Mid June Report

New Orleans (AP) - The New Orleans Looters started the month off so well, deceptively too well.  They started with a 4-2 record, but we all knew they couldn't keep that pace up.  Since May 7th, the Looters have gone 2-9.  It's really a tale of two stretches of the month.  Injuries have plagued the team.  Bats have woken up, but the starting rotation has fallen asleep.  There are a few star hitters though that should be recognized.  Since Jaime Manuel went down injured, 1B/DH Leonard Crowley has had a bigger role to play and has stepped up to the plate and smacked the ball out of the park.  In 17 games in the month of June, he is hitting a .357/.400/.786 line with 7 HR in 70 AB.  Also thrust into a bigger role is youngster 1B Nathan Lammas who has played 14 games with a .341/.420/.523 slash line with 5 XBH in 44 ABs. 

None has taken the league by storm quite like OF Isaak Aerts.  While he hasn't played all that much, mostly starting against lefties, he has hit both lefties and righties equally well.  In 14 games and 39 ABs, he has started his big league career with a slash line of .359/.419/.487 in June in his first full month in the league.  As he keeps playing well, he can be expected to play a bigger role with the an outfield that has been plagued by injuries to Jose Estrada, Raul Yan, and recently returned Errol Hughes.

From the pitching side, Bill Maddox has turned around his awful season with 4 good starts in June with a 1-1 record and 2.96 ERA in 24.1 innings and 14 Ks.  "Veteran" Pedro Oliveira has continued his steady form having recently taken the "ace" role on the staff with a 2-1 record and 3.60 ERA.  The real results though have continued to come from the bullpen.  James Kelly, Cameron Rowde, Chris Woodruff, and Zi-jun Chou have all had ERAs below 4.00 for the month of June.  If the Looters could just hand over many of their games close to the bullpen, odds are the bullpen will hold it with the 4th best ERA in the league from a bullpen.

Race for the Top Draft Pick!
1) New Orleans Looters
2) Reno Cards, 2 games back
3) New York Knights, 3 games back
3) El Paso Diablos, 3 games back
5) Haddonfield Hackers, 5 games back

Remaining Games for the month
vs Boston Rebels (42-31, 1 game)
vs Maui Tropics (31-39, 3 games)
@ Niagara Falls Frenzy (38-35, 3 games)
@ Hendersonville Hitmen (47-25, 3 games)