New Orleans, LA - It was a big month for the Looters. They entered the month of September clinging to an attempt to reach their stated goal of finishing at .400 this season. They entered with a 52-83 record for a .385 win percent after having an atrocious 8-19 month of August. In order to finish at .400, they would need at least a 13-14 record which would tie their best month of the year in April when they were also 13-14 for a .481 win%. With only the win percentage to play for with the Hendersonville Hitmen running away with the division, they wanted to at least show marked improvement over the prior year. That they did finishing with an impressive record for the franchise of 15-12 in the month including finishing 4-2 at the end of the season over playoff contenders Los Angeles and Hendersonville.
Leading the hitters this month was Errol Hughes with 7 homers and a 1.121 OPS in 102 at bats. He reached base at a .484 OBP in the month. He was followed by late month waiver claim Garland Holloway who in his short 32 at bats hit 4 homers, 16 RBIs, and a 1.105 OPS. Luis Alou also had a good month in a year where he improved every month in his rookie year. He capped his rookie year off with a .333/.438/.471 slash line in 102 at bats with a .909 OPS hitting 9 doubles, a triple, and a homer.
Leading the pitchers was trade deadline acquisition Tyler Law who was acquired from Los Angeles. He had a 2-0 record and 4.32 ERA in 5 starts with a 1.26 WHIP. Leading the team in wins on the month was reliever Bob Burton who was 5-0 and 1 save with a 3.92 ERA in 20.2 innings in 14 appearances. He was a force to be reckoned with in middle innings before handing off tot he back half of the bullpen. Also with a good month is waiver claim Sergio Zaragoza who had a 3.86 ERA and 1-0 record with 1 save in 11.2 innings since coming to the Looters. He'll be counted on in the back half of the pen next year as well.
The Looters also made a number of transactions this month. Coming to the Looters via waiver claims was SP Alex Torrez, CF Garland Holloway, CF Xun Shuai, and C Francisco Diaz. The Looters also released 1B Rich Campbell that was acquired via trade who wasn't going to have arbitration offered to him. Of those, the Looters resigned Alex Torrez to a contract extension following his season ending injury that will plague him into midseason next year. The contract is a 1 year guaranteed deal of $1.1M with a $100k buyout or team option of a second year at $1.3M. The Looters will see how he recovers from injury and can look to renew or trade him.
Records vs teams this month:
El Paso - 0-1
Boston - 2-1
Hendersonville - 2-1
Jacksonville - 2-5
Los Angeles - 2-1
New York - 2-1
Orlando - 2-2
Quebec - 3-0
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