that isn't too bad. The bullpen has been "lights out" most of the year. Of the 9 relievers who have pitched this season, 7 of them have ERA's under 2.45 and 4 of them under 1.61. Closer Raisel Iglesias, after a couple shaky early outings, has recorded 17 saves in 21 games. Overall, the pitching staff is walking just 2 batters/game while striking out almost 9/game. They are on pace to walk only 355 batters which would shatter the team record of just 411 walks back in 2012.
The struggling offense for most of the year has shown signs of coming around increasing the team BA to .245 - a nice improvement
from the .231 at the end of Block 2. Bobby Witt Jr has finally shown signs of life moving his BA from .179 up to .239. Still very
disappointing but at least trending positively. His 7 HR's and 19 RBI are just stunningly poor. Corey Seager hasn't fared much better
batting just .233 with 8 HR's and 17 RBI. Way off their potential . . .
Freddie Freeman continues to be the team MVP batting .285 with team leading 31 runs, 31 RBI, 18 doubles and 10 HR's.
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BLUE NOTES - 6-10
The Blues staff ERAs and statistics are just BAD. No other way to put it. For sure the offensive and fielding stats are bad as well, but that was expected. We thought we had a couple starters and relievers that would be good - or at least okay. Greene and Webb should be pretty good, Verlander and Darvish should be at least tolerable. Holton and Fairbanks should be pretty good. Greene has been almost pretty good - team leading 3.43 ERA - but 48 walks in 86 innings have hurt, leading to a 3-4 record. Webb falls into the tolerable category - 3.86 ERA, 7-9 record, 1.46 WHIP. Verlander and Darvish have been just plain BAD. Darvish has a 5.69 ERA and has given up 22 home runs in 74 innings. Verlander has a 8.17 ERA after 12 starts. His WHIP is 1.78.
Holton has one of the best reliever cards out there. He was doing pretty well until round 4 games when he lost 3 games on homers in the bottom of the 9th. He has a 6-4 record with 6 saves and a 2.55 ERA - pretty good. Fairbanks has also been "pretty good".
Despite having one 1 pick prior to pick 118, last year's draft may turn out to add some significant help to the 2026 Blues team. Addison Barger (216), Schneemann (118), and the return of Toro (164) will help offensively and Justin Martinez (48), Mike Soroka (142), Anthony Bender (193), and Luke Little (208 who is tearing up AAA so far this year) will be added to the staff. We are already waiting for next year.
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DEVIL DOODLES - 6-29
The Blue Devils have continued their inconsistent play, especially on offense. After getting to their high point of the season at 11 games over .500 (43-32) - they then struggled to go 3-7 over their last 10 games to drop back to 46-39. Although not bad and still in solid playoff position - the record is a far cry from last year when the team was 61-24 at this point in the season - 15 games worse.
The offense continues to struggle with a .238 team batting average. Blue Devils have scored 3 runs or less in 15 of their last 22 games - very disappointing. Even Freddie Freeman, who was sensational for most of the year, has seen his batting average plummet from over .300 down to .265. He still leads the team with 18 HR's, 50 RBI, 58 Runs and 29 doubles. Bobby Witt Jr has bumped his BA up to a somewhat respectable .254 but is on pace for less than 80 runs and 80 RBI for the season. Corey Seager has been brutal batting just .215 with 12 HR's and 32 RBI. With the "Big 3" not producing as expected - it is not a surprise that the team is struggling to gain any consistency.
Fortunately, the pitching staff continues to be solid with a 3.27 ERA. It has been an overall positive staff performance as no one particular pitcher has stood out. The most wins for a starting pitcher is seven with Zach Eflin (7-5). The bullpen has been the key as 8 of the 9 relievers that have pitched have ERA's under 4.00 and 7 relievers have ERA's under 3.00. Raisel Iglesias has been excellent overall closing games with 23 saves and a 2.06 ERA. Phil Maton has been a nice surprise in the pen pitching 40 innings and allowing just 31 base runners with 41K's and a 1.37 ERA.
For team records, the pitching staff is on pace to walk only 393 batters - this would break the franchise record of just 411 walks in 2012.
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BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - 7-1
Joe Carter was named player-manager on November 27, 1995 upon the retirement of Ralph Houk. The team was on auto-pilot in 2000 and out of the FBN completely in 2001. Carter returned to the dugout when the franchise re-emerged for the 2002 campaign. As of July 1, 2025, Carter's career record is 2,408 - 2,057 (.539) with two World Series Championships. MIke Henneman has been the pitching coach since 1998, when he replaced Dan Quisenberry.
Most Managerial Wins:
Connie Mack 3,731
Tony LaRussa 2,884
John McGraw 2,763
Bobby Cox 2,504
JOE CARTER 2,408
Joe Torre 2,326
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DEVIL DOODLES - 8-1
The Blue Devils completed Block 6 winning 7 of their last 8 games against Urpaign and Arsenal to improve their record to 68-55 - best they have been all year. This keeps the team in solid playoff positioning for a Wild Card spot as the team turns down the stretch for the last 39 games.
The pitching staff continues to carry the team with an overall 3.20 ERA and 10 combined shutouts. It's been a total team performance as no one pitcher has particularly stood out. 15 of the 17 pitchers who have made an appearance this year have ERA's under 4.00 and no pitcher is over 5.00 ERA. Aaron Civale has the highest ERA at 4.76 but even he has contributed 8 wins to the team. Gerritt Cole has been the best starting pitcher with a 2.28 ERA but he's missed significant time with injuries. Patrick Sandoval has been the biggest surprise going 5-3 with a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts.
Offensively, Bobby Witt Jr has slowly raised his numbers to a more respectable level now batting .262 with 23 doubles, 8 triples, 21 HR, 63 runs and 65 RBI. Certainly solid performance but management was hoping for a much bigger season. Daulton Varsho has had an odd season. Despite batting just .186, Varsho has been somewhat productive with 15 HR's and 40 RBI and 42 runs scored. If he could just boost his BA to .230 or .240 - how much better could his stats be?
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DEVIL DOODLES - 8-31
The Blue Devils head into the final block of the season at 78-63 and in solid position for the final wild card playoff slot. They are about 4 games out of the 5th spot but probably not a huge deal which wild card slot they ultimately get. Either way, there will be a tough team to face in any series. There may not be any great teams this year in the NL but a lot of solid tough teams to face.
On offense, Bobby Witt Jr has slowly improved his batting average though out the year and is now up to .275 - respectable but certainly not the .300+ BA that was expected. He's on pace for 25 HR's and 85 RBI - certainly solid but not the 30HR/100 RBI's expected. Freddie Freeman has hit a bit of a slump as his BA has dropped down to .259 but he still leads the team in most offensive categories. 89 runs, 45 doubles, 29 HR's and 82 RBI. Corey Seager has been very disappointing as he hasn't put together any type of hot streak all year. He is batting just .232 with only 16 HR's and 55 RBI. Management hopes his hot streak will come down the stretch and in the playoffs.
The pitching staff continues to be a total team effort with no standout stars. Of the 18 pitchers who have appeared this season, only 2 pitchers have ERA's over 4.00 and the highest ERA on the team is 4.66. 7 pitchers have ERA's under 2.00 so consistency has been key. Zach Eflin leads the team in wins (10-7 3.06 ERA) and closer Raisel Iglesias has 35 saves. The team record is 43 saves in 1994 by Darren Holmes. Gerritt Cole, who has missed part of the season with injuries, has made 13 starts going 5-2 2.28. He will be a key piece to have in the playoffs to go along with Eflin and Merrill Kelly (3.39 ERA). Pitching will have to carry the team with the offense being so inconsistent.
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DEVIL DOODLES - 9-25
The Blue Devils wrapped up play in its 39th season in the FBN with a flourish going 17-4 in the last block to finish 95-67 - tied for the 4th seed in the playoffs with Norwich. However, Norwich finishes ahead as they handled CT winning 6 of 9 in the regular season. Norwich will have home field advantage in the Wild Card playoff series.
The Blue Devils head into the post season for the 21st time clearly on the back of the pitching staff that was outstanding all year long. In fact, the pitching staff set a new franchise record with a team ERA of 3.05 - the lowest in the teams' 39 year history. It completely obliterated the previous best mark of 3.18 set back in 1993 for a team that went 106-56. What makes it more special is that it was a complete team effort. 19 different pitchers made appearances with 10 pitchers having ERA's under 3.00 and 17 out of 19 pitchers ERA's under 4.00. Only two pitchers had double digit wins- Zach Eflin 14-7 and Andrew Heaney 11-7. The most innings pitched was 181 by Eflin. In comparison, back in 1993, only 15 pitchers were used with 4 starters pitching over 200 innings each led by Greg Maddux 25-7 2.26 294 IP. Jose Rijo won 17 games, Rheal Cormier won 16 games and Kevin Tapani won 14 games. Definitely shows how the game has changed from starting pitcher focused to the current bullpen focused.
Another franchise record was set by closer Raisel Iglesias who saved 44 games passing the previous best mark of 43 by Darren Holmes in 1994. The pitching staff also set a franchise record allowing just 403 walks besting the 411 walks allowed in 2012.
Offensively, Connecticut was very inconsistent all season long batting just .238 as a team - the 2nd lowest mark in franchise history. Freddie Freeman led the team in almost every category - 98 runs, 86 RBI, 47 doubles, 30 HR's and 85 walks but batted just .255 - much lower than expected. Bobby Witt Jr ended up having a solid season with 24 HR's, 83 RBI, 88 runs and batted .275. But overall it was much less production than anticipated and only 15 stolen bases. The biggest disappointment from the "Big 3" was Corey Seager. He batted just .244 with 21 HR's, only 70 RBI and 51 runs. The Blue Devils will need all 3 stars producing in the post season to make any kind of run and try to defend their NL pennant crown.
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