Week 6-8 Real Rankings

It's been a few weeks since the last update and a lot has happened since then. Frankly, the Real Rankings are in disarray at the moment. The most extreme examples are happening at the top.  The Angry Pirates should be a lot better off in the Actual Standings according to the Real Ranking. However, Kyle's team is also one of the more volatile and statistically his average (and therefore RR) is being boosted by early season results. Meanwhile, the top team in the Standings, my Revenge, are clearly overachieving. The team has been dealing with a lot of injuries, so this could bode well in terms of aligning future RR scores. The term "I'd rather be lucky than good" comes to mind

Over the last three weeks we've seen the emergence of a few teams, operating in the middle of the Actual Standings, so further change in leadership could be happening.

1	Take the Knebel	5.5
2	Anal Hershiser	5.6
3	Tomahawk chops	6.1
4	Sexual Napalm	6.3
5	The Angry Pirates	6.4
6	Knuckle Sandwich	6.4
7	Montezuma's Revenge	6.9
8	Brokeback Moundmen	7.0
9	Grit Beer and Balls	7.3
10	Moose is Loose!	7.4
11	Ring of Fire	7.5
12	Cowhide Joyride	8.8
13	Donkey Punchers	9.0
14	One Nut Wonders	9.4

Rather than the overall individual leaders, it's always fun to look at who is ranking high over the last month. LOTS of keepers who started off slow on the list. Meanwhile, players like Josh Bell, Rafael Devers, Mike Soroka, Brandon Woodruff, and Max Kepler are emerging, and previous UTIL/BEN players like Eduardo Escobar, Jake Odorizzi, Hunter Pence, Hyun Jin Ryu, and CJ Cron are making major contributions.

1	Josh Bell Pit - 1B	Moose is Loose!
2	Kris Bryant ChC - 3B,OF 	Ring of Fire
3	Anthony Rizzo ChC - 1B 	Brokeback Moundmen
4	Rafael Devers Bos - 3B 	Take the Knebel
5	George Springer Hou - OF 	Sexual Napalm
6	Justin Verlander Hou - P 	Tomahawk chops
7	Nolan Arenado Col - 3B 	Anal Hershiser
8	Chris Sale Bos - P 	Moose is Loose!
9	Alex Bregman Hou - 3B,SS 	Tomahawk chops
10	Mike Soroka Atl - P	Sexual Napalm
11	Hyun-Jin Ryu LAD - P	Tomahawk chops
12	Mookie Betts Bos - OF 	Sexual Napalm
13	Eugenio Suárez Cin - 3B	Ring of Fire
14	Adalberto Mondesi KC - 2B,SS 	Grit Beer and Balls
15	Eduardo Escobar Ari - 3B,SS	Grit Beer and Balls
16	Joey Gallo Tex - 1B,OF 	The Angry Pirates
17	Zack Greinke Ari - P 	Moose is Loose!
18	Brandon Woodruff Mil - P	Anal Hershiser
19	Mike Trout LAA - OF 	Montezuma's Revenge
20	Jake Odorizzi Min - P	Take the Knebel
21	Hunter Pence Tex - OF	Take the Knebel
22	Cody Bellinger LAD - 1B,OF 	Grit Beer and Balls
23	Charlie Blackmon Col - OF 	Donkey Punchers
24	Max Kepler Min - OF	Knuckle Sandwich
25	C.J. Cron Min - 1B	The Angry Pirates

Week 5 Real Rankings

NOTES
It's really safe to say there are no clear cut front runners at this juncture. Everyone seems to be up and down from week to week, with last year's champs Tomahawk Chops the most consistent. With a full month in the books, we can truly see who is emerging and who is faking. Amazing to have the top three pitchers be Chris Paddack, Tyler Glasnow and Caleb Smith - two of those guys were on my Worst Draft picks list! Shows what I know...

But really the list of the top 25 shows some pretty amazing results: Bellinger's rebound, the very realness of Adalberto's 2018 season, Baez and Story continuing to mash, EE's continued presence, Gallo's improvements, meanwhile Luis Castillo, Tim Anderson, and Luke Voit all appear to be making good on the promise they shows in short spurts last year.  Plus, we've got Pete Alonso looking like a rookie stud from the outset.

1	Cody Bellinger LAD - 1B,OF	Grit Beer and Balls
2	Christian Yelich Mil - OF	The Angry Pirates
3	George Springer Hou - OF	Sexual Napalm
4	Rhys Hoskins Phi - 1B,OF	Brokeback Moundmen
5	Mike Trout LAA - OF	Montezuma's Revenge
6	Joey Gallo Tex - 1B,OF	The Angry Pirates
7	Marcell Ozuna StL - OF	One Nut Wonders
8	Chris Paddack SD - P	Take the Knebel
9	Adalberto Mondesi KC - 2B,SS	Grit Beer and Balls
10	Javier Báez ChC - 2B,3B,SS	Anal Hershiser
11	Trevor Story Col - SS	Ring of Fire
12	Tyler Glasnow TB - P	Grit Beer and Balls
13	Caleb Smith Mia - P	The Angry Pirates
14	Edwin Encarnación Sea - 1B	Donkey Punchers
15	Hyun-Jin Ryu LAD - P	Tomahawk chops
16	Luis Castillo Cin - P	Sexual Napalm
17	José Berríos Min - P	Ring of Fire
18	Justin Verlander Hou - P	Tomahawk chops
19	Alex Bregman Hou - 3B,SS	Tomahawk chops
20	Tim Anderson CWS - SS	Cowhide Joyride
21	Pete Alonso NYM - 1B	Montezuma's Revenge
22	Whit Merrifield KC - 1B,2B,OF	Knuckle Sandwich
23	Willson Contreras ChC - C	Moose is Loose!
24	Luke Voit NYY - 1B	Tomahawk chops
25	Anthony Rizzo ChC - 1B	Brokeback Moundmen

We had our first big trade of the season, and May should prove to be fruitful with trades as teams start facing the realities of their rosters. Every year we seem to have someone give up in May and start the rebuilding process, and generally it goes pretty well, but hard to see that happening at this point given the differences between the RR and Actual at this point. Donkey seems like the only team in need of real change, and perhaps he'll get that with the latest trade.

Week 4 Real Rankings