2. One Nut Wonders – Andrew didn’t put up much of a fight on offense, but Jason still put up good all around numbers 30/9/31/6/.395. Pitching was suspect with a 4.83/1.52 and only 4 QS, but he grabbed saves and Ks for the win. Beckett has proven to be a nice pickup and Weaver will likely be back once his 15 days are up. Shields has been off (and playing, frankly, as he had prior to 2011), MMoore has not performed as expected, while Lohse is coming back to Earth. Three of his four closers may eventually lose their jobs as well, so he might have to make a move to continue to compete there.
3. Clayton & The King – While there were some categories that were close, one could have predicted an even sweep by Russ’s offense (average rank: 2.8) and my pitching this week (average rank 2.0). It was 5-5 after Thursday and the outcome didn’t budge from there. For someone who loves pitching, it wasn’t very good this week, with a horrendous 7.31/1.66/2 qs. The problem was his top guys stunk (Kershaw, Felix, and Wainright all had eras over 7) and there’s just not enough behind him, with MHarrison picking up his only QSs. JZimmerman has been good this season, but DHolland has proven to be quite volatile and his 43.00 era was quite the headwind. Still, Russ has three of the best picks from the draft in Trout, Kipnis, and De Aza.
4. Montezuma’s Revenge – The offense has improved, but still wasn’t good enough to grab any of the O categories this week. Hosmer, ARam, and Swisher all had pretty good weeks, so there’s hope for future production. As usual, pitching is carrying the team and may get stronger with THudson trade and ROswalt on the way. JMcDonald is pitching like a keeper (2.14 era) and CSale’s 23k/1.65/0.73/2qs week has proven to be well worth the draft pick it took to get him. Might have to deal some pitching off to get better on O, as there was more than enough to go around this week (85 vs. 45 ks).
5. Ring of Fire – As previously mentioned, Dagan was a tough luck loser this week despite being within shouting distance in five categories that he lost to Brandon (though neither of them should get a win for eras over 5.10 and whips over 1.45). Goldy and Youk are coming around, while Votto has made up for early season mediocrity, and Papi has been productive throughout. Latos and Masterson have been disappointments. At fifth in the standings, his statistical performance has appeared to have caught up to his actual place in the standings.
6. Prestige Worldwide – It’s hard not to feel bad for Lars as no team has a bigger differential between the statistical rankings and the actual standings (5th in stats, 10th in standings). He had another unlucky week, falling to 3-5 to Kyle, though his 32/9/35/7 and 3.41/1.09 were good enough numbers to at least split. He’s also doing this without Longo and Gardner, and Lucroy was a tough loss. It’s not even half way over, so there’s still plenty of time and talent to turn it around, but it’s troubling that he hasn’t managed to win a matchup since Week 2.
7. Moose is Loose – Brian won his fourth straight and has grabbed six of the nine matchups so far, though the three losses have come to three of the better teams he’s come across (Grumpy, Clayton, and Ring). Pitching was quite good with 2.47/1.20, but three of his wins were entirely the result of a fortunate matchup, as 6 hrs, 26 rbis, and 4 steals won’t provide wins most weeks. But the poor performance was uncharacteristic for the group he has, so this might just be an outlier. So, no movement here despite Brian’s place in the standings, and Chris’ bunch is gaining steam.
8. Donkey Punchers – Things appear to be coming together for Chris, who had good-great outputs in seven of the ten categories (0 steals, 0 saves, and 46 ks with 11 starters and no relievers is kinda bad). The lineup was good top to bottom, though you’d expect a week in which JWeeks gets on base more than half the time to yield at least one steal. There was quality production across the board and it will be interesting to see how he matches up with Moose this week. The offense could be even better, but the pitching strategy of stocking up on starters has been flawed because he’s got three roster spots tied up with guys who are injured or in the minors. This leaves him with nine starters, which is comparable to most teams that also have relievers, thus negating any quantity advantage.
9. Cowhide Joyride – Dave’s squad did what they needed to do against last place Billy Chapel, effectively creaming Troy 9-1 and nearly achieving a full sweep. The most encouraging sign for Dave though is that he would’ve matched up well with most teams this week, particularly with that sparkling 1.85/1.08 fueled by Santana’s no-no. He’s taking an approach never seen before in this league with more relievers than starters. It’ll be tough to win Ks and QS, but with the right starters, he could be competitive and those relievers should help control the rates. I’ll be interested to see if he can at least split with Jason – then he might just have something.
10. The Angry Pirates – Kyle is quietly creeping up the standings and has put together a 36-30 record after starting the year 3-17. His 36/13/39/7/.371 was good enough to beat most teams and he beat Lars 5-3. Of course, pitching wasn’t pretty with 6.41/1.54, but you can go a long way with a good offense and enough pitching to compete in counting categories anyway. Trumbo has been key and has got the playing time to produce, getting that OBP to a much more respectable level (though you wonder if VWells’ return will cut into time). I expected more than what MMontero and DAckley have provided thus far, so there may be improvement coming. And hopefully Freeman will be able to see again sometime soon.
11. Keepin It Real – Unlike some other weeks in which Pierce has just been unlucky, his team’s production was deservedly about 4-6 worthy. Comically, another guy went on the DL again this week. With only one win and one tie, Pierce said he’s packing it in, but only listed part of his roster as available for trade, which is confusing. He’s got enough pieces to accumulate some very good picks before next season if that is indeed the route he goes. So far, he’s just made one trade, and made out quite well in getting quality return for Chapman. A likely aggravating matchup with Russ should push him over the edge this week.
12. Urban Achievers – Dan missed out on a golden opportunity to pickup a big win over Moose as his offense could only put together 4 hr, 20 rbi, and 1 steal. The 4.06/1.39 pitching line isn’t great, but would’ve beat a lot of teams this week. ZCozart and DGordon’s values have plummeted quite a bit and LScott and Arencebia have proven to be their streaky selves. The return of MReynolds and CYoung could help, but they too can be streaky. You can live with streaky guys, providing they don’t all go cold at once. Unfortunately for Dan, they did this week.
13. Anal Hershiser – CQuentin came back and rewarded Andrew for his faith, but it was pretty much all the offense his team could muster with an ugly 25/5/17 on offense. Morse is back though, so perhaps those two can help in the power dept. The typically good pitching was thwarted by reality this week as HAlvarez, PWalters, Pettite, and DSmyly all remembered why they weren’t high draft picks.
14. Billy Chapel – At some point, you just have to cover your ass and say “No more! I will not submit!” Again, there’s some good players here and 3.19/1.40 would’ve beaten a lot of teams this week, but there’s little hope at this point. He’s made a few trades, but there’s plenty of guys left to deal. Unfortunately for Troy, two of his bigger chips, ARod and Kennedy, are not recovering to the point where they’re appealing enough to fork over a big pick or quality keeper.
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