Note on Week 03

I’m sorry for the lack of a League Update last week.  I moved to NYC and my computer and most of my stuff was either in transit or inaccessible.  I’ve got everything unpacked now, and this shouldn’t be an issue in the future.

CP Legion (2 – 1) vs.  RK Possums (2 – 1)

The week’s best match paired the Legion and Possums, two of last season’s top teams.  Both teams were off to a good start, but the Legion earned a dominant victory that saw him lead the league in many categories.  Chris’s standout performers were his pitchers.  They led the league in ERA and WHIP by a wide margin.  They tied for the lead in quality starts.  Chris Paddack had the best start of the week, allowing no earned runs and just one hit and walk along with nine strikeouts.  This effort, when paired with a dominant bullpen showing from Roberto Osuna, handed the Legion a tiny 0.59 WHIP.  This was easily the best number in the league and was less than half of some other team’s totals.  Trevor Williams and Caleb Smith also had strong performances.  Rick’s pitchers threw more innings than Chris’s team, and he easily won strikeouts.  Max Scherzer was especially strong.  The team was good enough to tie quality starts, but Rick was still well behind before counting offense.

The Legion managed a dominant offensive showing to go along with their pitching.  They had the second highest SLG, OBP, and home run numbers in the league.  They were tops in RBI and tied for the lead in steals.  Nolan Arenado and Cody Bellinger had three home runs each and totaled 17 RBI.  Seven other Legion players also added at least one home run.  The Possums weren’t able to keep pace.  Their offense suffered a down week and surrendered all three categories to the Legion.  This gave Chris a comfortable win against a marquee team.  He is now in first place with his only loss a close one to the Lannisters.  Rick falls back to 0.500, and the Possums will hope for a rebound and more consistency next week.

HP PhoeGnomes (1 – 2) vs.  KG Capital City Goofballs (1 – 2)

Although the Legion are the story of the week, Kevin made it back to 0.500 with a strong showing against the PhoeGnomes.  Kevin led the league in home runs and was second in RBI.  He was also near the top in steals and SLG.  Leading the way were Javier Baez, Juan Soto, and Freddie Freeman.  Each player had three home runs, and the group totaled 19 RBI.  Soto also added two steals.  Nine total Goofballs hit a home run, though the team’s OBP number was still low.  OBP aside, the Goofballs easily won four categories.  The PhoeGnomes had the second lowest home run and SLG totals in the league.  No PhoeGnome had multiple home runs.  Overall, the disappointing offensive showing left Heather in a tough position on the pitching side.

The Goofballs do a great job of finding quality matchups on the offensive side.  However, their pitching remains shaky despite the team deploying hordes of players on the mound.   Ten Goofballs players combined for the second worst ERA in the league.  Domingo German was a small bright spot in two starts, but the team struggled to record strikeouts over 51.0 IP.  The PhoeGnomes threw nine fewer innings and had five more strikeouts.  They also had a better ERA neither team had good WHIP or saves numbers.  They split the two categories, which was enough to secure victory for the Goofballs.  This improves Kevin’s record back to even, while the PhoeGnomes are stuck looking for answers.  Neither team’s pitching is good enough to contend right now, and both will need to search the waiver wires for more possible starters.

JK Lannisters (2 – 1) vs.  KK Thunderwolves (1 – 1 – 1)

The strangest match of the week paired the Lannisters and Thunderwolves.  After a series of injuries decimated his starting lineup, the Lannisters offered a putrid offensive effort.  The team had the lowest home run and SLG totals in the league.  The RBI and OBP numbers were also near the bottom.  Kyle capitalized with a nice offensive effort that easily won all but one category.  Eduardo Escobar and Rhys Hoskins each had three home runs and totaled 16 RBI.  Gleyber Torres had three stolen bases, despite the Lannisters’ winning the category.  Michael Brantley had two home runs, and Whit Merrifield and David Peralta each had SLG over 0.570.  The Thunderwolves picked up four categories with ease.

On pitching, the Lannisters had bizarre results.  They led the league in saves with seven.  They also tied for the lead in quality starts and were tied for second in strikeouts, one behind the leader.  However, they also had the worst ERA and WHIP in the league.  How did this happen?  Three of the eight starts for the Lannisters were horrible, and the rest were quite good.  Jake Arrieta, Carlos, Rodon, and Jacob deGrom gave up 21 earned runs for the week.  The rest of the staff gave up only seven.  By comparison, Kyle’s staff gave up just 22 earned runs total.  The trio of horrible starts doomed the Lannisters in the rate categories they desperately needed.  Kyle had fair pitching numbers, including an excellent week from J.A. Happ.  This was enough to earn a safe 6-4 win.  Both teams are now 2 – 2, and each needs to find some consistency and heath if they want to contend.

LK Armadillos (1 – 1 – 1) vs.  SM Lasershow (1 – 2)

The week’s final match was much closer than the final score indicates.  The Armadillos won a lopsided victory, but almost all of the categories were close.  Home runs, steals, SLG, strikeouts, quality starts, ERA, and WHIP were all in play on the last day of the week.  Sean didn’t have luck on his side this time.  Both teams had great pitching.  They tied in quality starts and split ERA and WHIP.  The Armadillos threw more innings and had a great week from Jack Flaherty.  The Lasershow countered with a nice effort from Marco Gonzales.  Mike Minor piled up strikeouts, but also gave up a few too many runs to have an excellent week.  The Lasershow bullpen struggled, and the Armadillos won the category without difficulty.  This gave Larry a 3-1-1 lead in a closely-fought battle.

On offense, there were even more close categories.  The Armadillos swept home runs, OBP, and SLG.  However, they won home runs but just one and SLG was only 0.032 apart.  Ozzie Albies had three home runs for the Armadillos.  Trevor Story added two more, and six other Armadillos had one each.  Sean countered with a great week from Travis Shaw, who had three home runs.  Christian Yelich had one home run and three steals.  Andrelton Simmons and a nice 0.636 SLG.  Despite this effort, the Armadillos were able to get just a little more production from their stars and took the week.  Both teams had a shot, and Sean can look to build on this balanced effort next week.

Next Week

The best match of Week 05 is probably the Armadillos and Goofballs.  The two teams are probably the most tactical pair in the league and always try to outmaneuver other teams.  The Legion are heavy favorites over the PhoeGnomes while the Lannisters and Possums will face strong opposition from the Lasershow and Thunderwolves respectively.