JOPLIN MINER MAGAZINE

Eduardo Rodriguez Debut May 1:  Ridgebacks 6  Miners 0 Ridgebacks shutout the Miners and spoil debut for Eduardo Rodriguez.  Rodriguez gives up 2 earned runs in 5 innings. W:  Civale  (1-0) L:  Ed Rodriguez  (2-4)     May 2:  Ridgebacks 7  Miners 3 Ridgebacks use home run barrage to down the Miners. HRs:  Judge, Garcia, Phegley, N. Walker ( Joplin) W: Greene L:  Rich Rodriguez May 3:  Miners 6  Ridgebacks 3 Miners use their own home run barrage to down the Ridgebacks. HRs:  Betts, Santana, N. Walker W:  Sampson L:    T. Richards  May 4:  Miners 6  Ridgebacks 5  ( 12 innings) Wellington Castillo went deep in the top of the 12th as the Miners outlasted the Ridgebacks. HRs:  Zobrist, Santana, We. Castillo, C. Fraizer ( Ridgebacks) W:  J. Chavez L:   Greene

Neil Walker Chapter 1 MVP (351/393/544)  The Joplin Miners went 10-18 in Chapter 1.  Here are the series results:  Salem 0-4 Darien: 3-1 NCISP:3-1 Los Altos: 1-3 Ravenwood: 1-3 Kansas City: 2-2 Las Vegas: 0-4 Joplin fans were frustrated by the 1-5 record in 1 run games. There were a number of red flags in Chapter 1.  The pitching staff went 10-18 with a 5.35 ERA. Chris Sale, the ace of the staff, went 1-3 with a 6.14 ERA.  True, he did strike out 43 batters and only walked 7 in 19 innings but the ERA indicates opposing teams had no trouble scoring runs. Danny Duffy (2-2-4.85) and Tanner Roark ( 2-1-3.38) provided some respectable starts but the bullpen was simply nonexistent and the lack of cash to acquire additional pitching showed up in the bottom of the rotation. The team went 230/393/400 at the plate. The bright spots: Carlos Santana (282/403/485  22.4 RC) Charlie Blackmon (298/370/548  21.9 RC) Neil Walker   (351/393/544 11.4 RC)    Mookie Betts  ( 226/300/

Eduardo Rodriguez Joins Miners   The Miners won the only wildcard playoff game in BDBL history when Ryu and Sale outdueled Walker Buehler 1-0 in the 2019 playoffs.   Miner management acquired Ryu to give Sale some support in the 2019 playoffs but the transactions required the Miners to take on Gio Gonzalez's 10M contract for the 2020 season.  The deal gave the Miners another opportunity to win the 2019 OL championship and Joplin did manage to upset Los Altos before Salem beat Sale twice to capture the 2019 OL championship.  The Cowtippers went on to win the 2019 World Series. With Sale having an off year in the 2019 MLB season and Gio Gonzalez's 10M contract limiting acquisition possibilities, the Miners began to rebuild the franchise.  On November 17, 2019, Joplin sent Charlie Morton and Freddie Freeman to Chicago for Charlie Blackmon,  Royce Lewis and Ian Anderson. In Chapter  2, the Miners sent Blackmon, Chris Sale, Danny Duffy, Richard Gallardo, Sandy Gaston and Quinn