League Update

With the season rapidly approaching the final stretch, Kyle faced a daunting task against the Armadillos.  With a number of teams in the middle of the pack desperate to contend, Kyle’s match was critical to their collective chances.  The Wolf Spiders rose up and showed why they are the defending two-time champions, if only for this week.  Meanwhile the Hares put up dominant numbers in a desperate bid to leave last place.  The Kraken scored a critical win, and the Goofballs and Sluggers fought to yet another tie.

KK Wolf Spiders (6-6-1) vs. LK Armadillos (9-1-3)

The week’s biggest winner was of course the Wolf Spiders.  Kyle needed to claim a win to have any hope of contention.  The squad responded with a solid week on both offense and pitching.  Kyle won four of five offensive categories, ceding only steals  He had the highest OPS in the league.  Five Wolf Spiders had OPS over 1.000 including Corey Seager, Jonah Heim, Freddie Freeman, Austin Rile, and Byron Buxton.  Buxton was especially impressive with a 1.302 SLG and a home run.  The Armadillos had five different players record a steal, and easily took the category.  However, they had a general slump, highlighted by Pete Alonso’s 5 for 25 effort.  Kyle easily won on the offensive side.

Pitching was much closer.  The Armadillos had good numbers especially from Ronaldo Lopez and Grayson Rodriguez.  They had 4 starts and allowed only 5 earned runs between them.  Tarik Skubal was strong as well.  This gave Larry the edge in ERA, strikeouts, and innings pitched.  However, Kyle stuck back with a win in WHIP thanks to Luis Castillo and Tyler Glasnow.  These starts didn’t have a lot of innings so the counting stats suffered a bit.  Neither team had a good bullpen showing, and this triggered a tie for the saves category.  The normally reliable Edwin Diaz blew a save late, and then cost the Armadillos a chance at a tie for the week.  The Wolf Spiders’ good fortune proved decisive this week, and paid back the Armadillos for several earlier unfortunate events.

The win gives a bit of life to the middle tier of teams in the league.  After close calls against the Hares and Kraken, the Armadillos finally got their second loss.  Could this be the first signs of vulnerability for the team this year?  The rest of the league will need to keep up the pressure to take advantage.

JK Hares (3-8-2) vs. HP PhoeGnomes (5-7-1)

On the other side of the standings, the Hares were determined to prove they don’t belong in the basement.  Jeff’s team has struggled this year, sometimes due to injuries, and other times due to bad luck.  This week, though, the team made a statement that they intend to move up in the league table. 

Trea Turner and Will Smith led the way with 4 home runs each.  Brent Rooker added 3 of his own and 2 steals.  Riley Greene had 2 more home runs and is proving to be a respectable threat in the outfield.  The four had OPS values well north of 1.200, with Rooker in particular standing out with a massive 1.510 number.  The PhoeGnomes were able to tie in RBI thanks to yet another massive week from Bobby Witt Jr.  Heather won RBI, but was not able to crack the other categories.

The Hares’ onslaught continued on the pitching side.  Craig Kimbrel recorded and impressive 4 saves.  Brady Singer had a nice spot start.  The rest of the staff was strong with high innings pitched and strikeout totals.  Although the PhoeGnomes won ERA, they were not able to compete in the other categories due to low innings pitched totals.  The Hares were able to cruise to a relatively smooth win. 

The victory does not lift the team out of last place, but it does give the Hares a little momentum going into the long All-Star Break week.  For Heather, the loss is yet another frustration in a season-long fight for dominance in the middle of the pack.

RK Possums (7-6) vs. CP Kraken (6-6-1)

The Possums and Kraken were the two biggest beneficiaries of the Wolf Spiders’ win over the Armadillos.  Both teams are contenders, despite the Kraken’s heart-breaking loss last week.  This time around, both were determined to gain ground via Kyle’s stunning win.

Both teams posted strong offensive stats behind a few key players.  The Possums’ standout was Christian Walker who had a massive 5 home run week, with 11 RBI an a 1.467 OPS.  The Kraken countered with 3 home runs for Yordan Alvarez and an eye-popping 1.486 OPS.  The Kraken had just a bit more depth and won OPS and runs, but the Possums were able to capture 3 other categories largely on the back of Walker.

The situation was reversed on the pitching side. Neither team had a great week, but the Kraken were a shade better when it mattered.  Bailey Ober had a nice start, and others who were less effective still compiled innings and strikeouts.  For example, Hunter Brown had two starts and allowed 7 earned runs, but he also managed 12.0 IP and 11 strikeouts.  The Possums suffered from some gopher-itis as no starter truly imploded but none were very effective either.  Not starter allowed more than 5 earned runs, but only 1 had an ERA below 3.00 for the week.  This gave Chris enough room to win 4 categories thanks to a good WHIP.  This gave him the narrow win.

The win leaves the Kraken 3 games behind the Armadillos, and the Possums 3.5 back.  Both teams will continue to need help, but the Kraken must breathe a sigh of relief to regain some ground after last week’s result.

CM Skyline Sluggers (5-8) vs. KG Capital City Goofballs (5-4-4)

The week’s final match saw the Goofballs and Skyline Sluggers battle to a draw in the most bizarre way possible.  The Goofballs won all offensive categories barring steals.  They led the league in home runs, RBI, and runs by a wide margin.  Brenton Doyle was an absolute monster, putting up a Judge-like 4 home runs, 1 steal, and a 1.886 OPS.  Nine total Goofballs had a home run.  Spencer Steer and Willson Contreras had 3 home runs each.

With that level of offensive production, how did the Goofballs not win?  The pitching side of the equation was as atrocious as the offense was spectacular. Luis Severino allowed 7 earned runs in just 6.0 IP.  Jose Berrios allowed 9 in 11.0 IP.  However, this was all undone by Cade “Son of Maury” Povich.  The DNA results are in, and Cade…. you are NOT a quality pitcher.  Cade humiliated himself by allowed an unfathomable 8 earned runs in just 1.0 IP.  To make matters worse, this was against the Oakland A’s, one of the worst offenses in the league.  The outing doomed the Goofballs to one of the worst ERAs in league history and the two teams had to settle for a tie.

Players of the Week

The players of the week will be Brent Rooker for the Hares.  His performance wasn’t quite as good as a few others, but this contribution to the win cannot be denied.

The pitcher of the week will be a first – Cade Povich earns the “honor” but on behalf of the Skyline Sluggers, to whom he single-handedly gifted the tie!

Next Week

Next week is the long All-Star Break week which will span almost two weeks.  You are allowed to start up to 10 pitchers for the week!  The Kraken and Goofballs matchup is intriguing.  Both teams need a win, and with highly variable pitching staffs, both may set the wrong kind of records.  The Armadillos and Possums are another good match.  Rick must win to remain in contention.  The Wolf Spiders and Hares both have good momentum, and will be an intriguing match.  Finaly, the PhoeGnomes and Skyline Sluggers will try to return to form against each other.