2016 Season In Review

Pop, Pop, Pop....

That's what you heard in the Bomber locker room following their dramatic 3-2 win in game 163 to clinch the Billy Martin Division crown in the Thurman Munson League.

South Carolina are Division Champs!  Wow, what a ring THAT has to it.  But as with anything the Bombers did this season, this was far from easy.

Injuries struck this team, just as they do any team, right SoCal?  But a third of the starting lineup was out at one time, and the entire OF was out another.  But this team was resilient in fighting off that turmoil and put together one hell of a second half.

South Carolina started April going 14-11 and by the end of May was 26-27 and struggling to find themselves.  But the injury bug riddled the team like the flu and the AAA squad that was fielded provided disastrous results, going 8-18, and SC was 34-45 by the end of June, and an even worse 37-51 at the All Star Break, which couldn't have come at a better time.  Because that's when the walking wounded started to return!

SC came out of the All Star Break going 10-6, finishing the month at 13-12 and over 500.
August showed another positive month going 16-12 and then they caught fire, going 18-10 in September and clinching no less than a tie for the Division, 2 games up with 2 to play - in San Francisco.  We lost those last two, setting up Game 163 in South Carolina.

The Bomber fell behind in that game 2-0 in the first inning, but by the 4th, Fernando Guzman launched a game tying 2 run homer.  The game stayed tied until the bottom of the 9th when Guzman came to the plate again and did his best impersonation of Chris Chambliss at 9:49pm, hitting a 9th inning walk off HR putting the Bombers into the Playoffs in front of 50,372 rabid fans!

The Bombers were dispatched by the eventual TML Champions, Eureka Hornets in 7 games and that's where John "Flipper" Martin had his coming out party!  Martin pitched games 2 & 6, winning both going a combined 14.1 IP, 6 H, 3BB, and 8K's allowing just 1 unearned run.  That's right, Martin went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA!!!

All in all, from all aspects this was a tremendous stepping stone of a season for SC.  The Bombers lead the TML in HR's for the 1st time (201).  Fan interest went up 5 points (65 now), Attendance record was set (3,573,910), First time over 500 for a season, first playoff appearance, budget increase anticipated at approximately 10MM to spend in free agency,

From a roster point of view, things can't look any better.
The previously mentioned Martin, will be going into his fourth year and is looking to finally put together the Cy Young type season that the team and it's fans know is possible.

Aaron Harris, Matt Murphy, and Jason "Peanut" Adams, all rookies, played a prominent role in the SC rotation.
Harris, 25, went 14-9,  5.09 ERA in 176 IP for 29 starts for SC.
Murphy, 25, went 11-8, 4.18 ERA in 140 IP for 23 starts and
Adams, 24, went 2-4 6.34 ERA in 38 IP and 7 starts.

Adams, allowed the Bombers to take out some slumping SP's (Nicholson and Harris) and give the team some much needed innings to preserve the bullpen.  He truly did, "Take One For The Team".  Adams earned the promotion by going 13-4 w/ 3.75 ERA and WHIP of 1.29 in AAA.

Harris, really gave all he had.  He simply appeared to have run out of gas by September and was removed from the rotation once the September call ups arrived.

Other rookies to make a significant impact is the probably runner up to the Rookie of the Year Award, Jorge Rosas.  The one Bomber that could NOT afford to be lost.  The 21 year old phenom played 158 games, hit .306, with 27 HR's and 100 RBI's.  In any other season he would have been a lock to win the hardware.  Rosas also stole 33 bases and fell 3 HR's short of a 30-30 season.

The next rookie to make the leap and have an impact is Bernardo Cisneros, 25 years old
2nd Rd pick in the 2013 draft, Cisneros provided above grade defense as well as contributing with the stick.  in 85 games, Cisneros hit .275, with 11 HR and 36 RBI primarily hitting in the bottom third of the order.  An OB of 351 and an OPS of 782 in a rookie season gives management plenty to be happy with.

The last rookie probably had the most significant impact.  SS Mike Woods, 24 years old.
A 1st Rd pick in the 2014 draft, Woods plays a gold glove caliber shortstop and given that a majority of the SC pitching staff throws upwards of 65% in ground balls!  Woods call up allowed SC to move Gerald "PePe La" Pugh to 3B which is his best defensive position.

But now it's onto planning the defense of the Division Crown and some of the short term goals are to improve on the pitching categories across the board.  SP ERA has to rank better than 10th overall, and the Bullpen ERA has to improve on it's 7th overall ranking.  Runs against has to come down too.

With the down years that Nicholson, Gibbons and Yamaguchi had, SC is looking for all 3 to rebound to be solid SP's in the ABL, and if that happens things will look very good for South Carolina.

All in all, the core of this team is under team control for at least the next 4 seasons and at a low cost to the owner.

Now...onto the Draft!

...And We're Still Here....

Go figure!

The Bombers come out of the All Star break on fire going 10-6 and shaving off 2.5 games from division leading San Francisco.  Then again, going anywhere close to 500 for a team that was 14 games under 500 constitutes a 5 Alarm Fire.

Immediately after the All Star Game, SC goes 3-1 against SF.
Then in more recent divisional action the Bombers go 4-2, sweeping Maple and then 1-2 vs Jersey.

All in all, things look kinda rosy for a SC Post Season appearance, as they finish over 500 for the month of July (13-12), and players keep showing up from their rehab assignments to return to the big club.

Holding down an OF spot for the remainder of the season is rookie Bernardo Cisneros who clubbed his first career ABL HR on July 26th versus Maple.  For the season Cisneros is hitting .271, .328 OB and a .381 SLG.  A 100 AB Rookie with a .709 OPS is none too shabby!

In any other year the stats 2B Jorge Rosas is putting up would have him in consideration for Rookie of the Year 14 HR, 61 RBI, 310 AVG, 348 OB, 494 SLG and 842 OPS, however the kid in Cabo has probably locked that up.

Another rookie making a significant and meaningful impact with SC is SP, Aaron Harris.  Harris in 20 games and starts has amassed a record of 11-6 and a respectable 4.51 ERA.  His whip is 1.39, also respectable.  More importantly he's given up just 6 HR's in 127 IP thus giving himself a chance to win every time out.

Injury Bug Bites Again!

Well in the first installment of the Injury Bug Bites the Bombers saw Bustamante, Guzman and Jackson all go down pretty much at the same time.

They all returned and were producing, even if the game results weren't exactly what we'd like to see.

So, it's no wonder that in May the Bombers posted a sub par 12-16 record and have started off June going 0-5.
However, in the last two SIM's (end of May) the Bombers got bit hard.
Going down was:

Starting SS Gerald Pugh (back in July)
Starting CF Roy O'Quinn (back in July),
Starting LF Stephen Jackson (again!) back next SIM
Starting RF Mark Buchanan (back in August)
Backup OF Leland Rey (back in mid August)
Backup OF Martin Evans (back in 2 weeks)
Back up Closer Cal Henry (back in July)
Setup Joe Ward (April 2017)

When O'Quinn went down, the plan was to call up 2013, 2nd Round draft pick Bernardo Cisneros, who was having a good time beating up on AAA pitching hitting .328, .423 OB, .513 Slug (936 OPS) however he ALSO went down with an injury, strained hamstring, and is expected to be sidelined 2 more weeks.  Cisneros window of opportunity might have closed for the 2016 season as he is not on the 40 man roster yet and he'll be coming back when everyone else is. 

So, in essence, the entire starting OF (Jackson, O'Quinn, and Buchanan) all went down as well as 4th OF'er Martin Evans and Leland Rey.

The piece-meal OF is now O'Day, Lee and Fox.  Not quite the guys we would like to run out there, let alone all 3 at the same time.  But the games must be played and this now becomes an opportunity for them to show that they belong at the ABL level and make decisions a little tougher for GM Gary Altman.

Even with all this, the overall pitching of the Bombers needs to significantly improve for the Bombers to have a chance this season.  Ranked at or near the bottom in the major categories has team officials concerned, however, even with all this going on, after just a third of the season and a AAA lineup, the Bombers sit just 3 GB of division leader San Francisco.

Injury Bug Bites!

Well, nothing is ever simple or easy for the South Carolina Bombers.
The first two SIMS sees the Bombers sitting at 8-5 (5-2 & 3-3) in the Penthouse of the Billy Martin Division of the Thurman Munson League.
However, 33% of the Starting Lineup find them selves shelved on the 14 Day Disabled List!

These injuries are fairly significant because 1) of who they were to, and 2) the timing of them.

Orlando Bustamante, DH, finds himself on the DL for the first time in his ABL Career with a strained oblique.  Bustamante has been a sort of Ironman for South Carolina, missing just 1 game over the first 3 seasons.  But even at 33 years old, he's still very productive.  He adequately fills the cleanup spot, and no word yet on whether Bustamante spends a week or two in a rehab assignment.

Stephen "Action" Jackson, LF, strained a hamstring and is expected back in a SIM or two, but was DL'ed for precautionary purposes.  Jackson, in his first 4 full seasons in the ABL, Jackson has been in the Top 10 in OB three times.

Fernando Guzman, 1B has the most serious of the injuries.  He has strained his MCL and will be out until June.  What the Bombers will most most from Guzman's injury is his Gold Glove.  His offense isn't too shabby either.  So far this season, in 11 games he has 1 HR and 7 RBI's from the 8th spot in the order!  Last season Guzman hit 28 dingers and knocked in 84, so this is a double edged blow.

And the last injury sustained was to 37 year old SP Tony Ross with shoulder tendinitis.  He's expected to miss one or two starts, and more than likely a rehab is in order for Ross.

The roster moves made to fill out the roster was 2013 4th Round Draft Pick Morgan Cairns contract was purchased from AAA.  He'll be the 3rd catcher on the roster.

Then recalled is ABL SB King Lawrence Fox, Brant Lee and SP Dave Nicholson. 

Lineup adjustments will see the C platoon of Yarbrough and O'Neill both playing full time, with O'Neill starting at 1B.  Martin Evans will play CF, O'Quinn moving over to LF and off season free agent acquisition Craig O'Day will be the DH.  O'Day, 34, was signed for depth in the off season for 1.8M.  He was a full time player prior to this season for Montreal and Texas, but at his age his offensive numbers are declining somewhat.  Even with the steady decline over the last 3 season he still banged out 27 HR's and had 86 RBI's. 

2016 Season Preview

The starting pitching is beginning to mature.
The bullpen was lengthened with the acquisition of Gary Payne.
Roy O'Quinn has returned from his season ending injury and started to come on at the end of spring training.
Dan Mullen wins the 3B job with a .980 OPS in spring training.
20 year old Jorge Rosas, the odds on favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award, will be the Opening Day 2B in his rookie campaign, and is projected to put up some monster numbers by ABL Reporters covering Spring Training.

All in all there is a lot of optimism here in South Carolina.  Quietly, team management believes that this squad can have the Bombers competing for a playoff berth.  The Billy Martin Division is getting stronger. 

Maple always seems to find a way to compete and win their games, whether it's with 60% of their rotation going down to injury or pulling off a white hot September.

San Francisco, coming off their first Division crown and playoff appearance are gunning to make it two in a row.

Jersey, is getting better and it shouldn't be too long before they're tightening the division up.

But not everything is looking well in Bomber-Land.  One major surprise has taken place.

Dave Nicholson, winner of 26 games over the last two seasons finds himself being demoted to AAA. 
In the last start of the spring, Nicholson only managed to go 1.1 IP, giving up 7 hits and runs with 1 K and a HR.  His spring training ERA was an inflated 11.45.

GM Gary Altman was obviously annoyed with Nicholson's performance.  Altman was overheard speaking with the manager and trainers, "You should be coming to Spring Training in shape, not to get in shape!".

Nicholson when asked about his demotion, "I was just trying to get my work in.  I would have pitched much differently if I knew my job was on the line.  This is bull crap!  I'm gonna have a talk with my agent and see what can be worked out."

Replacing Nicholson in the rotation will be Aaron Harris.  Harris tripped a bit in his opening start, but then locked in.  In his last 3 ST starts, Harris has gone 12 innings, given up 9 hits, 2 runs/earned, 2 walks and 4 K's.  For the spring, Harris has gotten 23 ground ball outs, and just 8 flyball outs.  This will be important as O'Quinn improves on his CF defense.

Let the games begin!

2015 Draft In Review

Ownership is very happy with the draft selections that GM Gary Altman has put together.

First Round - Lowell Anderson.  Rumors were circulating that the Bombers were yet again going to select an elite SP Prospect.  However, "Big Stud" Anderson fell to #5 and Altman didn't even use up his allotted time to make the selection.  Almost immediately, season ticket sales were up 3,000 after the pick.

Anderson, currently rated as an 8 in RF is anticipated to bring his defense up to at least 10 and hopefully a 12 by the time he makes it to South Carolina.  His offensive numbers rate as:
17-15-17-15-13 and you'd think he could make it to the ABL in just two seasons.  Sources tell the Bomber Beat that there is serious debate where Anderson starts his professional career, either in A or AA. 

Second Round - Adrian Ortiz, 1B.  Another collegiate offensive standout was selected.  Rated as an 18 defensively, and offensive numbers show 15-14-12-13-17.  Initial scouting reports say, "Looks like a natural out there and the game comes easy to him.  Could be one of the best in the league at his position.

Third Round - Noburo "PitBull" Yoshida.  This pick was a tad off the reservation for the Altman.  When asked about this pick he was quick to point out that getting a high stamina SP who was just 17 years old was almost a no brainer.  Yoshida throws 93-95 and management believes that as his body physically matures he'll be able to go 2-4 MPH faster.  He throws 4 pitches and his basic pitch ratings are 13-13-13.  He's a 3.5* ABL Potential now, but we feel as if he'll move that number as he progresses. 

Fourth Round - J.R. Murphy.  Another SP prospect that has 4 pitches and his basic rating is 12-13-14.  Another 3.5* ABL Potential.

Fifth Round - Mamoru Nemoto, 2B.  Excellent Range, and can turn a double play, this 16 year old has all the makings of being a stud.  His basic batting ratings are 16-17-8-13-20.  A true number 2 hitter in the lineup who always gets the bat on the ball and rarely strikes out.. 4* ABL Potential

Sixth Round - Jeffrey Blevins, CL.  A live arm with ratings of 18-14-8  He has a plus fastball and curve and has 4* ABL potential.

Seventh Round - Gilbert German, RF.  A defensive stud in RF (14) and positive offensive numbers.  12-14-16-10-13.  Lots of power to be expected by German and while only 2.5* SC is expecting some big power numbers from German.

Eighth Round - And yet another SP Prospect.  Hidekazu Takeuchi.  17 years old, 19 Stamina and throws 6 pitches - all above average!  His basic pitch ratings are 12-12-12,  and has 2.5* potential.  This was a departure for Bomber management as he has yet to break 90 MPH with his pitches, but based on his poise expectations are optimistically high for Takeuchi.

Ninth Round - 24 year old Hirokazu Matsumoto.  Does a lot of things very well...except hit HR's.  He can play LF or RF equally well (14), and his basic batting numbers are 15-14-3-12-11.  His base running is outstanding and steals to a 15 rating.  ABL potential is 2.5 primarily because he has little power.  He will start the season in AA.  His Scouting Report says, "Profiles as a future big-league regular, but he's got the talent to exceed even that projection".  ow while his HR Power rating is a 3, he did hit 13 HR's in 295 in the Japanese league.   If he plays like he did in Japan he will undoubtedly be the steal of this draft.

Tenth Round - Bob Taylor, 1B.  Has some power, but not much else to go on.  Will be lucky to spend two seasons in this organization that has some depth at 1B with the drafting of Ortiz.

Eleventh Round - Edward Bayley, MR.  The third teenage that can not vote has been drafted by SC.  Right now Bayley is a MR, but we're thinking closer sometime down the road.  His basic ratings are 18-7-15 with 3 pitches and a 16 stamina.  His ABL Projection is 4*

Twelfth Round - Ernie Webber.  2B.  A below average middle infielder is being looked upon to take the bump.  His ABL Projection is 3* and his basic ratings are 12-13-11 and he has 3 pitches and a 19 Stamina.  Ernie needs to work on his control.  If he can maintain or improve that he will quickly ascend the South Carolina organization

All in all, there was a lot of talent drafted by SC which should further back fill the teams lower level teams.  Player development is key for the Bombers as their budget is still in the bottom half of the league, thus making the need to develop their own talent that much more critical.

2015 Winding Down

Well, with just 13 games to go, South Carolina is on the brink of being eliminated from post season contention.  While this doesn't seem like something to brag about, there is an aire of excitement in the South Carolina fan base.  This is because of the season put together by the Bombers, when compared to seasons past.

The Bombers are sitting at 69-80.  This has tied the franchise record for Wins in a season.  Needing just one more win to reach the 70+ win plateau for the first time seems like a sure thing.

Attendance at 2.7M is now the 2nd highest attendance total in South Carolina history (2013, 3.1M).
Team ERA at 4.62 is projected to be the lowest in franchise history (2013, 4.90).
Team AVG at 2.66 is projected to be the highest in franchise history (2014, .257).

Orlando Bustamante is having an MVP Caliber season.  Not sure if he has enough numbers to win it, but he's 2nd in TML in Batting Average (.325), and tied for 2nd in HR's (40) just one behind the leader.

Bustamante has set franchise records in:
Runs Scored 104
Hits 206
Total Bases 357
Home Runs 40
RBI's 115

And is about to in:
Batting Average, currently .325
Slugging, .563
Singles 138 (team record 139)
Strikeouts 145 (147)

To show how miserable, statistically speaking, this franchise has been, Cal Henry, acquired in the off season, is 2nd in the franchise rankings for saves with 28 (Bob Robinson, 35), which is also a single season record. 

 now the single season Saves Leader notching 28 so far, and he's now

Fun While It Lasted...

Well, we were in the race for 5 months.  This last SIM was the "Make or Break" SIM and we broke.
Being 6 back of San Francisco and playing 3, South Carolina got swept and now sits a seemingly insurmountable 9 games back.

While it looks bleak for this season, management believes that they have key pieces in place to legitimately challenge for the Billy Martin Division crown next season.  Getting Roy O'Quinn back for a full season after the splash he made in just a half season last year is looked upon as a key.

The development of Mark Buchanan getting a full time slot next season after what is being looked upon as a successful campaign this year is also going to be a plus.

All Star Gerald Pugh should find himself a position in the 2016 infield next to the 20 year old rookie phenom Jorge Rosas who is poised to take over at 2B.

Stephen Jackson and All Star Orlando Bustamante provide middle of the order thunder and they have anchored the team's offense which is ranked in the top half of most offensive categories in the Thurman Munson League.

The pitching staff is still maturing with John Martin, Cecil Gibbons, Dave Nicholson, Reijiro Yamaguchi, a very team friendly Tony Ross and Aaron Harris will be vying for a rotation spot.

The bullpen while not where management thinks it should be it is pointed in the right direction and help is on the way.

Another year of maturing and experience should do this team well.

...Bombers Starting To Roll

As last reported, in June snapped 20 consecutive months of losing baseball when the Bombers 15-13.

So far in July, with 4 games remaining, the Bombers have played .636 ball (14 of 22) and have assured themselves of a second consecutive month of winning baseball.

The last 4 games of July are against San Francisco, who lead the Billy Martin Division by 2 games.  These are the first of 14 remaining games between the Earthquakes and Bombers and pundits are predicting the division lies within these divisional match ups.

The South Carolina Organization recognizes their outstanding players in this Blog from the last couple of months.  Players listed below have already received gold watches and $1000 donated in their name to the charity of their choice.

ABL All Star Game saw a first for any South Carolina Player to date...A starting position player.  Gerald Pugh, a Rule V selection back in December was the starting 2B in the mid season classic, which was won by the TML 7-2.  Joining Pugh was Bomber DH Orlando Bustamante who has had a career season so far for the Bombers.

Leland Ray, currently with the ABL Squad won the Player of the Week award on June 1st, in the Blake Camden League (AAA), for his performance with the Bronx Bombers.  Ray is currently in his second stint of the season with the Bombers being called up because of injuries.

Mark Buchanan, currently on the 14 day Disabled List won the May Rookie of the Month Award in the Thurman Munson League.  It was Buchanan's first full month in the ABL this time around and he hit .300 with 6 HR's, 18 RBI's and 14 RS to secure this prestigious honor.

Jorge Rosas, while with the Long Island Ducks (AA) slammed 4 HR's on June 9th.  Rosas went 4-5 with 6 RBIs' in this game.  The 20 year old has since been promoted to AAA Bronx and working his way up to possibly joining South Carolina this season.  This game helped lead Rosas to the Ford Frick League Player of the Week Award.

Stephen "Action" Jackson, ripped 5 hits in a game on June 10th vs. Texas Gunners, going 5 for 6 in the 9-8 victory.

Robert O'Neil, was voted the June recipient of the Ford Frick Player of the Month for June.  O'Neil parlayed this to also being selected to the to the AA All Star Game.

Eric Carlton, collected the Blake Camden Player of the Week Award for July 20th for his efforts.  Carlton went 8 for 13 (.615) with 3 HR's and 6 RBI's to earn the award.

And It's Finally Happened!!!

Champagne was popped in the General Manager's office after the game on June 30th against Jersey.

You see, when South Carolina won 10-7, that secure a 15-13 record for the month of June, and the Bombers first winning month with a full compliment of games, snapping a losing streak of 20 consecutive losing months.

The Bombers did get a scare losing 8 consecutive games (3 to So Cal, 3 to Seattle, and 2 to Boston) and 10 of 11 games in June.  Remove that 11 game stretch and South Carolina had a 14-3 record and could very well have been in 1st Place.

The Bombers DID reach the Penthouse of the Billy Martin Division in June, just prior to the skid, which was another first for this franchise.

In the next blog will be a recap of the first half, individual player awards and who from South Carolina will be headed to the All Star Game.

...And So It Continues

Almost a third of the season in the books and some tendencies are starting to emerge.

The Ugly
In the first three full seasons of the ABL the Bombers have managed to have a losing month in 18 of the 19 months.  The only month that South Carolina had a winning month was an abbreviated October 2014 when only 5 games were played and we went 3-2.  While it DOES count, it's not really what we're looking for, obviously.

So far, things have gotten better as we've had two near misses so far in 2015, and thankfully, with no one taking a leadership position in the division, we're just 2 games back being 5 games under 500 (22-27).

In April, the Bombers were 10-12.  In May, 12-15.  So, looking at full months of game play, the Bombers have played under 500 in 20 of 20 months.

#LookingToCorrectThisInJune.

The Bad
Pitching still is not where we'd like it, nor where we thought it would be, at least in terms of rankings.
RA, 8th
SP ERA, 9th
BP ERA, 8th
Defense, 12th

Management understood that a hit would take place because CF'er Martin Evans would be relegated to a 4th OF'er slot on the depth chart's.  His GG caliber Defense is utilized in late innings.
Gunner "Get" Smart defense has eroded as well.  His experiment at 1B didn't work primarily since Fernando Guzman failed to transition to 3B.

2013 1st Round Pick Aaron Harris has pitched well enough this season in AAA to now be noticed on a week to week basis for promotion into the starting rotation with the hopes of getting the SP ERA more in line to where management wants to see it.

Cecil "Gibby" Gibbons will be coming off the DL after tonight's SIM and then be headed for a rehab assignment.  Jeremy "Pin Cushion" Fisher appears to be the logical demotion upon Gibbons return.

Dave "Nickles" Nicholson is running out of time to get his act together as well.  So far, 1-7 with 6.17 ERA is unacceptable and he's been working feverishly with PC Lou Fountain.

The Good
Orlando Bustamante, has put together a season so far that he has thrown his hat into discussion for TML League MVP honors.  There is still a lot of baseball yet to play, but by far Bustamante is having a career season.  Bustamante is leading the TML in batting average (.361), Hits (73), 3rd in Slugging (.594), OPS (.986), 3rd in WAR (2.5), 8th in HR (11), 5th in RS (38), and 2nd in Total Bases (120).
There are some other players on other teams having outstanding seasons too, but it's clear Bustamante is carrying the load in South Carolina.

Stephen "Action" Jackson started the season going 4-6 with a HR and Double in a game and a half and then was put on the shelf for 3 weeks due to an injury.  When Jackson came off the DL he practically picked up where he left off.  He's hitting .318, and OB of .402 and a slug of .486 for a OPS of 888.  He's about 30 PA's shy of qualifying for any of the hitting categories right now.  We'll expect him there by the end of June, barring any further injuries.

April In Review

Overall, this has been a remarkably positive month, in spite of the current 8-11 record.

Also in spite of the fact that Roy "ROQ" O'Quinn has succumbed to an end of season injury.
In spite of the fact that SP Cecil Gibbons is going to return to the Bomber rotation sometime in June.

The real positives for the Bombers have been leaps and bounds.
John "Flipper" Martin is pitching, so far, like the pitcher the Bombers expected when they traded "Crayon" Frost to SoCal.  A modest 1-1 record in 4 Starts, a WHIP of 1.16 and an ERA of 2.70

Reijiro "Hit Squad" Yamaguchi has really persevered so far in this young season.  Coming out of Spring Training Yamaguchi lost his bid for the 5th spot in the rotation and was relegated to the bullpen.  However, when Gibbons went down, Yamaguchi stepped right back into the rotation and has really stabilized the back end of the rotation.  In 6 appearances - and 3 starts, he's 1-0, with a 1.66 ERA, 1.06 WHIP.  But as a Starter, he's been down right FILTHY!  1-0, ERA of 0.49, WHIP of 0.87 and 14 K's in 18.1 IP.

Orlando Bustamante, has started this season like a man on a mission.  So far he's already won a Player Of The Week Award, hit 7 HR's, knocked in 16 and is batting at a .407 clip which leads the TML.

Then from a team standpoint, things are looking very promising right now.  Historically, the Bombers bullpen ERA has been ranked either 11th or 12th in the first 3 seasons.  So far this season, they are ranked 2nd in the TML with a 2.70 ERA, which is almost 2.5 runs BETTER than previous season. 
That is the biggest jump right now, but improvement has been seen across the board.

The Bullpen stalwarts are John Wood, Jim Dorsey,  and Cal Henry who are all sporting WHIP's under 1.00 (0.55, 0.68 and 0.97 respectively).

Six of the Seven members of the bullpen are racking up K's at a rate of 8.1 K per 9 or better.

The Bombers have 3 games remaining this month to finish at 500, and they're against Billy Martin Division King, the Maple Marauders.  3 wins would go a long way towards the psych of this young team.

Down Goes Maple!!!

South Carolina WILL win the Billy Martin Division in 2015!

There, it's been said.  It's out there.
Well, it wasn't meant to be clubhouse fodder, but it was broadcast over the offseason on the ABL OMG Episode #2 by Mike Brouillette. 

GM Altman confirmed the quote and said it would be put up in the South Carolina clubhouse as well, to show players that this year is the year we go from Worst To First!

First thing is first.  The ballpark is being modified to be significantly more balanced and the benefit should greatly aid the Bomber batters more than harm the pitching staff!

Altman went onto say that with a full season of ROQ in CF (16 HR, 61 RBI) who played ONLY a half season should easily translate to 35+ HR and 120+ RBI's. 

Chance Everett was also recently added and he'll man RF for the Bombers and gives them another legitimate 30/100 player (44 HR, 102 RBI in the hitter friendly RCL) and now there is some serious thunder to add to Gunner "Get" Smart and Orlando Bustamante (combined 58 HR, 189 RBI) and you're potentiall looking at 140 HR's, and 400 RBI's from just half the lineup!

Fernando Guzman, and Stephen "Action" Jackson should add to what appears to be an significantly upgraded lineup for 2015, and would, on paper improve the rankings across the board of the Bombers offensively.

Pitching should be significantly ramped up with a starting corps of John "Flipper" Martin, Tony Ross (FA Acquisition), Cecil Gibbons, Dave Nicholson and Matt Murphy.

The bullpen sees a significant upgrade with trade acquisitions Jim Dorsey and Cal Henry to go with veteran Charlie Arnold and Mike Hamilton.  John Wood had a scorching hot spring and Yamaguchi gives many options and SC should see great improvement over last years results.

Opening Day, 2015

South Carolina Bombers are all set across the board (25, 30, 30, 40) and their notable moves were, what I consider, somewhat surprising as well….

Reijiro Yamaguchi, who was a SP last year amongst his recall, has been relegated to the bullpen to start the season, as the upstart Matt Murphy had a pretty good spring and won the #5 spot in the rotation.  Yamaguchi’s stuff should work well in the bullpen and add another quality arm for late inning work.

Martin Evans, last year’s rookie starting CF’er and stolen base artist was shipped out.  This move was two-fold.  Eugene White, 28 year old rookie, had an exceptional spring and basically won the job outright.  However, Evans being 25 upper management wanted Martin to continue playing and not sit on an ABL bench to continue his development.  With Chance Everett, Roy "ROQ" O’Quinn, and Stephen "Action" Jackson, there doesn’t appear to be many games that White would appear in and team officials thought that White could adjust better to limited playing time.  White also adds some much needed power off the bench in a pinch hitting role.

Finally, in what is being called a surprise in the SC Press, Jayson O’Neill with his torrid spring won his job back from 22 year old Stu Yarbrough.  O’Neill hit .314 with an OPS of .810 .  It is anticipated that O’Neill will get anywhere from 60% of the playing time and manager Gary Altman has told both players that he will primarily play the hot bat, but for defensive reasons Yarbrough will see more action against the league felons (i.e., Kansas City, etc.).

In regards to their starting rotation, the only thing that Bombers have announced is that John “Flipper” Martin has been named the Opening Day Starting Pitcher vs. Boston on April 4^th.

2015 Season Preview

South Carolina fans and team officials are excited about this upcoming season and feel it could be a turning point for this otherwise floundering franchise.

Amassing win totals of 61, 69 and 68 through the first three seasons, ANY improvement would and could be considered a step in the right direction.  But stability and quality players rather than rhetoric is what is being looked upon.

This season is looking like this right now:
SP: Gibbons, Nicholson, Martin, Ross
MR: Arnold, Henry, Dorsey, Hamilton, Rutledge
C: O'Neill, Yarbrough
INF: Guzman, Cooke, Smart, Pugh, Bustamante
OF: Jackson, O'Quinn, Everett, Buchanan

In previous seasons, there were players playing at the ABL Level that should have been parked at AAA but due to lack of depth in the organization coupled with injuries this wasn't the case, and specifically, nothing more apparent then the reliever rankings over this time.

This year sees very few holes overall and competition for roster spots!  What a concept!!!

STARTING PITCHING:
This year saw 8 SP's brought into camp for 5 spots, with 4 spots guaranteed (Cecil Gibbons, Dave Nicholson, John Martin and Tony Ross).  The remaining rotation spot is being battled out between Reijiro Yamaguchi, Matt Murphy and Jeremy Fisher.  Murphy is a long shot and Fisher looked good enough to possibly win out the job.  Yamaguchi is the odds on favorite to win this spot.  Should Murphy beat out Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi will move to the bullpen and be utilized as a spot starter and insurance for injury.
Aaron Harris, the 2013 1st Round Pick made two starts this spring for a teaser with the ABL club and moved down to AAA to continue his development.

RELIEF PITCHING:
Based on the being the Bombers Achilles Heel, a lot of off season attention has been spent on the reliever corps.
The Bombers have stated that they will be coming into the season with 7 spots for relievers and 5 of those spots are already spoken for.  Charlie Arnold, Mike Hamilton, Cal Henry, Jim Dorsey and Kevin Rutledge, leaving just two spots remaining to be battled out this spring.
Jose Carreon, 22; Stephen Douglas, 27; Nick Jones, 30; Joseph Matheson, 28 (coming off the DL this week, and at an obvious disadvantage); Johnny Ratzlaff, 26; Joe Ward, 24; Joseph Williams, 27; John Wood, 26;

Front runners right now would be Douglas and Williams, but based on other criteria (options, trades) this could change dramatically, even including with the Top 5.

CATCHING:
This is the only place on the team that management is okay with who is on the roster and have not brought in any players for competition.
Jayson O'Neill and Stu Yarbrough will be splitting time this season and manager Gary Altman has told each of these men that he will probably go with the "Hot Hand" most of the season.  Yarbrough is superior defensively, so Tim Ervin will probably NOT see O'Neill behind the plate during their series.

INFIELD:
There is room for 6 Infielders on this team, and 5 spots are already filled.
Orlando Bustamante, SS, Stephen Cook, 3B, "Get" Smart, 2B, Gerald Pugh, and Fernando Guzman.

Bustamante had his position changed on the team from LF to 1B, but is primarily the DH.
Pugh is a Rule V pickup and has already secured an apartment.
Smart and Guzman are experimenting swapping positions this spring training to give a little more flexibility to Altman.

In the mean time, there is healthy competition for the one remaining spot on the roster.
Ronald McAusland, 32, 1B; Jorge Rosas, 19, 2B; Dave Collins, 29, UTIL; Dan Mullen, 27, 2B; Walt Dobson, 24, 2B are the final combatants.
Collins could earn that final spot depending on any further injuries in the OF
Rosas is the future, and will be given a real good look this spring and could be one of the final cuts unless he struggles.
Dobson would appear to be the favorite of this bunch, but needs to show he can handle the bat.
The rest are long shots, especially McAusland.

OUTFIELD:
Probably the strength of this team and maybe one spot available.
Stephen Jackson, Chance Everett and Roy "ROQ" O'Quinn are our outfielders this season.  So, the two remaining spots are for backup roles.  Eugene White and last year's starting CF Martin Evans will battle out Mark Buchanan (DL, 2 weeks remaining) for the last spot.  Buchanan will come of the DL at the end of ST and be assigned to a 20 day Rehab assignment.  He's also out of options so, by default he'll be making the team.  So the final spot is between Evans and White.  This will be the toughest decision when the team breaks camp.  The thought process will be should Evans ride the bench and be a defensive replacement and get 150-200 AB's or have him lead off for the AAA squad and play everyday to get better.

Bombers Add To Bullpen

The Bombers have announced that in the early morning hours they finalized a trade with the Eureka Hornets and have acquired two ABL quality relievers in exchange for two blue chip prospects and two high level minor league relievers.  South Carolina also received and cash in return.

Coming to South Carolina will be  37 year old Jim Dorsey, and young phenom Cal "Bijou" Henry.

Henry was the key for South Carolina.  "Bijou" is just 23 years old and almost reaching his full potential (4.5* / 5*).  The hard throwing right handed reliever tops out on most radar guns at 98, and when opposing batters do not whiff, they'll hit it to one of Henry's infielders, to the tune of 73%.

Scouts are saying he is above average across the board and the only area that could stand improving would be his control. 

Also acquired was Jim Dorsey.  While not a natural leader as a rah-rah type guy, he does put long hours in, and hopefully that translates to the other players in the bullpen.  But what he does off the field doesn't matter nearly as much as it does with how he performs on the field.  And even at 37, he's still logging many innings and being exceptionally reliable.  Primarily a flyball pitcher, and topping out at a modest 94 MPH it appears he has a lot left in the tank.  His WHIP rating the last 3 seasons were 0.88, 1.21, and 1.09. 

Couple these two with Mike Hamilton and Charlie Arnold as well as the rapidly developing Kevin Rutledge and Jose Carreon, South Carolina addresses an area that was overwhelmingly disappointing ranking 11th or 12th in most pitching categories.

Of course, to acquire this kind of talent, talent has to be given up.  South Carolina gave up blue chip  18 year old prospects in 1B Rodrigo Flores, A Ball, 2B Katsumoto Matsui, A Ball as well as relievers Stuart Lang, AAA, and 28 year old John Ward, ABL. 

It would appear that Bomber roster is just about finalized for Spring Training and possibly Opening Day 2015.   But there could be another surprise that GM Altman could pull off.  But that remains to be seen!

*****************

Actual Trade:

 

South Carolina sends

Francisco Flores, A

Katsumoto Matsui, A
Stuart Lang, AAA
John Ward, 28 years old, ABL

Eureka sends

Cal Henry

Jim Dorsey
$4,000,000

Changes Coming To South Carolina

It has been discovered that sometime during the season that ownership had called a confidential meeting with several key Bomber, team engineers and the GM and Manager, Gary Altman.

This meeting remained a secret for much of the summer, but was just uncovered by the cub reporter Connie Lingus who also discovered that the players attending were Cecil Gibbons, Dave Nicholson, Gunner "Get" Smart, Orlando Bustamante and Stephen "Action" Jackson.

Ownership had their own thoughts and ideas, but wanted to get a fresh perspective and new "eyes" on the subject before making any decision.  Part of the thought process was some quiet internal grumblings within the clubhouse over park dimensions and how difficult it was to hit there.

The ballpark the Bombers play in is pretty much a pitchers park, especially for right handed batters. with an .852 HR average. But left handed hitters also suffered and they were at a .922 clip.

Anonymous sources within the South Carolina organization revealed that there will be adjustments to each of the ballparks, organization wide.

Connie Lingus couldn't get any team official or any of the engineering firm CEO Phil A. She-Oh to comment on the pending changes but when a search of permits at the city planning office, the following changes were discovered:

Currently, the fences are 8' tall all the way around the ball park.
The new wall height will be 6' tall with the exception of the right and left field lines, where 3' will be the new height.  Think Dodger Stadium here.

Now the depths will really be brought in.  Starting down the left field line the distance will drop a modest 2', from 312 to 310.  In left field the fences will move from 387 to 375.  In the power alley in left center field, the fences move in a whopping 50', from a cavernous 430 to a more manageable 380.  Dead center field will now be 400 from 417.  Right Center Field will move in 5' from 385 to 380.  In a bit of a bizarreness, the right field fence will move BACK, from 367 to to 375, becoming a more symmetrical ballpark.  The right field line will remain at 310'.

Based on some preliminary numbers, the park should play to a more neutral setting, or at least that is the hope.

We contacted Cecil Gibbons who stated, "Wow, what took so long for you to track this down Connie?  All kidding aside, me and Dave looked at our home and away splits and realized we did just as well on the road as we did at home.  The only thing the park's dimensions did was prevent US from coming back when down in the game.

"We have some thumpers, and now, adding Everett to our lineup I'm super excited!"

Stephen Jackson commented saying, "We have some real good pitchers coming up through our system and they know how to keep the ball in the park even if we're playing on a little league field.  If that can happen as it should, and Ownership spends the money on moving in the fences, I think we're going to win a lot of games.

Chance Everett, heavily rumored to be coming to South Carolina, without denial by ANY source, was quoted as saying, "Man, to say I was a little concerned about playing in South Carolina would be an understatement.  You have to hit the ball so hard just to reach the warning track!  But this is excellent news, as I'm really excited now!  Everett, in his one series coming to SC June 16, 17 and 18 went a combined 3 for 12, in the series with 1 HR, 2 RBI's

Construction is anticipated to be completed prior to Spring Training. 

At press time Commie Lingus could not find out from Phil A. She-Oh if new seats were to be added in this construction as well.

Everett Comes To South Carolina

During the World Series, the Bomber's agreed to a deal to bring heavyweight slugger, 31 Chance Everett into the mix. 

Everett the owner of 106 career home runs brings with him a bonafide ABL resume with him to South Carolina.  The Bombers become Everett's 5th team in 3 full seasons, but could quite possibly be his last ABL stop.  Chance is under contract for this upcoming season, 2015, and under a team option in 2016.

Everett becomes a legitimate force in the middle of the Bomber lineup that already features Orlando Bustamante, Gunner Smart, Stephen Jackson and rookie phenom Roy O'Quinn. 

Going to SoCal will be rookie CF'er Ken Forryan, former 2013 1st Round Draft Choice, and 20 year old, 2B Rick Grant.  Coming back to South Carolina will be 24 year old reliever Joe "Psych" Ward.

Ward has shown exceptional numbers in AAA over the last two seasons and should offer the Bombers much needed depth in trying to contain the out of control bullpen results that have been seen over the last 3 seasons. 

GM Gary Altman has said, "The bullpen and starting rotation remain a concern and will be, until significant has been realized.  Offensively, we believe we are as good as any team in the Billy Martin Division right now and that's all we have to concern ourselves with to get where we want to be.

Other deals will be explored strengthening our organizational depth and there does appear to be a Starting Pitcher or two that could be on the market that would be very attractive to us.  Ownership has stepped up and given us an additional $7M, and based on revenue sharing we will have another 4M to push out towards payroll.

The Bomber's will also be exploring other trading partners to see if we can move some of our surplus to fill other needs."

2015 looks to be a season of great promise for the Bombers.

Bustamante named Bomber MVP

As the World Series is under way between Las Vegas and Nottinghamshire we will take this moment to review our season.  Granted, it's not as glamorous as being on the National Stage, but we feel as if we're moving in the right direction here in South Carolina.

Earlier today, GM Gary Altman announced that the 2014 Team MVP was Orlando Bustamante.

Bustamante had a career season in 2014.

For his third season in a row, Bustamante saw his battering average remain over 300 (.305 career) by hitting .301 in 2014 (.312 in '12, ..303 in '13)

Bustamante was also the first Bomber to play in all 162 games in a season this year. Last year he played in 161 games. He's become quite the iron man!  All in all, Bustamante sits at 462 games played as a Bomber and leads Gunner Smart by 29 games played.

Orlando could also be called the Hit Man as he lead the team with 195 hits, 2nd all time on the Bombers single season list behind his own 197 hits in 2013.  All told, Bustamante has 560 Career hits with SC and Stephen "Action" Jackson is second with 492.

This season, 2014, saw our first 100 RBI player. Orlando Bustamante finished with 101 RBI's playing an entire season with South Carolina.  This needs mentioning because in 2012, SC acquired Jayson O'Neill from Kansas City and between both teams he landed exactly on 100 RBI's..  The 101 RBI's surpassed Bustamante's own personal record of 96 set in 2013.

The final record that Bustamante wishes he didn't set would be for strikeouts in a season.  He broke his own record of 141 set in '13 with 147 this past season.  He is the SC all time strikeout guy with 415, 98 more than the #2 Gunner Smart

In other categories:
Gunner Smart set the all time Bomber record for Run Scored in a season with 97.  The previous record was 91 set in '13 by Jackson.  Smart sits in 3rd place with 242 for his career behind Jackson's 255 and Bustamante's 254.

Rookie Martin Evans  burst onto the scene and "stole" the show.  Evans shattered the single season SB record of 17 (set by Kirby Andrews and Dave Collins in 2012) with a whopping 39!  Projections showed him pushing 50 but he was sidelined with a hamstring issue for the last 6 weeks of the season.  Oddly enough, Evans single season production also sets him first on the All Time Bomber SB List.  Smart sits in 2nd place now with 26.

When you lead a life of crime, sometimes you get caught.  Sometimes you get caught so much that you set the single season record for being caught.  Evans owns this record now with 13 as well.

Dave Nicholson set the Bomber record for Wins in a season with 14.  This topped Jeremy Rogers 13 set in 2013, and Nicholson is now the All Time Leading Bomber in Wins with 28 for his career.

Nicholson also tied the franchise single season record for losses with 16 (Cecil Gibbons, in 2012).  Nicholson leads in the All Time category as well, with 36, ahead of Gibbons who has 30.

Nicholson now owns the Single Season and Franchise records for:
Games Started (34 & 78), Complete Games (5 & 5), Shutouts (2 & 2), Innings Pitched (224 & 499),
as well as Hits Allowed (213 & 485), Strikeouts (135 & 306)

Free Agent acquisition, in his first year with the Bombers, Charlie Arnold set the Single Season Saves record with 23.  Arnold now sits in 2nd place for the Bomber Franchise record, just 12 behind Bob Robinson's 35 Bomber saves.

2014 Season in Review

Another overall disappointing season, from a team perspective, securing a 68-94 record and dropping back to a 4th place finish for the second time in three seasons.

However, fans saw a glimmer of what is to come, with a few trades that were made either before the season or during.  The players mentioned below made their ABL debut with the Bombers this past season and are expected to hold down a full time job in 2015.

Injuries, while a part of the game, decimated the team through all levels, but injuries gave players a chance to shine, maybe even sooner than originally planned and anticipated.

The Bombers acquired Jeremy "Cushion" Fisher for Juan Marin during the off-season.  What was perceived at the time as a salary dump, was actually used to strengthen the rotation and give it depth.  Fisher was called up on 8/23, due to John "Flipper" Martin being placed on the DL, for a second time this season, started 9 games and finished the season 4-2 with a respectable 4.30 ERA.  The 21 year old SP showed great promise and will force the Bombers to make a decision about him going north after Spring Training.

Another beneficiary of the Marin trade was CF'er Martin Evans.  Evans, developed rather splendidly, moving up in the organization a level at a time.  In 2013 Evans raked to a tune of .333 with 91 BB's, 45 SB's, a whopping .442 OB and a 57.6 VORP.
In Evans' rookie season with the Bombers, primarily batting leadoff, the 25 year old hit .270, with 34 BB, and 39 SB's.  Those SB's easily lead all rookies (Mark Reid, JAX second with 14), and is a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year.  He pulled a hamstring on the same day Fisher made his debut (8/23) and was finished for the season.  Evans finished 5th in the TML for SB's, and 8th in the ABL.  Finally, Evans' Gold Glove defense was something that was sorely missed in the South Carolina's first two seasons.  His production is what made Marin expendable, and allowed the team to take some criticism for moving the popular Marin. 

Roy "ROQ (pronounced ROCK)" O'Quinn, received from Texas in the Rogers/Nelson trade might go down as biggest trade the Bombers will ever make.  On June 30th the trade was consummated.  O'Quinn, stunned that he was leaving the Texas organization was absolutely floored when he was summoned from AAA and immediately inserted into LF where he would be in the lineup a majority of time. On July 8th, ROQ hit his first ABL HR, at 21 years old.   Roy was a key player received when the decision was made to move one of the Young Guns.  ROQ plays a quality LF but his bat is what Fast-Tracked him to the ABL.  ROQ would have been a solid Rookie of the Year candidate if he would have played the full season in the ABL.  In just 85 games, ROQ amassed 16 HR's, 61 RBI's and 58 RS, as well as 13 SB's.  For the season, combined AAA and ABL numbers Roy hit 38 HRs, 112 RBI's and 111 RS.  O'Quinn is a superstar in the making.

Another player received in the Rogers trade was SS Stephen Cook.  Cook, 25, and on July 21st, against Cabo San Lucas, Cook singled in his very first at bat in the ABL.  Of course he was promptly thrown out trying to steal 2nd base, but that didn't take away from the excitement he brought to the Bombers.  In 64 games, Cook hit at a .295 clip, got on base at .356 rate and over all had a .728 OPS to go along with 9 SB's, 20 RBI's and 30 RS.  Cook batted 9th vs RHP's and leadoff vs., LHP's and gave a little more offensive output than Angelo Casas the 2013 Gold Glove winner, and adequate defense.  Cook might or might not stay at SS for his career, but for the foreseeable future looks to be a part of the Bomber infield for quite a while.

C, Stu "Thurman" Yarbrough, 22 years old was summoned from AAA on June 3rd against the Las Vegas Jokers.  Stu went 1 for 5 in his debut and was steady behind the plate.  Stu would have needed to have been put on the 40 Man Roster in the off season due to Rule V requirements, but with him spending the parts of 2012, 13 and 14 in AAA ownership felt he was ready for the ABL.  With Jayson O'Neill mired in a slump from the beginning of the season it seemed logical to just get Stu ABL experience now.  Yarbrough, hit 13 HR's, 53 RBI's and a .243 Avg in just 101 games.  His VORP in 2/3's of season was 14.2 

SP, Reijiro "Hit Squad" Yamaguchi was the third player from the Texas trade to make the ABL.  Yamaguchi was pressed into service because of some injuries and lack of performance by other members of the staff.  While the ERA of 6.40 was much higher than what we expect of an ABL SP, the 500 record (5-5) for a team that finished 28 games under 500 showed that this kid is a gamer.  In 64 IP he needs to work on a few aspects of his game, but will be given a shot in ST to win himself a role in the rotation.  If not, his numbers translate very well to a role in the bullpen to hone his craft.  Either way, it is anticipated that Yamaguchi makes the Opening Day 25.

Players that will have a shot to earn a spot onto the ABL roster from AAA out of Spring Training will be the 4th and 5th players from Texas, 2B Walt Dobson and CL Jose Parra.  Also MR Glen Rush, MR Hiroaki Ine,  and LF Eugene White.
Should be an exciting time in South Carolina over the next season!

Two New Baby Bombers Debut

The transformation of the South Carolina Bombers is making great strides.

The mindset this year was to shed useless contracts and become fiscally more responsible.  Also it was to develop talent that would either be here long term or bring pieces of the puzzle into South Carolina.

We've seen the trades of Marin, and Rogers and what they've brought, and now it's time to reap some of the benefits.  Jeremy "Cushion" Fisher, 21 years old got the call up when Martin came down with a stiff neck.  In his two ABL starts he's 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA.  He's gone 15 innings, struck out 11, walked 3 and has a WHIP of a modest 1.33

The next Baby Bomber called up was Ken Forryan, 23 year old CF'er.  Forryan was called up when Martin Evans pulled a hamstring ending his rookie season.  Forryan was on the 40 Man Roster, so there was no roster move necessitated for his arrival. 

In his 6 ABL games patrolling CF, Forryan is hitting .400, going 6 for 15 with 7 runs scored, 4 RBI's, 4 BB's and 2 doubles, while going 4 for 4 in SB attempts.

Forryan was drafted in the 1st Round of the 2012 Draft, 3rd overall.

OTHER NEWS and NOTES:
On August 27th, Orlando Bustamante became the first Bomber to hit for the cycle, in a 10-7 loss to the Minnesota Berserkers.

Bustamante's feat will be commemorated in front of the home fans with a small ceremony before the game against Kansas City on Sept 12th.

Rookie phenom, Roy O'Quinn, was honored by the Thurman Munson League with Player of the Week honors!  O'Quinn hit a robust .560 for the week with 1 HR and 13 RBI's.  O'Quinn is making some noise in the ABL as well.  In just two months at this elite level, RO'Q (pronounced ROCK by his teammates) has hit 11 HR's, knocked in 44 runs and is hitting .225 

Lots of great things are expected in South Carolina as they've come off their first 500 month (August 2014) since the 2012 season, and have played passionately going just 2 games under 500 since July 1st (25-27 Record).

Well, It's Time.

Earlier this month, the Bombers moved one of their prized pitching studs to strengthen what has shown to be weak areas at the ABL Level, SS, 2B, RF, CL, getting a SP back as well.

Well, now it's the kids time to shine!  They will be getting ABL playing time this year setting them and the Bombers for next season!

Coming into the 2014 season CF and RF were concerns for the Bombers, especially when Juan Marin was traded off because of salary.

CF was given to rookie Martin Evans, who appears to be a finalist for Rookie of the Year in a class where there is no clear cut favorite.
LF was Stephen Jackson who the team is committed to building around. He's a fan favorite and does everything manager Gary Altman asks of him. This year he's slumped a bit we're expecting a big step up the last two months of this season that will parlay itself into next season.
RF was to be manned by Free Agent signing Miguel Torres, but Torres didn't hit consistently enough to maintain the job, and found himself riding the pine.

Roy O'Quinn was recently acquire in the Rogers trade (you'll be hearing this often), and will be playing LF for the Bombers for the remainder of this season and to start next season as well.  O'Quinn is finding himself to be a nuisance to opposing pitchers who make mistakes in the strike zone.  He's hit 9 HR's and has 23 RBI's in 35 games.  Over the course of a full season O'Quinn would be pushing close to 40 HR's..

Coming up next year could be 2012 1st Rd Draft Choice Ken Forryan, who will be pushing someone for playing time!

DH Orlando Bustamante has been the model of consistency here in South Carolina and fans absolutely adore him.

Fernando Guzman, 1B suffered thru a little sophomore slump and found himself starting the season in AAA.  He's back in the ABL now and is expected to deliver the results that management expected from him all along.

Stephen Cook, another key piece received from Texas is poised to take the SS position from Angelo Casas, the 2013 TML Gold Glove Winner at SS.  Casas struggles at the plate is more what forced this trade than any one other thing.  (Dobson in AAA, 23, is still developing - no rush to call him up).

3B Gunner Smart is having himself another steady and productive season. and is also a fan favorite.

C Stu Yarbrough also made his ABL debut this season and displaced Jayson O'Neill as the Bomber backstop.   Yarbrough offers more power, an equal batting average and superior defensive skills.  Our scout has been bitching to get Stu called up, and Altman finally relented and has been rewarded ever since.  All Stu needs to do is raise his average, and he's only 21 years old.

Offensively 2B becomes the focal point.  Rumors surrounding Mario Antonio will be that his team option will not be picked up at the end of the season.  Supposedly there is an agreement in place between the player's agent and the GM but no one will confirm.

Next year's candidates are going to be Mike Rogers, Rick Grant, Walt Dobson and Anthony Bailey.

The rotation next season looks like it could be one of the best 1-5's in the league.  No pressure there.  We'll settle for consistent.
Martin, Yamaguchi, Gibbons, Nicholson make up a great 1-4.  Then for the 5th spot we have Ratzlaff, Mike Joyce, Tom O'Halloran,  Jeremy Fisher, and in AA Aaron Harris (2013 1st Rd Draft Choice). 

The bullpen has help coming.  Charlie Arnold is under contract one more season.  Mike Hamilton has proved formidable in filling in for Arnold or setting him up.  John Ward and Joseph Williams performed great for the first 4 months of the season, however, when fatigued, they get clubbed.  Nick Jones and Kevin Rutledge are expected to mature and add depth to this bullpen.  But there is also potential help at AAA.  Jose Parra, Jose Carreon are two studs that should make the club sometime in 2015!  Stuart Lang and Glen Rush as well as Japenese veteran Hiroaki Ine are poised for a possible call up this season.  Based on those pending promotions, Bryan Mifflen, Eric Potter, Millard Joseph and Roger Marshall can all be brought along very deliberately. 

If none of them will be the solution next season South Carolina is poised to see their budget increase by 10M and have cash reserves of another 10M, making an impact FA signing within the realm of chance.

Walking Wounded Returning

Following up a robust 6-0 SIM and chopping off 3 games in the standings, the Bombers go 2-4 in the very next one and give back ONLY a half a game.

No one is running away with this division and Maple, the two time Billy Martin Division winner has finally found themselves in 1st place.  However, they are just one game over 500.  Now Maple might finally be finding their stride as they had a superb June and are off to a good start so far in July, but optimism is high in South Carolina, if not to get back in the race this season, but to build upon for next season.

But in the mean time, if you don't put an inferior team away, they start to think that they might have a chance.

The Bombers will see their pitching staff getting a huge shot in the arm after this SIM, and it'll appear like they've made a trade, as 3 important pieces of their staff return from the Disabled List.

John "Flipper" Martin, who was anticipated would fill the 3rd or 4th spot in the rotation and bring along his game all season was diagnosed with bone spurs at the one set of Spring Training and found himself shelved.  It is unsure whether he's sent on a rehab assignment or not, but for the Bombers to contend, his presence on the ABL roster is mandatory.

With the Bombers bullpen ranked 11th in the Munson League, both Charlie Arnold and Joseph Williams will return as well this week.

Arnold, CL, (Shoulder Inflammation) 2-4, 14 SV, 2.83 ERA,
Arnold was having a great season anchoring the bullpen and has been everything the Bombers expected when signing him to a free agent contract in the off season.  Upon his return he will resume his role as closer.

Williams, CL (Hamstring) 1-0, 1 SV, 3.72 ERA
Williams suffered an unfortunate hamstring injury and his departure from the roster really upset the apple cart that is precariously known as the Bomber bullpen.  Currently, 5 of the 7 relievers are boasting ERA's over 5.00.  With Arnold and Williams back in, the Bombers will then boast 4 relievers with ERA's under 3.75. 

Once you realize those stats, you can see that there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon for Bomber fans.
There's plenty of bullpen help to be had in the minors and GM Altman can concentrate on the offensive holes during the off season.
But coming up you should start hearing names like Millard Joseph, Glen Rush, Hiroaki Ine, Stuart Lang, who are all in AAA as we speak.
In AA, the Bombers are sporting recently acquired Jose Parra and 2012, 3rd Rd Draft Choice Roger Marshall making a charge.  If we can maintain or develop a pair of current ABL arms, add in 2 or 3 from the minors and add one via free agency, the Bomber Bullpen, the Achilles heel for the first 3 seasons will become a pillar of strength for the organization.

Walt Dobson, SS, AAA, (Oblique Strain).  Dodson who was axquired with Parra in the Rogers trade will more than likely hone his hitting skills while at AAA until his call up in September.  He will then challenge the 2013 Gold Glove winner, Angelo Casas for the starting job.  The audition starts September 1st!

Rogers Gone for Prospects

GM Altman pulled the trigger on a 10 player trade with the Texas Gunners nabbing two top prospects, a AAA middle infield and an elite closing prospect. 

The trade shakes out as this.  The Bombers ship out SP Jeremy Rogers, SP Aaron Nelson, MR Mark Thompson, SP Emerson Webber, and 1B Gerald Becker.  The key component was Rogers on this side of the ledger.

In return South Carolina receives LF Roy O'Quinn, 2B Walt Dobson, CL Jose Parra, SS Stephen Cook and SP Yamaguchi., with the key players coming back being O'Quinn and Yamaguchi.

Altman was quoted as saying that O'Quinn has off chart power and that is something every team could use, but especially us since we're ranked last in the TML in HR's.  O'Q has been promoted and is expected to spend the rest of the season in South Carolina patrolling RF.

Yamaguchi is the wild card in this trade.  Anonymous sources within the league have raved about acquiring Hit Squad.  He turns 26 on July 12th and his age is a factor as he is a little older than most prospects.  However, according to scouts from other teams if Yamaguchi develops this trade will be a steal.  Hit Squad throws almost 100 MPH and throws ground balls 76% of the time.  He's a stud in the making!

After this trade was agreed to, South Carolina went 6-0 for the first time in a SIM, but followed that up by going 2-4 within their division, but only losing a half game in the standings.

Multiple rumors out of South Carolina were reporting that Dave Nicholson was being shopped around, and one deal almost had him going to Nottingham.  I was quite the shock in the press circles to hear Rogers name being bandied about.

When asked about the mindset about moving one of the Young Guns this is what Altman said,

"We wish all the players we've moved to Texas well the rest of this season as well as for the remainder of their careers.  They were good soldiers here, but to get quality we had to move some quality as well.

In Rogers, we gave up a fully developed SP who will sit atop the leader boards for a long stretch of his career.  But we knew in a months time we'd be getting Flipper back and that made one of our arms expendable as well as having Aaron Harris (2013 1st Rd Draft Choice) developing quite nicely, giving us 4 above average arms in the system.  We knew getting back Yamaguchi would give us 5 and we'd be a very tough team to beat in a year or so.  Yamaguchi is anticipated to arrive sometime next season.

In Nelson, he's an average back end of the rotation starter, but by no means would he be held back to keep this deal from happening.  His ratings are in stark contrast to his performance and we didn't feel like we were losing much, if anything by including him in this deal.  The same could be said of Thompson, who has just 1 option left, yet has shown no flashes of brilliance that a player of his talent should possess.

Webber and Becker are so young and so far from the ABL right now to even think what they can or cannot do.  Webber has some talent and I would not be surprised if he makes it in 3 or 4 seasons.  I think it would be great for him and for Texas if he did."

Walt Dobson, while traded for as he's on the DL for an oblique strain is being seriously considered to be brought up to the show this season, to give a little boost to the SS position.  Management has liked the increased production Casas is showing, the team is expecting more.

We'll see.

More Next Time on the Bomber Blast!

The Transformation Continues

One Good Segment, One Bad Segment.  That seems to be the theme of the 2014 season so far.
But even with the trials and tribulations, the development of the kids on the farm continues.

The latest player to have his contract purchased and brought up to the ABL level is C Stu Yarbrough.  Yarbrough was drafted in the 9th round of the Inaugural Draft and has been brought along very deliberately.  Drafted at 17 years old Stu's initial stock went down as compared to when he was drafted, however, he's been pushing forward each season and spent the parts of the last 3 seasons at AA,

Since the 21 year old is being called up, GM Altman has assured us that Yarbrough is not only ready but will be playing everyday.  Jayson O'Neill will become the backup C as well as finding time at DH and 1B.  Orlando Bustamante will be finding time in LF and DH as well. 

When pressed as to who the biggest loser will be, Altman said it would be Dave Hutchinson.  Hutchinson was designated for assignment and put on waivers.  Hutchinson was a free agent signing that was anticipated to be a quality bat off then bench offering power.  But when Guzman slipped and Hutchinson having an awesome spring, winning the 1B job outright.  But Hutch wasn't meant to play everyday and his numbers suffered.

C Roy Harper was demoted to make room for Yarbrough.

Also recalled was Michael Rogers.. 

To date, the Bombers have 7 bonafide rookies that made their ABL debut in 2014 (Murphy, Carreon, Hamilton, Yarbrough, Martinez, Patterson, and Evans).

Bombers Call Up Murphy / Carreon

After going 5-2 in the last SIM, including winning the first 3 (of 4) from 1st Place San Francisco and moving to just 2 games back even being a robust 18-27, 9 games under 500!

Ownership,  who has shown a propensity to be very deliberate with the development of the organizations prospects has given quite the boost to the fan base in over the last two SIMS.

Johnny Ratzlaff was struggling this season and the Bombers called up fan favorite Matt Murphy, who made his Bomber and debut on May 23rd pitching into the 7th inning and assisting the Bombers to a win in a game that went 15 innings.

Murphy, 23, had some ABL time while with Eureka in 2012.  Once claimed by SC, he was put into the Bombers Development program that saw him accelerate thru the organization in 2013, paving the way for a callup in 2014.

Coming up for the SIM this evening is the purchase of two contracts to solidify the bullpen.  Veteran Geoff Allen and rookie phenom Jose Carreon were added to the roster, at the expense of Joseph Matheson and the struggling Stephen Douglas.

Douglas, a 2013 Rule V selection has shown glimpses of the promise that made him wanted by SC.  A 3.5* potential talent who throws in the low 90's with a 60% GB pct will always be in demand.  The intention now for Douglas, according to the GM is to keep Douglas at AAA with a Sept Callup.

Mattheson, acquired in the re trade of Ben Kessler has struggled this season trying to acclimate himself to SC.  He's being sent down to renergize him AA numbers from a year ago.  At 27 time could be running out for Mattheson.

Allen, was poised to be called up earlier this month from AAA except he was sidelined with a strained muscle.  In 15 innings Allen posted a 1.80 ERA and 2 saves in 15 innings, with a WHIP of 1.27.  The 34 year old reliever has spent 2012 and 2013 season in South Carolina.

Carreon, just 21 years old will be making the jump to the ABL after spending just a month and a half at AAA.  Already at 2.5* and a potential of 4*, and the Bombers actually still in the hunt to make the playoffs, Ownership gave their blessing to call up the phenom.

Acquired in the blockbuster trade with SoCal that included Joe "Crayon" Frost and John "Flipper" Martin, Carreon is the third prospect of the four to make it to the ABL from this trade (the 4th being Billy "Grumbles" Turner, SoCal AAA).

At AAA, Carreon posted a 3-2 record with a 2.41 ERA and 1 Save in 19 games.  Over 18 innings, Jose had a WHIP of 1.29, opponents were batting a paltry .191 against him and his ERA+ was a robust 206.  Those numbers this season are remarkably similar to his AA numbers from a year ago, and that lead us to call him up now.  GM Altman was quoted, "With "Juan" we would normally expect a slight drop off with the promotion to the parent ball club, however, based on the stats that he's replacing, as well as his level headedness, we feel that he will help this ball club win some games and fill out the back end of our bullpen immediately".

One long time season ticket holder summed it up best by saying, "Matheson, Ratzlaff, and Douglas had ERA's of 8.66, 7.16 and 6.48 respectively.  IF Murphy, Allen and Carreon can beat each of them by just 1.00 that should translate to more wins and exciting South Carolina baseball.

The Bombers are anxiously awaiting the return of John Martin from his bone spur surgery in mid July.  If the Bombers are close and can add that type of arm to the rotation, there very well could be important baseball for the fans of South Carolina in September and October

...And Here We Go Again....

This is getting old and ownership is NOT really happy!

Our third season and our third losing April, going 8-15 and 2 games worse than last season (11-16 in 2014)

General Manager Altman is far from satisfied at this, and fans are increasingly becoming impatient.  Young players have developed, and are being developed at AAA.  The starting pitching is the best it's ever been even with "Flipper" Martin being shelved till August.

The only saving grace to players and coaches is that even with the abysmal record we're sporting, we're JUST 3 games back in what is arguably the most competitive division in the league.  Okay, some would say worst, but if ALL the teams are under 500, wouldn't that make us the MOST competitive as well?

Altman also in a rare show of emotion lit into second year 1B Fernando Guzman.  Guzman, after a piss poor performance in Spring Training found himself not only behind free agent acquisition Dave Hutchinson (900K in 2014, 900K in 2015 (w/ Team Option)) in the depth chart, but being optioned down to AAA Bronx.  Guzman didn't pout, but absolutely lit up AAA pitching, hitting .375 with 3 HR's, with an OB of .516 and a SLG of .875.  But once called back up to the Bombers he starts to struggle again, capped off with a whopping 10 game suspension!

Altman, with a reddened face and veins pulsating in his neck called out Guzman and was quoted as saying, "With Hutchinson here for 2 seasons, and Yarbrough lighting up AAA, if Guzman doesn't get his "bleeping" head out of his "bleep", he's gonna find himself with the Carolina Crush!"

Other disappointing Bombers to this point, are SP's Dave Nicholson and Cecil Gibbons.  Gibbons a little less so, but only because of his performance the last three seasons. In 2012, Gibby went 7-16 5.73 ERA.  Last season 2-6, 5.09 ERA, and this season so far, 2-2 4.55 ERA.  Management felt Gibbons would be a little more dominant that what he's shown.

Nicholson on the other hand has been an utter disappointment.  Sitting at 1-5, 4.74 ERA, which is pedestrian and average at best.  But compared to his two previous years at SC (2012 - 4-10, 5.83 and 2013- 10-10 2.82 ERA) this season has not started well for Nicholson.  He's been working with the staff to turn things around.

2014 Season Preview

Soon to be forthcoming.