League Update

Week #11 saw a few surprising results as close battles raged across the league. The Armadillos suffered a setback against the hot PhoeGnomes squad. The Possums again put-up solid numbers to beat the Goofballs. The Kraken squeaked by the Hares in a week with two dominant sides for each time. Finally, the Skyline Sluggers returned to 0.500 by bringing down the defending champions!

RK Possums (3-6) vs. KG Capital City Goofballs (3-3-3)

The biggest winner of the week was the Possums. Rick’s team continued a run of improved play by defeating the Goofballs by the widest margin of any team. This result came about in a familiar motif – the Goofballs offense was solid, but the pitching staff faltered. Rick was able to win with only one offensive category – steals. Nine Possums managed at least one steal and Jarren Duran had 3. The Goofballs posted good offensive numbers with good weeks from Rafael Devers and Bryce Harper. Each had OPS values north of 1.000. Devers contributed 2 home runs. Rick managed to tie that category, but Kevin had a 3-1-1 lead.

The Goofballs suffered a horrific week on the mound. The team allowed a shocking 26 earned runs in just 39.2 IP. They did not record a single save. In fact, the Goofballs pitching staff would not have recorded a category win or tie against any other team in the league. The team’s stats were truly shocking and horrifying to view. Jesus Luzardo allowed the most runs with 9 in 4.1 IP. Frankie Montas was so bad he recorded a 27.00 ERA and 6.00 WHIP for his start. Evan Phillips suffered a meltdown and managed a 27.00 ERA. What makes the final stats even more incredible were that Jack Flaherty, Nick Lodolo, and Logan Webb each allowed 2 earned runs or fewer in their starts. Rick won by merely showing up and starting enough pitchers to qualify for the rate categories.

The Possums picked up a nice win and have shown definite improvement in the last few weeks. The loss is yet another humiliation for the Goofballs pitching staff. One must wonder how long Kevin will tolerate this level of performance without making major changes.

CM Skyline Sluggers (4-5) vs. KK Wolf Spiders (6-2-1)

The week’s second-best win belonged to the Skyline Sluggers. After a few down weeks, some were doubting Charlie’s ability to continue his improved play. He answered these questions with a resounding win over the champs. The story here is eerily like that of the Possums. The only offensive category that Charlie won was steals. Leading the way was Luis Rengifo was 4 in relatively light duty. Kyle took all of the other categories with solid stats up and down the lineup.

Again, just like the Possums/Goofballs contest, Charlie won by default on pitching. Kyle starters served up a week as deplorable as that of the Goofballs. Adam Mazur was most of the lot. The Padres legend allowed a whopping 8 earned runs in just 3.0 IP. Jameson Taillon was driven to drink his namesake whiskey after allowing a ludicrous 10 hits and a walk in 5.0 IP. Clay Holmes had two saves, but Ryan Helsley and Hector Neris equalized and eventually won the category. This gave Charlie a sweep of all five categories.

Just like the Possums, the Sluggers basically won by default. Again, like the Possums, they didn’t have great overall stats, but when your opponent has a collapse, all you need to do is take advantage and not overthink the moment. Charlie is not back to 0.500 and the Wolf Spiders are looking for a spark after losing their superstar player for the year.

HP PhoeGnomes (4-5) vs. LK Armadillos (7-1-1)

On paper, this matchup looked intriguing before the week began. Heather’s team was hot, but so were the Armadillos. The matchup was incredibly close for the week and the eventual 5-5 tie was probably a fair outcome for both teams.

Larry had the advantage on offense thanks to the league’s second highest home run totals. The Armadillos also tied for the league lead in RBI and were second in OPS. TJ Friedl and Jose Ramirez were both solid with 2 home runs each. Friedl also had 7 RBI, 6 runs, and 2 steals. His OPS was 1.037, making him the best overall contributor. Heather was able to rally and take RBI and steals. Adley Rutschman added 11 RBI and 3 home runs. Bobby Witt Jr. had 2 steals and a 1.156 OPS. Both teams were super solid up and down the lineup.

Although Larry had a slight lead on offense, Heather was able to strike back on pitching. Her squad posted amazing numbers in a lot of innings thrown. Framber Valez had a complete game shutout with 8 strikeouts. Carrett Crochet had 10 strikeouts in just 6.0 IP. Chris Sale added 10 more in 7.0 IP. They combined to allow just 2 earned runs. Jhoan Duran suffered a blown save that would eventually prove to be important. It should also be noted that Heather’s team absolutely destroyed the rest of the league with a 0.649 WHIP. The Armadillos opted for quality over quantity and it somehow worked. The team squeaked by with a 1.91 ERA in just 42.1 IP. This was a far cry from Heather’s 61.2 IP. The team also recorded 2 saves, which was enough to flip the category thanks to Duran’s folly. No Armadillo allowed more than 2 earned runs, and it was enough to win two categories and create a 5-5 tie for the week. Both teams deserved a win based on their good numbers. In fact, both teams would have crushed every other team besides the Kraken and in Larry’s case, the Hares. The tie is probably the most fair result with all things considered.

CP Kraken (3-5-1) vs. JK Hares (3-6)

The week’s final match was yet another close affair. The Kraken and Hares had weeks that were mirror images of each other on offense and pitching. Chris was absolutely destroying the rest of the league in power categories. They led in home runs by 4 over the next closest team. They won RBI by an astounding 11 over the next best. Finally, their 1.0452 OPS is one of the highest we’ve recorded since using the stat. The most impressive part is that may players contributed to these totals. Aaron Judge was yet again and absolute monster with 3 home runs, 12 RBI, 8 runs, and a steal. His OPS was 1.830. This is an insane number – it means Judge generated nearly a double in every at bad that he had for the week. There was no way the Hares could keep up despite having decent stats across the board.

On pitching, the Hares were in control. They were second in most pitching categories to only the PhoeGnomes. George Kirby rebounded to have 13 strikeouts in 12.0 IP, while allowing only 3 earned runs. Kyle Finnegan continued to supply saves, and Chris Bassitt contributed a nice 8.0 IP start. Craig Kimbrel recorded a save on Sunday, but the Hares left their backup reliever on the bench. He recorded save and Chris was able to tie the category and the week. Both teams played pretty well, but Chris’s offensive outburst meant the Hares were not able to compete in any category. Both teams will look to move on and continue with some positive momentum.

Players of the Week

This week is another easy week with Aaron Judge single-handedly winning entire categories on his own. The best pitcher has to go to a PhoeGnome and Framber Valdez was the best of the lot. He gets the nod this week for his role in securing a nice tie against the league leaders.

Next Week

Nothing gets easier for any team this week. The Kraken have to take their offense against the Skyline Sluggers. Charlie has another chance to reach above 0.500. The Possums and PhoeGnomes are both showing improvement and face-off against each other. The Armadillos face the Hares. Larry traditionally frustrates Jeff’s teams, but the Hares pitching is definitely a threat. Finally, the Goofballs and Wolf Spiders will try to rebound form difficult weeks.