After a few weeks of problems, I’ve fixed the ELO ratings!  The pitching rules violation was a real problem, but it has been corrected!

The Lannisters are back on top of the all-time Elo ratings.  The Legion lost a few points for their draw.  The Armadillos gained a handful of points for beating the Thunderwolves.  Kevin made a nice jump into the top four.

The Goofballs and Possums are the biggest favorites against the league’s tow lowest-rated teams.  The Lannisters have an edge against the PhoeGnomes.  The Legion and Armadillos are, fittingly, even at 50/50!

New Owner Makes Waves; Defending Champs Rely on Pitching; Goofballs Cool Off PhoeGnomes; Leaders Edge Thunderwolves

SM Lasershow (2-11-2) vs.  CP Legion (9-5-1)

Sean began his first week with a franchise with a difficult challenge.  He faced the Legion, one of the league’s top teams.  Sean made several roster moves to clear the glut of Cardinals on his team.  The former Happy Hollidays then made a trade to build team depth.  The loss of Carlos Martinez will hurt the team’s pitching.  However, the Lasershow’s roster was thin in too many areas.  Trading from strength to build depth is probably a good strategy.

Ryan Zimmerman paid immediate dividends.  He had two home runs for the week in just seven at-bats.  Jay Bruce had an excellent week as well, with two more home runs and seven RBI.  This was enough for the Lasershow to tie for the league lead in homers.  The Legion were less successful on offense.  Sean won four categories with relative ease.  Chris managed to take OBP, and his narrow margin of victory would ultimately salvage a tie.

Both teams struggled on pitching.  The Lasershow struggled to find saves and the Legion took advantage.  Chris dominated strikeouts and had a comfortable margin in ERA and WHIP.  Despite a disastrous start from Lance McCullers, Chris posted a good mix of quality starts and good strikeout totals.  The Lasershow countered with a good Lance Lynn week.  The team stacked up wins, too.  This gave Chris four categories to Sean’s one.  This gave the two teams a tie for the week.  The battle was hard-earned for the Lasershow, who rallied behind their more active new owner.

The result is a new highlight for a franchise that has failed to thrive for too long.  Sean still has a lot of work to do to upgrade the roster, but his victory over the Legion should put the league on notice.  There will be no more easy victories, DL players in the lineup, or pitching oddities.  As far as the standings go, the Legion will take a hit, but the tie is much better than a loss.   Still, this gives a little bit of breathing room for the Goofballs, Armadillos, PhoeGnomes, and Lannisters.  With so many teams clumped near the top, every result is critical.

KG Capital City Goofballs (7-6-2) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (9-6)

After a slow start, the PhoeGnomes have risen to become one of the favorites for the title.  The Goofballs are in the conversation, and have proven they’re no longer a year away from competing.  The Goofballs stayed just two games out after a close victory over the PhoeGnomes.  Kevin relied on strong offensive stats to carry the week.  He tied for the lead in home runs and was second in both OBP and SLG.  The Goofballs had ten players with a home run.  The team posted a balanced offensive attack.  Two players had five RBI and only five players out of the 18 started for the week did not have an RBI.  Heather lost all of the offensive categories except steals.  Like the Lannisters, the PhoeGnomes suffered an unusual power-outage.  Marwin Gonzalez had a nice week, but Heather lacked and real offensive bright spots.

Despite the problems on offense, Heather fared much better on pitching.  Madison Bumgarner was phenomenal, allowing just one earned run over two starts.  Chris Sale had a great start, too, and the team had the best WHIP and second best ERA in the league.  Heather also tied for the lead in wins with seven.  Kevin wasn’t able to counter Heather’s rate stats, but he did take strikeouts.  Jon Gray and Chris Archer had nice weeks, but the Goofballs struggled to get victories.

The turning point for the week was saves.  Neither team had many saves, but Kevin’s “closer by committee” strategy worked well enough to tie the category and take the week.  Heather tried to take the lead on Sunday but only Greg Holland ended up pitching.  Aroldis Chapman and Brandon Kintzler both sat out losing games.  The Goofballs didn’t have a Sunday save, but they did have two relievers each record two strikeouts.  This was a critical difference-maker because it gave Kevin the category.  Without strikeouts from at least one reliever, the Goofballs would have tied the category and the week.

JK Lannisters (9-5-1) vs.  RK Possums (6-5-4)

The Possums’ combination of power and pitching sometimes gives the Lannisters problems.  Rick has fared well against Jeff in the past, and this week was no different.  However, the Lannisters relied on an unusual savior to earn the win – their pitching staff.  Jacob deGrom and Gerrit Cole were outstanding, totaling 27 innings pitched, three wins, and 30 strikeouts.  Five different Lannister relievers piled up nine saves, easily the best in the league.  Kelvin Herrera scored four by himself, more than the team total for every other bullpen save the Armadillos.  None of these relievers allowed a run, and Jeff led the league in ERA.  Rick had a solid week on the mound as well.  He had the most strikeouts in the league and put up a solid win total.  However, the Lannisters carried a 3-1-1 lead before accounting for hitting.

Both teams struggled on offense.  Rick had the lowest SLG in the league while the Lannisters tied for the fewest home runs and had the worst RBI total by a wide margin.  Bryce Harper and Jose Abreu each had two home runs, and no other player on either team had more than one.  Rick managed a few more RBI and home runs, but neither team has much to be proud of.  Jeff won the rate stats, Rick took homers and RBI, and steals were a draw.  This was enough for the Lannisters to escape with a 5-3-2 win. The loss hurts the Possums, who are now three games out of first place.  The Lannisters vaulted into second, and have a huge match with the PhoeGnomes looming.

LK Armadillos (9-4-2) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (2-11-2)

The week’s final close game saw the Armadillos slip past the Thunderwolves.  Larry had the best offensive week of any team and led the league in every statistical category (with home runs being a tie with the Lasershow).  Giancarlo Stanton had three home runs and eight RBI to pair with eight walks.  JD Martinez and Eduardo Nunez each had two homers.  Kyle had a nice week from Rougned Odor (three home runs) but little else.  His numbers were not the worst in the league (those belong to the Possums and Lannisters) but it wasn’t enough to pressure the Armadillos.  Larry had a 5-0 lead before looking at pitching.

Kyle was much more competitive on pitching, but neither team was especially effective.  The Thunderwolves threw a few more innings and had a nice strikeout total.  They also led the league in wins (tied with the PhoeGnomes).  Zack Godly had a great start for the Armadillos, but Steven Matz and Jameson Taillon imploded.  Kyle saw Yu Darvish suffer though the worst start of his career.  Darvish’s time in Texas came to an end with a nightmare ten earned run loss against the Orioles.  Bud Norris was miserable as well, allowing eight earned runs in 1.1 innings pitched.  Despite these abhorrent starts, Kyle somehow won ERA and WHIP!  Unfortunately for Kyle, the Armadillos won saves and took the week by a narrow margin.  The Thunderwolves had a decent week, though, and Kyle has to hope that the offensive improvement is permanent.

Next Week

This week features two hugely important battles.  The Legion and Armadillos meet again and continue the league’s most bitter rivalry.  The Legion are just a game back, and the Armadillos look more vulnerable than ever.  The PhoeGnomes face the Lannisters, too, and both teams need a win to keep pace with the Legion and Armadillos.  Depending on the results, the Armadillos, Legion, and Lannisters could all take first place.  The Goofballs have to face the Lasershow, who are showing signs of being competitive.  The Possums will hope to keep pace and gain ground on a couple of teams with a match against the Thunderwolves.

Rules Violation

Week 14 is over, but there was a major rules violation that created problems with the results. The Happy Hollidays had at least 11 starts and the limit is 8. He was leading the Armadillos, but this included three pitching categories. It’s impossible to untangle what the pitching results would have been if the Hollidays had used the correct number of pitchers.

Since the Hollidays won the match, and the win consisted of tainted categories, I had to take extreme action. I swapped the Hollidays with the Possums since both teams were losing after Sunday’s last game ended. The Goofballs beat the Hollidays (instead of the Possums) and the Armadillos beat the Possums (instead of losing to the Hollidays). This means that everyone’s records are accurate.

However, this also creates some problems. The system’s internal tie-breakers are now off. It’s unlikely that the Hollidays will be tied with either the Armadillos or Goofballs. However, the Possums, Goofballs and Armadillos could see ties.

1. The Goofballs should have a victory over the Possums.
2. The Possums should NOT have a loss against the Armadillos.

This means that if the Armadillos and Possums tie, we will need to manually track the tie-breaker rather than rely on the game. The same applies to the Goofballs and Possums.

We’re going to add a co-owner to the Hollidays who will (hopefully) be active and try to keep this kind of thing from happening again.

Also, thanks to the Possums and Goofballs for being understanding of the situation. These changes will not impact either of your teams, only the results you’ll see on the page for the week. The Elo ratings will also reflect your wins and losses against the correct teams.

CP Legion (8-4-1) vs.  JK Lannisters (7-5-1)

The week’s most important match paired the Legion and Lannisters.  Chris P. hoped to remain in first place while the Lannisters looked for revenge after a narrow loss in Week 07.  Chris gained the advantage early with a serious of good pitching performances before the All-Star break.  Jimmy Nelson rewarded the Legion with two strong starts and 17 strikeouts.  Robbie Ray added another solid outing with 13 strikeouts in just 6.0 innings pitched.  The Lannisters had good starts from Jacob deGrom and Stephen Strasburg, but suffered from two Jon Lester meltdowns.  On offense, the teams were evenly matched before the break.  Chris held narrow leads in home runs, SLG, and OBP.  Jeff had the advantage in RBI.

After the break, the Lannisters’ offense came to life.  Bryce Harper had two home runs on Friday and Mookie Betts added a critical homer on Sunday.  The Lannisters also got strong starts from Jose Quintana and Rich Hill.  The switch to the NL seems to agree with Quintana, and Hill has been strong when healthy.  The Legion suffered some bad luck when Lance McCullers and Robbie Ray’s starts were pushed back until Week 15.  The Lannisters were able to capture ERA, WHIP wins, and saves.  This was enough to guarantee a win after the offensive categories broke for the Lannisters late in the week.  The match evens the season series at one win each.  Both teams needed luck to win in their given weeks, and the third match will be even more important with the teams tied near the top of the standings.

KG Capital City Goofballs (6-5-2) vs.  RK Possums (6-4-3)

Both the Goofballs and the Possums needed a win to keep pace with the league leaders.  Neither team posted league-leading numbers in many categories, but both put up solid stat lines.  Kevin managed the highest home run and RBI totals in the league.  Rick had strong numbers as well, but his OBP and SLG figures were below those of the Goofballs.  Kevin relied on huge weeks from Nelson Cruz, Freddie Freeman, and Anthony Rendon.  The trio combined for 11 home runs and 34 RBI.  Rick had a nice week from Joey Votto and Charlie Blackmon, but Kevin’s depth won out.

On pitching, Rick threw many more innings than Kevin.  This gave him and edge in strikeouts and WHIP.  However, Kevin had the better ERA, wins, and saves numbers.  David Price was strong for the Goofballs, but Corey Kluber and Max Scherzer countered for the Possums.  Ultimately, Kevin’s better bullpen lowed his ERA enough to lock down the win for the week.

CM Happy Hollidays (2-9-2) vs.  LK Armadillos (8-4-1)

The week’s most bizarre match belonged to the Armadillos and Happy Hollidays.  After violating the rules for starting pitching, Chris M. had to forfeit for the week.  However, the Hollidays posted good numbers and could have won the week without the extra pitchers.  Chris won home runs, OBP, and SLG versus the Armadillos and had a commanding lead.  Justin Turner was strong, with four home runs, and Yasiel Puig added three more.  The Armadillos had few counters, despite a 16 RBI week from Daniel Murphy.

On pitching, the Armadillos relied on two starts each from Clayton Kershaw and Carlos Carrasco.  The two recorded 45 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched.  However, Carrasco wasn’t effective in run prevention.  Drew Pomeranz struggled in his two starts.  Alex Colome recorded five saves, but the Armadillos were vulnerable in ERA and WHIP.  The Hollidays tried to take advantage but threw 90 innings, many of which were illegal.  A strong week from Lance Lynn evaporated.  It’s impossible to say where the Hollidays would have fallen, but without any starting pitching, the team won three categories with potential in ERA, WHIP, and wins.  Unfortunately, we will never know.  With a new co-owner arriving to shake up the team, the rest of the league will need to pay more attention to this club.

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

The week’s final match saw the Thunderwolves go for the upset against the PhoeGnomes.  Kyle was strong on pitching, and had the best ERA, WHIP, and wins numbers in the league.  He also won strikeouts.  Alex Wood, Yu Darvish, and Aaron Nola totaled 37 strikeouts.  Darvish allowed 9 runs in 11.2 innings, but the rest of Kyle’s staff was dominant enough to offset this poor play.  Heather took saves thanks to a big week from Brandon Kintzler, who had four saves.  Heather had good pitching stats that would have beaten most teams.  However, she was down 1-4 before offense.

The PhoeGnomes excelled with power, spread, and getting on base.  They led the league in all three categories by a substantial margin.  They were also near the top in home runs and RBI.  Seven PhoeGnomes players had at least two home runs.  Andrew McCutchen showed signs of life, and George Springer had a great all-around week.  The Thunderwolves tried to counter with solid production from Rougned Odor and Adrian Beltre.  It wasn’t enough, though, and Heather swept all five categories and escaped with a win.  Kyle could have managed a tie with one more steal and home run, or two more of either category.  Despite the loss, Kyle’s team is playing better and should be taken seriously by the contenders.  Meanwhile, Heather remains the hottest team in the league.

Next Week

The third cycle begins with a crucial match between the Legion and PhoeGnomes.  Both teams need a win, and the Legion hope to stop Heather’s dominance.  The Goofballs and Lannisters meet in a competitive match, as do the Possums and Armadillos.  Rick may need a win to stay in title contention. Finally, the Thunderwolves will test themselves against the Happy Hollidays.  Kyle has too much pride to finish in last place, and knows this is a good chance for a win.

The Legion moved back into first place in the all time Elo ratings after an Armadillos’ loss.  Jeff and Rick gained points, and Heather moved further above 0.500 with a solid win versus the league leaders.

The Armadillos and PhoeGnomes are heavy favorites against the league’s bottom feeders.  Chris and Jeff, along with Rick and Kevin, are essentially coin-flips.

LK Armadillos (8-3-1) vs.  HP PhoeGnomes (7-5)

The week’s most important match of the week featured the Armadillos and PhoeGnomes.  Heather had a chance to pull within a half game out of the league leaders.  A PhoeGnomes victory would also help the Possums and Lannisters against heavy underdogs, and keep the loser of the Legion/Goofballs match close.  Heather delivered with the best overall performance of the week.  The PhoeGnomes had the best steals, OBP, and SLG totals in the league.  Only four PhoeGnomes players had home runs, but Jose Ramirez and Wilson Contreras had three each and 13 total RBI.  Trea Turner had an incredible seven steals, more than any of the team.  However, he was lost for the year with a serious injury.  The Armadillos were not competitive on offense.  Keon Broxton was among the worst players in the league and had a SLG of 0.071.  The Armadillos had the lowest RBI, OBP, and SLG numbers in the league.  Heather earned an easy sweep.

Heather posted good pitching numbers to complement her offense, she had the better ERA, WHIP, and strikeout numbers.  The Armadillos had more wins and saves, but it was far from enough…  Clayton Kershaw’s strong outing was washed out by a Carlos Carrasco disaster.  Heather relied on four good starts from Gio Gonzalez and Chris Sale.  They pitched 26.1 innings, struck out 37, and allowed just three runs.  This was more than enough for Heather to earn the victory for the week.  Heather moved closer to the top of the league with the win.  However, the loss of Turner will test her depth.  The Armadillos will look for answers, especially on offense.

KG Capital City Goofballs (6-4-2) vs.  CP Legion (7-4-1)

With the PhoeGnomes win, Chris had a chance to move into a tie for first place with a victory over the Goofballs.  Kevin needed a win to gain ground, and further legitimize his place at the top of the league.  Chris posted a strong combined attack, much like the PhoeGnomes.  Kevin suffered a power outage and found no help on pitching.  Chris’s best player was Carlos Correa, who had three home runs and 10 RBI.  Aaron Judge was strong as well, with 11 walks and a 0.552 OBP.  Kevin tried to counter, but outside of a four home run week for Elvis Andrus, no other player produced much power.  Only three Goofballs’ regular players had SLG over 0.300.  Chris swept four of five categories and was well on his way to a win.

On pitching, Chris posted good numbers while Kevin struggled.  The Legion’s Jimmy Nelson had a great 11 strikeout start.  Robbie Ray and Luis Severino had bad weeks, but these results were offset by a nice Brad Peacock start and good bullpen work.  The Goofballs got two bad starts from Jose Berrios, one dud from German Marquez, and middling results for Johnny Cueto.  The bullpen was good and led the league in saves.  However, it was far from enough and Chris cruised to a win.  He is now tied with the Armadillos for first place.

JK Lannisters (6-5-1) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (1-9-2)

After a few weeks of better pitching, the Lannisters hoped to gain ground on the leaders against the Thunderwolves.  Kyle has the worst record in the league, but put up excellent numbers in what proved to be a losing effort.  The Thunderwolves had the best pitching stats in the league but a wide margin.  The led the league in ERA and WHIP and were second in wins.  Zack Greinke and James Paxton were dominant.  They pitched 25.1 innings and struck out 25.  Alex Wood and Jordan Montgomery had good single starts.  The Lannisters countered with better strikeout efficiency.  Jacob deGrom and Stephen Strasburg struck out 12 and 13 respectively in 7 innings each.  Rich Hill had two outstanding starts and struck out 18.  Gerrit Cole had another meltdown to spoil the rate stats.  Overall, Kyle held a 3-1-1 lead.

Unfortunately for the underdogs, the Lannisters retaliated with a good offensive showing.  After lacking power last week, Jeff led the league in RBI and was near the top in SLG and OBP.  Mookie Betts broke out of a long slump with three home runs and three steals along with 11 RBI.  Robinson Cano continued to provide steady production at an advanced age.  He had four home runs and nine RBI.  Kyle had good weeks from Adrian Beltre and Rougned Odor, but it wasn’t enough.  The Lannisters even left four home runs on the bench Sunday after the results of the week were already finalized.  Kyle put up a good fight, though, and this was the only match of the week that wasn’t decided well ahead of the weekend.

RK Possums (5-4-3) vs.  CM Happy Hollidays (2-8-2)

The final match of the week saw the Possums meet the Happy Hollidays.  Rick’s team is another that could benefit from the Armadillos’ loss.  Rick responded with the second best offensive week in the league.  He tied for the lead in home runs and was second in OBP and SLG.  Khris Davis had four home runs and Joey Votto added three.  Other starts like Xander Bogaerts and Cody Bellinger struggled, but role player like Jedd Gyorko and Evan Gattis had home runs and good RBI totals.  Chris M.  didn’t have an answer, and posted just three home runs for the week.

The Possums offered enough good pitching to win four categories with ease.  Corey Kluber dominated with 12 strikeouts over 8.0 innings pitched.  Max Scherzer was also superb, winning two games and striking out 18 over 13.0 innings with one earned run allowed.  The Hollidays didn’t have an answer.  Carlos Martinez struggled in two starts, and Ervin Santana collapsed.  Chris’s team had the worst strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP numbers in the league.  Rick earned an easy win, and never hard to worry entering the weekend.

At the half-way point in the season, the standings are as tight as they’ve ever been.  Six teams are within 1.5 games of first place.  Every team owns at least one tiebreaker against a team near them.

Next Week

The long All-Star weekend features two critical battles.  The Legion and Lannisters meet after a draw in their first match.  Both teams need a win and expect a competitive week.  The Possums and Goofballs also collide.  Kevin needs to rebound whereas Rick wants to keep winning.  The Armadillos get a respite and face the Hollidays.  Finally, Heather will try to hold down the Thunderwolves.