After a wild third week, the Dirt Mountain League has a clear front runner! The Wolf Spiders secured their place at the top of the league with a close win over the Legion. The PhoeGnomes suffered their first loss of the year after a massive performace from the Skyline Sluggers. Both the Armadillos and Hares defeated their rivals to improve to 2-1.

KK Wolf Spiders (2-0) vs. CP Legion (0-2)

The Wolf Spiders showed why they are the defending champs with a close win over the Legion. Kyle relied on strong pitching to sweep all five pitching categories with the best stats in the league. Chris wasn’t able to offer much resistance, but the Legion did manage respectable IP and K totals. What makes Kyle’s pitching even more impressive is that his eight starts came from eight different starters!

The Legion fared better on offense led by a standout week from Nico Hoerner. However, Chris needed to win steals to secure a tie. Despite having seven players with a steal, the Legion were unable to match the Wolf Spiders’ total of 9. Of those 9 steals, 5 belonged to Ronald Acuna Jr.

The win leaves the Wolf Spiders alone in first place, but the poor overall offensive showing means there is still room for improvement. Several teams could have beaten the Wolf Spiders this week, so Kyle can’t remain complacent at the top. The Legion must find some pitching help if they want to begin the journey out of last place.

CM Skyling Sluggers (0-2) vs. HP PhoeGnomes (2-0)

After two tough weeks to start the year, the Skyline Sluggers rallied to give the PhoeGnomes their first taste of defeat this year. Charlie led the league in runs an dRBI, and was second in home runs. Hunter Renfroe had a great week with three homers, and Heather couldn’t compete in any category.

The Sluggers also had excellent pitching, led by Jacob deGrom’s two starts with 16 strikeouts over 10 IP. The team’s stats would have been even better without a blowup from reliever AJ Minter. Kevin Gausman’s struggles doomed any hope Heather had for a tie.

This match revealed that the Skyline Sluggers are no longer a doormat team, and that they intend to compete this season. Charlie’s team is vastly improved, and will be a threat to anyone. With better luck in Week #01, they could be 2-1. The PhoeGnomes were an early season pick to contend for the title, so Heather has to hope this week was an aberration. They should be fine, but the week might serve as a wake-up call for any overconfident players.

JK Hares (1-1) vs. KG Capital City Goofballs (1-1)

After a dismal offensive week, the Hares rebounded to bludgeon the Goofballs. A slew of un-drafted pickups powered the Hares to the league lead in home runs. Max Muncy contribted five for the week along with 9 RBI, a steal, and a 1.815 OPS. After shaming himself in Week #02, Mike Trout rebounded to contribute 4 home runs and a 1.318 OPS. The Goofballs were able to take steals, but the team failed to mount a further challenge on offense.

Neither team excelled on the pitching side, but the Goofballs were worse in critical rate stats. Four players gave up 5 or more earned runs for the week. The Hares had similar numbers, but more in the 3-4 earned run range. This gave the team enough quality to win the rate stats and secure the week.

The Hares normally rely on pitching to win, so it was a nice break to have a good offensive performance. They improve to 2-1, but know that they are a long way from competing from the title. The Goofballs fall to 1-2, and (as usual) need pitching help to compete. However, Kevin often makes shrewd pickups, and will definitely work to improve the team.

LK Armadillos (1-1) vs. RK Possums (1-1)

The week’s final match saw the Armadillos defeat their bitter rival, the Possums. The matchup was quite close, and both teams had great pitching performances. The Armaidllos were able to win the rate stats, while the Possums held the advantage in K and IP. Larry led the league in saves, and took a 3-2 lead.

On offense, the Possums tried to rally and had decent numbers. Adolis Garcia had a monster week with 8 runs scored, 4 home runs, and 14 RBI! However, the rest of the team couldn’t match his effort. The Armadillos countered with James Outman’s big week with 4 home runs. J.T. Realmuto had three steals, and the Armadillos cruised to a 4-1 category win, conceding only runs to the Possums.

Like the PhoeGnomes, the Possums will need to look for more offense to get back to 0.500. Perhaps the return of Fernando Tatis Jr will provide some needed inspiration. The Armadillos took care of business, and will be dangerous if they can continue to find solid pitching.

Player of the Week

This week’s player of the week is a tie between Adolis Garcia and Max Muncy! Both players put up absolutely monster numbers, especially since they are not considered superstars.

The pair combined for 15 hits, 9 HR, 21 RBI, 11 walks, and an OPS of ~1750. Congratulations to both players for putting up such insane numbers for their teams!

Next Week

Week #04 offers several promising match-ups. The Legion are absolutely desperate for a win versus the hot Skyline Sluggers. The Armadillos will try to keep winning against the Hares.

The Goofballs will look to bounce-back against the PhoeGnomes in an intriguing match-up that will tell us a lot about where each team stands in the fight for the title. Finally, the Possums will look to hand the Wolf Spiders their first loss of the year.

After the first two weeks of the season, two teams stand undefeated. The defending champion Wolf Spiders and PhoeGnomes are alone at the top of the league.

Four teams are off to 1-1 starts, including the Hares, Armadillos, Possums, and Goofballs.

Two teams are at the bottom with 0-2 records – the Skyline Sluggers and Legion. However, both teams have reason for optimism as they were close in each of their defeats.

Early Category Leaders

There are clear learders in several categories to start the year. The PhoeGnomes, Wolf Spiders, and Armadills have over 92 runs each after just two weeks. By comparison, the Hares lag behind iwth just 67.

The Possums have the most home runs, beating the PhoeGnomes by three with 30 total. They are also tied for the lead with the PhoeGnomes in RBI with 97. As expected, the Armadillos lead the league in steals with 25 and the Hares are last with just 7.

OPS, our best measure of overall offensive performance, varies wildly across the league. The PhoeGnomes are far above the rest of the league at 0.9013. The Hares are in last place with a dismal 0.6379.

On the pitching side, the Hares are faring better. They are close to the league lead in stikeounts, ERA, and WHIP. The Wolf Spiders are near the top as well in all pitching categories expcept for saves. Heather leads that category as well with 10. The Goofballs and Skyline Sluggers lag far behind with just 3 each.

The msot notable theme is that outside of the PhoeGnomes and Wolf Spiders, not team feels complete. The Legion have decent offensive totals, but their pitching is behind only the Skyline Sluggers to start the year. Charlie’s team also has acceptable offensive totals, but poor pitching ratios. However, there is a silver lining for Charlie as the team has great strikeout numbers, especially with the fewest IP in the league.

Other teams in the middle of the pack need to address shortcomings on at least one side of the ledger to remain competitive with the elite teams. The Possums, Armadillos, and Goofballs are all viable contenders if they can add hitting or pitching respectively.

Players of the Week

The Player of the Week for Week #02 is Ronald Acuna! The Wolf Spiders’ superstar lifted Kyle to a win instead of a loss or tie.

Acuna managed an 12/25 hit total with 2 steals, 6 RBI and runs, and a homer. He proudced an incredible 1.232 OPS for the week.

Without Acuna’s standout performance, The Skyline Sluggers would have won steals and probably OPS, which would have been more than enough to flip the week to his side.

The Goat of the Week on offense was the Hare’s Mike Trout. The former superstar managed to go just 4/23 ith no home runs and only 3 runs and RBI.

On the pitching side, the Wolf Spiders were able to overcome a deplorable week from Sandy Alcantara, who gave up 13 earned runs in just 10.0 IP.

Week #03 Preview

The most interesting matchup for Week #03 is the Legion versus the Wolf Spiders. Chris is desperate for a win, and to complete his quest to win the title after an 0-2 start. He has the benefit of facing Kyle’s team a week after the Wolf Spider’s best pitchers each threw two games a piece. This means Kyle will have to rely on his lower-tier starters for counting stats. This might give the Legion the opportunity they need.

Another good match is between the Possums and Armadillos. These two teams have a lone history of rivalry, and both would prefer to be 2-1.

Elsewhere the PhoeGnomes face the Skyline Sluggers. While this match appears to favor Heather, Charlie’s squad has improved and is eager for a win. Finally, the Hares face the Goofballs, in a match that always brings strategy to play.