Possums, PhoeGnomes Romp; Armadillos Keep Pace, Legion and Lannisters Inconclusive

HP PhoeGnomes (4-2) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (0-5-1)

The PhoeGnomes entered the week in a small statistical slump.  Heather’s team had cooled after a hot start, and needed a boost before entering another challenging set of matches.  Unfortunately for the Thunderwolves, Heather received just the boost she was looking for.  The PhoeGnomes had the most balanced week of any team in the league.

Heather’s pitching was outstanding, leading the league in every category except saves.  Noah Syndergaard was phenomenal, pitching 14 innings, striking out 21, and allowing no earned runs.  Heather had only one starter allow more than two runs for the week.  If you remove the terrible stats from Shawn Tolleson, the PhoeGnomes would have had a 1.26 ERA over 64.1 IP.  Aroldis Chapman and Francisco Rodriguez had three saves each, and Heather tied for second in this category.  Kyle was unable to mount a serious challenge in the face of these dominant statistics.  He did lead the league in saves, but Heather still boasted a commanding 4-1 lead for the side.

On offense, Kyle was unable to turn the tide.  Only two Thunderwolves players had SLG over .430 (Nelson Cruz and Gregory Polanco).  The team lacked any consistent on-base presence, and fell below .300 for the week.  On the other hand, Heather delivered a solid all-around performance.  She finished in second in RBI, tied for second in HR, first in OBP, and third in SLG.  Jose Bautista took out his frustrations on the rest of the league with four home runs and nine RBI.  Brandon Crawford was strong, with two home runs and a .650 SLG.  The offensive showing was more than enough to bury the Thunderwolves, who continue to struggle on both sides of the ball.  Heather’s solid numbers are a welcome return to form, and bode well for future match-ups.

RK Possums (1-4-1) vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs (2-4)

After defeating the Happy Hollidays last week for his first win, Rick looked to keep things going against the Goofballs.  Unfortunately for Kevin, Rick made the most of his matches against the expansion teams, and earned his second win of the season.

Rick’s strategy centered on offense and volume pitching.  The Possums threw 68.2 innings versus just 53.2 for the Goofballs.  This resulted in the second most strikeouts in the league, and a tie for the most wins.  Rick’s bullpen was also strong, tying for second with six saves.  Max Scherzer was solid, but Rick had good efforts from several lower-tier arms like Chris Tillman and Matt Wisler.  Other starters were less effective (especially Jordan Zimmerman) but Kevin struggled as well.  Chris Archer was miserable for the week, and Sonny Gray is now in the DL after a rough outing.  Trevor May allowed three earned runs and didn’t record an out, giving him an ERA of infinity.  [Technically, undefined since you are dividing by 0, but you get the idea.]  Overall, Rick swept all five categories and set himself up well before accounting for offense.

Unfortunately for the Goofballs, Kevin’s hopes for a rally faded with a lack of RBI and odd power numbers.  Kevin tied for second in home runs with ten.  However, this translated into the second-fewest RBI in the league (23) and a SLG barely above .400.  Much like the Armadillos’ recent oddities, the Goofballs seemed unable to generate many doubles or RBI to go along with their solid home run totals.  Eight different Goofballs hit homers, but those same players managed just nine RBI in addition to their own home runs.  Some of this is a result of good players on bad teams, like Freddie Freeman on the Braves.  Meanwhile, the Possums were there opposite of the Goofballs – they lacked home runs but had good overall numbers.  Xander Bogaerts and Ian Kinsler had 20 hits and a combined SLG of .600 but just three home runs (all from Kinsler).  Melvin Upton stayed hot with two steals.  Despite Kevin’s home runs, Rick swept the remaining four categories, albeit by small margins.  The Possums earned their second victory of the year.  The Goofballs continue to slide, and hope that their power numbers translate more effectively in the future.

LK Armadillos (4-1-1) vs.  CM Happy Hollidays (2-4)

After tasting first place, the Armadillos lost to the PhoeGnomes.  They hoped to turn things around against the Happy Hollidays.  Chris M. hoped to rely on solid pitching for a victory, but was thwarted by offensive problems.  Larry relied on Marcell Ozuna and Jackie Bradley Jr. for most of his offense.  The two combined for four homers and Bradley had nine walks.  Carlos Correa added three steals, and role players like Travis Shaw and Daniel Murphy contributed a few home runs and RBI.  The Armadillos were in the middle of the pack in most categories, but Chris wasn’t able to capitalize.  The Happy Hollidays’ lack of power is becoming more of a concern after the team hit only four home runs, slugged below .400 and barely stayed above a .300 OBP.  Larry swept all five categories, but Chris finished just one steal behind for the week.

On pitching, the Hollidays fared much better.  Cole Hamels struck out 17 over 14.2 innings.  Aaron Sanchez and Adam Wainwright were also strong in their single starts.  Larry’s starters were the corollary to Chris’s staff:  They were largely ineffective.  Adam Conley pitched 11.1 innings but gave up seven earned runs.  Kenta Maeda allowed nine in nine IP.  J.A. Happ and Jason Hammel weren’t much better, and only Clayton Kershaw really lived up to expectations.  Chris won ERA and WHIP by a huge margin, though Larry somehow tied in wins.  The Armadillos’ advantage in innings pitched translated to a win in strikeouts.  This resulted in a decisive win, but the Hollidays were not without opportunities.  One more win, a few strikeouts, and a steal would have turned the tide.

JK Lannisters (5-1) vs.  CP Legion (4-1-1)

The week’s final match paired the defending champs with their long-time rival, the Legion.  Chris entered the week with newfound confidence in his team after several young players made positive strides on offense.  The Lannisters, like the PhoeGnomes, needed an offensive rebound after a few stale weeks.

The Legion received stellar pitching early in the week.  Danny Salazar and Carlos Rodon set the pace, and the Legion built a commanding lead in strikeouts along with solid ERA and WHIP numbers.  The Lannisters had an unfavorable pitching schedule for most of their starters, were there were few early-week games.  This gave the Legion the luxury of observing results and tailoring later pitchers as conditions dictated.  However, Jeff had solid stat lines from Stephen Strasburg and John Lackey in the early going.  He also piled up saves, and built a commanding lead.

On offense, the Lannisters had better fortune.  Monster weeks from Mookie Betts, JD Martinez, and Kris Bryant built huge leads in HR, RBI, and SLG.  Chris was closer and OBP, but the Lannisters were fairly comfortable there too.  However, Chris dominated steals in the same way the Lannisters captured saves.  This gave each team four secure categories, with only steals and wins realistically in play.

On the last day of the week, Jeff started Dallas Keuchel and Juan Nicasio.  This prompted Chris to start Danny Salazar.  However, Keuchel imploded and the Pirates were rained out, so Chris was secure in his pitching categories.  The Lannisters tried their best to capture steals, but came up three short.  Bizarrely, they left three steals on the bench when Ben Revere suddenly stopped being useless.

The Legion are likely happy with the tie, as a few breaks could have turned things to the Lannisters’ favor.  Conversely, the Lannisters were fortunate that Chris’s starters didn’t get more wins.  The week appeared headed for a tie after a few days, but both teams tried to maneuver to their best advantage.  The resulting match was fun and exciting, and both teams will have to look to the future to settle their differences.

Next Week

The most interesting match of the week pairs the Legion with the PhoeGnomes.  Both teams are in contention and this match will be especially important for the Legion, who lost in Week 01.  The Possums hope to keep things rolling against the Armadillos.  Jeff will try to avoid another tie or loss against the Goofballs.  Finally, the Thunderwolves will go for their first win of the year against the slumping Happy Hollidays.