All-Star update

My how imaginary time flies when you're having fun. The 1st half of season 10 is in the books. WCM pauses to take a look at some of the surprises and disappointments of the 1st half.

SURPRISES
NL Team - With apologies to the Seminoles (59-13), the surprise NL team is the Nashville Harmonies, leading the always cut-throat NL South at 56-35. The Harmonies have a 3 game lead on San Juan despite scoring 42 fewer runs and allowing 15 more. Still, when your division opponents have accounted for 7 pennants and 6 world series titlets, any lead is one worth savoring this far in.

NL Player - Chris Benes of DC hit just .240 with 17 HRs last season but he's hitting .260 and already has 23 dingers this year while stealing 18 or 20 bags.

NL Pitcher - Stu Duffy of Cheyene went 11-13 last year with a 4.44 ERA. The 30-year old has taken the league by storm this year, posting a 12-3 mark with a 2.39 ERA.

NL Rookie - Nashville catcher Kennie Rekar is 6th in the league in hitting at .339 with 21 HRs as the everyday catcher for the division-leading Harmonies.

NL Rookie Pitcher - Dominican starter Rafael Aguilera has been lights out at 11-3 with a 1.61 ERA.

AL Team - The Texas Riders have never won the division, but they lead the Conquistadors by 2 games heading into the break.

AL Player - Scranton's Tony Matos is 36 years old but his .352 average is 50 points above his areer average. He's also stole 21-24 bases.

AL Pitcher - Rich Harris has managed to go 10-0 for the Monterrey Conquistadors out of the bullpen!

AL Rookie - Sante Fe Rule 5 pick, Bobby Duran has hit 29 homers since the Fire Hawks took him off the Texas Riders hands. His performance in the field has been equally shocking as the the player that wa a below average defensive 3b throughout his minor league career was handed the everyday SS job. his 59 errors and 13 minus plays put him on pace to challenge the league record of 87 errors by Memphis' Phil Powell last season.

AL Rookie Pitcher - Vancouver's Winston Silvestri is 7-6 with a 4.16 ERA as a 26-year old rookie.

A little something extra: Cheyenne's 3.20 team ERA is 0.43 better than the next best team ERA in the league (Burlington).

DISAPPOINTMENTS -
NL Team - The Mexico City Bandejos coming off 3 straight division titles and a league pennant currently sit in 3rd place in the NL south and are on pace for their worst record in 6 seasons.

NL Player - Burlington's [URL=http://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=976962]Luis Astacio[/URL] has seen his average fall by 60 points from last year (.219 from .279) and is slugging just .344 after posting an impressive .520 in season 9.

NL Pitcher - Phenom Randall Kinkade of Washington may have been rushed to the big leagues. His 4-10 record and 5.40 ERA are not the stuff of legends predicted for the swashbuckling Texan teenager when he was drafted #3 overall in season 8.

AL Team - The Cincinnati Great Americans won 96 games and a division title. They bring back a $98 million payroll but are 43 games under .500, already having lost 1 game more than they did last year.

AL Player - The Hellraisers' Jerry Turner is struggling badly with more strikeouts (85) than hits (77) after a season that saw him hit .287 with 21 HRs and 42 stolen bases. He's already been thrown out stealing 7 times after being caught just 5 times last year.

AL Pitcher - Cincinnatti's Max Molina who was so impressive posting a 2.79 ERA in three playoff starts last year after a 13-6 regular season (3.10 ERA) is out for the year after tearing up his elbow. He was probably hurt long before he stopped pitching as his 12.89 ERA in 81 innings indicate.

A little something extra: The Burlington Bulldogs lead the NL East and would go to the playoffs if the seasone ended today despite their 44-47 record, which would place them ahead of only one NL team not in their division.

Season 7 Surprises, Part Three (starting pitchers)

Every team is always on the lookout for starting pitching. When something clicks, and a pitchers unexpectedly contributes, it can help a team immensely. Surprise pitching performances aren't easy to come by, but Season 7 has seen a few.

Daniel Cox Rochester Rockets Age: 28 B/T: L/L Born: Lakeville, MN Position(s): P (SP3) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Daniel Cox had a great year in Season 4, going 16-4 with 3.43 ERA. Since then, he's been a solid, if unspectacular performer, going 26-13, with an ERA just over 5.00 in seasons 5-6. He's been a monster this season, going 12-0 in 18 starts, with a 4.19 ERA. He's allowing less than a hit per inning and is posting the best strikeout rate of his career (106K's in 118 IP). This is the first year of a 4-year, $24 million deal for Cox, Rochester Rockets couldn't be happier with his production.

Curtis Towers Sioux Falls Dakota Age: 29 B/T: R/R Born: New Lisbon, WI Position(s): P (SP4) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

The Sioux Falls Dakota claimed Curtis Towers off waivers late in season 6. Towers, then 28 years-old, had posted an ERA of 8.13 out of the bullpen for the Texas Riders. Towers post a 3-21 (11.52 ERA) record in Season 4 while making his major league debut. After a 6-15, 5.88 performance in Season 5, the Riders had seen enough. The once promising Towers was banished to the pen where he went 3-7 with that 8.13 ERA. When the Riders put him on waivers, there were big questions as to whether anyone would give him another shot. When Towers walked into the Sioux Falls clubhouse, pitching coach Sean Adams was the first to greet him. Adams worked closely with Towers and he went 4-4 with a 3.93 ERA in 9 starts. After completely overhauling Towers mechanics, and convincing him to trust his defense, Towers won a spot in the Dakota rotation in the spring. Towers lost his first start of Season 7, allowing 6 runs in just 5 2/3 innings. Doubts had to be creeping into his mind.

Then something clicked. Towers threw 6 scoreless innings in each of his next two starts. He got the win in 5 straight and 6 of 7, making the All-Star team. He's thrown at least 5 innings in every outing, and hasn't yielded more than 4 runs in a single game since that first outing. Now it's likely that Towers will be throwing game 1 or 2 of a playoff series. "I owe my career to Sean Adams." His agent owes Adams a thing or two as well. Tower will make $1.425 million in this his first arbitration season. You can count a far bigger payday in the near future if his success continues.

Season 7 Surprises, Part One

Today's post is the first in a series of profiles on players having breakout seasons. They include both rookies and veterans that are far exceeding their productions levels of the past.

Ivan Barrios Scranton Nittany Lions Age: 23 B/T: R/R Born: Villa Clara, CU Position(s): SS/IF/OF View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Ivan Barrios of the Scranton Nittany Lions has made a big splash on the scene as a rookie. Barrios, signed an $11 milllion deal out of Villa Clara, Cuba in Season 4, had a solid minor league career in which he hit .308, including an impressive .362 in Low A as a 20 year-old. He set a career mark with 15 HRs at AAA last year (587 Abs). In just 78 games (326 Abs) this season, Barrios is hitting .350 with 14 HRs. While he was primarily a SS in the minors, Barrios has excelled in a Ryan Freel-like role for the Lions, starting in CF, LF, and 3B while making just 1 error.


Another rookie making a splash is Rule V draftee Eddie Wathan of the Houston Heavy Hitters.

Eddie Wathan Houston Heavy Hitters Age: 22 B/T: R/R Born: Wilmot, SD Position(s): 2B/C/IF/OF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Wathan, drafted in the 3rd round in Season 3 by San Diego, was plucked from the St. Louis Hell Hogs by the Heavy Hitters in this years Rule V draft despite never having played above AA. The Hitters were convinced that back-to-back .350+ seasons for the Colorado Springs Low A franchise and an impressive .341 at AA last year were no fluke. Wathan continues to excel with a .346 average, good for 10th in the league in 309 ABs this year. A Lo-A gold glove 2b in Season 5, Wathan has also excelled in the utility role, starting games at 2B, 3B, and SS for Houston.