Here We Go

I don't want to jinx it or anything, but we have had sun in New England on four consecutive days, which I'm pretty sure is some kind of record. Along similar lines, the league has gotten a full slate of games in for four consecutive days, which had not happened since June 13-16, the first week of the season.

So yeah, it's been kind of a weird summer. The weather pattern looks like it has finally changed though, at least enough to break us out of the clouds-every-day thing we had going for a while.

It's a good thing, too. The Cape League is about to get into the thick of its schedule.

If you break the summer down into stages, I feel like it's the three weeks leading up to the all-star game that really define the season. Most all the players who are going to be here are here. Players who got off to big starts are either fading or officially delivering big summers. Top prospects are emerging.

Right now, it's tough to get a feel for all that, but we'll get there soon enough. Over the next 15 days before the all-star game on July 23, the league will stage 73 games, pretty much a full slate every night. Several teams will play 14 games over those 15 days, making this the most intensive stretch of the season.

So this is going to be fun. Let's enjoy it.

And pray for sun.

Some quick notes . . .

Just as several of us guessed, LSU star pitcher Anthony Ranaudo will be taking the summer off. Randy Rosetta of the Baton Rouge Advocate wrote on Saturday about Ranaudo's plans. Ticketed for either Team USA or Y-D, Ranaudo will rest his arm after throwing 124.1 innings this spring. As Ranaudo correctly notes in that story, "if scouts want to come see what I can do, they can come next year." Indeed. It's a shame we won't see him, but the kid has nothing left to prove this year.

Bourne teammates Kyle Roller and Stefen Romero might be the early favorites for MVP. Roller is hitting .345 with three home runs and 11 RBI. Romero is at .354 with four home runs and 12 RBI. Pretty good for two guys who were not on Bourne's original roster.

At some point, Jedd Gyorko might put himself in that conversation, too. Since arriving from Team USA trials, Gyorko has posted 11 hits in seven games, with two home runs and eight RBI.

Another recent addition to the Brewster lineup is off to a good start. Virginia's Jarrett Parker has three hits in three games, all of them of the extra-base variety.

A few more names to keep an eye on at this point, among many others: Hyannis' Cody Hawn and Ryan Cuneo, Y-D's Austin Wates, Nick Crawford and Mickey Wiswall, Falmouth's Todd Cunningham, Cotuit's Cody Stanley, Harwich's Dan Grovatt and Orleans' Jaren Matthews.

Over the next few weeks, it looks like we'll be seeing more and more of two of the bigger pitching names in the sophomore class. Ohio State's Alex Wimmers is in Bourne and made a relief appearance last night. Texas' Brandon Workman is scheduled to arrive in Wareham on Wednesday.

Chatham's Matt Harvey (North Carolina) has apparently seen his stock slip lately, but his performance Saturday was on the mark. The righty struck out six and didn't walk anybody in six shutout innings.