All-Time Hits Leader pounders his future...

    Raul Gonzalez

Raul Gonzalez leads the Toronto Titans in G(633), GS(631), AB(2560), R(409), H(766), HR(124) and RBI(498) pounders his future with the Toronto Titans.  BSA experts predicted the Titans would be +7 Wins better than their current actual record of 26-24.  Costly blown saves (3) and a 10-15 record in 1 run games when you have the #1 ranked pitching staff in the Continental League has been a cause of concern for the faithful in Toronto.  The hitting has started to warm up, however;  the club batting average has dropped from .273 last year to .268 this year.  The change of location from Oklahoma to Toronto - Canada has luckily kept the fan spirit up as attendance is up +2.2% which is 3rd tops in the BSA.

Team Owner Bob Roberts remains in "good" spirits and despite having the 4th highest payroll and 6th highest team budget the finances are in order.  BSA rumors indicate that Toronto is about to add some payroll soon in a transaction to further improve their ball club.  "Our goal is to make the playoffs and then we feel with our pitching staff anything can happen", shouted Bob in a recent press conference in Toronto held at the base of the CN Tower.

Raul is one of the most popular players in the organization.  He has good moral but, unfortunately is off to a slow start (.241, .302, .396 w/ 6 home runs and an OPS of .698).  Based on his past three years performance of 32 HR, 26 HR, 31 HR while hovering around a bavg of .300 the Titans decided to offer a $17M, 1 year contract.  Raul is slated to be a Free Agent unless the club and his agent Inigo Santo De' Banko can agree on an extension.  Raul would be a huge addition to a playoff contender at 1B and/or DH.  He is a proven performer and is bound to rebound nicely after a slow start. 

At this time though, the Titans have declined a reported single offer for his services already.

GM Goldberg said, "We plan on remaining in the hunt for the Continental League Central Division Title"  Experts doubt the teams' ability to get beyond Round 1 of the playoffs if they make it all so, it will be interesting to see if the Titans make a move to further enhance their lineup or become one of the healthiest organizations in BSA history to be a seller before the trade deadline.

ROY Candidate continues his hot ways...

Luis Gonzalez is known for his love of hot and spicey food off the field in Colombia, however;  his hot performance on the field has BSA fans chanting ROY, ROY, ROY in the stands.  Luis Gonzalez didn't make the team out of spring training after his hot start turned bad as he finished spring training with a stats line of:  8 for 42, 4 doubles, 2 dingers, 3 rbi, 6 runs, 3 walks for a .190/.261/.429/.689.

However an injury to returning power hitting Carlos Garcia early in the year resulted in a call down to Lansing in AAA.  Since that day, Luis has not looked back.  This young 25 year old is currently is #2 in the BSA in bavg .359 going 60 for 167.  Obpct is decent at .378 and the power numbers are solid at .539 slugging with 4 doubles, 1 triple and 8 bombs.  The other aspect of his game is his defense.  Luis is very solid in RF with good range and respectable arm.

This youngster is very consistent and balanced.  He hits at home equally as good as he hits away.  He hits at night just as good as he hits during the day.  Mr. Clutch as his teammates call him is also on fire late in close games;  .372/.372/.605/.997 with 3 of his 8 blasts coming with the game on the line.

Last year the BSA took note of Gonzalez when he had a 24 game hitting streak in the minors.

Then in the off season the BSA again took note of Luis when he was part of a blockbuster 7 player deal.

The Toronto faithful hope when the time comes to vote for the ROY that the BSA will again take note and vote for Luis Gonzalez RF.

Titans turning their season around...

The Titans hope baseball wisdom comes through if they hope to see playoff contetion this year in the BSA.

The Titans currently are #1 in several CL pitching categories:

Team Pitching Stats & Rankings
Earned Run Average 2.86 - 1st in CL
Starters' ERA 3.10 - 1st in CL
Bullpen ERA 2.33 - 1st in CL
Runs allowed 161 - 1st in CL
Hits allowed 315 - 1st in CL
Opponents AVG .208 - 1st in CL
BABIP .252 - 1st in CL

In addition the Titans Pitching Staff is #1 overall in the BSA in WHIP with an impressive 1.14.

Many experts claim that runs differential is an outstanding way of determining the overall strength of a team.  The Titans stand at +1.2.  Let us look at the top BSA CL organizations in this category.

Greenville +1.5
Pittsburgh +1.9
Pocatello +0.4
Regina +0.6
Vista +0.1
Madison EVEN
St. Charles -0.8
Seattle +0.6
St. Louis -1.1
Kansas City -0.6
Jersey Shore -1.1
Indianapolis +0.1
Reno -1.4
Toronto +1.2

In Toronto we feel optimistic based on the above results so far this year that things will eventually turn around for them in their pursuit for a Central Division Title this year in the BSA.  The race between Seattle, Pocatello and Vista should remain back and forth the rest of the year.

In the National League;

Hendersonville +2.8
Los Angeles +1.2
Boston +2.2
Los Cabos +1.4
Baffin Island +0.1
Niagara Falls +0.3
Maui -0.3
Orlando +0.1
San Francisco -0.1
New Orleans -0.6
El Paso -1.3
Jacksonville -2.0
Cleveland -1.5
New York -3.2

Pretty clear indication on why the division leaders are who they are at this point in the season.  LA has optimism as they are very close to Los Cabos for their pursuit of the NL Western Division Title in the BSA.

Toronto Titans - April Review

The Toronto Titans finished a disappointing opening month in the BSA at 12-16 which placed them in last place in the CL Central Division.  Most experts had Toronto either finishing 1st or 2nd in this division.  Some could argue that this is the toughest division in the BSA.

The Titans issues were attributed to their W/L record in close games as they went 4-11 in one run ball games and a lack of hitting especially being able to get on base.

Another developing story in Toronto is the poor performances of their top veteran hitters namely;

Kyuso Fujita - C
Bryce Hopkins - CF
Chien-shih Cuan - RF

The above three hitters are approx. a combined .200 Bavg, .275 OBPct and .300 SLUG Pct.

In the CL, the Titans are no higher than 8th in any hitting category.  This performance will have to improve if they hope to play in the post season.

On the positive side, the Titans feature one of the top pitching staffs in the BSA.  In the CL, this staff is either 1st or 2nd in 8 of the top 10 pitching categories.  They are 1st in ERA, Starters ERA, Runs allowed, Hits allowed & Opponents BAvg.

Toronto's rotation is hot with 4 of the 5 putting up solid statistics;

Guillermo Mendoza
Salvador Perez
Shawn Jackson
Jose Brito

The above four starters are only 8-8 though through April in the W/L category despite putting up excellent WHIP totals.  Five blown saves will do that to your rotations record.

A very interesting storyline is developing for the Rookie of the Year in the CL and the BSA.

CL Selects Rookie Star of the Month


Thursday, May 1st, 2014: Youngster Luis González emerged as the latest Continental League Rookie of the Month today. The young man from Toronto deserved the honor, batting .402 with 7 home runs and 16 runs batted in. Is the month of April a harbinger of things to come or just a fluke? We'll find out someday, but for now, we'll just let González enjoy the limelight.