For the second straight year, the Punxatawney Groundhogs have made a last
minute deal to acquire starting pitching help for the stretch run. Last
season, Ken Hill joined a team which was trying to hold on to a division lead.
This year, the Hogs have once again dealt with the Whalers, sending prospect
catcher Jodie Caffyn and the rights to Punxtawney's first round FA draft
selection next season for hard-throwing rookie Masato Yoshii.
Don't let Yoshii's rookie status insinuate anything about his age. Yoshii is
34 years old, and came over from Japan this season to try his luck in the
majors. He has been unlucky this season, compiling a record of only 6-13 while
sporting a 3.15 ERA and having 15 quality starts.
"Masato hasn't gotten any run support in Hartford. That shouldn't be a problem
here," said Punxatawney manager Dan Shapiro.
Yoshii leaves Hartford for a team which boasts a higher team average, more
runs, more homers, more steals, and just about more of everything. The Hogs
will rely on Yoshii heavily with trade acquisition Juan Guzman on the DL.
Yoshii will take over a rotation spot shared by prospect Curly Karkovice and
ineffective Dustin Hermanson.
The rotation is now looking stronger than ever, in fact. Rocky Coppinger has
been very effective, and he comes into the final full month of play with 15
wins and a .229 opposing average. Jon Lieber has improved over a shaky early
season and has a 3.15 ERA, while Sean Bergman is having another solid year,
currently 12-7, 2.08. Bobby Thomas is now back on track and has been nearly
unhittable over the last month or two. With Yoshii as the 5th man, it allows
Karkovice to return to the bullpen where he has been fairly successful.
The Punxatawney bullpen has been absolutely horrid this year. Only Ricky
Bottalico has put up numbers which can be seen as respectable. The rest of the
crew has been atrocious, but the team has nowhere else to turn.
"We thought we had a good group out there, but Munoz, Ruffcorn, Worrell, and
everyone have just been awful," said Shapiro. "Its so hard to build a
consistent pen. One year, Munoz throws 80 innings with a 2.50 ERA, and the
next he can't find the strike zone with an ERA near 5.00."
Coming into the final 35 games, the Hogs have a lot of ground to make up. They
trail the Houston Hellraisers by 6 games in the Riker and the Phoenix Gila
Monsters by 6.5 in the wildcard. They now play most in-division games until
the season is over, and they control their own destiny.
"If we can beat Houston, Tampa, and Springfield consistently for the last
stretch, we can win the division," said slugger Ryan Klesko. "If not, we'll
have to take an early flight home this year."
Punxatawney has won the Riker division for 2 years straight, but their title
run seems to be in grave danger of not reaching the trifecta. They must make
up 6 games against Houston and have only 31 left.
