One week into Double Day Season Three and despite a propensity for close games, the Honolulu Ashis (5-1) have emerged as a team to watch in the National League.
The Ashis lead their division with a league-best 5-1 start, shutting opposing offenses down with staff ace Ricky Grimsley--a 15-game winner in both prior seasons for the Ashis--and young righty Morgan Graves. The 24-year old has scouts marveling at an impeccable knack for hitting the strike zone and two pitches--a 4-seamer and a split-finger fastball--that have been hitting 95 mph on many radar guns. The Ashis hope Graves--a workhorse with over 200 IP last year en route to a 12-10 MLB debut season--will continue to make batters whiff and eat up innings well into October.
Meanwhile, star-in-the-marking Dom Trujillo made his first successful start for the Ashis, going 6 innings and giving up 2 earned runs to notch his first of what will likely be many career ML victories. Trujillo, just 22 years old, will add another strong arm to an already dangerous rotation. He joins 24-year-old Damion Mitchell, the stocky right-hander who won 20 games in High A last season with a scary-good sinker that scouts are already calling among the league's best. The Ashis' first-round draft pick of season one is another young arm in the rotation with a very bright future ahead of him - in his first start, he went 6 innings for a no decision, giving up 4 earned runs off of 8 hits.
Honolulu is hoping to say 'aloha' to its first division title and a playoff birth in season three, and is putting together a collection of talent to make waves in the National League.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
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1 comment:
Asahi. It's a brand of beer.
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