#dontrellewillis

The Bridgeport Bluefish will be back home tomorrow night after a rough 6 game road trip to Sugar Land. The team's only win during the series came Friday night when the bullpen was able to gain and maintain the lead for a 7-5 victory. Across the 5 losses, the Bluefish were outscored 34-9.

Exactly half of those Sugar Land runs came in the first game of the series, a game the Bluefish lost 17-0. Bluefish GM Ken Shepard doesn't travel with the team, but he felt that loss as much as any team member out at Constellation Field, the Skeeters' 37 million dollar stadium. I was clued into the dramatic loss when I read this on my twitter timeline:

I am embarrassed of the way @BPTBluefish played tonight

— Ken Shepard (@bluefishgm) July 31, 2014

Wow. I immediately pulled out my phone to check the Pointstreak app and see what he was talking about. Sure enough, not only were the Fish blanked, but they were held to only 4 hits. Most of the Skeeters' runs came in an 11-run 6th. Starter Hunter Jones and reliever Kyle McMillen combined to give up 14 of the 17 runs. Ryan Harvey and veteran catcher Luis Rodriguez gave up the bonus three runs to wrap up the game. 

In Game 2, Tomo Ohka followed suit with his last start (L, 3-11) and gave up 6 ER and 3 BB in 6 1/3 innings, a deficit the Bridgeport offense just couldn't overcome. Game 3 was not Matt Iannazzo's worst start, but he managed to get pretty close after giving up 5 ER in 6 1/3 innings. Luckily, the Bluefish lineup stepped up and overcame the deficit 7-5. James Simmons and Casper Wells combined for 6 RBI, including a Simmons homerun (14). Tim Gustafson and closer Winston Abreu closed the game out. 

Saturday's game wasn't lost until the 9th, when Winston Abreu blew the same. Sunday's game was a heartbreaker for starter DJ Mitchell who had a third straight phenomenal outing. He only gave up 2 runs in 7 innings, but it was 2 runs too many. Bridgeport's lineup left 7 men on base with only a 4 hit effort. Ultimately it was another loss, 0-2. Last night's last game of the series played out in an all too familiar form; the Bluefish starter kept the team in the game, but the bullpen couldn't hold off the Skeeters and the Bluefish lineup never stepped up to take the lead. It was the 5th loss in 6 games. 

Dontrelle Willis never threw a pitch in the series; he is done for the season after his 133 pitch outing a week ago. Shepard announced the news on twitter yesterday afternoon. He looked good in his only 2 starts for Bridgeport. I think he proved he was still more than capable of starting for an Atlantic League team. A team official cited family reasons for the decision not to play and placement on the reserved retired list. I guess we'll never know how Willis felt after that 133 pitch outing. 

In the mean time, Sean Burroughs and JR Towles have both been reinstated to the active list. Unfortunately, Burroughs has not seen any game time yet since being activated on July 30th. He's expected to take BP tomorrow. JR Towles served as DH in the last 4 games of the Skeeters series. He went 3-for-14 with 5 SO. No word on Towles catching yet. 

The Atlantic League has wrapped up its first half with the Somerset Patriots and the York Revolution at the top of their respective divisions, while and our beloved Bluefish finished at the bottom. In doing so, the first place teams have claimed spots in the Atlantic League's Divisional Playoffs. Due to the league's unique format, Bridgeport's last place finish means nothing in their quest to lead in the second half. The first half leaders will play the teams that end up in first place for the second half. In a league where a team can finish 63-77 (5th overall) and still be called champions, there is no reason NOT to believe the Bluefish can still turn things around and make it to the playoffs. 

Bridgeport has had about as bad a first half as any team could have; unfortunately, this was no improvement on last year's first half record. With a record of 22-48, they've managed to lose one more game than last season. The good news is that last season the Bluefish showed tremendous improvement down the stretch and finished the second half in second place by just a game and a half.

Like last year, Bridgeport's first half was victim to injury, contracts sold, and prolonged spring training type of performances. Erratic pitching, the loss of two of their biggest bats, and part time presence of the other two all played a part in the team's 21 losses for the month of June. After beating Camden 2 games to 1 at the end of May, the Bluefish never won a series in June. They were swept in 5 series, including twice by the Somerset Patriots. 

After a great start to the season, knuckleballer Tomo Ohka has become the team's worst starter in terms of WHIP (1.55)  and ERA (4.76), while DJ Mitchell has yet to show some consistency. Unfortunately, starter Ty'Relle Harris, was given an extra long looksy and wasn't released until AFTER he lost 6 out of his 8 starts. Their best starter, Kanekoa Texeira is now a Gwinnett Brave. For much of May, outfielders Prentice Redman and James Simmons were still trying to find their swing. Also in May, the Fish lost their two best hitters--Cody Overbeck and Brandon Boggs-- to affiliated ball, while the next best two, Sean Burroughs and JR Towles were in and out of the line up nursing injuries. The Fish have had the two in their lineup for only a quarter of their games. They've both played less than 40 of the first half's 70 games due to injury. Now, Joe Mather has been added to the injured. His absence has forced Austin Gallagher to become an everyday player and this he should NOT be (.156 BA, .206 OBP). 

The Fish have already started the second half and things are beginning to look up. Not only can fans be optimistic about the second half because they've improved in past seasons, but also because the team still has the pieces needed to accumulate wins and have added two significant pieces in starters Dontrelle Willis and Julio Rodriguez. Towles is back in the lineup, Burroughs should be back in 4 weeks and Mather is expected back in 3 to 4 weeks. Ineffective relievers Jesse English and Matt Sommo have been released, while a familiar face has been added in Emiliano Fruto. The team is already 3-1 to start the second half.