Leaders Gain Separation; Possums Finally Cool; Thunderwolves Rebound

CP Legion (8-3-2) vs.  JK Lannisters (9-3-1)

The Legion and Lannisters have battled for several years.  Chris has been at or near the top of the league for years, but the Lannisters have foiled his championship ambitions in two of the last three seasons.  The two teams dominate the Elo ratings, and usually fight closely-contested matches.  Unfortunately for the Legion, nothing seemed to go right while the Lannisters delivered an all-around performance.

The Lannisters had an excellent offensive week.  Four players hit two home runs (Kris Bryant, Bryce Harper, Robinson Cano, and Buster Posey).  Mookie Betts slugged 0.640 with two steals.  Jason Kipnis added a home run in light duty (and had two more on the bench for the week).  Jeff led the league in OBP and tied for the lead in steals.  He was second in home runs and SLG.  Chris had okay numbers, but they were not enough to compete with the Lannsiters’ performances.  Christian Yelich and Michael Saunders had five RBI each, but not player had more than one home run.  Despite Jonathan Villar’s three steals, the Legion failed to add many more.  This led to a devastating 5-0 sweep for the Lannisters.

Hope for the Legion on the pitching side faded quickly.  Julio Urias, Jerad Eickhoff and Danny Salazar had dreadful weeks, and spoiled excellent starts from Drew Pomeranz and Kyle Hendricks.  New addition Roberto Osuna had a couple of saves.  However, Jeff countered with a strong return for Jonathan Papelbon (three saves) and Dallas Keuchel (13.0 innings pitched, 2.08 ERA).  John Lackey and Jon Lester were terrible for the Lannisters, but it wasn’t enough for any rate stats to slip below Chris’s numbers.  The Lannisters recorded another 5-0 sweep and scored a shocking 10-0 win for the week.

The victory avenges a first week tie for the Lannisters and puts the league on notice that they are capable of dominating even the best teams.  However, the Legion shouldn’t feel overly concerned about the loss.  Their offense was mediocre and the pitching staff had an unusual number of meltdowns that probably won’t repeat.  However, Chris has only one more meeting with the Lannisters this year, and can only achieve a tie for the season series.  This has implications for tie-breakers at the end of the year.

CM Happy Hollidays (2-11) vs.  LK Armadillos (9-3-1)

The Armadillos did their best to keep pace with the Legion.  In fact, they had the better statistical week.  However, the Happy Hollidays were able to swing a couple of categories and avoid a rout.  Larry led the league in home runs, RBI, and SLG.  He tied for first in steals and was second in OBP.  Leading the way was Giancarlo Stanton with five home runs and 10 RBI.  Mark Trumbo added three home runs, and Starling Marte had six steals.  This alone could have carried the week but six other Armadillos had home runs and only two regulars slugged below 0.400.  Aledmys Diaz had a good week for the Hollidays, but it was far too little to overcome the Armadillos’ intimidating totals.  The return of Stanton to superstar form should scare the rest of the league.  Larry has managed a tie for first with almost no production from his second-best player.  If Stanton adds more fuel to the Armadillos’ offense, teams will need even more help on pitching to beat him.

The Hollidays were better on pitching, but it wasn’t enough to force the tie.  Mike Leake, Aaron Sanchez, and Adam Wainwright had great starts, but they were undone by a terrible Cole Hamels outing.  Still, the good starts were enough to give Chris M. two rate categories and avoid a sweep.  Larry countered quality with quantity, and easily won strikeouts, wins, and saves.  The overall result of the week was never in doubt.

The Lannisters and Armadillos are still tied for first, but their victories opened some room between them and the rest of the league.  The Legion are the closest competitor at 1.5 games back.  Heather is 2.5 back, and Rick is 3.0 behind.

KG Capital City Goofballs (4-9) vs.  RK Possums (7-5-1)

Rick could have been tied with Heather for fourth place but his team final went cold against a desperate Goofballs squad.  Rick seemed to be in line for a win, thanks to excellent pitching.  Rick led the league in ERA, and was far below any other team.  Masahiro Tanaka and Max Scherzer were dominant in their four combined starts, striking out 27 in 25.1 IP.  However, other players like Scott Kazmir and Corey Kluber were more erratic, and Rick’s WHIP suffered.  Kevin took advantage.  He threw the same number of innings as Rick but had more control (winning WHIP) and higher strikeout totals.  David Price was especially good, and he likely turned the WHIP category on Sunday.  However, Rick had more wins and saves.  This gave the Possums a 3-2 before considering hitting.

Kevin countered with an excellent offensive week.  Maikel Franco led the way with four home runs.  Trevor Story added two, and Yasmani Grandal contributed seven RBI (as did Story and Franco).  The Goofball’s numbers were on par with the Lannisters.  Meanwhile, Rick’s sluggers went total cold.  Josh Donaldson had three home runs, but no other Possums regular had a SLG over 0.500 (unless you count Adam Jones’ part time play).  Wilson Ramos and Adam Duvall were especially bad, combining for seven hits over 40 at-bats.  Kevin took every category except for steals, and earned a narrow 6-4 win.  Kevin was due for better luck, and Rick was so hot that a comedown was to be expected at some point.  The question now becomes whether or not the Goofballs can build on the win.  Kevin is below 0.500, but his team has played better than the results would indicate.  Rick must also mount a comeback, and prove that his team has sustainable production.

HP PhoeGnomes (8-5) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (2-10-1)

The week’s biggest upset saw the Thunderwolves slip past the PhoeGnomes.  Each team dominated a couple of categories, but most were in play up until the end.  The categories with the biggest margins were on the pitching side.  Kyle easily won ERA after good weeks from Jake Peavy and Tyler Anderson.  However, disastrous outings from Martin Perez, Michael Wacha, and Colin Rea inflated the Thunderwolves’ WHIP.  Heather took advantage with a great week from Madison Bumgarner that included a clutch 14-strikeout win on Sunday.  However, Kyle was able to tie wins overall and took saves.  This left the teams tied 2-2-1 before looking at hitting.

Neither team had a great offensive week compared to the rest of the league.  However, neither team struggled, either.  Kyle won OBP by a healthy margin, but Heather took steals thanks to Eduardo Nunez.  Nunez also contributed a home run and six RBI.  Kyle countered with a great week from Addison Russell and a surprising power surge from Elvis Andrus.  A strong day of RBIs on Sunday gave Kyle the category and the win.  Heather left a home run (and thus a tie for the week) on her bench in the forms of Andrew McCutchen, Tyler Naquin, and Adrian Gonzalez.  If Heather had started both McCutchen and Naquin, she would have won the week by flipping RBI and tying HR.  However, it was Kyle who made the most of his late-week opportunities and earned a close victory.  The loss drops Heather farther behind both the Armadillos and Lannisters.  The win brings Kyle further from the bottom and offers some hope for continued improvement.

Next Week

The third cycle of the season begins with the long All-Star break week.  The Lannisters meet the Goofballs.  The Armadillos must contend with the Possums, who want to prove they are a legitimate title threat.  The road doesn’t get any easier for the PhoeGnomes, who face the Legion.  Chris P. is desperate for a win.  Finally, the Hollidays and Thunderwolves meet in a battle of teams near the bottom.  Kyle can further distance himself while Chris M. will try to claw out of last place.