sunday wrap: week one and two

This early in the season, it’s a little tough to decide what the biggest story of the week is. Everything seems like it’s in limbo, from roster movement, to lineup changes, to the parade of pitchers that take the hill every game. You can’t judge much of anything.

In a sense, I guess that is the story.

I always feel like July 1 is the day when the summer really gets going. Teams aren’t waiting on players anymore. Lineups are set. Contenders and leaders are emerging.

But it’s not like the first two weeks don’t matter. It’s a 44-game season. After two weeks, almost one third of the season will be complete. By comparison, one-third of the Major League Baseball season isn’t complete until late May.

So while this feels like an interim kind of period, it really isn’t. The players who are shining now stand a good chance of having a great summer. Same for the teams.

If I may, let me invoke some weather imagery. You have a thermometer and a barometer. The thermometer tells you what the temperature is right now. The barometer tells you what the air pressure is right now, but the more imporant piece of information it conveys involves the future. Where the pressure is going, up or down, can tell you a lot about what the weather will be.

So. The first week of the season really can’t be a barometer. It doesn’t predict anything or establish trends. But the first week can obviosuly be a thermometer.

Sticking with the theme, let’s take some temperatures.

On Fire
Cotuit (4-2) – The Kettleers may not be in first place anymore, but they’re still the best hitting team in the league. They lead the league in runs scored (43) and batting average (.307). Their lowest single-game run total of the season is three. Six of their regulars are hitting .300 or better, led by Kevin Patterson, who sits at .435.

Falmouth (5-2) – Tied with Hyannis for the best record in the league, the Commodores have won four straight games. Their offense has heated up in a big way. In those four wins, Falmouth has scored 27 runs. A.J. Pollock, Joey Wong and A.J. Wirnsberger have done the heavy lifting. Pollock is hitting .414, Wong is at .346 and Wirnsberger is hitting .320. The pitching has been a little bit up and down but good enough so far.

Hyannis (5-2) – The Mets have probably played the best all-around baseball in the league. They rank fourth in team batting average and third in pitching. Andrew Carraway and Austin Hudson have been great in the rotation, while Russell Brewer has been dominant in the closer’s role. At the plate, Trent Ashcraft, Dale Cornstubble, Steve Daniels and Casey Frawley have been very good.

Still Pretty Warm
Harwich (4-2) – The Mariners have the best record in the Eastern Division, and they’ve done it despite missing a big chunk of their original roster. Joe Sanders and D.J. Belfonte have given Harwich a big lift, while Andrew Giobbi has been a major run producer despite a low batting average. The Mariners’ bullpen has been outstanding, with Willie Kempf leading the way. Kempf hasn’t allowed an earned run in 5.1 innings.

Luke-Warm
Orleans (3-3) – So much for that great offense. On paper, the Cardinals looked like a powerful squad, but they’ve scored all of 12 runs in six games. Still, the pitching has done enough to keep Orleans in a lot of games. Brad Gemberling and Kyle Smith have turned in good starts, while Kyle Kamppi has been good out of the bullpen.

Yarmouth-Dennis (2-4-1) – Not a great record yet, but the offense has been there for the Red Sox. Their team batting average is third in the league and they have the top two hitters so far in Nick Liles and Greg Miclat, as well as the leading RBI man, Andy Wilkins. The pitching hasn’t yet caught up.

Cool
Brewster (2-4-1) – The Whitecaps have the same record as Y-D, but their numbers haven’t been good. A .230 batting average puts them in seventh, and a 4.50 ERA also puts them in seventh. While Ty Kelly, Derek Poppert and Tim Wheeler have hit the ball well, several big guns have struggled. And on the mound, it’s been shaky, except for two good starts by Buddy Bauman and some solid relief outings by Chris Lagrow and Rory McKean.

Wareham (2-4) – The Gatemen have struggled, but looking at their numbers, it’s kind of hard to tell why. Their pitching has been good — they have three starters with 0.00 ERA’s — and they’ve got a couple of guys swinging the bats well. But they haven’t been able to put it all together.

Cold
Bourne (3-4) – The offense has been pretty solid, with Kyle Roller and Ross Wilson leading the way. But the pitching just hasn’t been good. The Braves have seven pitchers with ERA’s over six. Still, Bourne gets a little extra credit for powering through it, and staying just a game under .500.

Ice Cold
Chatham (2-5) – While it’s hard to see why Wareham is struggling, it’s not hard to see for the A’s. Their team batting average and team ERA both rank ninth in the league. Considering my preseason thoughts, I’m still kind of surprised, to be honest, but the team that’s been out there — especially the pitching staff — is just a shell of the one that looked great on paper.

Alright, that’s enough with the weather. Here’s some random notes from the season’s first week.

• Team USA won’t announce its final roster until Tuesday, but it looks like at least one player already knows. Baylor infielder Shaver Hansen, who was with Team USA on its tour of the NECBL, was in the Harwich lineup Saturday night. He went 0-for-3.

• Speaking of Team USA, I live in Rhode Island, so I went to their game Thursday against the Newport Gulls. 2007 Cape Leaguer Kyle Gibson was impressive despite giving up some solid hits. At one point, he struck out five. I was also extremely impressed with Tennesse’s Kentrail Davis. He was absolutely crushing the ball.

• More Team USA: I flew to Illinois on Friday, and who did I see in the airport that morning? Team USA. They were headed, I believe, to Raleigh-Durham. They were pretty easy to pick out of the crowd, what with the gloves tied to their backpacks. Interestingly, I don’t think I saw all-everything pitcher Stephen Strasburg. It’s possible I missed him, or that he was taking a flight somewhere else. My wild imagination had me thinking there’s a chance he’s not going with Team USA, and that he decided to stay in New England and head to the Cape, where he’s still listed on the Y-D roster. I think that’s unlikely, though. He may have bigger plans: A Pitcher With the Talent to Take On the World.

• A couple of other interesting names popped up on rosters the last few days. Oklahoma’s J.T. Wise, who played at LSU last year and then on the Cape, is now playing for Harwich. He hit .278 this spring with seven home runs. Vanderbilt’s Nick Christiani, who had four saves last summer for Orleans, is pitching for Brewster. UC Irvine’s Bryce Stowell, who pitched for Hyannis last year, is on the Bourne roster. Northeastern’s Mike Tamsin is back with Y-D for the second straight year.

• Nebraska’s Dan Jennings, a ninth-round pick who made one appearance for Cotuit, has signed with the Marlins.

• Anybody know where Jerry Sullivan is? He was my pick for pitcher of the year, but he hasn’t shown up in any of Y-D’s box scores.

• A few other players whose names I haven’t seen (other than CWS and Team USA guys): Louisville’s Andrew Clark (Falmouth), Indiana’s Matt Bashore (Wareham) and Kentucky’s Chris McClendon (Y-D).

• Greg Miclat is showing why he was a fifth-round pick this month. He’s leading the league in hitting, and he has five stolen bases.

• Miclat isn’t the only one putting up those kinds of numbers. In fact, his teammate Nick Liles is tied with him for the league lead in batting average, and he has six steals. Liles, from Western Carolina, has played both infield and outfield, but has been great wherever he’s been. I like it when small-school guys make a name for themselves on the Cape, and with this start, Liles has a golden opportunity.

• A lot of hitters came up with some fireworks in the first week, but a few more were just below that level, turning in quietly solid weeks. A few of those guys: Bourne’s Ross Wilson (.296), Chatham’s Aaron Miller (.304, 2 RBI), Cotuit’s Brett Jackson (.296, 1 HR, 7 RBI), Falmouth’s Trevor Coleman (.292, 7 RBI) and Ryan Jones (.267, 2 HR, 5 RBI), and Wareham’s Raynor Campbell (.296).

• And a quick programming note: The first week of the season happened to coincide with a very busy week at work, so I wasn’t able to do everything I wanted. In the weeks to come, look for the daily fog feature, as well as a lot of other things.

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