Newsletter for games through 6-22-2014

LIFE IMITATING ART:

Josh Beckett of LAD threw a no-hitter against SDP on 6/20/2014…Only needed 95 pitches….2 walks and an error prevented a perfect game…Kershaw had 2 starts but allowed hits in both of them…interesting to notice that in Beckett’s gem the opposing Padre fielders robbed 5 hits, and still allowed an unearned run across.

PITHY COMMENTS OF THE WEEK:

From Steve Skrovan: “Ryan Raburn is so overused, he could be declared legally dead.”

From Rick Wynne: “Interestingly enough, the first two ‘feats and failures’ [last week] featured one of each, with each named Tyler.  Newcomer Tyler Matzek and Tyler “where have all the” Flowers “gone”.  Personal note, I am glad I don’t have to play Leo again this year !!  His attention to detail in his late night acquisitions doomed my Braves in a 4-game sweep.  My Braves held an early lead in all 4 !  I will instead have to deal with the child prodigy Leckie all year long”

Adam Symonds also compiled a run differential list, which should appear just below this newsletter.

COMMENTARY:

Best record in the league went to the Dodgers at 5-1, a feat that included taking 2 of 3 from front-running Colorado…all the games were within the division…the Cubs went 4-2 and are a scant 1 game back of the Brewers, who went 5-2….the Reds are also a lone game back…Gotta be impressed with Hugh Brown and the Jays; another winning week and holding on to first in the AL east…a key may be the gopher ball, or lack of it: Jay pitchers have allowed 43 homers, fewest in the ASFBL…and go Rays, who posted a winning record…the Phillies and Mets each had 4-3 weeks, although the Phils are both 6.5 games closer to first and 6.5 WOR better than the Mets…the Royals, with a red-hot real club to pace them, tied for the best record in the AL central….the Indians were held to 2 runs or fewer 5 times last week, but busted out for 10 against the Tigers…they added a 2-1 victory to get 3 wins on the week against some tough opposition…top 3 teams in the AL west all went 4-3….the Braves have the best WOR for any team with a winning record in reality….the Chisox continue to set the pace in the ASFBL with a .623 winning percentage…the ASFBL league ERA is 3.79, compared to the actual figure of 3.80….best real ERA is Washington at 2.96, bested by the Braves (2.83) and A’s (2.88) of the ASFBL….actual Oakland ERA is only 3.11…Evan Gattis had 6 fantasy HR for the Braves last week…Mike Trout hit .444 and also walked 5 times….Grienke and Kershaw combined for 37 strikeouts for the Dodgers last week…Kershaw didn’t make it out of the 7th in either start.

FEATS AND FAILURES: 

Felix Hernandez of SEA had 12 strikeouts against SDP on 6/16/2014
Bryan Anderson of BAL struck out 4 times against TBR on 6/16/2014
Andrelton Simmons of ATL robbed 3 hits against PHI on 6/17/2014
Evan Gattis of ATL hit 3 home runs against PHI on 6/18/2014
Giancarlo Stanton of MIA struck out 4 times against CHC on 6/18/2014
Eduardo Escobar of MIN struck out 4 times against BOS on 6/18/2014
Sonny Gray of OAK had 10 strikeouts against TEX on 6/18/2014
Wily Peralta of MIL robbed 4 hits against ARI on 6/19/2014
Brett Gardner of TOR had 5 hits against NYY on 6/19/2014
Johnny Cueto of CIN had 11 strikeouts against TOR on 6/20/2014
Zack Greinke of LAD had 10 strikeouts against SDP on 6/21/2014
Chris Archer of TBR had 11 strikeouts against HOU on 6/21/2014
George Springer of HOU struck out 4 times against TBR on 6/21/2014
Josh Harrison of PIT had 6 RBI against CHC on 6/21/2014
Mike Moustakas of ATL struck out 4 times against WAS on 6/22/2014
Jeremy McBryde of OAK had 10 strikeouts against BOS on 6/22/2014
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 13 strikeouts against SDP on 6/22/2014
Everth Cabrera of SDP struck out 4 times against LAD on 6/22/2014

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Run differentials through games of 6-15-2014

Courtesy of Adam Symonds….

• Chicago (CWS)   84
• Oakland              84
• Detroit                  71
• Colorado              58
• Miami                   58
• Toronto               51
• Anaheim              46
• Seattle                29
• Milwaukee         28
• Los Angeles        27
• San Francisco     27
• Atlanta                 24
• Chicago (CC)       22
• New York (NYY)   9
• Washington        3
• Cincinnati            1
• Pittsburgh           -4
• Houston              -11
• Baltimore            -20
• Minnesota          -27
• New York (NYM) -27
• Cleveland           -30
• Philadelphia       -32
• St. Louis             -35
• San Diego          -55
• Boston                -56
• Arizona               -67
• Kansas City        -70
• Tampa Bay         -82
• Texas                -106

Newsletter for games through 6-15-2014

COMMENTARY:  So last week I mentioned that the Indians were likely to follow the fortunes of the actual club….this week they were 7-0, tops in the league….a big congrats to the Rays, who went 6-0…Chris Linhardt seems to be getting the hang of things….the Rockies went 6-1 and posted the best NL record…the Reds went 5-2 and moved into first in the NL central….Ralph is running the Reds well, he’s in his 9th ASFBL campaign, and he’s coming off an NLCS appearance….the Chisox inched a half game forward in the AL central, but Steve Horak solidified his hold on the best WOR performance….the Mariners had the best record in the AL west….my Mets went 1-5, but we were outscored by a total of 7 runs in the 5 losses….just like the real club, we can’t hit….the Yankees moved into a tie for first in the AL East, and are the only team in the division with a positive WOR….no AL team leads its division by more than 3 games…the Astros, yes, the Astros, lead the ASFBL with 90 homers….the Rockies lead with 335 runs…Miami relievers have stranded 92% of all runners, second only to the Reds…the Tigers have the best actual batting average, with .287…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Tyler Matzek of COL had 12 strikeouts against ATL on 6/9/2014
Tyler Flowers of CWS struck out 4 times against DET on 6/9/2014
David Price of TBR had 11 strikeouts against SEA on 6/9/2014
Cole Hamels of PHI had 11 strikeouts against SDP on 6/10/2014
Collin McHugh of HOU had 10 strikeouts against ARI on 6/10/2014
Max Scherzer of DET had 11 strikeouts against CWS on 6/10/2014
Andy Oliver of PIT had 10 strikeouts against CHC on 6/11/2014
David Wright of NYM struck out 4 times against MIL on 6/11/2014
Nelson Cruz of BAL robbed 3 hits against TOR on 6/12/2014
Brandon Barnes of NYM struck out 4 times against MIL on 6/12/2014
Alex Gordon of CWS robbed 3 hits against KCR on 6/13/2014
Jake Odorizzi of TBR had 10 strikeouts against HOU on 6/13/2014
Brad Mills of OAK had 11 strikeouts against NYY on 6/14/2014
Rougned Odor of TEX struck out 4 times against SEA on 6/14/2014
Chris Sale of CWS had 10 strikeouts against KCR on 6/14/2014
Vance Worley of PIT had 14 strikeouts against MIA on 6/14/2014
Giancarlo Stanton of MIA struck out 4 times against PIT on 6/14/2014
David Price of TBR had 12 strikeouts against HOU on 6/14/2014

Newsletter for games through 6-8-2014

No bats were errantly thrown at 3rd basemen this week in fantasy play…nor did replay overturn any correct calls on the field.  As an update, George Brett likes the pine tar rule more than I like instant replay.

COMMENTARY: The Dbacks, Pirates, and Indians all had winning weeks and were collectively 14-4…that’s a strong sign of not giving up…character is most apparent when things aren’t going well, so its a very impressive bounceback week for all those clubs…there is a 3-way tie for first in the NL central; no team is more than 4.5 back…No AL team is in first by more than 2 games….the largest NL lead is 1.5…the Giants lost a starter but still picked up 2.5 games…Mark Yee has the Yankees +4 WOR and in second place…the Angels, A’s and Seattle went 13-4, making the AL west race a RACE…Nobody in the NL East managed a winning record, but the Braves still picked up a game…The Chisox took control of the AL central by gaining 2 games over the Tigers…with the AL largely separating, the Orioles stand out as maybe the only middle-of-the-pack team that could burst out and challenge for the division….San Diego was 1-5, Arizona was 5-1, and both ended up exactly 0 WOR….the Brewers have the most real-life HR with 82….the Reds have the best real fielding rating….the Tigers have 73 homers, 5th in the ASFBL, but they have an identical 73 stolen bases, which ranks first…every team ASFBL batting average is within .007 of the actual figure…Clayton Kershaw had 26 K in 2 starts….Didi Gregorius of the Dbackx had 6 HR…The Astros’ 80 HR lead the ASFBL…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Matt Carpenter of STL had 5 hits against KCR on 6/2/2014
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 15 strikeouts against CWS on 6/2/2014
Tyler Flowers of CWS struck out 4 times against LAD on 6/2/2014
Stephen Strasburg of WAS had 10 strikeouts against PHI on 6/2/2014
Jackie Bradley of BOS struck out 4 times against CLE on 6/3/2014
David Price of TBR had 12 strikeouts against MIA on 6/4/2014
Collin McHugh of HOU had 10 strikeouts against LAA on 6/5/2014
C.J. Cron of LAA struck out 4 times against HOU on 6/5/2014
Masahiro Tanaka of NYY had 12 strikeouts against KCR on 6/6/2014
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 11 strikeouts against COL on 6/7/2014
Manny Machado of BAL robbed 3 hits against OAK on 6/8/2014

Newsletter for games through 6-1-2014

COMMENTS:  The Giants were the ONLY NL team to do as well as 5-2…picked up 2.5 games in the process…the Jays and Orioles matched the feat in the AL….first time in quite a while nobody has managed 6 wins…Mostly, this was the week for 2nd place teams to make their moves….The Braves picked up half a game and are only 2 back…the Reds moved to within half a game…The A’s are still hanging around half a game back….the Chisox moved into a tie for first place…the Jays pulled to within 2 of the Yanks…all this tightening means that the largest division lead is 3.5 (Colorado), and 5 divisions have first-place teams with leads of 2 or fewer…Anaheim and Houston are both in the top-6 WOR, and are the only division rivals who are both in the top-6…Encarnacion hit 8 HR last week, and compiled 20 (twenty, XX, two-zero) RBI…Altuve and Springer for the Astros each hit .379 or better last week…Cain of KC hit .393…Lincecum threw 11.33 shutout innings….Josh Beckett did not throw a no-hitter in the ASFBL this week; he allowed 1 hit in a 2-0 shutout….and as many people saw that game as the actual no-hitter, if you had to watch it on TV….it was the only game the Dodgers won against Pittsburgh…The Padres and Dbacks played 22 innings 5/26…Grandal struck out 4 times but hit a HR to win it…the game was scoreless before then….The Dbacks won the next 2 by 4 runs in each game…None of the Met/Philly games went for extra frames, after the real clubs played 3 extra-inning events.

FEATS AND FAILURES; 

Evan Longoria of TBR robbed 3 hits against TOR on 5/26/2014
Cameron Maybin of SDP struck out 4 times against ARI on 5/26/2014
Rene Rivera of SDP struck out 4 times against ARI on 5/26/2014
Yasmani Grandal of SDP struck out 4 times against ARI on 5/26/2014
Chase Headley of SDP struck out 4 times against ARI on 5/26/2014
Eric Chavez of ARI struck out 5 times against SDP on 5/26/2014
Miguel Montero of ARI struck out 4 times against SDP on 5/26/2014
Zack Greinke of LAD had 11 strikeouts against CIN on 5/27/2014
Adam Jones of BAL struck out 4 times against MIL on 5/27/2014
Stephen Strasburg of WAS had 11 strikeouts against MIA on 5/27/2014
Marcell Ozuna of MIA struck out 4 times against WAS on 5/27/2014
Matt Carpenter of STL had 5 hits against NYY on 5/28/2014
B.J. Upton of ATL struck out 5 times against BOS on 5/28/2014
Tommy La Stella of ATL had 5 hits against BOS on 5/28/2014
Denard Span of STL had 5 hits against SFG on 5/29/2014
Rubby De La Rosa of BOS had 11 strikeouts against ATL on 5/29/2014
Freddie Freeman of ATL struck out 4 times against BOS on 5/29/2014
Collin McHugh of HOU had 12 strikeouts against BAL on 5/30/2014
David Price of TBR had 11 strikeouts against BOS on 5/30/2014
Masahiro Tanaka of NYY had 12 strikeouts against MIN on 5/31/2014
Alex Gordon of CWS robbed 3 hits against SDP on 5/31/2014
Gordon Beckham of CWS struck out 4 times against SDP on 5/31/2014
B.J. Upton of ATL struck out 4 times against MIA on 6/1/2014