SM Lasershow (5-10-4) vs.  RK Possums (13-3-3)

The Possums were able to hold off a game Lasershow squad to remain tied for first place.  Sean tried to battle Rick on the Possum’s own strengths.  Sean dominated ERA and WHIP with impressive totals that led the league in a week with lots of good pitching.  Zach Wheeler picked up a win and struck out 14 over 14.0 innings pitched.  He had an ERA of just 0.64.  Despite this great performance, Rick countered with a few more innings pitched and more strikeout efficiency.  The Possums easily won strikeouts and wins, and took saves with the Lasershow were blanked.  The Possums took three categories despite Sean’s best efforts.

On offense, Sean put up another good fight but couldn’t quite match the league leaders.  Travis Shaw and Salvador Perez had two home runs, but the Possums countered with three homers from Khris Davis and two each from Xander Bogaerts, Eugenio Suarez, and Joey Gallo.  This tied Rick for the league lead in the category.  Sean had a good RBI total, but Rick had the edge here as well.  The Possums also had more steals and the better rate stats.  This resulted in a strong 8-2 win for Rick, but the Lasershow put up a good fight.

LK Armadillos (14-4-1) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (7-11-1)

The closest match of the week featured the Armadillos and the Thunderwolves.  Kyle’s team has been improving lately and held the lead for most of the week.  His offense was on fire.  Dansby Swanson had three home runs and eight other players had at least one.  This helped Kyle tie for the league lead in the category.  He also led the league in steals, thanks to two from J.T. Realmuto and several other players.  The Armadillos didn’t hand an answer for home runs, RBI, and steals.  However, they were more competitive in OBP and SLG.  JD Martinez didn’t have any home runs but he had a 0.560 SLG.  Kendry Morales was on fire with four home runs and a 1.200 SLG.  Nick Castellanos was also strong with a home run and a 0.750 SLG.  It appears that the Armadillos had just enough power to edge out two categories.

Both teams had good pitching.  The Armadillos got a strong start from Clayton Kershaw.  Several other players had strong starts and the bullpen didn’t allow and earned run.  Edwin Diaz had three saves.  Both teams threw about the same number of innings, but Larry had a few more strikeouts.  However, Kyle struck back with five wins including two from Chas Anderson.  Unfortunately for the Thunderwolves, the team’s bullpen let them down.  Cody Allen and Kirby Yates had horrible ERAs.  This gave Larry just enough room to take both rate categories on the week’s final day.  Larry earned a close victory and remains in a tie for first place.  Like the Lasershow, the Thunderwolves put up a strong fight and almost earned the upset.

JK Lannisters (9-4-6) vs.  CP Legion (7-7-5)

The week’s biggest grudge match paired the Lannisters and Legion.  After some down weeks, Jeff’s team finally showed some life and took advantage of a poor Legion offensive effort.  Chris struggled near the bottom of all offensive categories.  Meanwhile, the Lannisters enjoyed a three home run week from Manny Machado.  Daniel Murphy added two more.  Ender Inciarte was strong in a single start.  Chris managed to tie in saves and the Lannisters won RBI by one.  However, this was enough for the Lannisters to take a 4-1 lead.

On pitching, both teams were strong.  The Legion led the league in wins with six.  Blake Snell was especially strong in two starts with 19 strikeouts and two wins.  However, other pitchers like Zach Eflin struggled.  This gave the Lannisters room and they enjoyed good starts across the board.  Rich Hill and Walker Buehler didn’t allow an earned run.  This was just enough to win ERA and WHIP.  Thanks to the strong offensive numbers, the Lannisters coasted to a 6-3-1 win.  Although the Lannisters are likely out of the battle for first, they are not yet giving up.

HP PhoeGnomes (5-12-2) vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs (3-12-4)

The week’s final match saw the Goofballs earn a win against the PhoeGnomes.  Both teams have struggled this year and Kevin was desperate for a victory.  His win stemmed from great pitching.  He had the second best ERA and WHIP in the league thanks to a series of strong starts.  Kyle Hendricks was the best with two starts and a 1.29 ERA.  David Price was excellent and didn’t allow an earned run in his single start.  Kevin easily took wins.  However, Heather was more efficient in fewer innings and took strikeouts.  She also took saves thanks to three from Bud Norris.  This gave Kevin a slim 3-2 lead.

On offense, Kevin was superior in most categories.  Javier Baez led the way with three home runs and eight RBI.  Anthony Rizzo had two, as did Kyle Schwarber.  Five players had steals.  This was enough to win several categories.  Heather was able to take OBP but the power just wasn’t there.  Ronald Acuna Jr. had two home runs and a 0.607 SLG.  Nolan Arenado was solid, but it wasn’t enough.  Kevin took four categories and captures a strong 7-3 win.  While the Goofballs have suffered through a miserable season, Kevin can take some solace in picking up the win here.

Next Week

The week’s biggest match features the Possums and Lannisters.  Rick will have to fight hard to hold on to first place.  The Armadillos turn their attention to the Legion in their quest to advance.  The Lasershow and Goofballs meet, as do the Thunderwolves and PhoeGnomes.

RK Possums (10-3-5) vs.  CP Legion (5-6-5)

The Possums remained in first place with the best all-around performance in the league for Week 17.  Rick led the league in strikeouts, WHIP, and ERA.  He tied for first in wins and saves.  The strong pitching effort was led by Corey Kluber, Justin Verlander, and Miles Mikolas.  The trio was dominant, while Trevor Bauer and Max Scherzer contributed good starts.  The Legion were not competitive in pitching after a down week from Robbie Ray and the continued struggles of Luis Severino.  Carlos Martinez landed on the DL, as did Lance McCullers Jr..  Hector Rondon picked up two saves and Julio Teheran got a win, but that was all of the Legion could offer.  Rick claimed a 5-0 sweep.

The Possums also put up solid offensive numbers.  Joey Gallo and Khris Davis each had three home runs.  Evan Gattis led the team with a 0.733 SLG.  Charlie Blackmon was ineffective, but Didi Gregorious made up for it with a nice two home run week.  The Legion tried to stay close, and led the league in steals.  Jose Ramirez captured three and Cody Bellinger added two more.  The team totaled and incredible nine.  They also posted the better OBP thanks to Ramirez and a good week from Paul Goldschmidt and several role players.  Unfortunately for Chris, the Possums had too much of a lead from pitching and the week’s result was never in doubt.  The Possums cruised to an 8-2 win and remain tied for first place.

HP PhoeGnomes (5-9-2) vs.  JK Lannisters (8-2-6)

After a series of close contests, the Lannisters finally caught a break against the PhoeGnomes.  Jeff’s squad led the league in home runs, OBP, and SLG while finishing second in RBI.  The strong offensive base came from a red-hot Nelson Cruz and Jose Abreu.  The pair combined for seven home runs and 14 RBI.  Asdrubal Cabrera had a good week with two home runs and four RBI.  The multi-position player had a 0.680 SLG for the week.  Abreu led the team with a 1.000 SLG and Bryce Harper came in at 0.857.  Heather had a good week from Joc Pederson, who had three home runs.  She also took steals thanks to four from Trea Tuner.  However, this was the only category in which the PhoeGnomes were competitive and the Lannisters took at 4-1 lead into the pitching categories.

Heather’s pitching was never a factor thanks to a nightmare outing from Steven Matz.  He was injured after just 0.2 innings pitched.  He allowed seven earned runs, had a 94.50 ERA and 13.50 WHIP.  Jhoulys Chacin wasn’t a lot better – he allowed eight earned runs in just 4.1 innings pitched.  His 16.62 ERA, when paired with Matz’s debacle, took heather out of contention for the rate stats.  The Lannisters didn’t have the best pitching, and the bullpen didn’t contribute.  However, Heather’s ERA hole was far too deep, and the Lannsiters held on for a 6-3-1 win that wasn’t as close as the score indicated.  Jeff’s team remains firmly in the hunt for the title despite massive injury woes.

SM Lasershow (4-8-4) vs.  LK Armadillos (11-4-1)

The Armadillos barely held on to beat the Lasershow and remain tied for first place.  Neither team had strong offensive numbers.  Both sides struggled to get their SLG over 0.400.  The Lasershow had more home runs thanks to two each from Travis Shaw and Christian Yelich.  Yelich had 12 total hits and a 0.723 SLG.  The Armadillos countered with a big week from Trevor Story, who had three home runs and 10 RBI.  Five different Armadillos had a steal.  This led to a relative split – Sean took three categories to the Armadillos’ two.

The Lasershow had decent pitching and easily beat the Armadillos in ERA.  However, Larry’s team threw more innings and had better strikeouts and saves totals.  Derek Rodriguez was the only player on the Armadillos to throw more than six innings in his start.  Jack Flaherty and Luke Weather were atrocious in two starts, but their low innings totals helped the Armadillos fight back in WHIP.  Sean’s fewer innings pitched meant that his relievers had more influence on WHIP, and a handful of bad outings (including one on Sunday) flipped the critical category.  The Armadillos escaped with a narrow win and maintain their dreams of another title.

KG Capital City Goofballs (3-9-4) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (5-10-1)

The week’s final match was for pride, as the two teams were both at the bottom of the standings.  The Thunderwolves rose to the occasion and dominated the Goofballs to stay out of last place.  In fact, the Thunderwolves posted the second-best week behind the Possums thanks to their strong pitching.  Aaron Nola and James Paxton were great in four total starts.  They threw 28.0 innings pitched, struck out 23, and had a combined 1.93 ERA.  Vince Velasquez had a nice start as well.  The Goofballs weren’t competitive after a Tyler Skaggs implosion.  However, Kevin’s team was more efficient and racked up strikeouts despite giving up more runs.  They also earned more wins, though two of them came from bullpen arms.  This caused a 2-2-1 tie before counting batting.

Kyle put up the best offensive numbers besides the Lannsiters.  He led the league in RBI, was second in SLG, and near the top in home runs and OBP.  The key was Rougned Odor, who had four home runs and 10 RBI.  He had a 0.520 OBP and 1.053 SLG for the week.  Rhys Hoskins had a strong week, and Shin-Soo Choo added two home runs.  Kevin got a big week from Javier Baez, but it wasn’t enough.  Kyle dominated up and down the lineup and took all five categories.  The win keeps Kyle out of last place, and continues the Goofballs’ 2018 misery.  The win shifts Kyle all the way into fifth place, just a game behind the Legion for fourth.  Kevin is now a full game behind both the PhoeGnomes and Lasershow in the quest to stay out of the league’s basement.

Next Week

Week 18 had one monster contest – the Lannisters and Armadillos meet in what is almost a must-win for the Lannisters.  The Possums take on the PhoeGnomes, who struggled mightily last week and have something to prove.  The Legion hope to stay in the first division and battle the fading Goofballs.  Finally, the Thunderwolves hope they can stay hot against the Lasershow.  Both teams have shown improved play lately, and this could be an interesting match.