It’s tough for the PUC.
No wins in 10 matches and statistics that look like an endless abyss. Worst average, fewest runs scored, lowest OPS, smallest average with runners in scoring position, worst differential, and we could go on for a long time with the painful litany of the PUC’s poor stats. It’s the same story with individual performances; you rarely find a PUC player in the top 20. Apart from Gonzalez, who is doing his job well, Julian Dussart, who is living up to all the hopes placed in him, and to a lesser extent the young pitchers Rolland-Diamond and Le Guillou, there are few players who seem to have D1 level. We set aside the veteran Jérôme Dussart, who is fighting like a lion, but Bowers, for example, before his 5 RBI this weekend, had not really convinced and was being shuffled from one position to another. With already 3 wins behind Béziers, it’s hard to believe in a season-saving comeback. Even if, after all, 3 matches aren’t irredeemable when there are still 18 left to play, 4 of which, precisely, against the Pirates.
But we still want to praise the losers, because what’s really a shame for the Parisians is that they could have a much better fate:
- 1st matchday, 0-0 after 6 innings against Rouen, lost 0-6
- 2nd matchday, came back from 0-5 to 8-8 in the 9th inning, then from 9-13 to 13-13 in the 12th inning against Montpellier before losing in the 13th inning.
- 3rd matchday, led 2-1 after 6 innings against Toulouse before losing in extra innings.
- 4th matchday, 0-0 after 6 innings against Savigny, lost 1-7
- Rescheduled match, 0-0 after 6 innings against La Rochelle, 5-5 after 8 innings, 8-8 after 10 innings, lost in the 11th
With a few small things, the PUC could very well have 3, even 5 wins. It’s precisely these small things that hurt. First, there are bad executions, failed runs, runners caught stealing, big hits that don’t come and turn into outs. There’s a bullpen that can’t close the door. There’s a defense that’s too generous. All this added up, it’s not ‘small things’, it’s a lot to fix. But, if we want to see the glass half full for a moment, we can hope that the dice start rolling a bit in their favor, and that this string of heartbreaking defeats suddenly turns into victories that allow us to hope.
A little confidence, a little realism, a little luck too, that’s all coach Briggi and his men need to fight for 7th place. But they’ll have to react quickly.
Now let’s move to the top of the standings. Just the PUC’s tormentor, La Rochelle, has put aside their Toulouse disappointment from last Sunday. The first match, after another very solid start by Romain Krzykawiak, showed that the Rochelais have mental resources and a fiery offense (all starters hit at least one big hit), much like a Vignollet who hasn’t let up since his exceptional performances in the Challenge. Match 2 was mastered, and what’s interesting is that De La Rosa, after a complicated start to the season, seems to be gradually regaining all his qualities. La Rochelle is a beautiful leader, without any glaring weaknesses, except perhaps a certain timidity coupled with a lack of efficiency on the bases, with only 10 successful stolen bases in 17 attempts.
2026 seems to be the year of confirmation, or rather progress, for La Rochelle. The Buccaneers have just played their first Challenge final, and they have the best record in their history after 10 matches with 7 wins (6 in 2025, 2024, 2019; 5 in 2022, 2021; 4 in 2023; 1 in 2018). There’s still a small downside: the ability to manage the second half of the season, which was very difficult these past two years. 8-13 and 7-11 after the 10th matchday. Will La Rochelle survive the summer? That’s one of the points that will be interesting to follow.
The Rochelais are first, but they only lead Savigny by a few percentage points. The Lions can count on a prolific offense: they are the only team with 4 hitters with 10 RBI, they have the 2nd OPS behind the untouchable Barracudas. It’s sometimes a bit more delicate in pitching, but Pena is undoubtedly the best pitcher of this start of the season (4-0, 1.29 ERA, 52 K in 35 innings). The big black spot remains the defense, with already 31 errors committed (8 more than Béziers and La Rochelle) and only 2 double plays turned. This always makes you fear a collapse in a close match. But Savigny, as always, is a complicated opponent to face, and seems capable of making its way without too many difficulties to the playoffs.
That said, nothing is decided with 6 teams separated by just 2 matches. And indeed, when you look at the standings, you notice that the defending champion is out of the playoffs. Optimists will say that Rouen is just one match away from 1st place. Realists will note that the Huskies have played 2 more matches than Montpellier, Sénart and Toulouse and can no longer afford to drag their feet, risking a huge disappointment. The main problem for the Huskies is simple to identify. Since Mercadier’s departure, the JFL pitching is 0-3, with a painful 9.00 ERA and a catastrophic K/BB ratio of 0.9. Rouen must absolutely find solutions to fix this crack. There’s also another problematic point, the offensive performance of the foreigners. Take Brainville / Lebouc against Nishikawa / Megumi. It’s .337, 4 HR, 28 RBI for the 2 Frenchmen, .247, 3 HR, 15 RBI for the 2 Japanese. An imbalance that affects the entire Rouen lineup.
One certainty, day after day, is that this season has no script written in advance, that most matches are the theater of joyful twists and turns, and that we don’t get bored on the D1 fields. That’s at least some good news.
