Week 3 Recap

Squirrels Fall to Eagles 8-4

It was bound to happen. The surprising early dominance by the Flying Squirrels ended this week with a tough and humbling loss to the Olivet Killer Eagles, 8-4. The team struggled in almost every aspect of the game, and looked like the bottom of the barrel team they were projected to be in the preseason. Of the eight categories lost, five weren't even close. The Squirrels were swept offensively, and took the saves and holds categories with just one apiece in their respective columns. On a slightly brighter note, of the six offensive categories lost, BB's, HR's and Runs were all lost by one each. The rain out for Atlanta on Sunday night sealed the Squirrels fate by cutting Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus' days short.

Offensively, the Squirrels were awful. The teams hottest hitter, Derek Jeter, cooled to the tune of .192 this week (5-26,) and as predicted last week, the early heavy hitting of Jeff Francouer and Chris Young slowed down. Mark Teixiera's early season struggles have really hurt the Squirrels offense, as he is one of the few legitimate power threats the team has. In another disappointing note, the steady bat of Carlos Guillen was lost this week due to a strained hamstring.

On the mound, the Squirrels weren't much better. If the Eagles would have had a decent pitching week, the Squirrels could have conceivably been swept across the board. Brian Fuentes returned and was promptly bombed by Miguel Cabrera, and this would prove to be a sign of things to come for the Squirrels bullpen. The absolute awfulness of Josh Beckett and Chris Volstad offset the good weeks by Lincecum, Anderson and Pettitte for the starters.

Flying High

BJ Upton- 7-25 (.280), 1HR, 7RBI, 5R, 3BB, 1SB
Although not the strongest week, Upton was the brightest spot in an offense that was swept.

Andy Pettitte- 8IP, 1W, 1.29 ERA, 0.75WHIP, 8K
Pettitte continued his early season dominance and is now 3-0 with a 1.29ERA and 1.07WHIP.


Squirrel Turds

Jeff Francouer- 4-25 (.160), 3R, 2RBI
While a cool down was expected, this line completely blows and any gained confidence in Frenchy is again gone.

The Bullpen- Apart from Carlos Villanueva, no one had an ERA below 8.10 or a WHIP below 1.88. The return of Brian Fuentes was ugly, Okajima was terrible and Badenhop showed why he belongs on the wire.


Week 4 Preview

Coming off a disheartening and ugly loss, the Squirrels will look to rebound against another formidable opponent and another Baker in the Mid Michigan Tigers. The Squirrels have made a few changes this week in hopes of putting together a more complete effort. Christian Guzman will get his first start of the season in the utility spot over the struggling Troy Glaus. Guzman has hit for a good average and has scored runs consistently so far this season. In for the injured Carlos Guillen will be Chris Coghlan. Coghlan was slated to be the starter from day one, and ownership hope this opportunity will light a fire under him. In the bullpen, the Squirrels welcome back Hong-Chih Kuo with open arms, in hopes he can bring some much needed consistency to a struggling bullpen. Mid Michigan boasts a good offense and a pitching staff that has been hurt by injuries. Unfortunately for Springfield, the Tigers lay claim to a deep starting rotation that will adequately cover it's injuries. This looks like another close matchup that could be decided by a stat here or there in a few categories, but look for Mid Michigan to pull away by week's end. Prediction: Mid Michigan 7-5