Your intrepid Syracuse correspondent is on vacation so I am preparing the month end review four days in advance, as Mike Myers would say: "Talk amongst yourselves. June was a good month for the Chiefs, discuss."
April and May were disappointing and frustrating for the Chiefs, they found creative ways to lose games and generally played much worse than anyone expected. June has been a big improvement and the team has moved over .500, having been at 22-29 at the end of May. Syracuse are still a long way behind Buffalo, the division leader, but getting over .500 is a good position going into the last two months of the season.
The turnaround in team fortunes can be linked to the hitters. The Chiefs pitchers were excellent all year, and were third in ERA at the end of May. As of this writing they have actually dropped back a spot in June to be 4th in ERA. Interestingly the Chiefs pitchers are number one in fewest walks allowed in the IL. So it is the better hitting, combined with the always good pitching, that has driven the better June record. The Chiefs finished May 13th in the IL in batting average and 12th in slugging. As of this writing they have moved up to 10th in BA and 9th in SLG, a big jump in one month. Let's see who has been hot.
The Hitters
The Chiefs have been helped in June by having no hitters who have struggled, all of the hitters have contributed at different times, but there are a couple of hitters worthy of special mention. The big difference from May is the arrival of Kevin Barker who was called up from AA to replace Eric Crozier. Barker has been amazing, a batting average of .400 after 24 games with a 1.207 OPS. I assume it cannot continue but it is a long streak and Barker has had big hits in key situations to help the Chiefs win games. Early in the month Jason Alfaro was hot too, moving his OPS from .644 to .676. Anton French has found his 2004 form, moving his OPS from .745 to .789. Many of you know that Gabe Gross has been swinging a hotter bat and, before he was injured, John Hattig hit .325 in 22 games. Having the team hitting better through the lineup has given a chance to different players to be a hero on different nights. Chad Mottola has continued his steady play and although John-Ford Griffin's numbers are down in the month he has had some big hits and still leads the team in RBI's.
The Pitchers
As mentioned the pitching continues to be excellent. Prospects Chad Gaudin, Shaun Marcum and Francsio Rosario have pitched well as has David Bush, and spot starters Josue Matos and Chris Baker. The bullpen has been helped by the return of Justin Miller and the improvement in Brandon League.
Shaun Marcum has pitched well but has not dominated, the AAA sample size is small so far, but the issue is whether he is going through a rough patch, or whether AAA hitters have caught up to him. July should help decide that. Brandon League made three June starts, with mixed results and then moved to the bullpen, where he has been excellent. League has had several successful appearances and Marty Pevey is now willing to put League into hold situations. League had been fighting to find a consistent delivery and it looks like he might have found it. Chad Gaudin has shown he can pitch well at AAA, he has pitched 8 and 9 innings, giving up a total of 3 runs, in his two starts since coming back from Toronto, now he needs to solve major league hitters. Going the other way is Jason Arnold whose ERA has gone from 2.57 at the end of May to well over 4 in June.
Summary
The Chiefs are now back in the territory where many of us expected them to be. Catching Buffalo might be too much to ask, but the Chiefs should push ahead and hopefully keep the Bisons within range.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=2005062714375787