Newsletter(ish) for games through 7-24-16

Digital Rain Delay

Apologies for the lateness…it was a summer school/swim lesson/summer computer camp/summer debate institute delay.  Not one of them, but all of them at once.  So no commentary this week, but congrats to the Marlins and Nats on their collective 11-2 week…the Reds on the best NL central record… the Rockies for taking over first place in the NL west…Detroit for doing the same in the AL central…Boston and Baltimore for their collective 11-2 effort, and Seattle for adding to their lead in the AL west.

Feats and failures:

Adam Wainwright of STL had 12 strikeouts against SDP on 7/18/2016
Carlos Beltran of CHC had 7 RBI against NYM on 7/18/2016
Carlos Carrasco of CLE had 14 strikeouts against KCR on 7/18/2016
Francisco Lindor of CLE struck out 4 times against KCR on 7/18/2016
Matt Shoemaker of LAA had 10 strikeouts against TEX on 7/18/2016
Josh Reddick of OAK struck out 4 times against HOU on 7/19/2016
Melky Cabrera of CWS had 6 RBI against SEA on 7/19/2016
Ryan Howard of PHI struck out 4 times against MIA on 7/19/2016
Carlos Martinez of STL had 13 strikeouts against SDP on 7/20/2016
Max Scherzer of WAS had 11 strikeouts against LAD on 7/20/2016
Michael Fulmer of COL had 10 strikeouts against TBR on 7/20/2016
Jose Fernandez of MIA had 12 strikeouts against PHI on 7/20/2016
Peter Bourjos of PHI struck out 4 times against MIA on 7/20/2016
Blake Parker of KCR had 11 strikeouts against CLE on 7/20/2016
Evan Longoria of TBR struck out 4 times against OAK on 7/21/2016
Yu Darvish of TEX had 10 strikeouts against KCR on 7/22/2016
Adam Rosales of SDP struck out 4 times against WAS on 7/22/2016
Ian Kinsler of DET had 6 RBI against CWS on 7/22/2016
Joey Votto of CIN had 6 RBI against ARI on 7/22/2016
Danny Duffy of SEA had 13 strikeouts against TOR on 7/22/2016
Ryan Rua of TEX struck out 4 times against KCR on 7/23/2016
TEX and KCR played 17.5 innings on 7/23/2016
Aaron Sanchez of TOR had 10 strikeouts against SEA on 7/23/2016
Carlos Carrasco of CLE had 13 strikeouts against BAL on 7/24/2016

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Newsletter for games through 7-17-2016

REMEMBER: Trade deadline is 2 weeks away!  Last trades will be accepted with the lineups due on 8/2.

COMMENTARY: Six teams managed perfect records in the short week…Two in the AL East…Anaheim Angels are undefeated since the all-start break, and Achten’s group was an identical 3-0…Tigers picked up a game in the AL central…Rockies moved into a dead tie with the Giants in the NL West…Nationals, Marlins, and Mets all winning weeks in the NL East, but only the Washington crew was perfect…Houston picked up a game in the AL west to move within 6…Cubs were only 1-2 but held on to the best record in the ASFBL…Cards and Mets are tied with 38 saves…the Toronto bullpen has allowed only 11% of inherited runners to score, tops in the league…Boston leads the league in runs scored…by 47….Giant hitters have drawn more walks in the league than anybody else…that’s 200 more than the last-place team…or 3 baserunners per game…Nolan Arrenado leads the NL with 38 HR….Chris Davis leads the AL with 32…David Ortiz, however, leads the entire ASFBL in slugging percentage…Josh Donaldson is third…Johnny Cueto leads the ASFBL with 15 wins…his actual version leads the NL with 13…talk about a tough league: Chris Sale leads MLB with 14 wins, and can’t crack the top 25 in the ASFBL….

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Jose Fernandez of MIA had 10 strikeouts against STL on 7/15/2016
Justin Verlander of DET had 10 strikeouts against KCR on 7/15/2016
Collin McHugh of HOU had 10 strikeouts against SEA on 7/15/2016
SFG and SDP played 13 innings on 7/15/2016
Matt Moore of TBR had 12 strikeouts against BAL on 7/16/2016
Jonathan Villar of MIL struck out 6 times against CIN on 7/16/2016
MIL and CIN played 15 innings on 7/16/2016
Stephen Strasburg of WAS had 14 strikeouts against PIT on 7/16/2016
Madison Bumgarner of SFG had 13 strikeouts against SDP on 7/17/2016
Matthew Joyce of PIT struck out 4 times against WAS on 7/17/2016
Chad Rogers of CIN had 10 strikeouts against MIL on 7/17/2016
Whit Merrifield of KCR struck out 5 times against DET on 7/17/2016
Miguel Sano of MIN struck out 4 times against CLE on 7/17/2016
Brett Gardner of NYY struck out 4 times against BOS on 7/17/2016
BOS and NYY played 15 innings on 7/17/2016
Anthony DeSclafani of BAL had 11 strikeouts against TBR on 7/17/2016

Newsletter for games through 7-13-16

NOTE: We take regular lineups next week but only play one series…you can use the off days to reset your rotation, if you wish.  But yes, next week will be a short week.

TOPS OF THE WEEK:  Did I say the cycle was more rare than a no-hitter?  Steven Moya of Detroit did it against Toronto on 7/10/2016

COMMENTS: Going into the All-Star break, the Braves had a solid 4-2 showing and are pulling into even WOR territory…Washington and the Mets split a 4-game series against each other and each finished with a respectable 4-3 week…Scherzer beat Syndergarrd 1-0, who didn’t make it past the 5th inning…the combined for 12.33 innings and 17 strikeouts…also had a 14 inning game on the 7th…the Cubs entered the break with a 5-1 statement, and launched themselves into the best record in the league…Milwaukee and Pittsburgh each posted winning weeks…the Cards remain +5 WOR…Colorado had the most wins in the NL, went 6-1, and pulled within 2 of the Giants at the halfway point…the Dodgers woke up and posted 5 wins…Arizona and the Padres are each in positive WOR ground…Boston went 5-1 and is 9 games up in the AL East…Toronto was the only other division team to go into the break winning…Cleveland had a huge 6-1 week to gain ground in first place in the AL Central, and is now up 6…both the Indians and Tigers are slightly ahead of the actual teams…The Twins had a big 5-2 showing giving Tim some steam for the WOR standings…the AL west is shaping up with the Mariners as a front-runner, but the A’s had the best week last week and are +7 WOR…Houston is hanging in there…The AL division leaders can all feel pretty good about their leads, but there are 6 teams with between 45 and 48 wins vying for 2 wildcard spots…the NL has 6 teams between 45 and 51 wins…Best real ERA belongs to Cleveland at 3.07…best fantasy ERA goes to the Cubs…by a mile….Rick must be doing a fabulous job of moving guys in and out spots to get the most out of them…Baltimore leads Boston in real HR, ERA, and fielding, leading me to suspect Tony Bernacchi of some sort of voodoo…should be a great race in the second half…the Nationals and Mets are within 2 spots of each for the ranks of actual performance in HR, ERA, and BA…the Nationals are 25 spots ahead in fielding…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Robinson Cano of SEA struck out 4 times against HOU on 7/4/2016
Max Scherzer of WAS had 10 strikeouts against MIL on 7/4/2016
Blake Parker of KCR had 10 strikeouts against TOR on 7/4/2016
Edwin Encarnacion of TOR hit 3 home runs against KCR on 7/4/2016
Carlos Carrasco of CLE had 10 strikeouts against DET on 7/5/2016
Steven Moya of DET robbed 3 hits against CLE on 7/5/2016
Nick Tropeano of LAA had 11 strikeouts against TBR on 7/5/2016
Byron Buxton of MIN struck out 4 times against OAK on 7/6/2016
Julio Teheran of ATL had 12 strikeouts against PHI on 7/6/2016
David Freese of PIT struck out 4 times against STL on 7/7/2016
PIT and STL played 13.5 innings on 7/7/2016
Kenley Jansen of LAD had 12 strikeouts against SDP on 7/7/2016
SDP and LAD played 15.5 innings on 7/7/2016
Stephen Strasburg of WAS had 11 strikeouts against NYM on 7/7/2016
Tim Beckham of TBR struck out 4 times against BOS on 7/8/2016
Steven Souza of TBR struck out 4 times against BOS on 7/8/2016
Archie Bradley of ARI had 11 strikeouts against SFG on 7/8/2016
Blake Parker of KCR had 12 strikeouts against SEA on 7/9/2016
Jordan Pries of SEA had 10 strikeouts against KCR on 7/9/2016
Max Scherzer of WAS had 10 strikeouts against NYM on 7/9/2016
Lucas Harrell of DET had 11 strikeouts against TOR on 7/9/2016
Carlos Martinez of STL had 10 strikeouts against MIL on 7/10/2016
Danny Duffy of SEA had 10 strikeouts against KCR on 7/10/2016
Khris Davis of OAK robbed 3 hits against HOU on 7/10/2016

 

Newsletter for games through 7/3/2016

TECHNICAL NOTE:  Apologies for the delay; I unexpectedly ended up teaching an 8am summer class and that’s thrown the Wednesday schedule off for a bit.

CYCLE!  They’re more rare than a no-hitter…Josh Donaldson of Toronto hit for the cycle against Cleveland on July 3…

COMMENTS: Thanks to Andy for his kind words…so long as Wilmer Flores can hit 4 HR a week I think I’m strong enough to contend…but now that I say that out loud it actually doesn’t sound like much of a long-term plan…You know that you’re lucky and not good in any week that Bartolo Colon beats Jake Arrieta…And with Andy’s accolades firmly in mind, my hit was tipped his direction this week as the Nationals took 2 of 3 from me…This arrived at my email inbox from Mark Chen on the 4th: “I’m eating apple pie now, and I’m thinking of ASFBL Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet!”…Jeremy Moore has the Cardinals heading the right direction, going 5-2 this week, posting a+7 WOR, and making a race of the NL central…the Cubs posted another winning week and the Pirates went 4-2…Padres had a solid 4-1 week in the NL west, and Leo’s Rockies had the best week in the division at 5-1…Boston righted the ship, had the only winning week in the AL east, and bumped their lead up to 7 games just before the all-start break…Nobody in the NL central and the Tigers picked up a game on the Indians by going 3-3…Seattle and Houston locked horns atop the AL west with identical 5-1 records…as a pre-Olympic marathon Miami and Detroit played 14.5 innings on 6/28/2016…so did Baltimore and Seattle on the 3rd…Baltimore and Texas have the 2 highest team power ratings, and neither one is in first…Orioles have the most actual HR with 32…shutting this down a little early today in the interests of getting it out…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Sandy Leon of BOS had 5 hits against TBR on 6/27/2016
Jean Segura of ARI had 5 hits against PHI on 6/27/2016
Jarrett Parker of SFG struck out 4 times against OAK on 6/27/2016
Danny Espinosa of WAS hit 3 home runs against NYM on 6/27/2016
Danny Espinosa of WAS had 6 RBI against NYM on 6/27/2016
Trevor Bauer of CLE had 10 strikeouts against ATL on 6/27/2016
Willson Contreras of CHC struck out 4 times against CIN on 6/27/2016
Cheslor Cuthbert of KCR struck out 4 times against STL on 6/28/2016
Junior Guerra of MIL had 10 strikeouts against LAD on 6/28/2016
David Price of BOS had 13 strikeouts against TBR on 6/28/2016
Tim Beckham of TBR struck out 4 times against BOS on 6/28/2016
Billy Hamilton of DET struck out 4 times against MIA on 6/28/2016
Jacob Rhame of LAD had 12 strikeouts against MIL on 6/29/2016
Michael Saunders of TOR struck out 4 times against COL on 6/29/2016
Devon Travis of TOR struck out 4 times against COL on 6/29/2016
Noah Syndergaard of NYM had 10 strikeouts against WAS on 6/29/2016
Jose Fernandez of MIA had 13 strikeouts against DET on 6/29/2016
Melvin Upton of SDP hit 3 home runs against BAL on 6/29/2016
Franklin Gutierrez of SEA struck out 4 times against BAL on 6/30/2016
Jose Iglesias of DET robbed 3 hits against TBR on 6/30/2016
Cole Hamels of TEX had 10 strikeouts against NYY on 6/30/2016
Adrian Beltre of TEX had 8 RBI against MIN on 7/1/2016
Tyler Webb of NYY had 11 strikeouts against SDP on 7/1/2016
Adam Duvall of CIN had 6 RBI against WAS on 7/1/2016
Joey Votto of CIN struck out 4 times against WAS on 7/2/2016
Justin Turner of LAD robbed 3 hits against COL on 7/2/2016
Jose Fernandez of MIA had 12 strikeouts against ATL on 7/3/2016
Daniel Norris of DET had 10 strikeouts against TBR on 7/3/2016
COL and LAD played 13.5 innings on 7/3/2016
Richard Rodriguez of BAL had 13 strikeouts against SEA on 7/3/2016
Chris Davis of BAL hit 3 home runs against SEA on 7/3/2016
Nelson Cruz of SEA struck out 4 times against BAL on 7/3/2016
Franklin Gutierrez of SEA struck out 4 times against BAL on 7/3/2016
David Ortiz of BOS had 7 RBI against LAA on 7/3/2016
Josh Donaldson of TOR had 6 RBI against CLE on 7/3/2016