A series of weather events spoiled many games in Week 01.  The trend continued for Week 02.  Off days and cancellations created lineup chaos and left managers searching for options.  The net result was two ties and two narrow victories.

KK Thunderwolves (1-0) vs.  RK Possums (1-0)

The week’s most interesting match featured the Thunderwolves and Possums.  Both teams won in Week 01.  Rick was able to remain undefeated with a narrow 5-4-1 win.  The Possums’ best stats came from Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.  The pair made four starts, threw 31 innings pitched, struck out 41, and allowed just three runs.  Verlander had a 0.47 WHIP, but Scherzer was even better at 0.25.  Corey Kluber and Tanner Roark was almost as good in their two starts.  The team’s 0.57 WHIP over 58.1 IP was easily the best in the league and likely a record.

Kyle wasn’t able to compete in ERA or WHIP, but he made up some ground in counting stats.  The Thunderwolves had four wins from starters and a fluke victory from Jeurys Familia.  Poor starts from Alex Wood and Yu Darvish inflated Kyle’s rate stats, and Rick took strikeouts with a league leading total.  Kyle won saves, but Rick carried a 3-0-1 advantage into the hitting categories.

Both teams had good offensive weeks.  The Possums led the league in RBI and Kyle was tied for second in home runs.  Rick had a small lead in SLG while Kyle won steals and OBP by equally thin margins.  The Thunderwolves best player was DJ LeMahieu.  He had three home runs and a 0.800 SLG.  Rick answered with a monster four home run week from Khris Davis (who slugged 0.957).  Charlie Blackmon remained hot amid the rainouts and added two more home runs and a 1.000 SLG.  The Possums did just enough – they won two categories to Kyle’s three.  This was enough for Rick to record a win.

The Thunderwolves’ positive start is welcome, but injuries could be building.  Six of Kyle’s position players used in Week 02 are either on the DL or day-to-day.

JK Lannisters (1-0) vs.  SM Lasershow (1-0)

The other team to record a victory in Week 02 was the Lannisters.  The Lasershow put up a good fight early in the week.  However, the Lannisters’ depth carried the team late in the week.  Neither team had great pitching stats.  The Lannisters had the second-worst ERA in the league and the Lasershow weren’t far behind.  Sean had the fewest strikeouts and Jeff had the lowest win total.  The Lannisters were led by the Astros’ Charlie Morton.  He struck out 12 in just six innings pitched.  His good work was undone by a terrible Jose Quintana effort (2.1 IP / 7 earned runs).  Jameson Taillon had a good start for the Lasershow but Michael Fulmer was dreadful.  The Lannisters took a 3-2 lead thanks to an edge in saves.

The Lannisters were better on offense.  Mike Trout added three home runs while Bryce Harper stayed hot.  Matt Chapman was good in limited duty, as was Corey Seager.  The Lasershow got another good week from Yadier Molina.  Francisco Lindor showed signs of heating up with a 0.636 SLG.  Tommy Pham stole three bases.  Pham was open during the off season about wanting to run more, and he appears to be making good on his promise with five steals already.  By the end of the week Sean won steals with ease but the Lannisters were too much in the other categories.  The Lasershow held a lead early in the week but wasn’t able to close out.  The Lannisters earned an ugly win.  Neither team will be thrilled with their performances, but both have some momentum to carry into Week 03.

LK Armadillos (0-1) vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs (0-1)

The first of two ties this week belongs to the Goofballs and Armadillos.  After rainouts played havoc with both teams’ pitching matchups, the score was left at 5-5.  The two teams used a combined 44 players (22 each) on offense and 22 total pitchers.  This means that the two teams deployed 66 of their 80 total players.  I do not keep records on how many players enter games but this total has to be near the top.  It also demonstrates why the week was so challenging.  Players like Kole Calhoun, Jason Kipnis, Jesse Winker and Max Kepler saw action (though some were simply in games that were eventually rained out and thus contributed no stats.

Kevin had great power for the week.  Ten players hit home runs including two each from Scott Kingery, Javier Baez, and A.J. Pollock.  The Goofballs led the league in homers and SLG.  The Armadillos had good power too, including eight players with home runs.  They also totaled 12 steals thanks to four from Dee Gordon and three from Billy Hamilton.  This number easily led the league.  The Armadillos’ steal total was greater than every other team’s home run total for the week.  The Armadillos also edged a win in RBI despite a strong push by Kevin on Sunday.  Kevin took three categories but it would prove to be insufficient after counting pitching.

Larry went into Sunday losing several categories.  However, he started by Clayton Kershaw and Noah Syndergaard.  The pair scored 23 strikeouts in just 12.1 innings pitched.  At one point, the Mets game was in doubt and Bartolo Colon was the only available starter who could be used late in the day.  The Armadillos picked up Colon, who went into the eighth inning with a perfect game!  He wasn’t needed, though, since the Mets game was not postponed.  Kevin had worse luck with The Cubs/Braves and Twins/White Sox games were postponed.  However, the Armadillos were not able to take strikeouts despite leading the league in ERA and saves.  Four Armadillos’ relievers had at least two saves and Patrick Corbin allowed the most runs for the week at three.  The teams settled for a draw.  Though both would have liked to win, they are probably happy with just avoiding a loss after the chaos during the week.

HP PhoeGnomes (0-1) vs.  CP Legion (0-1)

The week’s final match saw the Legion and PhoeGnomes battle to a strange 4-4-2 tie.  The Legion were strong on offense and were at the top of the league in home runs, SLG, and OBP.  They easily bested Heather’s totals with room to spare in every category but steals.  Paul Goldschmidt led the way with four home runs, eight RBIs, and a 1.042 SLG.  Chris Taylor had a great week in limited time.  He contributed two home runs in just a few games played.  Heather struggled to find any offensive rhythm and ended up at the bottom of the league in all five offensive categories.  She managed to have more RBI than the Lasershow, but was last or tied for last in all four other categories.

Heather fared better on pitching.  She had a great week from Chris Sale who struck out 16 in just 11 IP.  Joey Lucchesi had a nice start as well.  Chris threw fewer innings and had a brilliant week from Carlos Martinez.  He struck out 15 min 13 IP and allowed just one earned run.  All of his good work was undone by a Lance McCullers implosion and general ineffectiveness from the rest of the rotation.  Heather won four categories with ease.  Both teams also recorded just one save.  This was a prime category for one team to gain the advantage but the bad weather again cost both teams.  Like the Armadillos and Goofballs, the Legion and PhoeGnomes are probably happy with a tie.  Both had opportunities and will try to get on track in the coming weeks.

Next Week

The Legion are off to a slow start and have to get things rolling against the Possums.  Rick is one of two undefeated managers and he will try his best to remain at the top of the league.  Heather and the PhoeGnomes take on the Lannisters, who have pitching and injury issues to deal with.  The Lasershow will have to take on the Armadillos, who have put up good numbers despite being winless.  Finally, the Goofballs meet the Thunderwolves.  Both teams need a win to build momentum.