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.