League Update

The league took its first steps in the second half of the season, and there is concern that the result may already be wrapped up.  The Armadillos won yet another close match-up, this time against the Kraken.  Chris’s team was on the rise and considered the most likely threat to the Armadillos’ dominance.  However, Larry escaped with yet another close win, just as he did over the Hares.  The squad is now in first place by a whopping 3.5 games with only 10 weeks left to play.  To put this into context, the Hares are in last place, but only 3.0 games out of second place.  They worst team is closer to second than the second place team is to first.  The Goofballs and upstart Possums are the only teams within 3.5 games, and the Kraken and Wolf Spiders are 4.0 games back.  No other team has a realistic chance of contention, but the draft lottery is still in play.  There is plenty of competition, as teams like the Skyline Sluggers look to improve their draft standing.

CP Kraken (6-5-1) vs. LK Armadillos (8-1-3)

As mentioned at the beginning, the week’s most important match featured the Kraken and Armadillos.  The Kraken had been red-hot, but so were the Armadillos.  They met in Chris’s best chance to move closer to contention.  Unfortunately for the Kraken, they lost in heart-breaking fashion.  The battle was hotly contested on the pitching side. Both teams had strong performances, behind only the Hares and Possums.  Christopher Sanchez led the way for the Armadillos with a complete game shutout with 9 strikeouts, 3 hits, and 0 walks.  This dominant start offset duds from Rangers Suarez and Luis Gil.  Without this volume of innings and masterful WHIP and ERA quality, the team would have likely fallen.  In turn, Chris dominated saves with 4 from Ryan Helsley.  Hunter Brown, Paul Skenes, Logan Gilbert, and Bailey Ober all had good starts for the Kraken as well.  However, all four only threw just 6.0 inning each.  They piled up strikeouts, but the relative lack of innings pitched cost the team this category directly.  It also carried over a bit to ERA, as a few more innings here and there (assuming now more runs allowed) might have been enough to drop the rate stat low enough to turn the tide.  As it stood, The Kraken took 2 categories to the Armadillos 3.

On the surface, the Kraken might see this as a good outcome, given their massive offensive output.  Sadly, the team’s hitters picked the wrong week to go somewhat cold, and they lost or tied three categories by the tiniest margins.  As usual, Aaron Judge did his best to carry the team on his back.  He had 3 home runs, 6 runs, and an astonishing 12 RBI.  Juan Soto added 2 more home runs, and this was enough to secure the category (along with OPS).  However, the team fell just 1 run short of tying the category and the week.  Matt Olson struggled with just 1 RBI for the week in 26 at-bats.  The teams also tied in steals, and the Armadillos won RBI by a small gap.  Larry’s team was led by veteran Jose Ramirez.  He had 4 home runs, 9 RBI, 7 runs, and a steal.  Josh Lowe added 2 surprising steals.  Pete Alonso also had 1 home run, 4 RBI, and 1 steal in part-time duty.  Overall neither team had stats that would lead the league in any category, but all the numbers were respectable.  The Kraken’s last hope for a tie or win died when Jordan Westburg went 0-4 late on Sunday.

The loss is a bitter one for the Kraken, who saw their chance to enter the title pitcher swiped away.  The Armadillos snuck by yet another team.  After suffering a serious of misfortunes last year, it seems that luck is on the Armadillos’ side this year.  It remains to be seen if either the Goofballs or Possums can challenge the Armadillos, but both will need help from the rest of the league.

CM Skyline Sluggers (5-7) vs. RK Possums (6-6)

The week’s second biggest performer was the Possums squad.  Rick’s team emerged from the week a gave over 0.500, and suddenly in a tie for second place.  Rick’s rise has been slow but steady.  After a tough start, his team is now at the top of the tables, with no signs of slowing down.  The team’s best showing was on the mound.  Seth Lugo was masterful with 18 strikeouts over 12.0 IP and 0 earned runs.  He had a 0.75 WHIP.  The team was solid overall with no starter allowing more than 4 earned runs.  Their consistent performances resulted in a nice strikeout total and high innings pitched.  The Skyline Sluggers weren’t competitive despite not having any truly hideous performances.  They also got some welcome relief pitching with 2 saves from James McArthur and 3 from Tanner Scott to secure the category.  However, this still left Charlie with a 1-4 deficit.

On offense, the Possums and Sluggers were both solid if unspectacular.  They tied with 10 home runs, but Rick’s team took the initiative in other categories.  Adolis Garcia and Manny Machado had 3 home runs each and totaled 10 RBI and a more-impressive 13 runs.  The Sluggers countered with another 3 home runs from a hot Shohei Ohtani, and 2 each from Ketel Marte and Luis Rengifo. Christian Yelich added 3 steals to secure the category for Charlie.  However, the Possums’ depth won the day, and the team marched to a clean 7-2-1 win.  The Possums remain the hottest team in the league.  Can they challenge the Armadillos? That’s asking a lot, but the potential is there.

HP PhoeGnomes (4-7-1) vs. KK Wolf Spiders (6-5-1)

The week’s most controversial match featured the PhoeGnomes and the Wolf Spiders.  Both teams posted the best offensive totals in the league, but the outcome on pitching has left everyone confused and unsure who actually won this battle.

Let’s start with the offense.  Both teams were productive, and near the top of the tables in every category.  Kyle eventually won RBI, steals, and OPS.  No Wolf Spider had more than 2 home runs, but 9 players had at least 1.  Isiah Kiner-Falefa made a shocking splash with 7 runs and 1 home run.  Byron Buxton had a great 1.462 OPS in partial duty.  Cedric Mullins added two home runs and a 1.257 OPS as well.  The PhoeGnomes won runs and home runs thanks in large part to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.  He had a week to rival Aaron Judge two weeks ago with 4 home runs, 6 runs, 17 (yes, 17) RBI, and a 1.690 OPS.  He wasn’t a one-man show, and Brandon Nimmo added 2 home runs and a 1.202 OPS.  Jose Altuve’s 3 steals gave Heather the nod in this important category.  This gave her a 3-2 lead.

On pitching, everything went wild.  Let’s start with what’s known.  The Wolf Spiders had 8 starters, and they totaled 44.2 IP, 40 strikeouts, 0 saves, a 4.836 ERA, and 1.388 WHIP.  These are not spectacular numbers.  The PhoeGnomes easily posted better numbers, but they come with a caveat – the team started 10 pitchers!  This is problematic because it can shift all categories except saves.  Looking at Heather’s Sunday starters, they contributed 18 strikeouts and 11.1 IP.  This would not be enough to swing either category to the Wolf Spiders.  Kyle won ERA already.  Heather’s Sunday WHIP was higher than her week’s WHIP, so this category weas unaffected.  However, for the benefit of the double, we will award it to Kyle.  That would leave a 6-4 score.  Even if we look at Heather’s two best starts for the week, they would not shift either IP or strikeouts.

This leaves a situation were Heather’s extra starters did not affect the outcome.  Therefore, she will retain the win for the week, since this was an accident and first offense.  If the categories were closer, this might be a more difficult situation.  However, Kyle would lose the week even if we assign him WHIP without either K or IP also in his favor.  Since Heather is so far in the lead,  there is no clear evidence that this violation would have changed the result.  However, we would ask that the PhoeGnomes be careful in the future, as this kind of thing can cause absolute chaos if we have to reschedule match-ups to try to make it work.

KG Capital City Goofballs (5-4-3) vs. JK Hares (3-8-1)

The week’s final match saw the Goofballs and Hares limp to a tie.  Neither team could seem to must much offense.  Both teams were near the bottom in all categories with the exception of steals.  The Goofballs had 8, thanks in large part to 3 from CJ Abrams.  The Hares somehow won RBI, thanks to 5 from a nice week from Elly De La Cruz.  Bryce Harper stayed red-hot, and helped the Goofballs secure the other four categories.

The Hares were much better on pitching, and posted some of the top stats in the league.  They easily led the league in ERA and strikeouts (account for the PhoeGnomes violation) and were second in WHIP.  The Bassitt Hound had a nice week with 8 strikeouts and no earned runs.  However, no starter made it beyond 7.0 IP and the team struggled to win innings.  Kevin’s squad had a decent week, but were more durable and won the category.  This led to an unsatisfying tie for both sides.  The Hares want to break out of last place, while the Goofballs believe they can still contend.

Players of the Week

The players of the week are pretty clear – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was by far the best hitter in the league.  The pitcher of the week is going to be Seth Lugo – he led the Possums to victory and into second place.

Next Week

The third cycle rolls on with a few critical matches.  The Armadillos face the Wolf Spiders, and look to cement the doom of the defending champions.  Kyle will do everything he can to not drop out of the race.  The Possums and Kraken face off.  Rick wants to continue to show he can challenge the Armadillos, while the Kraken are desperate to stay alive.

The Goofballs face the Skyline Sluggers, and yet again, must win to keep pace.  Finally, the Hares and PhoeGnomes meet in a battle that is critically important for the draft lottery.