Newsletter for games through 9-25-22

LINEUP DEADLINE ANNOUNCEMENTS

So our next lineup is due on Oct 4 to play games through Oct 2, but the season ends on October 5. So if we wait until the following Tuesday like normal that’s 6 days to wait while no real stats are accumulating. So, we’ll have our normal lineup due on Oct 4, the real MLB season will end on Oct 5, I’ll do the download on Thursday, Oct 6, and the following MONDAY, 10th the final regular-season lineup will be due. That means you’ll have from Friday, Oct 7, through Monday, Oct 10, to enter your final regular-season lineup. Should be able to start the playoffs on Friday, Oct 14.

PENNANT RACES!!!!!

Wow, a week without multiple no-hitters….guess we need to focus on the races with a week and a half to go…

AL East: Toronto picked up 2 games in a crucial week by splitting 2 games with the Phillies and then sweeping division-rival Tampa Bay…the Yankees split with Boston and Pittsburgh for a 3-3 week…that would be the Pirates playing the role of spoilers and giving the Jays the boost, although the baseball gods definitely help those who help themselves. A big Jays boost was the start Kevin Gausman turned in on the 21st, striking out 12 batters…

AL Central: Cleveland is imitating reality and is within 1 game of the team that clinched the division, while the Twins are +9 WOR and knocking at the door…The Guardians gained ground to emerge as the clear frontrunner by taking the last game of a head-to-head series and then taking 2 of 3 from both the Chisox and WOR-champ Texas clubs…and Steve can thank Greg Achten and the Angels for sweeping the Twins in a huge boost to the Cleveland efforts..

AL West/Wildcard: Houston has clinched the division and the top seed, so they are playing to avoid digital injuries, but they can still hack up the other races since nobody in a fight wants to take on the best team in the league with the season on the line…but the Rays, who are fighting for relevance, took 2 of 3 and Baltimore, who can finish above .500 and in positive WOR territory, earned a split…Texas holds the top wildcard spot by about 3 games with about 8 to go with the Yankees and Twins currently in the last 2 playoff spots…but Boston is only a half-game behind the Twins and Anaheim would need a strong week, but coming off their 5-2 week has a shot.

NL East: The Mets finally gained on Atlanta but with 8 games to go the 6.5 game lead seems pretty safe…kudos to Andy Somers who, in his last year in the league, has the best WOR in a strong division…the 98 wins that Danny Wildes has racked up would tie him for best in the AL and he seems a sure bet to beat his person best reasons with 99 wins that he had in 2018 and tied in 2019…those last 2 world series appearances are no fluke and this will be his 5th consecutive year in the playoffs…

NL Central: It’s the division nobody can claim as none of the top 3 teams could pull off a winning record last week…the Cardinals gained a half game by going .500, and it was a tough week to draw the Dodgers…they took 2 of 3 from the Padres to extend their lead…Milwaukee caught the Mets on an upswing but still took a game from them, but Josh Clark can thank Raphael Malveaux for keeping the Reds competitive and splitting a 4-game set with the Brewers…Gordie has worked magic with the Cubs but may have run out of juice for the divisional race although the Chicagoans are right in the thick of the wildcard…Milwuakee is only a game and a half back, and this one is going down to the wire…

NL West/Wildcard: A 6-2 week pushed Rick Wynne to 115 wins, officially making this his best season ever and the record-setting 16th times he’s had a 100+ win season…the playoffs are always a crapshoot, and while Kimbrel has been the actual Dodger Achilles’ Heel Rick has slotting in Evan Phillips and his 1.20 ERA as the closer…Colorado is having a phenomenal year at +16 WOR (best in the NL, 2d overall)…if the season ended today, the Mets and Brewers would have the top 2 wildcard spots locked up with 92 and 89 wins, abut then the logjam hits with the Phillies (82 wins), Cubs (81 wins), and Rockies (81 wins) in a dead heat for the final spot…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Brandon Marsh (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 9/19/2022 against Seattle) 
Shohei Ohtani (New York (NYM)) struck out 13 batters (on 9/21/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Shane McClanahan (Tampa Bay) struck out 13 batters (on 9/21/2022 against Houston) 
Daulton Varsho (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 9/21/2022 against Detroit) 
Jake Cave (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 9/22/2022 against Kansas City) 
Alek Manoah (Toronto) struck out 12 batters (on 9/22/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Christian Arroyo (Texas) kicked 3 errors (on 9/23/2022 against Cleveland) 
Adam Frazier (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 9/23/2022 against Kansas City) 
Carlos Correa (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 9/23/2022 against Anaheim) 
Jo Adell (Anaheim) struck out 5 times (on 9/23/2022 against Minnesota) 
Lance Lynn (Anaheim) struck out 12 batters (on 9/23/2022 against Minnesota) 
Jacob deGrom (New York (NYM)) struck out 12 batters (on 9/24/2022 against Oakland) 
Hunter Brown (Texas) struck out 12 batters (on 9/24/2022 against Cleveland) 
Luke Williams (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 9/24/2022 against Arizona) 
Luke Raley (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 9/25/2022 against Toronto) 
Yordan Álvarez (New York (NYM))  had 5 hits (on 9/25/2022 against Oakland) 

Newsletter for games through 6-19-22

MILESTONES

Got this email from Rick Wynne last week (thank you!): “Was just noticing that Leo is only 5 wins away from winning # 2,500 !!”…that number is now down to 3…Rick also pointed out that he’ll pass 3,000 wins next year, and I should make 2,500…this league has some history…

COMMENTARY

How can I possibly have Shohei Ohtani and Jacob deGrom and be sinking so quickly in my own division? I feel like Arte Moreno…although I will not be turning fantasy management over to Phil Nevin any time soon…maybe I should ask Danny Wildes, who’s Braves gained more ground, or Andy Somers, who’s Nationals went a perfect 5-0, or Adam Symonds, who’s Phillies are 13-7 over the last 20…Danny is threatening to take a double-digit lead in the NL East and I’m afraid to calculate when he will clinch it…the magic number is “he probably already has”…Josh Clark inched another half-game in front of Chris Zewiske and the Cards and Brewers although both had winning weeks…that one is gonna go down to the wire…the Dodger lead keeps getting larger…the all-time ASFBL record is 124 wins by the New York Yankees in 1998…almost before the ASFBL Modern Era…that record belongs to Mike Gortenburg…most notable of late is the 113 wins by Rick himself in 2019 also with the Dodgers…right now he’s sitting at 109 wins with 16 games to go…Colorado had a winning week with an all-Chicago and all-Leckie set of opponents…San Diego swept 4 games against Arizona to stay in the thick of the NL wildcard showdown…the actual Yankees are surging, the ASFBL Jays are holding steady, and when the dust settled on the ASFBL this week Mark Yee pulled to within half a game of Johnny Mac and Toronto…Mark owes some gratitude to Alan Minsky and the Rays who took 3 of 5 from the Jays…the only sub-.500 team in the actual AL East is the Bosox, and Hugh Brown has them +8 WOR…that division is tough…AL Central has been a race all year and Steve Skrovan marched upward with a 5-2 week to move within a game of the Twins…Cleveland took 3 of 4 in head-to-head games this week…feels like early playoff baseball…Ben Brockreide is really getting it done with the Rangers, and the real question is whether his +23 WOR is enough juice to make a post-season run…he’s currently got a firm hold on the top wildcard spot, and he’d lead the other two divisions…+23 puts him in the top-20 ASFBL finishes all-time…

GEMS OF THE WEEK

Julio Urias (still with Los Angeles) threw a no-hitter on 9/5/2022 against San Francisco…congrats to the Dodgers on the feat and as we all wait to see how the new rules encourage more balls in play both the ASFBL and the MLB are seeing some impressive pitching and strikeout performances this year…Jacob deGrom threw a no-hitter of his onw on 9/9/2022 against Miami while striking out 19….which is 1 short of the actual Met high total last week…I think that’s 5 no-hitters in the last 3 weeks…gotta take a look at the pitcher change algorithm in the off season, but in a year where deGrom gets yanked with a perfect game in tact in MLB I think my old-school “don’t pull the starter if he’s got a no-hitter going” rule might be getting dusty…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Willy Adames (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 9/5/2022 against Colorado) 
Jake McCarthy (Washington) hit 6 RBI (on 9/5/2022 against St. Louis) 
Shohei Ohtani (New York (NYM)) struck out 11 batters (on 9/6/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Joey Meneses (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2022 against Houston) 
Cody Thomas (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2022 against Atlanta) 
Alex Bregman (Cleveland)  had 5 hits (on 9/7/2022 against Kansas City) 
Stone Garrett (Arizona)  had 5 hits (on 9/7/2022 against San Diego) 
Mike Minor (Cincinnati) struck out 11 batters (on 9/8/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Isan Diaz (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Brandon Woodruff (Anaheim) struck out 12 batters (on 9/9/2022 against Houston) 
Tyrone Taylor (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Buddy Kennedy (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2022 against Colorado) 
J.T. Realmuto (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 9/10/2022 against Texas) 
Corey Dickerson (St. Louis)  had 5 hits (on 9/11/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Chad Pinder (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 9/11/2022 against Kansas City) 
Nick Pratto (Kansas City) struck out 5 times (on 9/11/2022 against Detroit) 
Alfonso Rivas (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 9/11/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Seiya Suzuki (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 9/13/2022 against Washington) 
C.J. Cron (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 9/13/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Mitch Haniger (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 9/13/2022 against San Diego) 
Carlos Rodon (San Francisco) struck out 11 batters (on 9/13/2022 against Atlanta) 
TJ Friedl (Cincinnati)  had 5 hits (on 9/14/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Brandon Marsh (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 9/14/2022 against Cleveland) 
Kevin Gausman (Toronto) struck out 12 batters (on 9/14/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Eric Thames (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 4 times (on 9/14/2022 against Colorado) 
Oneil Cruz (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 9/15/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Austin Hays (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 4 times (on 9/16/2022 against Detroit) 
Nestor Cortes (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 11 batters (on 9/16/2022 against Detroit) 
Zach Remillard (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 9/16/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Luis Castillo (Cincinnati)  threw a no-hitter! (on 9/16/2022 against St. Louis) 
Darin Ruf (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 9/16/2022 against Los Angeles) 
Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles) struck out 11 batters (on 9/16/2022 against San Francisco) 
Josh Jung (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 9/17/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Christian Walker (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 9/17/2022 against Atlanta) 
Nathaniel Lowe (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 9/18/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Gleyber Torres (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 9/18/2022 against Pittsburgh) 

Newsletter for games through 9-11-22

RULES UPDATE

Since the MLB rosters expanded to 28 on Sept 1, we’ll expand the ASFBL rosters to 28 starting with next week’s lineups (max 14 pitchers). We’ll have lineups on the 20th, 27th, and Oct 2, and then the season ends on Oct 5. Playoff rosters must be trimmed back down to 26 (13 pitcher max). No waivers are relevant starting Oct 2. Thanks to Mark Chen for pointing out the Sept 1 roster expansion…that wasn’t included on the original list of rules changes and slipped my notice. Appreciate it, Mark!

And, I HAVE KILLED THE BUG. Did everything but call in an exterminator and leave traps laying around the code. But I think that AAA players who were traded and then promoted will stay with the correct fantasy team, although I will ask you all to be vigilant in letting me know if any sneak through…

COMMENTARY

It should not seem anti-climactic for a week to have a no-hitter in the wake of last week that saw TWO no-hitters and a cycle, so the fact that Julio Urias’ gem on 9/5/2022 against San Francisco was a perfect game should be impressive…The Atlanta Braves are on an 18-2 tear, which is amazing. They are paced by Austin Riley, who has 37 HR, and Max Fried, who has 18 wins. In fact, three Atlanta pitchers have 10 wins or more (Wright and Strider are the other 2)…and that’s making the most of the home-grown talent…the NL central is a race for the ages, with the Cardinals sneaking out by a half game on their 5-2 performance while the Brewers checked in at 5-3…the Cubs ran the table, and are currently tied for the 3rd wildcard spot with the Phillies…both of those teams are dangerous to the top of their divisions and in the playoffs…think I messed this up before, but Rick Wynne and the Dodgers are chasing his all-time win record of 113 that he set in 2019…he needs 8 more wins with 23 to go…Toronto and New York both sit at the top of the AL East but both had losing weeks as Boston went 5-1…they are +9 WOR and only 3 back for the divisional lead…the other awesome race is in the AL Central, where the Twins rode a 5-2 record to a 3-game lead in the AL Central…Guardians lead the actual division and are +1.5 WOR, but the Twins are a solid +9 WOR…the Minnesotans were pretty active this year with 9 trades that involved 4 teams…every trading partner was in the AL…Anaheim had the best record in the west at 4-2, although the big news in that division is Houston’s 10.5 game lead and the +21 WOR that Texas has put up…Seattle is back to being competitive and is 6-4 over the last 10…this is the time of the season where the spoiler wins make a big difference…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Willy Adames (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 9/5/2022 against Colorado) 
Jake McCarthy (Washington) hit 6 RBI (on 9/5/2022 against St. Louis) 
Shohei Ohtani (New York (NYM)) struck out 11 batters (on 9/6/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Joey Meneses (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2022 against Houston) 
Cody Thomas (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2022 against Atlanta) 
Alex Bregman (Cleveland)  had 5 hits (on 9/7/2022 against Kansas City) 
Stone Garrett (Arizona)  had 5 hits (on 9/7/2022 against San Diego) 
Mike Minor (Cincinnati) struck out 11 batters (on 9/8/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Isan Diaz (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Jacob deGrom (New York (NYM)) struck out 19 batters (on 9/9/2022 against Miami) 
Jacob deGrom (New York (NYM))  threw a no-hitter! (on 9/9/2022 against Miami) 
Brandon Woodruff (Anaheim) struck out 12 batters (on 9/9/2022 against Houston) 
Tyrone Taylor (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Buddy Kennedy (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2022 against Colorado) 
J.T. Realmuto (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 9/10/2022 against Texas) 
Corey Dickerson (St. Louis)  had 5 hits (on 9/11/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Chad Pinder (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 9/11/2022 against Kansas City) 
Nick Pratto (Kansas City) struck out 5 times (on 9/11/2022 against Detroit) 
Alfonso Rivas (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 9/11/2022 against Chicago (CWS))

Newsletter for games through 9-4-22

COMMENTARY

So the actual Mets took 2 of 3 from a really good Dodger team and then proceeded to bonk against a scuffling group of Nationals…my ASFBL Mets took 2 of 3 from a better-than-really-good Dodgers team and then proceeded to have Andy Somers’ Nationals make it clear that they were not going to roll over and took 2 of 3 from the Mets…I’ve gotta write a less realistic simulation…reality, meanwhile, was having no bearing on Danny Wildes’ Braves who ran the table and have had about a 10-game turnaround in under a month…the Mets have a winning record over the last 30 games but the Braves are 23-7….meanwhile, the Cardinals and Brewers went a combined 11-2 and are now locked in a dead tie in the NL Central…Toronto and the Yankees had matching 6-1 records allowing the Jays to hold a 2.5 game lead…Minnesota went 3-3 while the Guardians slid at 1-5 to drop 1.5 back…that’s 3 divisions where first and second are separated by a total of 4 games…Seattle and Texas were each 5-1…the Mariners got some long-languishing pitchers back in the action…man, just don’t sleep on Baltimore, who went 4-2 and are 20-10 over the last 30…and kudos to the Phillies who were also 5-1 and 19-11 over the last 30…Anaheim took 2 of 3 from Astros, which isn’t exactly being a spoiler for a team with a 10.5 game lead in September, but is definitely a point-of-pride series that Arte Moreno would envy…Texas finished the week 20 games over the actual club, and is becoming a clear frontrunner in the WOR standings…TWO NO-HITTERS ON THE SAME DAY…Zac Gallen of the Rockies did it against Cincinnati, and Adam Wainwright Yankees did it against Tampa Bay, and both on September 4…and while two no-hitters on one day is amazing, there were actually 3 on the week…Sonny Gray (San Diego) no-hit the Giants on August 31…in none of those 3 games did the winning team score more than 4 runs…Gallen’s gem was a perfect game…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Parker Bugg (Miami) struck out 11 batters (on 8/30/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Randal Grichuk (Oakland) struck out 5 times (on 8/30/2022 against Washington) 
J.T. Realmuto (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 8/30/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Jacob deGrom (New York (NYM)) struck out 13 batters (on 8/30/2022 against Los Angeles) 
C.J. Cron (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 8/30/2022 against Atlanta) 
Edmundo Sosa (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 8/31/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Jonathan Aranda (Tampa Bay)  had 5 hits (on 8/31/2022 against Miami) 
Dylan Cease (Colorado) struck out 17 batters (on 8/31/2022 against Atlanta) 
Salvador Perez (Kansas City)  had 5 hits (on 9/1/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Salvador Perez (Kansas City)  hit for the cycle! (on 9/1/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Shohei Ohtani (New York (NYM)) struck out 11 batters (on 9/1/2022 against Los Angeles) 
James Outman (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 9/1/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Seiya Suzuki (Baltimore)  had 5 hits (on 9/1/2022 against Cleveland) 
Daulton Varsho (Baltimore) hit 6 RBI (on 9/1/2022 against Cleveland) 
Luis Garcia (Detroit) struck out 11 batters (on 9/2/2022 against Kansas City) 
Kyle Schwarber (Washington) struck out 4 times (on 9/2/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
TJ Friedl (Cincinnati)  had 5 hits (on 9/3/2022 against Colorado) 
TJ Friedl (Cincinnati)  hit for the cycle! (on 9/3/2022 against Colorado) 
Chris Okey (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 9/3/2022 against Colorado) 
Aaron Judge (St. Louis) hit 3 homers (on 9/3/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Yu Chang (Cleveland) struck out 4 times (on 9/4/2022 against Seattle) 

Newsletter for games through 8-28-22

COMMENTARY

Fantasy players who have shown some clutch down the stretch: Nolan Arenado, a fantasy Yankee, hit .462 last week…scored more runs (5) than he knocked in (4)…Carlos Correa, a fantasy Twin, hit .455 and knocked in exactly as many as he scored (6)…Abreu of the Chisox had 5 doubles last week…actually, the same number as Arenado…and Rutschman of the Nationals, although he did it in only 17 AB…Realmuto of the Jays score 9 runs last week while hitting .370…most impressively, he hit for the cycle on 8/23 against Boston…nobody else scored more than 8…five fantasy players hit homers last week, with Christian Walker of the Phillies doing it on only 8 hits and Matt Olson of the Braves doing it with 11…Aaron Judge, a fantasy Cardinal, walked 9 times last week…nobody else waled more than 7…Bubba Thompson of the Twins stole 5 bases last week…got caught once…Manoah of the the Jays pitched an ASFBL-high 14.67 innings last week and only gave up 1 run…18 ASFBL pitchers had double-digit strikeout totals last week, but Alexis Diaz of the Reds did it while only walking one batter….and he only pitched 6 innings…Buck Farmer of the Reds struck out 10 in 8.33 relief innings but allowed 3 of 7 inherited runners to score…Cleveland swept Seattle last week, in a series the Twins had to care about a lot…meanwhile, the Twins swept the Giants, in a series Cleveland had to care about a lot…the rest of the AL East can thank the Rangers for taking 3 from Baltimore…Atlanta made the first major move in the NL East and went 6-0…all in road games…much like the actual club, the Phillies are just a better team now than they were at the all-star break and are 18-12 in the last 30…St. Louis had the brutal 8-game week and ran out of gas a little bit at 3-5, giving the Brewers a chance to pick up a full game even though they only went 3-3…Cubs are only 3.5 back…it doesn’t matter a ton in the NL West race anymore, but the 5-1 week the Dodgers put together puts them 8 games up on the actual club…which is saying something, because the actual club has the best record in baseball…I’m going to call it now and say the Rays are going to be a spoiler before it’s all over in the AL East…Jays inched forward to a 2.5 game lead with Boston 3.5 behind the Yankees…that big Cleveland week put then a half-game ahead in the AL Central for the first time in what seems like months…Houston is the class of the AL right now, a solid 15 games ahead of anyone else…Texas is finishing strong and would take a wildcard spot if the season ended today…watching this Yankee/Angel series on TV this week and seeing the stands packed with New York fans gives me fond memories of seeing the games with Josh Clark…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Keston Hiura (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 8/22/2022 against Los Angeles) 
Michael Chavis (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 8/23/2022 against Atlanta) 
Michael Harris (Atlanta)  had 5 hits (on 8/23/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Alek Manoah (Toronto) struck out 11 batters (on 8/23/2022 against Boston) 
James Outman (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 8/23/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Jake McCarthy (Washington)  had 5 hits (on 8/23/2022 against Seattle) 
Carlos Rodon (San Francisco) struck out 14 batters (on 8/24/2022 against Detroit) 
Eugenio Suarez (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 8/25/2022 against Cleveland) 
Justin Verlander (Cleveland) struck out 12 batters (on 8/25/2022 against Seattle) 
Donovan Solano (Cincinnati)  had 5 hits (on 8/25/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Brandon Lowe (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 8/26/2022 against Boston) 
Max Fried (Atlanta) struck out 12 batters (on 8/26/2022 against St. Louis) 
Rowdy Tellez (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 8/27/2022 against Miami) 
Luke Williams (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 8/27/2022 against Minnesota) 
MJ Melendez (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 8/28/2022 against San Diego) 
Ian Happ (Chicago (CC)) struck out 4 times (on 8/28/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Robbie Ray (Seattle) struck out 12 batters (on 8/28/2022 against Cleveland)

Newsletter for games through 8/21/22

COMMENTARY

Bad news from the Met fantasy dugout…fantasy Met Yordan Alvarez got a virus and had to leave a game last week, and due to poor trainer behavior he infected fantasy Met Shohei Ohtani who had to leave his start with a virus the next day…gotta add that as a setting to our lineups page…four of six divisions have a race where fewer than 2 games separate first from second…it doesn’t get tighter than the NL central where the Brewers are up by a half game over the Cardinals, and after a 5-1 week the Cubs are only 3.5 back…three teams within 3.5 games of each other…Mets and Braves marched in lockstep with 4-3 records…Reds were also 5-1 in the central…Dodgers cooled down to a 4-3 week, which would be great by just about anybody else’s standards, but the Padres showed some fight at 5-2…the divisional lead is an ungodly 30 games, but the Padres are battling with the Phils, Cubs, and Rockies out for the final wildcard spot…those 4 teams have between 63 to 66 wins each…so if you looked at the AL East you’d see the Jays, Yanks, and Bosox in a tight race at the top, and you’d see the upstart Orioles lurking only 4.5 back and ready to make a run…and if you did, you’d miss the fact that the DRays actually had the best record on the week at 6-1…Cleveland had the only perfect record in the division and moved to within a game of the Twins…both teams are now in positive WOR territory…doesn’t it seem like Oakland does something like this about every other year? John’s team had the best record at a perfect 7-0 and is now +8 WOR…as the actual club gets worse Oakland has a real shot at overtaking the top-3 WOR clubs…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Kyle Tucker (Philadelphia)  had 5 hits (on 8/15/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Justin Verlander (Cleveland) struck out 11 batters (on 8/15/2022 against Detroit) 
Max Stassi (Anaheim) hit 6 RBI (on 8/15/2022 against Seattle) 
Jonathan India (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 8/16/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Matt Olson (Atlanta)  had 5 hits (on 8/16/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Max Muncy (Los Angeles) hit 8 RBI (on 8/16/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Max Muncy (Los Angeles)  had 5 hits (on 8/16/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Ty France (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 8/16/2022 against Anaheim) 
Terrin Vavra (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 8/16/2022 against Seattle) 
Zack Wheeler (Philadelphia) struck out 11 batters (on 8/17/2022 against Cincinnati) 
David Peralta (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 8/17/2022 against Texas) 
Sean Murphy (Oakland) hit 6 RBI (on 8/17/2022 against Texas) 
Corbin Burnes (Milwaukee) struck out 12 batters (on 8/17/2022 against Los Angeles) 
Jake Lamb (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 8/17/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Trea Turner (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 8/18/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Tyrone Taylor (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 8/19/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Cristian Javier (Chicago (CC)) struck out 11 batters (on 8/19/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Jacob deGrom (New York (NYM)) struck out 15 batters (on 8/19/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Merrill Kelly (Arizona) struck out 12 batters (on 8/19/2022 against St. Louis) 
Nolan Gorman (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 8/19/2022 against Arizona) 
Cavan Biggio (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 8/20/2022 against New York (NYY)) 
Salvador Perez (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 8/20/2022 against Tampa Bay) 

Newsletter for games through 8/14/22

COMMENTARY

Sorry for the late posting, and things should settle back to normal next week…Appreciate the kind words some of you sent via email…Kudso to Rick Wynne, who has built a powerhouse, and had a 5-0 week…he’s 25-5 over the last 30, which is only 1 game better than the actual club…that’s one tough WOR road…Jays, Bosox, and Yankees are separated by 1 game in the best divisional race in the ASFBL…but Mark Chen’s Orioles just finished off a 7-0 week, best in the ASFBL, and moved to within 4 games of first place…smart money is on Ben’s Rangers, but there’s a chance all 3 wildcard teams could come from the same division…Cleveland and the Chisox are creeping closer in the AL central and could make a big move with one strong week…Aaron Judge leads both ASFBL and MLB in homers, and actually has more in real-life, so he could heat up down the stretch as he adjusts upward…Juan Soto has 103 walks to lead MLB and 96 to lead the ASFBL…Arraez is hitting .337 for the fantasy club and .336 for the actual Twins…it takes 15 wins to lead either MLB or ASFBL, and Verlander has done it for the actual Astros but Fried and Gonsolin have done it in the ASFBL…Alcantera leads both leagues in innings, with 2 more in MLB (173 vs 171)…Garrett Cole has 184 strikeouts for the actual Yankees, and Rodon and McClanahan have him beat in ASFBL…McClanahan has topped the 2-century mark at 211…Isan Diaz of the Giants hit .480 in the ASFBL last week with 4 doubles…no homers but he knocked in 9…Kyle Tucker had 4 homers and 10 RBIs for the Phillies last week…and hit all 4 homers in one game…Texas has a solid WOR lead at +16…Cubbies are the only other team in double-digits with 13.5….Colorado, the Dodgers, and Angels are all dark horses but are +8 or better….having a lot of fun simulating the NL East race with Danny Wildes….the Brewers vaulted 2.5 games up in the NL central and now lead the division by 2 games…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Gleyber Torres (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 8/8/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Max Scherzer (Anaheim) struck out 11 batters (on 8/8/2022 against Oakland) 
Jose Abreu (Chicago (CWS))  had 5 hits (on 8/9/2022 against Kansas City) 
Randy Arozarena (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 8/9/2022 against Milwaukee) 
DJ LeMahieu (New York (NYY)) hit 7 RBI (on 8/9/2022 against Seattle) 
Aaron Ashby (Milwaukee) struck out 11 batters (on 8/10/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Nolan Arenado (New York (NYY)) hit 7 RBI (on 8/10/2022 against Seattle) 
Kyle Tucker (Philadelphia) hit 4 homers (on 8/11/2022 against Miami) 
Kyle Tucker (Philadelphia) hit 9 RBI (on 8/11/2022 against Miami) 
Kyle Tucker (Philadelphia)  had 5 hits (on 8/11/2022 against Miami) 
Framber Valdez (Houston) struck out 11 batters (on 8/11/2022 against Texas) 
Trayce Thompson (San Diego) hit 6 RBI (on 8/12/2022 against Washington) 
Eric Haase (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 8/12/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Vaughn Grissom (Atlanta)  had 5 hits (on 8/13/2022 against Miami) 
Matt Chapman (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 8/14/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Jacob deGrom (New York (NYM)) struck out 12 batters (on 8/14/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Gio Urshela (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 8/14/2022 against Anaheim) 

Newsletter for games through 8-7-22

ROSTER NOTE

The code is struggling with the situation where a AAA player is traded and subsequently promoted…I’ll look into making program fixes but in the meantime alert me if any of the players you traded for suddenly disappear…like, not actually on the roster, not like “we signed Jason Heyward for $184m and he’s hitting .211” disappeared…

COMMENTARY

Obviously running behind this week, so these are passing observations and not deep analysis…I’ve been thinking about it all week, but I can’t think of anything funnier than the MLB Angels hitting 7 home runs and losing…tipping my hat to Danny and Adam, who each gained ground in the NL east and are tied for the best record over the last 30 games…the entire NL central was 1 game under .500, and four of the teams went 3-3…all the Dodgers do is win, with another 6-1 week and a 25-5 mark over the last 30…Rockies and Padres each played 8 games last week…not as bad as the 9 the Oakland played earlier this year, but that’ll drain your bullpen…Johnny Mac‘s Jays got a length out ahead of the pack in the AL East…seems like his name comes up every year when the pennant races heat up…Yanks and Baltimore were each 4-2, and Mark Chen’s Orioles are playing the same spoiler role as the actual club…Mark Yee’s New Yorkers are behind the actual club but +11 and they’re a good team…Mike Mendoza’s Royals are a long way back but have the best AL Central record over the last 30 games…Twins continue to hold the top spot, and much like Everyone Loves Raymond reruns the Guardians seem to be there eternally…top four teams in the AL West are all 6-4 over the last 10…Anaheim had the best week…Houston is now +4 over the actual club, while Texas continues to lead the ASFBL in that category…kudos to those who found the easter egg tucked into the box score…this one was a player ejected for concealing a potato…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Cooper Hummel (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 8/1/2022 against Cleveland) 
Michael Chavis (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 8/2/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Gleyber Torres (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 8/2/2022 against Washington) 
Nelson Cruz (Washington) struck out 4 times (on 8/2/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Austin Riley (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 8/2/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Eugenio Suarez (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 8/3/2022 against New York (NYY)) 
Tyler Nevin (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 8/3/2022 against Texas) 
C.J. Cron (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 8/3/2022 against San Diego) 
Jorge Alfaro (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 8/3/2022 against Colorado) 
Matt Olson (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 8/4/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
J.T. Realmuto (Toronto)  hit for the cycle! (on 8/4/2022 against Minnesota) 
Aaron Judge (St. Louis) hit 7 RBI (on 8/5/2022 against New York (NYY)) 
Aaron Judge (St. Louis)  had 5 hits (on 8/5/2022 against New York (NYY)) 
Tommy Edman (St. Louis)  had 5 hits (on 8/5/2022 against New York (NYY)) 
Luis Rengifo (Anaheim)  had 5 hits (on 8/5/2022 against Seattle) 
Brandon Marsh (Anaheim) struck out 5 times (on 8/6/2022 against Seattle) 
Pete Alonso (Anaheim) hit 6 RBI (on 8/6/2022 against Seattle) 
Luis Rengifo (Anaheim)  had 5 hits (on 8/6/2022 against Seattle) 
Nathaniel Lowe (Atlanta) hit 3 homers (on 8/6/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Nathaniel Lowe (Atlanta)  had 5 hits (on 8/6/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Brandon Marsh (Anaheim) struck out 5 times (on 8/6/2022 against Seattle) 
Matt Chapman (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 8/7/2022 against Washington) 
Nathaniel Lowe (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 8/7/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Jacob deGrom (New York (NYM)) struck out 12 batters (on 8/7/2022 against Atlanta) 
Salvador Perez (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 8/7/2022 against Boston) 
Carlos Correa (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 8/7/2022 against Toronto) 
Tyler O'Neill (New York (NYY)) struck out 4 times (on 8/7/2022 against St. Louis)

Newsletter for games through 7-31-22

TRADE TALES

I honestly don’t remember a week this active ever before…Leo has done an excellent job of chronicling the seasonal totals, so I won’t repeat that here, but on the week…there were FIFTY ONE trades, starting last Wednesday. when Texas, Colorado, the ChiSox, Baltimore, Detroit, and Houston started on day 1. three trades have involved free waives, which is the first time all year that free waivers have been traded…a total of 139 players were involved…twenty-six different teams made trades…the biggest trade involved 8 players (Washington offer Josh Bell, Patrick Corbin, Carl Edwards Jr., Keibert Ruiz, and to Houston for Bailey Falter, Rhys Hoskins, Phil Maton, Ryan Pressly, and Kyle Schwarber) and came in at 11:25pm California time….1:25am Central and 2:25am Eastern…plenty of big names flying around and plenty of roster tweaks…thanks to all for making this a really fun trading deadline!

THE DARK CLOUD

I’m not one to openly mourn the loss of public personas, but if you’ll indulge me I just want to say that Vin Scully was a national treasure. I don’t like the Dodgers at all (lingering resentment about the 1988 NLCS), but when my kids were first born and I would endlessly circle our block with a stroller the big treat in my day was being able to put a game on my portable AM radio just to hear Scully talk about baseball…I can’t think of any other time in my life I’ve listened to something I didn’t care about just to hear the way it was being described…thanks to those of you who shared on email…

I’LL TAKE TWO, PLEASE

Jon Gray (Texas) threw a no-hitter! (on 7/26/2022 against Seattle)

Marcus Stroman (Chicago (CC)) threw a no-hitter! (on 7/29/2022 against San Francisco)

..the most amazing thing is that both pitchers are with their original clubs…

COMMENTARY

So watching MLB I saw that the Angels and Nationals basically tanked their rosters while the Mets bolstered theirs, and so naturally the Mets immediately lost to the Nationals and the Angels won at home…anyway, winning the trades is no guarantee of immediately winning more games…one of the truer aphorisms of baseball is that on any given day anything can happen…big mover in the AL East was early-trading partner Baltimore, who went 5-2…it’s a longshot, dark-horse route but Mark’s team is single-digits from first place…with the actual Bosox sellers at the trade deadline it will be fun to see whether Hugh Brown — doing one of the absolute best jobs in the ASFBL this year by taking a bad team, holding first, and posting a +8 WOR — can hang on to first in a tough division…Bosox made two 1-for-1 deals on the week…Tim Walsh has the Twinkies at the top of the AL central but all other teams had winning records this week, with the Royals taking the prize at 6-1 and Skrovan’s Guardians checking in at 5-2…the cumulative divisional WOR is +7 and no team is more than a half-game behind the actual team…you gotta love Texas and Ben Brockreide is riding a +14 WOR…still got a ways to catch the Astros but went 5-2…after Trader Jim Casey — I’m not putting quote marks around the Trader because if that isn’t his full legal name by now it should be — pulled off the last 3 trades, including the Soto/Bell blockbuster, he has a 6-1 record and 10-game lead to show for it…Toronto, Texas, and the Yankees are the NL wildcard frontrunners but Baltimore, the ChiSox, Cleveland, and Anaheim still have a shot…Atlanta and the Mets continue to trade punches at the top of the NL East, where Danny Wildes held to the top spot, but Adam Symonds’ Phillies had the best record in the division and he front-loaded his trades…they are 17-13 over the last 30…the Braves made three trades on the week but also did some roster maneuvering the week prior to set their rotation for the year…Zewiske’s Brewers took advantage of a Cardinal stumble to move to within a half game…Gordon’s Cubbies were the most active team at the trade deadline and posted a 5-1 record out of the gate…and that 3-team race is a thing to behold, where the 3 teams are a collective 21 games ahead of the MLB teams…the NL West, and maybe the entire NL, is all about the Dodgers, who cruised to a 6-1 week, but it says something that the Rockies went 1-6 and are still +6 WOR…mad respect to Al Benedek for pulling the trigger on multiple trades in August while sitting 28 games back…moved some named players…and, in what was the single most awesome moment of the week and the finale to any trading deadline flurry, the Padres and Tigers traded Luis Garcia for…Luis Garcia…brilliant!

FEATS AND FAILURES

Joe Dunand (Miami) struck out 4 times (on 7/25/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Matt Chapman (Philadelphia) hit 3 homers (on 7/25/2022 against Atlanta) 
AJ Pollock (Houston) struck out 4 times (on 7/25/2022 against Oakland) 
Martin Maldonado (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 7/25/2022 against Washington) 
Bobby Witt (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 7/25/2022 against Washington) 
Eric Thames (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 7/25/2022 against Washington) 
Jeremy Pena (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 7/26/2022 against Cleveland) 
Marcus Semien (Texas) hit 6 RBI (on 7/26/2022 against Seattle) 
Adolis García (Texas)  had 5 hits (on 7/26/2022 against Seattle) 
Adolis García (Texas)  hit for the cycle! (on 7/26/2022 against Seattle) 
Corbin Burnes (Milwaukee) struck out 12 batters (on 7/27/2022 against Minnesota) 
Dylan Carlson (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 7/27/2022 against Toronto) 
Shohei Ohtani (New York (NYM)) struck out 11 batters (on 7/27/2022 against New York (NYY)) 
Joe Musgrove (Houston) struck out 11 batters (on 7/28/2022 against Seattle) 
Rhys Hoskins (Washington) struck out 4 times (on 7/29/2022 against St. Louis) 
Teoscar Hernandez (Toronto)  had 5 hits (on 7/29/2022 against Detroit) 
Nick Pratto (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 7/30/2022 against New York (NYY)) 
Justin Verlander (Cleveland) struck out 11 batters (on 7/31/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Logan Webb (San Francisco) struck out 11 batters (on 7/31/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Andrew Velazquez (Anaheim) stole 3 bases (on 7/31/2022 against Texas)

Newsletter for games through 7-24-22

REMINDERS

The trade deadline is AUGUST 2, and along with MLB there are no longer post-deadline waiver trades, so make all your final moves this week. This was the short week after the break, but we’ll be back to using full starting rotations with the next lineup. I really want to, but league rules prevent me from using Albert Pujols as a reliever even though he’s pitched an inning…

COMMENTS

Starting the second half in style, Jon Gray (Texas) threw a no-hitter on 7/21/2022 against Miami….Three walks away from a perfect game…Only took 112 pitches, which seems to be the main limiting factor on no-hit bids these days…The actual Boston club hit such a rough patch that their negative run differential over a 5-game span was matched only by the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, which is notable because that team was so bad it is almost impossible for any modern club to match their awfulness…the team was owned by guy who also owned another club and traded all their good players to himself on the other team…they played 154 games, won only 20 (13%, a major-league record often excluded as prior to the modern era), and had a total attendance of 6,088…they had won 54.4% of their games the year before and between 1881 and 1888 their best pitcher was…wait for it…Cy Young…which is a very long-winded way of saying that Hugh Brown’s bunch — despite their 16-0 loss on the 22d, did much better than either the 1899 Spiders or the 2022 Bosox in the 3 games after the break, winning 1 of 3…and he’s still in first…Yankees and Jays each gained ground, and the team in that division with the best record over the last 30 games is the Orioles…Twins continue to cruise in the AL Central and were the only team with a perfect record in the short week…they only played 2 games…Yankees and Astros both played five…Ben Brockreide has pushed his Texas club into the top AL Wildcard spot and the +12 WOR is the best in the league…looking at the second-half race, the wildcard race, at present, revolves around whether Anaheim, Cleveland, or the Chisox can pick up enough ground to grab a wildcard spot…they are all about 5 games back, but there’s plenty of time left…tipping my hat to Danny Wildes, who has the Braves in first in the NL East and held the spot with a 2-1 record…since his major roster shake-up, Adam Symonds has the Phillies 16-14 over the last 30…Harper is coming back…Josh Clark’s Cardinals picked up 2 games, which is something in a 3-game week and in a race that is separate by only 3 games…and that’s a division where the Cubs and Brewers are a combined +11.5 WOR…Arizona is not a good team, and Mark Druyos doesn’t have a lot to play for, but he’s got ’em +1 WOR and 17-13 over the past 30…I’m impressed…the best MLB regular-season record ever belongs to the 1906 Chicago Cubs at 76%…the best ASFBL finish ever was Boston in 1995 at 69%…Rick Wynne currently has the Dodgers at 74%…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Franmil Reyes (Cleveland) struck out 4 times (on 7/22/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Andres Gimenez (Cleveland)  had 5 hits (on 7/22/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Shane McClanahan (Tampa Bay) struck out 14 batters (on 7/22/2022 against Kansas City) 
Corbin Burnes (Milwaukee) struck out 14 batters (on 7/22/2022 against Colorado) 
Julio Rodriguez (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 7/22/2022 against Houston) 
Framber Valdez (Houston) struck out 12 batters (on 7/22/2022 against Seattle) 
C.J. Cron (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 7/23/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Giancarlo Stanton (New York (NYY)) struck out 4 times (on 7/24/2022 against Baltimore) 
Seby Zavala (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 4 times (on 7/24/2022 against Cleveland)