Big Weekend Upcoming in the NEBL

This week the schedule takes a turn to big in-division 4-game series. The most anticipated series are analyzed below.

Sounders @ Jacks
The Casino Dome has been rather friendly to the Jacks this season as they boast a 9-5 record in their home stadium. Add to that the fact that the Sounders definitely prefer to play in the shadow of the Manhattan skyline where they are 8-5 at home and 7-12 on the road.

They Jacks are looking for some consistency from their batters. They have the worst batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentages in the league and they strikeout more often than 9 other clubs. On the other hand, their pitching is top-notch. Yasujazu Maeda has a league leading 1.18 ERA and is fourth in strikeouts. Sean Cobb has struck out 57 to lead the league and has the fifth best ERA.

The Sounders had started the season on fire, but have cooled off in recent weeks. They are 3-7 in their last 10 and are 4 games in back of the Jacks. They can make up ground this weekend; conversely, they can have a huge setback.

Add to the weekend drama the blockbuster trade the two teams made on Tuesday. The Jacks swapped 27-year old starting pitcher Rodrigo Díaz (3-2, 3.47 ERA), 31-year old left fielder Bernardo Ramírez (1st round pick, .167 average, 3 HR, 8 RBI), 21-year old second baseman Jim Fountain and $5,000,000 in cash for 28-year old center fielder Eduardo Rivera (1st round pick, .313 average, 5 HR, 21 RBI), 33-year old second baseman Tom Preston (.270 average, 3 HR, 13 RBI) and 28-year old starting pitcher Shane Alford.

"It's a huge shakeup," noted the New York Post, "You don't see deals like this every day. A lot had to go right for this to happen."

Steamers @ Stangs
The main interest in this series is whether the parity in the Upstate division is real or not. The Stangs are the only team in the division with a winning record (17-13) and lead the Steamers by 4 games. They have the lowest bullpen ERA and have given up the fewest runs in the NEBL.
The Steamers are second in the league with 36 homers but they are in the bottom or bottom third of virtually all the pitching categories.

Wings @ SeaDogs
At press time, the Kitty Hawk Wings trail the Lewes SeaDogs by a game and a half. The Wings have 18 wins and the ‘Dogs lead the NEBL with 20. The Wings are tied with the Steamers with 34 home runs, the SeaDogs are 11th with only 19. They are tied atop the NEBL power rankings. This will be a great series.

The SeaDogs are hard to beat in BaySide Stadium as the have posted 14 of their 20 wins at home (14-5 total at home). They are yet to win in games that went into extra innings. If the Wings can keep the games close, they have the edge as they are 9-5 in 1 run games and the SeaDogs are 4-6.

Key players in this series will be Mark Snyder the leadoff right fielder for the SeaDogs who leads the league with 19 stolen bases and is hitting nearly .300 with a .393 OBP. Lewes will also get a start from Antonio Beltran who is 6-0 in 6 starts. Mike Larson will start for the Wings with his second best in the NEBL ERA of 1.94 (7 starts, 2-0 record).

Not only will the Wings have pressure on them to win in Lewes, they also have Lynchburg just one game behind them (18-15) and they are starting a 4-game set against the NEBL’s second worst record: the Landover Prawns.