[Ben E Lou]

APRIL 2001

THIS MONTH’S RECORD: 12-14
OVERALL RECORD AT MONTH-END: 12-14
CURRENT STANDING: Fourth, 6 games behind division-leading Mets.

INJURIES:
Ugh. C Barrett fractured his jaw fractured his jaw in a home-plate collision on 4/8, and is Out for another week or so into May.

MAJOR LEAGUE PERFORMANCES OF NOTE/LINEUP CHANGES/ROTATION CHANGES:
2nd-year SP Figueroa has a good month, going 3-2 with a 2.78 ERA to lead the rotation. No other starters’ performances are particularly bad or particularly good. Dinger has a 2.45 ERA and 7 saves in 7 chances.

The bats are a bit silent. WE’re near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Monday 4/10/2001:
Eddie Lopez increased his bat control, resulting in more contact!
Eddie Lopez has improved his plate discipline!

Monday 4/24/2001:
Roger Googe seems to have lost some bat speed, resulting in less

Monday 5/1/2001 :
Daniel Davila has lost some power...

Lopez could become something of note. He’s hitting .324 down at AAA. He can play 2b/3b/cf. his talent is up to avg/good/good. Hmmmm. Neither Googe nor Davila is significant to my plans.

AAA NOTES —Note: I’ve decided to report month-by-month on 3 ½ star and up players at all classifications, and any others who are performing extremely well.
SP Hiplotio “The Terminator” Dominguez—He went 2-1 with a 4.45 ERA. His ratings are 5/6/6 now.
MR Douglas Diez—He has a 2.45 ERA and ratings are 7/3/8. If someone falters, he’ll get called up.
C Walter McDonald--.744 OPS. Ratings 4/5/8. Getting close it would appear…
2B Allen “The Hammer” Dye--.953 OPS. 5/4/5 ratings. That power is starting to show up…
LF/CF Jacobo Sousa--.753 OPS. Ratings 4/4/4.
LF/RF Sidney “Tumblewee” Sutton--.719OPS, 4/6/8
RF Bryan Heasley--.713OPS, 5/3/3.

AA NOTES:
SP William Bent—3-1, 1.96, 2/2/6
SP Jim Decker—2-2, 5.34, 0/2/4
3B/1B Cruz Muniz--.853 OPS, 2/4/2

A NOTES:
SP Chad Alejo—3-1, 3.21, 1/4/5
SP Dean Sipe—4-0, 1.10, 2/6/6. The AI says he’s ready for a call-up, and so do the numbers. I call him up.
1B Tyler Poulson--.603 OPS, 2/2/3
SS Robert Pauli--.872 OPS, 2/3/3

KEY E-MAILS:

None.

He’s a big prospect already. Nice to have another position he can play if necessary.

PERSONAL DIARY ENTRIES:
Sheesh. I’ve been dating Blaney almost a year-and-a-half now, and she turned down another marriage proposal.

TRADES
None.

MONTHLY AWARDS
Pitchers Of The Month: Edward Munoz, SEA (2-1, 1.15) and Kenneth Borchert, NYM (4-1, 0.99, three shutouts!)
Batters Of The Month: Allen Acker, CWS (.407, 22 RBI) and Charles Leonard (.357, 27 RBI)

IMPORTANT LEAGUE NEWS
Star player LF Albert Evans of Chicago racks up his 2000th hit this month. He’s still going strong, with an “8” contact rating and a .347 average, at age 35.

TEAM NEWS FROM THIS MONTH

Thursday 4/20/2001 :
John Blakemore slams 2 homers against Pittsburgh.
Thursday 4/27/2001 :
Eduardo Fuensanta has 4 hits against Cincinnati.