This Week

The long week for the All-Star break produced a slew of stellar offensive performances.  Some teams rose to the occasion with renewed intensity, while others faded under the pressure.  The big winners were the Hares and Kraken.  Chris remains the team with the best chance to derail the Armadillos.  The Hares are moving in the right direction to better position for the draft.  Meanwhile, other teams must look for answers as the season enters the home stretch.

JK Hares (4-8-2) vs. KK Wolf Spiders (7-6-1)

The week’s best showing belonged to the Hares.  They easily led the league in runs, RBI, and OPS.  They were second in home runs.  Leading the way were Trea Turner and Brent Rooker.  They combined for 9 home runs, 21 runs, 25 RBI, and 2 steals.  Marcell Ozuna added 5 home runs of his own.  Elly De La Cruz contributed 2 home runs and 5 steals.  These five players had OPS values well north of 1.000.  The Wolf Spiders didn’t have a bad week offensively, but they couldn’t keep pace.  The team had decent home run output from the likes of Freddie Freeman, Corey Seager, and Austin Riley.  However, they failed to put up the gaudy totals that could match the hares.  The team did manage to tie in steals, and this gave Kyle a small window on the pitching side.

The Wolf Spiders staff was solid, with few major implosions save Zac Gallen.  Kirby Yates had a strong 4 saves.  The Hares faced a disaster when four of their Saturday starters were not saved in the lineup properly by the ESPN site.  Despite a refresh and verification, the site somehow put the Hares’ quartet back on the bench.  This put the team in scramble mode on Sunday.  Thankfully for the Hares, fortune smiled on them for the week.  Random starters like Ben Lively, Aaron Civale, Andrew Heaney, and Dean Kremer did enough to post a 3.54 ERA over 28.0 IP.  This tipped the balance of IP by just 0.2 IP, and edged out a 2 strikeout advantage to flip the category. 

The Hares were able to hold on, and move out of last place for the first time this season. The Wolf Spiders put up a solid fight, but the loss probably ends their contention for a third consecutive championship.  However, Kyle will not give up until the bitter end, as long as there is still a mathematical chance to win.

CP Kraken (7-6-1) vs. KG Capital City Goofballs (5-4-5)

The week’s second big winner was the Kraken.  Chris needed a win to keep pace with the Armadillos, and his team delivered.  The team’s pitching led the way, and shared the top numbers in the league with the PhoeGnomes.  Logan Gilbert led the way with two solid starts that totaled 14.2 IP with 16 strikeouts and a 1.84 ERA. Paul Skenes also had a great start with 11 strikeouts over just 7.0 IP.  The team had quality starts up and down the line.  As is so common for the Goofballs, their high-variance staff allowed too many earned runs to be competitive.  Jose Berrios struggled in a short start as did Freddy Peralta.  This created the vicious circle that ruins so many teams.  The earned runs limited innings.  The limited innings made it difficult to reduce ERA and WHIP.  These also limited strikeouts.  The overall outcome was a lack of competitive stats.

Kevin tried to counter on offense.  The team actually led the league in home runs, thanks to consistent performances from many players.  Randy Arozarena had 4, but then 7 other players had 2 home runs each.  However, like the Wolf Spiders, there wasn’t a lot of power on offer outside of the home runs.  The team lagged in OPS, and the Kraken took advantage.  Oneil Cruz had 2 home runs and 11 RBI, along with a 1.106 OPS.  Aaron Judge had 12 walks to go along with 3 home runs, and a 1.215 OPS.  Yordan Alvarez hit for the cycle.  This was good enough to swing the OPS category, and keep the Kraken’s hopes alive for another week.

Chris is now the only team within 3 games of the Armadillos.  The two teams will meet one more time this season, so that means Chris must rely on the rest of the league to deliver the other 2 opportunities to gain ground.  With teams at the bottom jockeying for position, there will certainly be possible upsets.  The Kraken are determined to not let Larry run away with the title.

LK Armadillos (9-2-3) vs. RK Possums (7-7)

While not as flashy as the Hares or Kraken, the Armadillos put up solid numbers and defeated the Possums to remain 3.0 games ahead of the league.  While their stats were not as strong as the other winners, they were good enough to ensure a comfortable victory without too much drama.  The effort was led by the offense.  The Armadillos were second in RBI and OPS, and near the top in runs and home runs.  The names of the players who led the way are shocking – Rece Hinds and Alec Burleson.  The pair combined for 8 home runs, 24 RBI, and 13 runs.  They had a 1.414 and 1.220 OPS respectively.  These lesser-known players are keys to the Armadillos’ strategy.  Hinds was added via free agency on July 9.  Burleson has bounced between the Wolf Spiders and Armadillos all season.  He was most recently added to the Armadillos for the third time this season on July 8.  Without either of these players, the Armadillos might have lost the week.  Their commitment to finding matchups and value continues to pay off.

The Armadillos were acceptable when it comes to pitching, likely due to the Possums’ struggles.  Rick put up solid IP and strikeout numbers, but their rate stats were underwhelming.  Joe Ryan and Sonny Gray both struggled with ERAs over 5.00.  The Armadillos had rough weeks from Jake Irvin and Grayson Rodriguez.  However, the Armadillos limited the damage enough to win both rate categories and secure the win for the week.

HP PhoeGnomes (5-6-1) vs. CM Skyline Sluggers (5-8-1)

The week’s final match saw the PhoeGnomes win with a solid pitching performance that was one of the best in the league.  Yiseu Kikuchi had a massive 13 strikeouts in just 7.1 IP.  Chris Sale and Framber Valdez totaled 29 strikeouts in just 23.0 IP.  They allowed only 7 earned runs.  Valdez has endured an up-and-down year, but he came through this week.  The Skyline Sluggers had a massive week from Shota Imanaga.  He threw 13.0 IP and had 16 strikeouts while allowing just 1 earned run.  This gave him a miniscule 0.69 ERA that was lower than his WHIP of 0.77.  The rest of the team was pretty solid as well.  Unfortunately for Charlie, he was up against too great a force from the PhoeGnomes.

Heather finished the job on offense.  Both teams were competitive here as well.  As usual, Bobby Witt Jr. was the team’s leader with 3 home runs, 1 steal, and 10 RBI.  The Sluggers had their own great week from Anthony Santander with 4 home runs and 9 RBI.  This led to a split-decision on offense and this was enough for Heather to take the week.  This loss drops the Sluggers into last place for the first time this season.  The Hares, PhoeGnomes, and Skyline Sluggers are all set to have quite a battle to reach the rank 6 slot (or higher) to have a higher slot in the draft lottery.  As noted before, this is good new for Chris, who needs help to potentially catch the Armadillos.

Players of the Week

The week’s best offensive player was Brent Rooker, who willed the Hares to victory over the Wolf Spiders.  The best pitcher has to be Logan Gilbert.  He delivered a pair of great starts when the Kraken needed him to step up.

Next Week

This week offers a few interesting matches.  The Armadillos play the Goofballs.  Kevin will fight to the bitter end, and this might be an upset if Kevin can get some better pitching.  The Kraken will face the PhoeGnomes, who are coming off a strong performance.  Heather fared well this week and her pitching could frustrate the Kraken.  The Wolf Spiders and Possums are paired off in a quality match.  The loser could be in danger of falling in to the bottom tier of teams.  Finally, the Hares and Skyline Sluggers meet in a battle that will have ramifications for the draft order.