Lannisters Gain Separation; Possums Thunder; Legion and Thunderwolves Win

RK Possums (7-6-1) vs.  LK Armadillos (10-4-1)

The Possums continued their hot streak against the Armadillos.  Rick brought a dominant attack on both sides of the ball this week.  The Possums’ staff had the most strikeouts in the league by a wide margin.  They also had the most saves, a WHIP under 1.00 and the second best ERA.  Masahiro Tanaka was the star of the week.  He allowed a single earned run in two starts and struck out 11.  Justin Verlander added 19 strikeouts of his own.  Five Possums’ pitchers reached double-digits.  Larry countered with several good starters of his own.  The players had two wins for the week, but a difficult week for Kenta Maeda gave Rick four categories to Larry’s one.

On offense, the Possums dominated as well.  They led the league in home runs and were second in RBI, OBP, and SLG.  Ian Kinsler and Mike Napoli hit four home runs each.  Joey Votto had eight RBI and 11 walks.  The Possums had 100 total hits for the week.  In contrast, Larry had 76 and good weeks from Edwin Encarnacion and Daniel Murphy.  The Armadillos deployed 21 players for the week, but failed to gain any real traction.  Rick took a dominant victory over one of the league’s better teams.  He now sits in fourth place, and faces the league-leading Lannisters next week.

HP PhoeGnomes (8-6) vs.  CP Legion (8-4-2)

The closest and most important match of the week featured the Legion and PhoeGnomes.  Heather needed a win to stay with the leaders while Chris was similarly motivated.  With the Armadillos losing, both teams had a chance to make up ground.  Chris had the best SLG in the league but Heather piled on steals thanks to Eduardo Nunez and three other players with two steals each.  Chris had a nice power week from Michael Saunders and Christian Yelich.  Tyler Naquin tried to keep Heather afloat with three home runs in limited playing time.  However, it wasn’t enough to stop Chris from taking four categories. 

Heather was more successful on pitching.   She led the league in ERA and WHIP.  She had good quantity numbers too, and took saves.  Chris had more strikeouts and wins, though.  This gave him a narrow 6-4 win for the week.  Heather had three starters not allow an earned run in their starts for the week but none received a victory.  Just one category would have swung the week to a tie, and the gap in wins and OBP were low enough that the score was tied for most of the long week.  The PhoeGnomes suffered a tough loss, but the Legion are not back closer to first place after the Armadillos’ loss.

KK Thunderwolves (3-10-1) vs.  CM Happy Hollidays (2-12)

The Thunderwolves relied on a huge week from Hanley Ramirez to top the Happy Hollidays.  Kyle got five home runs and 12 RBI from his oft-injured star.  Albert Pujols, Jonathan Lucroy and Adrian Beltre also added two home runs each.  Kyle took RBI, steals, OBP, and SLG.  However, Chris M. was able to earn a surprise win in home runs.  Matt Kemp outdid Hanley with six home runs.  Stephen Piscotty and Jay Bruce had 10 RBI each.  Chris was just short in RBI and lagged enough in the rate stats to have two narrow misses.  However, the improved power should be a welcome sign for the team.

On pitching, Kyle relied on quantity.  He threw 22.1 more innings pitched than Chris.  He was less effective and lost both rate stats, but picked up enough wins and saves to get the overall victory.  Jose Fernandez and Chris Tillman were great for the Thunderwolves, but their work was undone by a nightmare week from Martin Perez.  Yu Darvish had 20 strikeouts in 10.1 innings pitched.  This is an excellent sign for one of Kyle’s long term investments.  Chris had great weeks from Francisco Liriano and Adam Wainwright, but it wasn’t enough.  The Hollidays had to settle for a tough loss, and the Thunderwolves can celebrate a victory for the week.

JK Lannisters (10-3-1) vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs (5-9)

Neither the Lannisters nor the Goofballs were impressive in Week 15, but Jeff earned a victory by virtue of slightly better pitching stats.  Both teams started almost the maximum number of games possible.  Jeff finished second in the league in strikeouts and near the top in wins.  His ERA and WHIP were undone by horrific starts from Jon Lester and the previously-unbeaten Stephen Strasburg.  However, six of the seven Lannister starters had double-digit strikeouts and earned a clear give category sweep for the league leaders.

On offense, Trevor Story reemerged to torment the Lannisters further.  He had six home runs, 12 RBI, and two steals.  He was the best offensive player of the week by a wide margin.  Kevin was able to take the category, but neither squad had good OBP or SLG.  Jayson Werth was particularly bad, with just one hit in 13 at bats.  Ryan Raburn was worse, going hitless in 12.  However, the worst of the worst was Brandon Belt, who managed just one hit in 28 at-bats.  His 0.036 SLG is one of the worst I’ve ever seen for a week.  The Lannisters weren’t much better. Derek Norris slugged 0.083 and Bryce Harper was powerless.  One bright spot was Kris Bryant, who had three steals.  The split decision for most offensive stats gave Jeff a comfortable win for the week, and he is now in first place by himself.

Next Week

Next week’s key battle is between the Possums and Lannisters.  Rick has given Jeff trouble over the years, and his hot streak is now enough to be considered a trend and not a random improvement.  His good in-season moves have rebuilt the team.  However, the Lannisters are coming off two wins by a combined 18-2 and seem to be on a mission to establish themselves as the title favorites.  If Rick can win this week he will help everyone below the Lannisters and move himself closer to contention.  Jeff will try everything he can to pull out the victory, especially since the other leaders are playing weaker teams.  The Legion and PhoeGnomes face the Happy Hollidays and Goofballs respectively.  Both expansion teams face a tough test.  The Armadillos need to rebound against the Thunderwolves, who are coming off a victory.