The season opened with several impressive upsets.  The Thunderwolves, Lasershow, and Possums all took advantage of a long week to capture victories.  The Lannisters were to only favorite to win, but they had to fight off a determined Goofballs effort.  The long week gave teams the chance to start their best pitchers as many as three times.  A series of rainouts and odd scheduling decisions caused chaos as managers would find players inexplicably locked out of their lineups from postponements.  When put together, these factors created a volatile environment that produced unusual results.

HP PhoeGnomes vs.  SM Lasershow

The most surprising result of the week saw the Lasershow upset the PhoeGnomes.  Sean improved his team through trades and the draft this offseason.  However, he was still at a disadvantage to Heather’s star power.  He made up the difference with a strong pitching week.  The Lasershow had the best ERA in the league.  This is even more impressive considering the worst ERA was just 3.59.  Jameson Taillon was the star of the week with 14.1 innings pitched, five hits, and 16 strikeouts.  Archie Bradley and Michael Fulmer contributed great stats as well.

It seems like Heather should have been more competitive in ERA.  Luke Weaver, Gio Gonzalez, and Chris Sale combined for six starts, 33.2 IP, 38 strikeouts, and just five earned runs.  Their solid work was undone by a bad week from Blake Parker, a reliever.  He gave up four earned runs in just 4.2 IP.  Aaron Sanchez was worse for the Lasershow (7 earned runs in 11.2 IP) but Sean’s bullpen was more efficient.  The team also recorded seven more strikeouts over eight more innings pitched than the PhoeGnomes.  This gave Sean a 2-2-1 tie heading into the hitting categories.

Both teams struggled offensively, but Sean edged a win with good home run and RBI totals.  Justin Smoak had two homers and 10 RBI.  Yadier Molina was solid in part time duty with two home runs.  Other players like David Peralta had good OBPs (0.478) and SLGs (0.529).  This was enough to yield category victories in home runs, RBIs, SLG, and OBP.  Heather led the league in steals thanks to Trea Tuner, but the rest of the team struggled.  Paul DeJong managed a SLG of 0.067 in 15 at bats.  No PhoeGnome with more than 10 at bats had a SLG over 0.500.  The end result was an upset for Sean and a series of lingering questions for Heather.  Sean has also won the most opening day match-ups (three) over the past four seasons.  He hopes to continue the trend and move into the upper tier of the league.

RK Possums vs.  LK Armadillos

The Possums and Armadillos are known for having tough, intense battles.  This week was no exception.  Both teams had strong power numbers, but oddly low rate stats.  Each team had 14 home runs and combined for 80 RBIs.  However, neither team was able to get over 0.400 SLG and only the Possums were able to get their OBP over 0.300.

Charlie Blackmon had four home runs and Joey Gallo added three for the Possums.  Five other Possums players had homers as well.  Didi Gregorious added two steals and a solid OBP and SLG in limited work.  Other Possums stars were less efficient at getting on base.  Gallo and Khris Davis were well below 0.300.  Joey Votto managed just a 0.226 SLG.  These results caused an odd mix of high home run and RBI totals but low rate stats.

The Armadillos had ten different players with home runs, including three from Giancarlo Stanton.  Starling Marte added two steals.  Nick Castellanos had 11 hits to lead the team.  However, only three Armadillos’ players had an OBP over 0.350.  Gary Sanchez had a particularly bad week.  He had just two hits in 31 at bats.  Dee Gordon’s three steals gave Larry the category, and the Armadillos took OBP.  The Possums grabbed both rate stats, and the teams tied in home runs.  This meant pitching would decide the match-up.

Rick relied on two starts each from three of his best pitchers – Scherzer, Kluber, and Tanaka.  The three answered the challenge with 38.1 innings pitched, eight earned runs, and 46 strikeouts.  This set a strong foundation that was supplemented by good bullpen work.  The Armadillos countered with Clayton Kershaw and Noah Syndergaard.  The duo started five games, but were more hittable than Rick’s best pitchers.  More importantly, they only earned one win between them (despite a really good week from Kershaw).  The teams threw about the same number of innings but Rick recorded ten more strikeouts.  Larry dominated saves, but the team couldn’t compete in ERA or WHIP.

The pitching stalemate gave Rick a close 5-3-2 victory.  The Armadillos had a good chance to earn a tie at the end, but fell just one home run and win short.  Both teams have concerns on the offensive side, but the pitching performances were both encouraging.  The Armadillos will need to regroup while the Possums can carry some confidence into their next matchup.

KK Thunderwolves vs. CP Legion

The week’s third upset featured the Thunderwolves overtaking the Legion.  Kyle relied on a surprising offensive output and an incredible bullpen to gain the victory.  Kyle’s stars included Ryan Braun and Gregory Polanco.  The two each and two home runs and combined for 13 RBI.  Rhys Hoskins added a home run and two steals.  Dansby Swanson showed improvement with a home run, a steal, and OBP and SLG near the top of the team.  Swanson was a bust last season, and Kyle needs him to make significant progress to compete.  He showed positive signs in Week 01.

Chris suffered the same fate as Rick and Larry – his team hit a lot of home runs but struggled to get men on base or develop a high SLG number.  Miguel Sano had the best week with three home runs and a 0.727 SLG.  Paul Goldschmidt had 10 walks and Aaron Judge provided some power.  Carlos Correa started strong with two home runs and nine RBI, but there was little other power to be found.  Kyle had a strong lead in steals and took three other categories to Chris’s one (home runs).

The Legion fared better in pitching.  They led the league in strikeouts and wins by a wide margin.  They were near the top in ERA and WHIP and tied for the lead in saves.  Luis Severino and Carlos Martinez combined for four starts, 29 strikeouts, three wins, and just six earned runs.  Robbie Ray struggled in two starts, but did manage 17 strikeouts over 11 innings pitched.  Roberta Osuna was a star out of the bullpen with four saves.  Kyle answered with a huge week from Jeurys Familia who had four saves of his own.  The teams tied for the league lead with eight saves.  Chris had a clear edge in strikeouts, wins, and ERA.  However, Kyle had a superior WHIP.  Carlos Martinez and Robbie Ray each allowed eight walks.  By comparison, Aaron Nola gave up the most for Kyle and had only 5 in 10.1 innings.  Kyle’s pitchers were less wild and his edge in the category gave him a narrow 5-4-1 win.

After a challenging season, Kyle is likely thrilled to open the year win a win.  The Legion are stunned but will try to rebound when the schedule evens out.

JK Lannisters vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs

The week’s final match didn’t feature an upset but it was still competitive until the end.  The Goofballs started strong with a good offensive push.  Brian Dozier had four home runs and a steal.  Freddie Freeman had a monster week with two home runs, 11 RBI, and 13 walks.  Elvis Andrus started strong with a home run and an OBP over 0.400.  In total, ten different Goofballs had home runs.

The Lannisters started the week cold but answered late in the week with an explosion of power.  The Lannisters led the league in home runs, RBI, OBP, and SLG.  They even finished second in steals.  Mike Trout started strong with three home runs and two steals.  Bryce Harper was unstoppable with six home runs, 12 RBI, 13 walks, and a steal.  The Lannisters depth showed its strength, too.  Justin Upton and Marcell Ozuna each had a home run and combined to slug well over 0.600 in part-time duty.  The offensive sweep put the Lannisters into a good position.

On pitching, neither team was as effective as some others in the league.  Gerrit Cole was a star for the defending champs – he threw 14 innings and struck out 22.  Much of his good work was undone by a terrible outing from Jon Lester.  Wade Davis led the way from the bullpen with four saves.  Kevin had a good week from David Price, but the team’s other starters were up and down.  Jose Berrios had one good start and one weak one.  The Goofballs had about eight more innings pitched than the Lannisters, but they lost the strikeouts category.  The Lannisters managed a few more saves and wins, and took the week with relative comfort by the weekend.

The Goofballs can take some comfort in their collective performance.  They would have been competitive against all of the other teams in the league.  The Lannisters put the league on notice that their offense is still a force and the pitching staff is showing signs of improvement.

Next Week

Now that the first long week is over, teams can prepare for more regular schedules and off-days in Week 02.  The Lasershow will try to continue their strong performances against the tough Lannister squad.  The Goofballs and Armadillos will try to pick up their first wins, as will the PhoeGnomes and Legion.  Finally, the Possums and Thunderwolves meet in an earlier battle to stay undefeated.