Newsletter for games through 9-13-26

Commentary

Let’s start with the races…we have three way tie for the last AL wildcard spot, with Texas, Tampa, and Cleveland locked at identical 77-73 records and all 3 games behind Boston. Houston is only 2 games behind the three-headed monster. Detroit is all of a half game in front of Cleveland (both teams went 4-2 this week), so whoever finishes second will still have a fight to end up in the wild card race. If Tampa holds on, that will be four teams from the AL East who make the playoffs. Toronto still has an outside shot to catch the Yankees, but both teams seem in relatively safe playoff territory…Seattle is four games up on Texas, and depending on how hot the Rangers get in the last 3 weeks the division isn’t quite a done deal yet. Congrats to the Athletics, who put up a 4-2 week, and the Angels, who hit .500, both playing competitive ball in a season that’s been a challenge…two of those Athletic wins were against the first-place Mariners…this is a statement on the actual clubs and a compliment to our players, but it’s worth noticing that the entire AL West is even-or-better in the WOR standings…every single owner made their team better…HATS OFF to Jonathan Waldram, who has the Pirates at +11 WOR, only 4 back of the mighty Brewers (second best ASFBL record), and holding on to the top spot in the NL…right now the Diamondbacks are holding the last NL wildcard spot, with the Mets 1.5 behind them…both the Cardinals (3 back) and Cubs (4 back are within striking distance)…Arizona had the better week over the last 7 days, picking up a game in the wildcard race…the Pirates swept a crucial series against the Cubs this week…lifetime Oriole fan Mark Chen and lifetime Mets guy Jon Bruschke were both watching the Met-Oriole game, and like everyone in the stadium we both cheered for Alonso’s 8th-run, game-tying homer…to complicate emotions a little further, Alonso this year is a fantasy Met…Colby Perkins is a +3 WOR with the Angels this year, which is more than could be expected, and I am happy to report there have been no digital chants of “sell the team” in Colby’s direction…

Feats and Failures

• Jesús Luzardo (Philadelphia) struck out 12 batters (on 9/7/2026 against Atlanta)
• Sean Murphy (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 9/7/2026 against Philadelphia)
• Henry Bolte (Athletics) stole 3 bases (on 9/7/2026 against Toronto)
• Grant Taylor (Toronto) struck out 11 batters (on 9/9/2026 against Athletics)
• Gabriel Arias (Cleveland) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2026 against Baltimore)
• Zachary Veen (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 9/10/2026 against New York (NYY))
• James Wood (Washington) struck out 4 times (on 9/11/2026 against Anaheim)
• Reid Detmers (Anaheim) struck out 16 batters (on 9/11/2026 against Washington)
• Andrés Giménez (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 9/11/2026 against Baltimore)
• Garrett Mitchell (Milwaukee) hit 6 RBI (on 9/11/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Andrick Nava (Milwaukee) hit 7 RBI (on 9/11/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Gunnar Henderson (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 9/12/2026 against Toronto)
• Michael King (San Diego) struck out 11 batters (on 9/12/2026 against San Francisco)
• Drew Cavanaugh (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 9/12/2026 against San Diego)
• Eury Pérez (Miami) struck out 11 batters (on 9/12/2026 against Los Angeles)
• Jesús Luzardo (Philadelphia) struck out 11 batters (on 9/12/2026 against Atlanta)
• Cam Schlittler (New York (NYY)) struck out 11 batters (on 9/13/2026 against New York (NYM))
• Nathaniel Lowe (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 9/13/2026 against Milwaukee)
• Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 9/13/2026 against Cleveland)
• Dylan Cease (Cleveland) struck out 11 batters (on 9/13/2026 against Minnesota)
• Randy Arozarena (Seattle) had 5 hits (on 9/13/2026 against Athletics)

Newsletter for games through 9-6-26

Commentary

WILDCARD races…in the NL, Pennsylvania holds the top two spots with Philadelphia and Pittsburgh sitting at least 4 games ahead of Arizona, making the real competition for the last spot…The Mets are half a game back, the Cubs are 1 game back, and the Cardinals are 3 back….for comparison, the Astros picked up 5 games on Texas in the AL West this week…and to bury the lead a little bit, the Cardinals went 6-0 this week, so there’s no doubt they could snatch the last spot…Mets and Cubs were fighting for 3-3 and 4-3 records, but they both gained ground as Arizona struggled at 1-5…the spoilers that the Mets and Cubs can thank is the Astros, who swept their series against the DBacks en route to a perfect week…and while Philly holds the top spot, they are only a game back of the Braves, so they could easily snag the division title and push Atlanta into the wildcard group…in the AL, the Blue Jays have the first wildcard spot, and are 4 up on both the Bosox and the Rangers, who in turn are 1 game in from of Tampa Bay and the 2 up on the Guardians…the Astros just ran a perfect 7-0 week to make their games playoff-relevant, and they need to pick up 4 games to force their way into the last spot…but this week wasn’t a fluke, and they are 19-11 over the last 30, so there’s every reason to think they’ll finish strong…John Weertz keeps weaving magic with Sacramento, put up a 5-2 week, and is +7 WOR on the season…

Other items of note: Every single NL East team has a winning record over the last 30 games…the Yankees were the only divisional leader to really improve their lot last week, but the 5-1 record Mark Yee put up gained 2 games on Toronto…as has been the trend the past several years, the second place team in the AL central is closer to first in their division than they are to the last wildcard spot; this week Cleveland picked up 2 games and moved to within a half game of Detroit in the tightest of all possible races…Seattle inched a tick in front of Texas by picking up a game this week…I try not to spoil the feats and failures section here, but I can’t help but notice Muncy and Machado each had 4 strikeout games while competing against each other on Sept 1…wind advisory in Philadelphia…

Feats and Failures

• Payton Tolle (Boston) struck out 11 batters (on 8/31/2026 against Seattle)
• Joe Ryan (Minnesota) struck out 11 batters (on 8/31/2026 against Detroit)
• Gavin Williams (Athletics) struck out 11 batters (on 8/31/2026 against Texas)
• Ezequiel Duran (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 9/1/2026 against San Francisco)
• David Hamilton (Milwaukee) stole 3 bases (on 9/1/2026 against Chicago (CC))
• Manny Machado (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 9/1/2026 against Philadelphia)
• Max Muncy (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 9/1/2026 against Arizona)
• Adam Frazier (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 9/2/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Michael King (San Diego) struck out 11 batters (on 9/2/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Jimmy Crooks (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 9/2/2026 against Los Angeles)
• Bryce Eldridge (San Francisco) hit 7 RBI (on 9/3/2026 against Pittsburgh)
• Rafael Flores Jr. (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 9/3/2026 against San Francisco)
• Spencer Miles (Kansas City) struck out 11 batters (on 9/3/2026 against Miami)
• Teoscar Hernández (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 9/3/2026 against St. Louis)
• Chris Sale (Atlanta) struck out 12 batters (on 9/4/2026 against Philadelphia)
• Nolan McLean (New York (NYM)) struck out 12 batters (on 9/5/2026 against San Francisco)
• Drew Rasmussen (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 9/5/2026 against Texas)
• Sal Stewart (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2026 against Milwaukee)
• Brett Bateman (Chicago (CC)) stole 3 bases (on 9/6/2026 against Miami)
• Zack Gelof (Athletics) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2026 against Seattle)
• Coby Mayo (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2026 against Washington)

Newsletter for games through 8-23-26

COMMENTARY

We are in pennant race mode, so I’ll dive right in: Adam Symonds‘ Phillies went 5-1 to move within a game and a half of the Braves, in a race mirroring real life which gives Danny Wildes a shorter deck to draw from as the actual Brave performances mean the weekly stats are dropping…as an assist, nobody else in the division had a winning record…Chris Zewiske‘s Brewers aren’t doing quite as well as the actual team, but considering the actual team has the best record in baseball that’s not too surprising…the amazing Pirate club is +9 WOR but the Brewers picked up ground this week with a 5-1 mark…they are 6.5 back, which is doable with a few good weeks…the Brewers have the better mark over the last 30 games, 21-9 to the 17-13 for Pittsburgh…the question for the Dodgers was whether they could keep up their historical pace, and as the actual team skidded the ASFBL version took on a little water, and was actually below .500 over the last 30 games…this week, however, the Dodgers matched their other first-place compatriots with a 5-1 mark and picked up 4 games to move 14 ahead…the best ASFBL race is in the AL East, where the Jays moved to within a game of the Yankees while the Bosox started a charge with the best record inthe division, and the dark horse Rays also had a winning week…bad news for the actual Yankee DL is also bad news for Mark Yee, although he’s kept his club just ahead of the real one while staying out of the trade market this year…in fact, the AL East race is truly a difference in philosophies…the Yankees haven’t made any trades, and Jim Casey’s Jays have made about 397 trades (it seems like)…Jays have the better WOR, Yanks are up by 1 in the division…Steven Skrovan and I had to scratch our annual Angels-Guardians game this year due to disabled list concerns, although we are both day-to-day, and Steve evidently used the extra time to channel ASFBL karma and put up the only 6-0 week in the league this week…that launched him to within 4.5 games of Detroit and put him in plus-WOR territory…Kansas City and Minnesota each had winning weeks…everyone vying for the top of the AL West had a winning week, with Texas nudging out Seattle and Houston…kudos to John Weerts Athletics, who are are respectable +6 WOR for a team where any respect is unusual and welcome…Rays are 2 games behind Texas for the final wildcard spot, and the Mets and Cubs sit 3.5 back of Pittsburgh…since the Dodgers proved this week that you can flip 4 games in the standings in only 7 days, that probably means that this will come down to the wire…if you are having a bad week, take solace in the fact that you’re doing better than Esmerlyn Valdez…if I read the feats and failures correctly, he’s struck out in 12 straight at-bats…too much more of that and the Mets will trade for him…

FEATS AND FAILURES

• Eury Pérez (Miami) struck out 13 batters (on 8/17/2026 against Philadelphia)
• Max Muncy (Philadelphia) hit 3 homers (on 8/18/2026 against Miami)
• Max Muncy (Philadelphia) hit 6 RBI (on 8/18/2026 against Miami)
• Oneil Cruz (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 8/18/2026 against Detroit)
• Tarik Skubal (Detroit) struck out 15 batters (on 8/18/2026 against Pittsburgh)
• Eli White (Atlanta) struck out 5 times (on 8/18/2026 against Minnesota)
• Mauricio Dubón (Atlanta) had 5 hits (on 8/18/2026 against Minnesota)
• Corey Seager (Texas) hit 3 homers (on 8/18/2026 against Washington)
• Drew Cavanaugh (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 8/19/2026 against Cleveland)
• Corey Seager (Texas) had 5 hits (on 8/19/2026 against Washington)
• Yainer Diaz (Houston) hit 6 RBI (on 8/19/2026 against Anaheim)
• Rafael Devers (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 8/21/2026 against Boston)
• Zachary Veen (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 8/21/2026 against Cleveland)
• Esmerlyn Valdez (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 8/21/2026 against Los Angeles)
• Luis Lara (Milwaukee) hit 6 RBI (on 8/22/2026 against Atlanta)
• Brett Squires (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 8/22/2026 against Detroit)
• Taj Bradley (Minnesota) struck out 11 batters (on 8/22/2026 against San Diego)
• Esmerlyn Valdez (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 8/22/2026 against Los Angeles)
• Esmerlyn Valdez (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 8/23/2026 against Los Angeles)

Newsletter for games through 8-16-26

COMMENTARY

Last night the MLB Brewers beat the Mariners 22-0, which tied a major-league record for the largest shutout victory of all time…I would have thought in the ASFBL the largest score would have gone to a visiting team, since they get all 27 outs, and a home team that’s way ahead gets only 24…but the largest road total in the ASFBL this year goes to the Athletics, who scores 19 runs against the Astros on June 6…the Astros put up 8 of their own in that game…ASFBL high this year is 20 runs, held by both the Chisox and the Diamondbacks, although neither was in a shutout…biggest offensive outburst this year was the 17-14 win by the Giants over the Nationals…NL honors this week go to the Phillies and the Cubs, who were each 5-1, and are each in a playoff race…both teams are fighting out the final wildcard spot, and the Phils are 2 games up on the Cubs…Mets are the next team out and lost a game to both teams…Brewers held steady at 5-2 and are 8-2 over the last 10 games…that’s a league best…Hail to the spoilers! Best AL records went to the last-place Orioles and Chisox, who were each 4-2, and each had the only winning week in their division…Mariners picked up a half game on Texas this week…apologies to Tigers owner Frank Glazer, who’s name I mangled in the last newsletter…he’s still holding the top spot in the AL central…Kansas City is the only AL central team to have a winning record over the last 30 games…Schwarber has an ASFBL league-leading 45 homers, but Yordan Alvarez got to 100 RBI for the Yankees last week…he leads the league with a monstrous 153 hits…Arraez leads MLB with the same number…Nasim Nunez of the Nats leads both MLB (40) and ASFBL (49) in stolen bases…and all leagues in best alliteration…Corbin Carroll leads all MLB with 15 triples, and nobody else has more than 7…in the ASFBL Brice Turang leads with 10, and Carroll and Xavier Edwards each have 9….it’s more opportunity-based, but Ardolis Chapman (Bos) leads the ASFBL with 42 saves; MLB high is Bryan Baker (TB)…that might be Bryan Baker of the Bay for the alliteration-minded…I’m not saying I’m old, by Baker is 31 years old and was born 2 years after the first ASFBL season…the ASFBL is still younger than Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander….although both were in little league when the ASFBL had it’s first run…and on that note, the Little League World series starts today…we should have some of these players in the ASFBL by 2034…

Feats and Failures

• Iván Herrera (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 8/10/2026 against Philadelphia)
• Chris Sale (Atlanta) struck out 12 batters (on 8/11/2026 against New York (NYM))
• Victor Mesa Jr. (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 8/11/2026 against Athletics)
• Nico Hoerner (Chicago (CC)) stole 3 bases (on 8/12/2026 against Washington)
• Cal Conley (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 8/12/2026 against Anaheim)
• Michael Busch (Chicago (CC)) hit 7 RBI (on 8/13/2026 against Washington)
• Landen Roupp (San Francisco) struck out 11 batters (on 8/14/2026 against Colorado)
• Coby Mayo (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 8/15/2026 against Milwaukee)
• Jacob Misiorowski (Milwaukee) struck out 17 batters (on 8/15/2026 against Los Angeles)
• Isaac Collins (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 8/15/2026 against Anaheim)
• Jo Adell (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 8/15/2026 against Kansas City)

Newsletter for games through 8-9

Commentary

As we move to the last 6 weeks, I thought it would be fun to compare each division with what’s happening in MLB and what’s happening in ASFBL:

NL East

• MLB: Atlanta is running away with it by 8.5 games, Philly fighting for a wildcard, Miami is dark horse, Nationals are competitive, Mets are roadkill
• ASFBL: Pretty much the same, but the Mets didn’t throw in the towel and might finish over .500 and be relevant toward the end…Washington put in a strong week and could be a serious spoiler.

NL Central

• MLB: Brewers lead by 4 but the Cubs are charging, Cards have a shot and the Reds and Pirates are playing out the season.
• ASFBL: Chris Zewiske has the Brewers at the top and the Cubs have a stumbled a little and the power duo of Engleby and Morris have the Cards over-performing and tied for the last playoff spot. But the big news is Jonathan Waldram has the Pirates at +7 WOR with a shot at the division and the inside track on a wildcard spot.

NL West

• MLB: Dodgers in control but stumbling, Diamondbacks and Padres with realistic wildcard hopes, Giants and Rockies can be spoilers.
• ASFBL: Somehow Rick Wynne has made a powerhouse team better and is holding steady as the real team slides; Mark Druyos has been masterful with the Diamondbacks at +6 WOR, and in a normal world he’d be challenging the Dodgers for first were not the real drama of the season whether Rick can set all-time records…Arizona was 6-1 last week

AL East

• MLB: It’s the Rays’ title to lose (up 6), but the Yankees have persisted through injuries and who knows what the Bosox are capable of. Orioles and Jays would need miracles after high hopes earlier in the season.
• Mark Yee’s magic has the Yankees where the MLB Rays are, Jim Casey has turned over the roster and worked Miracles with the Jays, and John McDonald and Ben Leckie are fighting for the middle spot, creating the real possibility that 4th place in the division earns you a playoff spot…four teams with .500 records or better ties this division with the NL Central for the most competitive in the ASFBL…

AL Central

• MLB: The division that it seems anyway can always win has the Chisox, Tigers, Twins, and Guardians within 4 games of each other, and the Royals enjoying the view
• ASFBL: Frank Galzer has the Tigers in a commanding spot, and Mike Mendoza has made the Royals way more competitive at +6 WOR…Steve Skrovan has the Guardians almost exactly on pace with the real club and is the only non-feline team in the division with a shot at a wildcard spot, a totally-reachable 3 games away…

AL Texas

• MLB: Houston and Dallas are within a half game at the top, although neither is more than a half game over .500, and Seattle has an outside shot at a wildcard. If Anaheim moved to Las Vegas and the Athletics moved to Anaheim for the rest of the season nobody would notice a difference.
• ASFBL: Pat Walsh, fresh off an LCS appearance, is having the best WOR of his career at +9 and is in a solid spot to with the division, with Ben Brockreide slightly outpacing the actual Rangers to sit with a shot at the division; the Rangers are currently tied with the Rays for the last playoff spot

The obvious karma boost the Chisox will get from the Pope Hats won’t take place until next week, since the giveaway was on Wednesday 🙂

Feats and failures

• Garrett Mitchell (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 8/3/2026 against Pittsburgh)
• Daylen Lile (Washington) struck out 4 times (on 8/4/2026 against Philadelphia)
• Caleb Durbin (Boston) hit 6 RBI (on 8/4/2026 against Chicago (CWS))
• David Hamilton (Milwaukee) stole 3 bases (on 8/4/2026 against Pittsburgh)
• Andy Pages (Los Angeles) hit 7 RBI (on 8/4/2026 against Chicago (CC))
• Jesús Luzardo (Philadelphia) struck out 11 batters (on 8/5/2026 against Washington)
• Payton Tolle (Boston) struck out 12 batters (on 8/5/2026 against Chicago (CWS))
• Jacob Misiorowski (Milwaukee) struck out 12 batters (on 8/5/2026 against Pittsburgh)
• Nolan Arenado (Athletics) hit 6 RBI (on 8/6/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Gavin Williams (Athletics) struck out 11 batters (on 8/6/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Rafael Flores Jr. (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 8/6/2026 against Milwaukee)
• Sean Burke (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 12 batters (on 8/7/2026 against Cleveland)
• Everson Pereira (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 4 times (on 8/8/2026 against Cleveland)
• Garrett Mitchell (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 8/8/2026 against Minnesota)
• Brandon Lowe (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 8/9/2026 against New York (NYM))

Newsletter for games through 8-2-26

Musings

Unless I’m counting something wrong, between last Thursday and last night we made 48 trades collectively…not gonna steal Leo’s thunder here because he does an awesome job of keeping count of the trades, but that’s gotta be a league record…and my apologies for being a little awol yesterday; I lost lifelong friend (and ASFBL alumni) Jeanine Congalton, a young 70 years and just a few years into retirement…she was a diehard Cubs fan and the best of us…she had repeatedly said that her wishes were for her cremated remains to be mixed into a beer and thrown onto a St. Louis Cardinal outfielder from the left-field bleachers of Wrigley field…met with the family yesterday and I think they are taking it seriously…that was Jeanine, putting a smile on everyone’s face until the very end…

Commentary

We tipped our toes into the dog days…played our season through August 2 and the season ends on September 27, so we’ve got just about 2 months left…I write about the Mets too much, but I think it’s fair to say that the actual club handed me a WOR gift like no other; the only good part of the team all year was the bullpen, the actual Mets traded them all away and I’ve still got ’em, so being mediocre for the rest of the year should still keep me gaining ground on the actual club…the big winner in the NL was the Pittsburgh Pirates, the only team that mustered 5 wins, and who now find themselves 3 games out of first and half a game out of the last wildcard spot…the Cardinals, Nationals, and Mets are each 20-10 over the last 30 games, all tied for best in the NL, and none are in first place…ASFBL Boston is acting like actual Boston and put up 6 wins this week, and not to be outdone the Rays went 5-1…in what seems like a fitting statement on the overall state of the actual AL central, every team this week had exactly3 wins…that’s kept an overperforming Tigers team in first…every AL division leader — Detroit, the Yankees, and the Mariners have at least a 4.5 game lead…Phillies are within 3 of Atlanta, and the Cardinals are within 2 of Milwaukee….Houston went .500 this week, and was the only AL West team to do that well…Schwarber has 42 ASFBL homers…and despite our flurry of trade activity, Skubal has somehow remained a Tiger…Rick Wynne offered me Edman in a trade and I picked the other guy….Edman now leads the ASFBL with a .389 average…I don’t know how this is possible, but 11 actual Blue Jays are still on Jim Casey’s roster…36 are not…

Feats and Failures

• Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 7/27/2026 against Miami)
• Dylan Cease (Cleveland) struck out 12 batters (on 7/27/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Austin Riley (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 7/27/2026 against New York (NYM))
• Peter Lambert (Houston) struck out 11 batters (on 7/27/2026 against Anaheim)
• Drew Cavanaugh (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 7/27/2026 against Milwaukee)
• Jackson Holliday (Baltimore) had 5 hits (on 7/29/2026 against Detroit)
• Drew Rasmussen (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 7/29/2026 against Texas)
• Steven Kwan (Cleveland) had 5 hits (on 7/29/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Jac Caglianone (Kansas City) hit 3 homers (on 7/29/2026 against Minnesota)
• Elly De La Cruz (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 7/30/2026 against Pittsburgh)
• Jesús Luzardo (Philadelphia) struck out 12 batters (on 7/31/2026 against Baltimore)
• Jacob Misiorowski (Milwaukee) struck out 12 batters (on 7/31/2026 against Anaheim)
• Corbin Carroll (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 8/1/2026 against Los Angeles)
• Dalton Rushing (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 8/2/2026 against Boston)

Newsletter for games through 7-26-26

Trade deadline

…will be next week, Tuesday, August 4. Get the trades in and confirmed so that everyone can submit their lineups on time….10 trades last week including a blockbuster between the Chisox and Dodgers that involved 8 players…

Commentary

It was a tale of contrast in the eastern US, with all five NL East clubs going .500 or better and four of them posting winning records…in the AL East, only the Jays managed to crack the even mark…Yankees still holding with +5 WOr as the actual club struggles with a pile of injuries, and a shout out to Mark Chen for both posting a .500 week with an actual club that struggles but holding to a dead-even WOR…the three wins came in a sweep of the Bosox….I think I’ve mentioned that Steve Skrovan seems like a perennial second-half player, watching his team limp through the first half and then turning it on late to grab a wildcard spot or squeak out a division title when the field is wide open…as the actual Guardians hit a 5-game losing streak, Steve’s group went 5-2, tops in the division, moved him to within a half game of the actual club and within 4.5 games of the Tigers…the ASFBL Clevelanders are 21-9 over the last 30, tops in the AL…Tigers also had a winning week…kudos to Mike Mendoza and the Royals who had a winning week and are +4 WOR….Texas crept inches closer in the AL west, although the real story there is Pat Walsh’s +8 WOR with the Mariners…and hats off to Rob Perkins for +4 WOR with the Angels…Dodgers might have too much distance in the NL west for anyone to catch them, but the Padres picked up some ground this week and pulled to even with the actual club…the real question is whether Rick can set an all-time record; both MLB and ASFBL mark is a 76% win rate, and Rick is sitting at 69.8%…top ASFBL teams ever are the 1998 Yankees (124 wins) and the 2022 Dodgers (122)…top MLB marks are the 1906 Cubs (116 wins but .763 win percentage) and 2001 Mariners (116 wins)…there’s little doubt that Jim Casey has done a better job with the Jays than I have with the Mets, but if the actual New York club sells off half their bullpen I might have a shot at a WOR title…

Feats and Failures

• Esmerlyn Valdez (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 7/20/2026 against New York (NYY))
• Nathan Lukes (Kansas City) had 5 hits (on 7/20/2026 against San Francisco)
• Francisco Lindor (New York (NYM)) hit 7 RBI (on 7/20/2026 against Milwaukee)
• Heriberto Hernández (Miami) hit 6 RBI (on 7/20/2026 against Houston)
• Kahlil Watson (Cleveland) hit 9 RBI (on 7/21/2026 against Minnesota)
• Esmerlyn Valdez (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 7/21/2026 against New York (NYY))
• Jac Caglianone (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 7/21/2026 against San Francisco)
• Dylan Cease (Cleveland) struck out 15 batters (on 7/22/2026 against Minnesota)
• Spencer Jones (New York (NYY)) struck out 4 times (on 7/24/2026 against Philadelphia)
• CJ Abrams (Washington) had 5 hits (on 7/25/2026 against Arizona)
• Bryan Reynolds (Pittsburgh) hit 7 RBI (on 7/26/2026 against Chicago (CC))
• Jesús Luzardo (Philadelphia) struck out 11 batters (on 7/26/2026 against New York (NYY))

Newsletter for games through 7-19-2026

Comments and announcements

The MLB trade deadline is August 3, so for us that’s the lineup turned in Tuesday, August 4. Last chance to tweak the roster with trades this year; we don’t really have buyers or sellers like MLB, just teams either trying to win it all, get to the playoffs and hope for magic, or just doing better than the actual team…TWENTY-NINE of thirty lineups were submitted this week! This might be the most active ASFBL season to date…watching the A’s and Nationals put up football scores last week and taking turns destroying each other’s bullpens reminded me that crazy simulation outcomes are probably a decent reflection of actual baseball…of course, there were no meganulon infestations in the Athletics/Nationals series…there was less action in the short week, but Atlanta, Arizona, Toronto, and Boston all started the second half with sweeps…the biggest fun in MLB right now is wondering how long the Bosox can keep their winning streak going, and the fact that Johnny Mac has his team half a game in front of the actual club is a testament to managerial talent…hard to watch the real team roll off 14 straight wins and when the dust settles still find yourself with a better record…best record in the AL west goes to Colby Perkins and the Angels this week…Colby always picks last in the ASFBL draft and then does a solid job with a team nobody else wants, and this year that has put him +5 WOR over a team that is truly in shambles…Rick Wynne has been a stalwart of the league for decades, and when he had the Dodgers it was no surprise that he was leading the division, but I never expected someone could take that team and then go +10 WOR to lead the league…in a career of outstanding seasons, this one might be his best…Mark Yee taking 2 of 3 from the former cross-town rivals to start the second half is something to write home about…another ASFBL lifer, this season might be Mark’s best if not for the 110 win season he had in 1993…only 33 years ago…death, taxes, Mark Yee and Rick Wynne…it’s good to know that in this world of constant uncertainty there are some constants….

Feats and Failures

• Chris Sale (Atlanta) struck out 13 batters (on 7/17/2026 against Texas)
• Chase Burns (Cincinnati) struck out 14 batters (on 7/17/2026 against Colorado)
• Corbin Carroll (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 7/18/2026 against Tampa Bay)
• Garrett Mitchell (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 7/18/2026 against Miami)
• Charles Hicklen (Atlanta) had 5 hits (on 7/19/2026 against Texas)
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. (Houston) struck out 4 times (on 7/19/2026 against Baltimore)
• Dylan Beavers (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 7/19/2026 against Houston)
• Royce Lewis (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 7/19/2026 against Chicago (CC))
• Hunter Goodman (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 7/19/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Christian Greene (Cincinnati) struck out 11 batters (on 7/19/2026 against Colorado)
• Nasim Nuñez (Washington) stole 3 bases (on 7/19/2026 against Athletics)

Newsletter for games through 7-12-26

Commentary

Welcome to the All-Star break! Next week will be a short one so you can reset your rotation if you wish…Congrats to the Cardinals who turned a 5-2 week into a half-game lead in the NL central going into the break…Milwaukee and Pittsburgh each had 4 wins…the Dodgers capped off a stunning first half with a perfect week, and it’s time to start thinking about whether they can set the all-time ASFBL regular season wins record…the marks to look at are Rick’s own 2022 total of 122 and Michael Gortenberg’s 1998 all-time total of 124…ten ASFBL teams have won 110 games or more, and only one has gone on to win the championship…MLB high win total is 116, held by the 2001 Mariners and 1906 Cubs…kudos to Colorado and Cincinnati, who ended the first half on winning notes and each put up 4 wins…spoilers are most dangerous when they can beat anyone on any day…the Jays raced up 4.5 games on the Yankees by winning 5 games while the Yanks scuffled, but Mark Yee still has the crew up a comfortable 7.5 games…that’s a healthy lead, but something that others could catch…Cleveland put 5 wins and is now 6.5 back…Steve Skrovan is like a distance runner who always seems to lurk in the middle of the pack only to make a late push, and it seems to happen ever year…Seattle and Texas locked step with 4-2 records in the AL west…that rumbling sound you hear in Atlanta is the Phillies making a run; Adam’s team is 4 games back; Danny has done a great job with the Braves and has matched the actual club’s record, which is no small feat considering how well they’re playing…the NL has four teams within 3.5 of the three wildcard spots…in the AL there are six teams with 5.5…I think that makes 10 teams vying for six spots, and all are withing striking distance of the top spot…NL central could put 3 teams in the playoffs…AL east could put in four…

If you’ll forgive a personal reminiscence, last year Gordon Leckie made me an offer on some kid who had just come out of AA and and thrown like 10 innings at the AAA level, and I was happy to ship him off for any return…then I watched mournfully as Nolan McLean almost pitched the Mets into the playoffs and whatever dud I’d gotten in return couldn’t crack my active roster…this year I shipped another top prospect out for Pete Alonso in late May when he was hitting only .235, hoping that Pete would come around and wishing Mark Chen the best of luck with Jack Wenninger, and it really seemed like Alonso would probably end up on the DL and Wenninger would crack the Mets rotation once Holmes inevitably got hurt and Manaea and Senga pitched their way out of regular starts…the all-star break returns are good so far, but let’s see how the second half goes…

Feats and Failures

• Max Muncy (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 7/6/2026 against Kansas City)
• Cole Carrigg (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 7/7/2026 against Los Angeles)
• Randy Arozarena (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 7/8/2026 against Miami)
• Eury Pérez (Miami) struck out 11 batters (on 7/8/2026 against Seattle)
• Colt Emerson (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 7/8/2026 against Miami)
• Seattle and Miami played 15.5 innings on 7/8/2026
• Taj Bradley (Minnesota) struck out 11 batters (on 7/8/2026 against Cleveland)
• Esmerlyn Valdez (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 7/9/2026 against Atlanta)
• Dylan Cease (Cleveland) struck out 13 batters (on 7/9/2026 against Minnesota)
• Brandon Nimmo (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 7/10/2026 against Houston)
• Gavin Williams (Toronto) struck out 12 batters (on 7/10/2026 against San Diego)
• Tristan Peters (Chicago (CWS)) hit 6 RBI (on 7/11/2026 against Athletics)
• Elly De La Cruz (Cincinnati) stole 3 bases (on 7/11/2026 against Chicago (CC))
• Cade Cavalli (Washington) struck out 11 batters (on 7/12/2026 against New York (NYY))
• Isaac Paredes (Houston) struck out 4 times (on 7/12/2026 against Texas)

Newsletter for games through 7-5-26

Commentary

The 2026 trade deadline is August 6, so we’ve got about 4 more weeks to make the final moves…If you haven’t seen it, FantasyLand is a book written by the former WSJ editor who took a year to compete in the top “tout” league of them all, where the gurus of the main sports sites play a league against each other…let’s just say that it’s more than a little competitive…the book’s subtitle is “A Sportswriter’s Obsessive Bid to Win the World’s Most Ruthless Fantasy Baseball”…the book’s author hired a NASA mathematician to be his numbers analyst…Sara Sanchez is an old friend of mine who’s made a name for herself as a baseball writer and commenter, and managed to get herself into that league…finished second…she also played a season of ASFBL and couldn’t get the Cubs out of last place…she brings that up every time we see each other…I’m not saying ASFBL is best league in the world, I’m just saying that you can be in the best leagues in the world and still find the ASFBL plenty challenging…shout out to John Weerts for signing up at the daily word game sight my kiddo and I are working on…he’s been kicking butt there too…In John’s honor, I’ve thought about this as the Athletics’ City Connect jersey…

Otto Lopez is leading the ASFBL in hitting, and he’s hitting .336 in exactly 336 at-bats…those numbers are only multiples of 3, and of course his jersey number is 6…Jeremy Bowers got the lineup updated and the actually streaking Miami team was 5-2 in the ASFBL this week…Diamondbacks ran the table with a perfect 6-0 record with home sweeps against the Giants and Brewers…4-2 was the best record in the AL this week, shared by the Rays and Tigers…the Tigers used it to gain a foothold in the central and take the top WOR spot at 9.5…Yankees stay strong with a +9 WOR…this newsletter is coming from dance nationals at Palm Springs, the final run for my graduating senior who’s moving out next year…bittersweet Dad moment, and the weather is making it clear why baseball is only played in the desert during the spring…

Feats and Failures

• A.J. Ewing (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 6/29/2026 against Toronto)
• Dylan Cease (Cleveland) struck out 14 batters (on 6/29/2026 against Texas)
• Yordan Alvarez (Houston) hit 6 RBI (on 6/29/2026 against Minnesota)
• Edmundo Sosa (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 6/29/2026 against Athletics)
• Nasim Nuñez (Washington) stole 3 bases (on 6/30/2026 against Boston)
• Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles) struck out 12 batters (on 7/1/2026 against Athletics)
• Joey Bart (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 7/2/2026 against Philadelphia)
• Jacob Misiorowski (Milwaukee) struck out 17 batters (on 7/2/2026 against Cincinnati)
• Owen Caissie (Miami) hit 6 RBI (on 7/2/2026 against Colorado)
• Bruce Zimmermann (Atlanta) struck out 12 batters (on 7/3/2026 against New York (NYM))
• Brett Callahan (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 7/4/2026 against Texas)
• Cole Young (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 7/4/2026 against Toronto)
• Nick Kurtz (Athletics) struck out 4 times (on 7/4/2026 against Miami)
• Konnor Griffin (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 7/5/2026 against Washington)
• Jesús Luzardo (Philadelphia) struck out 12 batters (on 7/5/2026 against Kansas City)
• Griffin Jax (Tampa Bay) struck out 12 batters (on 7/5/2026 against Houston)
• Jonah Cox (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 7/5/2026 against Colorado)
• Zach Neto (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 7/5/2026 against Boston)