The Lake Merced Goutfish have faced more than their fair share of challenges this season with significant injuries to Fernando Tatis, Jr., Ozzie Albies, Anthony DeSclafani, Freddy Peralta and Brandon Crawford from their Opening Day Roster.
Knowing the strength of their roster overall, the Goutfish Front Office looked to quickly patch up a leaky catcher situation, acquiring 2021's fifth ranked backstop Yasmani Grandal and outfielder Kyle Lewis from the St. Joseph Jokers. The price tag was a 2023 1st Round Pick with an assumption it would be stuck as a late round selection.
When the club sat just 200 back of the RDBL lead in early June, they swung for the fences with their acquisition of Walker Buehler (3R/$5) from the Asti Grape Stompers. Buehler would last just 6 1/3 innings over two starts before going down with a forearm strain that would end his RDBL Regular Season. The price for Buehler's -14.0 points -- baseball's top catching prospect Francisco Alvarez and a 2023 3rd Round Pick.
With Tatis' return from injury continues to drag on, GM Ryan Atkinson and the Goutfish Front Office were staring at a 125.0 point deficit for the final Wild Card spot on July 17th and contemplated a fire sale. A note went out to contenders of a "scorched earth scenario" according to sources, with virtually the entire roster up for grabs.
A RDBL-high 254.0 point short week following the All-Star Break changed everything, serving as a potential turning point in the future of the Goutfish Franchise. Pushing the deficit down to just 42.0 points at the end of Period 16, Atkinson pushed all in with a late night acquisition of Blake Snell and Chris Bassitt from the Cloverdale Clovers, surrendering Alek Thomas and a 2023 5th Round Pick.
Atkinson continued to push their chips to the middle just four days later, completing a blockbuster deal with the Lunatic Fringe to land DJ LeMahieu and Francisco Lindor. The price included the club's top prospect Noelvi Marte and a 2023 2nd Round Pick.
The moves paid off with Snell (0.94 ERA over his last 5 starts), Bassit and Lindor (leading baseball in average in the 2nd Half) helping lead the way into Period 19 when the news turned grim for the Goutfish. Tatis would not be making his long anticipated return from the IL, instead being suspended for the remainder of 2022 and 30+ games of 2023 for a positive PED test. The star would be assured to play in just 130 games through the first two plus seasons of his Rookie contract.
Additionally, a hand injury to fellow star shortstop Tim Anderson would sideline him for 4-6 weeks, ending his Regular Season alongside Buehler, Tatis and Albies.
Period 20 starts Monday with 14 days of play remaining in the RDBL Regular Season and 31.5 points separating the Goutfish from the 6th Place Burlingame Blue Ducks. As defending Champions of the RDBL, most would figure success in 2022 would be gravy on top of a record-breaking campaign last year. But with Francisco Alvarez and Noelvi Marte out the door, as well as a 7th place finish resulting in the first overall pick being surrendered to the St. Joseph Jokers, the pressure has never been higher for Atkinson's club.
Around the RDBL
- The Cloverdale Clovers keyed in on right-hander Andrew Painter (Minors) as part of their blockbuster July deal with the Alamo Short Stacks. Painter continued his dominance which was highlighted by seven shutout innings Saturday which led to his promotion to Double-A on Sunday. Painter, who was pitching high school ball a little over a year ago, has been brilliant at two minor-league levels, pitching to a 1.19 ERA in 17 starts. He has struck out 14.1 batters per nine and walked 2.7. In 81 1/3 professional innings, Painter has allowed just 46 hits and 10 earned runs while racking up 130 strikeouts and walking just 23.
- Good news has been few and far between for the Idaho Taters this season but they did receive this nugget over the weekend. Mike Soroka will bring a rehab assignment on Tuesday with High-A Rome as he makes his return from a twice ruptured right Achilles which has included three surgeries. Soroka posted a 2.68 ERA in 29 starts as an All-Star in 2019 while finishing as the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up and sixth in the Cy Young balloting.
- The St. Joseph Jokers could have a potential logjam at catcher with Joey Bart starting to emerge as a potential factor for 2023. Bart had two more hits Sunday and has posted a .296 average since being recalled on July 6th. The run has included multi-hit games in four of his last six appearances though he has walked just four times in that span. The Jokers also hold the MJ Melendez and Gabriel Moreno under Minor League contracts.
- Mt. Diablo Devils right-hander James Kaprielian has posted nine consecutive positive starts while lowering his ERA from 6.32 to 4.38 over that span. In line for a pair of starts in Period 20, Kaprielian will continue to pitch with eyes on a 2023 activation for GM Jason Watson.
- Asti Grape Stompers pitching prospect Mick Abel (Minors) joined Andrew Painter with a promotion to Double-A Sunday. Abel has a 4.01 ERA and 1.33 WHIP with 103 strikeouts in 85 1/3 this season. He joins Grapes prospect Kyle Harrison as another high-end pitching prospect at Double-A with ETAs likely for 2024 with continued health.
- The Honolulu Hammerheads might have something for 2023 in right-hander Brandon Pfaadt who continued his hot run at Triple-A since an August 2nd promotion. Pfaadt allowed just one run and one hit over six innings with 10 strikeouts and now has 166 punchouts over 124 1/3 innings this season across two levels. His statcast results might be even more intriguing for Pfaadt as the spin rate on his fastball and slider would have ranked 5th and 6th in the big leagues, with only Dylan Cease, Corbin Burnes and Joe Musgrove appearing above him on both lists.
- It is too little, too late for Lance Lynn, but the veteran Lunatic Fringe right-hander has found his footing with a 3.34 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 34:2 K:BB ratio over his last 29 2/3 innings since the All-Star Break.
- The Las Vegas Aristocrats addition of Alec Bohm for Justin Turner was questioned by some at the time of the deal, but it looks like a boon for the 'Crats. Bohm has been exceptional since a rough April and has slashed .349/.380/.477 over the last 28 days while hitting .357 since June 24th.
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