This week’s league update was written by Larry. Jeff is extremely sick and not feeling well, but he hopes to be back next week.
RK Possums (0-2) vs. KK Thunderwolves (0-2)
The Possums and the Thunderwolves were both looking for their first victory of the young season, but neither team could pull out a win. Rick won homers, RBI, ERA , WHIP, and saves. Kyle countered with wins in the other three hitting categories plus pitching wins. The week was determined by Kyle’s 59-56 advantage in K’s. That tied up the week and left both teams underwhelmed with identical 0-2-1 records.
Colby Rasmus led the way for the Possums with 4 HR and 10 RBI. Off season trade acquisition Josh Donaldson added 2 HR and 6 RBI. The artist previously known as B.J. (apologies and RIP to Prince) managed the lone steal of the week for Rick.
The Wolves got strong offensive performances from Jason Heyward (10 for 29 with 5 RBI and 3 SB) and Nellie Cruz (2 HR & 7 RBI). Pitchers were led by another trade acquisition, Yordano Ventura with 2 wins and a 2.25 ERA. Chase Anderson, a local Wichita Falls native who started off well, was pounded this week, giving up 19 hits and 10 earned runs in just 9 innings. Finally, Gerrit Cole went 6 scoreless innings with 7 K’s and was promptly traded!
KG Goofballs (0-2) vs. CM Happy Hollidays
The Goofballs got their first victory by beating the Happy Hollidays. Kevin dominated the hitting categories by taking 4 categories. KG led the week in homers with 15 and was second overall with 37 RBI. Chris M. was able to take OBP with a stunning .380 good for second place overall. The pitching stats were much closer with KG winning K’s just 39-36 and wins just 2-1. The two teams tied with 3 saves each. CM won ERA over KG’s atrocious 7.16. The win by Kevin left the two teams tied with identical 1-2 records.
Cardinals OF’s Grichuk and Piscotty were hitting stars for the Hollidays and Jay Bruce pitched in with a homer and two steals. Brad Ziegler led the pitchers with two saves.
Wellington Castillo made KG look very good with a monster week of 5 HR, 9 RBI, and even had a SB. Steven Souza had a couple of homers and Maikel Franco contributed 3 HR and 8 RBI. Pitching-wise Jeremy Jeffress had 2 saves (despite a (9.00 ERA), but the rest of the staff was ineffective giving up 39 earned runs in 49 innings.
JK Lannisters (2-0) vs. HP PhoeGnomes (2-0)
The undefeated Lannisters and PhoeGnomes squared off with the Lannisters winning with an impressive showing. Jeff’s squad was outstanding on offense with a 13-7 edge in homers and a 44-31 margin in RBI’s. The Lannisters also rolled to a .580 to .362 SLG victory. Jeff led the league in all 3 of those hitting categories for the week. But HP won steals and was at least within shouting distance in OBP. Jeff powered his way to winning 4 of the 5 pitching stats. He led the entire league in K’s (74) and saves (8). Hp had a very strong 0.922 WHIP to edge JK’s 0.987. But anticipated battle was too one-sided this time around.
Goldschmidt and Bautista each had 6 RBI, and Altuve raced to three SB to lead the PhoeGnomes offense. Jeff’s offensive trinity — Harper, Trout, and Machado — combined for 7 homers, 18 RBI, and 25 hits. Lucas Duda made a run at joining their club with 3 homers and 7 RBIs. In pitching, Heather had a no-hitter by Jake Arrieta as well as strong outings by Sale, Syndergaard, and Walker. But Jeff countered with great games from Quintana, Lester, Hammel, Strasburg, and
Tanner Roark (who was promptly waived). Jeff’s staff easily won K’s for the whole week with an eye-popping 74 whiffs.
CP Legion (1-1) vs. LK Armadillos (2-0)
The strangest matchup of the week involved the Armadillos and Legion. Chris led in most categories for much of the week. CP easily won steals, OBP, and saves. He eventually edged out a win in RBIs 29-28. The Armadillos won HR , K’s, ERA, and wins. That meant 8 categories were decided and two still in play on Sunday night (SLG and WHIP). After Carlos Carrasco was injured and left his start early on Sunday, it left LK hoping for a strong bullpen performance to try to turn WHIP. But the bullpen had a rocky day and WHIP was lost. RBI’s were in play early, but CP persevered there. The Armadillos only chance came down to SLG. Almost every game was finished and it looked as though the Legion would prevail and deal the Armadillos their first loss of the year. But miraculously the Pirates game went into extra innings and Starling Marte was able to get a hit in his 7th and final at bat to pull LK’s team into a tie for the week. It was just the latest of many bitter battles between the two teams (many of which have resulted in ties) over the past seasons.
CP got homers from 6 different hitters and steals from 6 different players as well as 7 RBIs from Ryan Braun (who was promptly traded). LK got 5 HR and 10 RBIs from a surging Anthony Rizzo. Stanton added a couple of homers, but LK’s catchers were a combined 2-24!
Steve Cishek came off the scrap pile to notch 3 saves (nice pickup by Chris P) but the starters had an up and down week. For the Armadillos, Kershaw was winless but had good stats. Drew Smyly went 15 inn with 17 K’s and only one earned run. But LK’s usually reliable bullpen had an off week and it proved costly.
The Thunderwolves continued to struggle offensively. Kyle had the fewest steals in the league and was near the bottom in OBP, SLG, and HR. However, the Thunderwolves maintained a competitive RBI total that fell just short. The lack of power must be concerning to Kyle. After investing heavily on the pitching side in the draft and through freezes, the Thunderwolves have not had the offensive firepower for the past couple of seasons. If the trend continues, Kyle may need to address his struggles through trades or waiver pick-ups.
On offense, neither team was able to get much traction. The Hollidays were marginally better thanks to a pair of two-home run weeks from Randal Grichuk and Matt Holliday. Francisco Lindor added two steals and Chris M. was able to win all three counting categories for the week. Unfortunately for the Hollidays, the Legion were slightly better in the OBP and SLG categories. The Legion are clearly feeling the offensive dip after trading away several members of their core to the PhoeGnomes. George Springer and Ryan Braun were able to keep the Legion competitive, but they will need more help to remain in contention against better offensive teams. Ultimately, the Legion were able to pull out a solid win. The Hollidays will need to level their performance in the coming weeks.
At one point on Sunday, it looked like the Possums were heading for a tie. Rick led the HR category late in the day, but Bryce Harper’s 10th inning swing turned the category into a tie. The Possums can take some comfort that they did not leave any home runs on their bench on Sunday. Also, Rick would have beaten all the other teams besides the Armadillos and PhoeGnomes. The Possums are looking better even if the results are not yet noticeable in the standings. For the Lannisters, the win capped another difficult struggle.
The PhoeGnomes pitched an average number of innings, but achieved outstanding results, especially on the rate side. Chris Sale was on fire, pitching a two hit/no walk shutout. Gio Gonzalez was almost as good but over fewer innings. The bullpen was clicking as well, finishing third in the league in saves. Heather easily took these three categories, but the Goofballs were unwilling to concede anything further. Kevin threw five more innings, but logged 13 more strikeouts. He also took wins, behind strong performances from Jake Odorizzi and Marcus Stroman. This gave Heather a slim 3-2 lead before adding hitting.
These transactions gave Heather a huge boost in offense for the next few years. The Legion are trying to go younger after several years at the top. Did they give up too much, too soon? The answer depends on the development of Springer and Puig, Chris’s ability to draft with multiple picks, and the age-related declines of the veterans he traded away. For the PhoeGnomes, the new additions make Heather an instant title contender after a rebound last season.
Last year’s champions, the Lannisters, needed a victory to keep up with the PhoeGnomes. Standing in their way were the Goofballs. After a season which included some of the most astute pickups in the league, Kevin seemed poised to take another step forward after completing his first off-season with a full set of draft picks. Unfortunately, much of Kevin’s hard work was undone when Kyle Schwarber went down with a season-ending knee injury. The loss is a huge blow for the Goofballs who were counting on Schwarber to be their catcher and outfielder. Now, Schwarber will lose his catcher eligibility after this season to go along with the lost production.
Fortunately for the Goofballs, an unlikely hero emerged for the week: Trevor Story. The Rockies’ shortstop hit seven home runs (five while in the lineup) and tallied eight RBI for the week. Steven Souza Jr also had three home runs, and in total eleven Goofballs hit homers for the week. Kevin had the highest total in the league along with the highest SLG. However, the Lannisters would not go quietly and hit sixteen home runs of their own. They were also more efficient with the league’s second-highest OBP and tied the Goofballs in RBI. Robinson Cano led the way with four home runs, and seven other Lannisters also went deep. Jean Segura supplied an unexpected jolt of energy with two home runs and a steal. The Lannisters were happy to get something from a Diamondback, after AJ Pollock went down for the season with an elbow injury.
On pitching, neither team was effective. Both squads had ERAs over 5.00, easily the worst in the league. Both WHIPs were abysmal as well, but Kyle was able to take both rate categories. He also took saves – the Hollidays were blanked. However, Chris M. was able to dominate wins. Oddly, three of the Hollidays’ five wins were from the bullpen. Instead of picking up saves, they were entering close games and accumulating wins. They were also able to win the strikeout battle and record a solid 7-3 opening victory for the new owner. The Thunderwolves won’t be happy with this result, but can take comfort that their pitching performances will eventually level out. The offense remains a concern. Chris M. will need to keep an eye on his bullpen and finding reliable offensive producers, but for now he has earned a great introductory win and sits at the top of the league.
On pitching, the teams were more evenly matched. In fact, they tied in wins and saves. Rick had a slight edge in WHIP, but the Armadillos took both ERA and strikeouts. The Armadillos threw almost 20 more innings than the Possums thanks to a series of rainouts and other problems. This gave Larry the lead in strikeouts, and the pitchers were effective enough to have a good ERA total. In total, this gave Larry a 6-1-3 win. However, Rick showed enough on pitching to win some other match-ups if the offense can come around. They did not play like a last place team, and the Armadillos were pressed to keep pace with the Lannisters and PhoeGnomes.
Dirt Mountain Baseball League 