Minor League Monday: Season 2, Week 3

Season Point Standings:
#1: Oklahoma City Thunder | 43 Points
#T2: Nashville Sounds | 41 Points
#T2: Worcester Red Sox | 41 Points
#4: Akron Rubber Ducks | 34 Points
#5: Durham Bulls | 31 Points
#T6: Tennessee Smokies | 29 Points
#T6: Greenville Drive | 29 Points
#8: Greensboro Grasshoppers | 21 Points
#9: Chattanooga Lookouts | 19 Points
#10: Kannapolis Cannon Ballers | 18 Points
#11: Memphis Redbirds | 17 Points
#12: Down East Wood Ducks | 12 Points
#13: Winston Salem Dash | 11 Points
#14: Asheville Tourists | 9 Points
#15: Fayetteville Woodpeckers | 5 Points


Weekly Rankings:


#1 (+2): Nashville Sounds (13-5 | 3-0-0 | #T2: 41 PTS)
Opponent: Charlotte (5-1 | +29)
Thanks to a bad performance from Worcester and a bad, not terrible, performance from Oklahoma City, the Nashville Sounds finally find themselves sitting at the #1 spot in our weekly rankings and are elevated to #2 in our season point rankings! A dominating near-sweep of the Charlotte Knights puts the sounds at 3-0-0 in series play, the best record in the group, and 13-5 in their game-to-game record, also the best record in the group. There is no doubt that the Sounds have had an impressive run through the season's first three weeks. But, will they be able to maintain this dominance when they visit the 10-7 Saint Paul Saints this week? 


#2 (-): Oklahoma City Dodgers (11-7 | 1-0-2 | #1: 43 PTS)
Opponent: Sacramento (3-3 | -9)
Last week's performance against Sacramento was wishy-washy for Oklahoma City. Unfortunately, a 1-12 loss in game five would put them in the negative in head-to-head scoring. The Dodgers are safe in our scoring rankings for not, but the Nashville Sounds have momentum and are only two points behind. This week, the 8-10 Sugar Land Space Cowboys will visit Bricktown Ballpark, and Oklahoma City will have a shot to get back into the #1 spot.


#3 (+3): Tennessee Smokies (8-6 | 2-0-1 | #T6: 29 PTS)
Opponent: Rocket City (3-3 | +4)
The Smokies are creepin' up these rankings, and thanks to a few bad performances, they find themselves at #3 this week. It wasn't a great series against the Trash Pandas, but it was enough. This week they'll be traveling to take on the #7 Chattanooga Lookouts once again.


#4 (-3): Worcester Red Sox (10-8 | 2-1-0 | #T2: 41 PTS)
Opponent: Syracuse (1-5 | -10)
We're not sure what happened here. Syracuse came into this series with a 1-10 record, so Worcester has dropped so much. Last week, we mentioned that anything less than a sweep would be unacceptable, but we didn't expect this. Could this be the downfall of the Red Sox? Were the first two series a fluke? As the 11-7 Buffalo Bisons come to town, these questions will be answered. 


#5 (-1): Akron RubberDucks (7-8| 1-2-0 | #4: 34 PTS)
Opponent: Bowie (2-4 | -18)
We set high expectations for Akron last week as we predicted they'd begin making a run for the #1 spot over the next 2-3 weeks, but that has been delayed because of a 2-4 performance against Bowie. This week, the RubberDucks will meet their match. Another 7-8 team, the Altoona Curve. 


#6 (+1): Durham Bulls (7-11 | 0-2-1 | #5: 31 PTS)
Opponent: Norfolk (3-3 | +10)
As we enter week four, the Durham Bulls have still not won a series, but they didn't lose this week, so maybe things are looking up for Durham. On the other hand, maybe the first two weeks were flukes. It's still too early to tell. This week they play the lesser #9 Memphis Redbirds in a series that is sure to tell us if Durham is legit or not. A Durham Bulls team in the Top-3 is always fun. 


#7 (+3): Chattanooga Lookouts (9-6 | 2-1-0 | #9: 19 PTS)
Opponent: Mississippi (4-2 | +11)
After a poor week one performance against the Tennessee Smokies, the Chattanooga Lookouts have been getting after it. After going 8-4 in their last two series, it's time to revisit the now #3, Tennessee Smokies. This should make for a great series and is our Series of the Week. 


#8 (-3): Greenville Drive (7-8 | 1-2-0 | #T6: 29 PTS)
Opponent: Winston-Salem (1-5 | -18)
The Greenville Drive are a hard team to read, and maybe we have them ranked too high. Maybe they should be in the bottom five, but for now, we have them at #8. This terrible performance against #10 Winston-Salem is a complete turnaround from their near sweep against #15 Asheville. This week Greenville will travel to Hickory, North Carolina, to take on last year's last-place team, the Hickory Crawdads. 


#9 (+2): Memphis Redbirds (9-9 | 0-0-3 | #11: 17 PTS)
Opponent: Omaha (3-3 | +1)
So, we can confirm that the Memphis Redbirds are the new Greensboro Grasshoppers. As mentioned last week, tying every series isn't bad, especially when you score more points in the series. Memphis does play some high-caliber teams like the #6 Durham Bulls this week and the #1 Nashville sounds later in June. 


#10 (+3): Winston-Salem Dash (8-7 | 1-1-1 | #13: 11 PTS) 
Opponent: Greenville Drive (5-1 | +18)
The Winston-Salem Dash nearly sweeping a team? This is unheard of! We doubt that they can continue winning series, and we predict that #10 could be the highest the Dash go on this list, but crazier things have happened. Luckily, this week they'll travel to Asheville to take on a weak #15 Asheville Tourists team that cannot piece together a good series. 


#11 (+1): Down East Wood Ducks (7-8 | 1-1-1 | #12: 12 PTS)
Opponent: Columbia (4-2 | +12)
Finally, the Wood Ducks are in the winning column! For a team that had an automatic bid in this year's competition, we are happy to see things are looking up Down East. A few high-scoring games were mixed in the series against Columbia that the Wood Ducks will have to learn from to have a successful season. For now, we can enjoy a decent series against last season's #6 team, the Carolina Mudcats. 


#12 (-4): Greensboro Grasshoppers (6-9 | 0-2-1 | #7: 21 PTS)
Opponent: Aberdeen (2-4 | -9)
Hello darkness my old friend. It's sickening to put the Grasshoppers in the bottom three, but it must be done. They are not performing well this season. Had it not been for two runs in the last two games of the series, the Grasshoppers would have been swept. Luckily, they have a chance to go above .500 in their game-to-game record in the upcoming series against the Rome Braves. 


#13 (-4): Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (7-8 | 1-1-1 | #10: 18 PTS)
Opponent: Fredericksburg (1-5 | -16)
We were so hopeful for the Cannon Ballers, but a near sweep by Fredericksburg is not a good look. Though the Cannon Ballers are Ok Listen Here's home team, we try our best to leave our bias aside. Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming series against the #14 Fayetteville Woodpeckers, don't expect much movement from the two teams. Luckily for last year's Bottom of the Barrel Rivalry Teams, the #15 Asheville Tourists sit in the way of the two renewing their Bottom of the Barrel Rivalry. 


#14 (-): Fayetteville Woodpeckers (5-10 | 0-2-1 | #15: 5 PTS)
Opponent: Augusta (3-3 | +6)
Ok, it wasn't a loss, so that's a positive, but it still isn't enough for Fayetteville to move up in the rankings. Perhaps a win against the Cannon Ballers can move them up at least one spot. 


#15 (-): Asheville Tourists (2-13 | 0-3-0 | #14: 9 PTS)
Opponent: Jersey Shore (1-5 | -16)
The Tourists suck. That's it. That's all we have to say. If the Tourist go 1-5 or worse against #10 Winston-Salem, can we just agree to kick them out of the competition? 


Series to Watch:
Series of the Week: #7 Chattanooga Lookouts vs. #3 Tennessee Smokies
#9 Memphis Redbirds vs. #6 Durham Bulls 
#15 Asheville Tourists vs. #10 Winston-Salem Dash
#14 Fayetteville Woodpeckers vs. #13 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers ​