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.