Riding the hot bats of Miguel Ortiz, Michael Johnson and an unexpected boost from Bryan Caldwell plus the strong arms of Elvis Sharp, David Lee and a clutch performing bullpen, San Diego briefly found itself in first place. A speed bump presented by Carolina and South Bend has the Hops a single game back of Washington as the dog days of the last six weeks of the regular season play out.
Season bright spot: Bill Turner, CF
Turner, enjoying his first full season as the Hops CF, has come through with a fine season so far. His average has been steady in the .280 range, with surprising pop (31 xbh-13 HR, 59 rbi); and leads the ABL in stolen bases by a wide margin. Defensively, CF was a problem until this year, as his +15 Zone rating is helping the Hops pitching staff pitch without fear of a fly ball.
Minor Malts:
Coronado AAA is 62-50, but lingers in fourth place. The team has a number of future pitching stars: Pueblo, McGowan, Lortie, Garcia, Lawrence, to name a few. Best hitters are newly arrived: outfielders Taylor Thompson (acquired in the Steve Johnson trade along with Kanno, Sandoval and Lara), and Badry Makaev, who in his first year of pro ball has seen time in both AA and AAA with great results-.363 OBP combined, .277 hitter with 12 extra base knocks at each level. Thompson has appeared already in SD, while Makaev may make his debut in September.
Jacksonvill AA has been a second division team all season, but has a few decent prospects, most noticeably SS Ichizo Sato. SD veterans, Steve Cherry and Armando Ilharco are giving the youngsters mentoring leadership.
Bethesda A is an underpopulated club that has been hurt by injuries. Names to watch are MR Lou Cove and SP Dave Duhamel.
