Reno Through Mid-June

Things are looking up offensively for the Reno Aces as we progress towards 2011. Corey Hart has come back from a few injury plagued seasons and has already lit up opposing pitching for 17 long balls. Josh Hamilton is healthy as well and is batting .305 with 14 dingers. David Wright has matched his 2010 homer total and is no longer striking out 2 times a game. Kevin Youkilis is always hammering the ball at .314 with 12 dingers himself. The O-dog is on the DL currently, but was hitting .300 prior to this stint. Ian Desmond hasn't been anything terribly special, but is consistently about .270 with good range (his 15 errors are a concern though). Jay Bruce has increased his on base considerably so far this year and Jayson Werth is still having a good season though his batting average has started sliding. I'm pretty lost in the catcher department as Greg Zaun in Greg Zaun and Alex Avila hasn't hit. Kelly Shoppach has just made his way off the DL.

Pitching, on the other hand, is still very shaky. Mat Latos is my one lone surprise and is pitching fantastically. Jeremy Guthrie has pitched consistently and though his ERA is near 4, his WHIP is in the top 17 in baseball. James Shields started off well, but has been hammered his last few outings. My bullpen doesn't have a reliever that has an ERA below 5.00.

My draft position appears to be moving up, but not because my team is playing much better this season. It appears that as Washington runs rough shod through his division, that he is leaving a path of destruction that now has four other teams in the division below me in the standings. And though I have made it clear that I would definitely take a low pick if it happened, I could never make myself intentially throw games. So where I end up is where I end up. Maybe there will be a catcher there....Posey, Santana.

- Rich (Reno)