Moncton(CP) - Just over half of Moncton's second official season is
complete, and what do the Moose have to show for it, a reord very
similar to last year's. But there have been a few bright points this
season in Moncton. Not only has the average attendace doubled over
last year, but the team on the field has shown improvement as well.
The Moose have a more than respectable team era of 3.87, 13th best in
the whole league.
To find the source of this improved pitching, just take a look at
Frank Thomas. In last year's Thoams deal with the Royals, the Moose
aquired two star pitchers, both of which are leading the team this
year. Salomon Torres has been the ace of the staff with an era of
2.51 in 129.1 innings pitched. And Joe Hetrick has been a rock out of
the pen, putting up an era of 3.12 with nearly 70 innings pitched so
far. And the future looks good for Moose pitcing, with youngsters
like Mark Mulder and Hal Cruz, who are both haveing very good seasons
and Bruce Timlin, this year 11th pick in the ammy draft, who has been
pitching very well with Monton's minor league club in Ellesmere
Island.
With this huge leap form last year's team era of 5, one might ask
themselves why have'nt the Moose been winning, well, the answer is
hitting. Last year the Moose had one if not the bast hitting teams in
the league, mainly due to the fact that they played in the thin air of
Calgary. The team, now playing in Moncton, had a horrible start
offensively to the season, as did most teams. Although they have
improved to a team batting average of .248, it is still below par in
the DL.
But the only real surprise this season has been Shawn Green, who is
batting a solid .352 with nearly 400 at bats. The only other strong
contributer's this season have been Juan Gonzaelez, who has picked it
up after his name was mentioned in trade rumors, is batting .280 with
14 homers and 47 rbi's. And 3B Kein Orie, aquired last season from
Washington, is batting .271 with 13 and 40 rbi's. The rest of the
team as mainly been a disapointment, except for the fact that Moncton
only has 31 errors, 4th best in the DL. One aspect of the offense
that has been lagging has been stolen bases, the Moose only have 40 on
the season, half of which can be attributed to CF Jim Hippauf.
It is obvious this team still need time to grow, and only time will
tell if this group of players could ever bring Moncton a championship
team
