Newsletter for games through 6-23-2019

COMMENTS

This is bigger than baseball — please send some good vibes to A+ guy and defending champ Tony Bernacchi, who’s having some health issues right now…thinking of you, big guy…the curious case of the Cleveland Indians is about a team that’s had a bunch of injuries, especially to key pitchers, but doesn’t know that’s supposed to mean you don’t win…the actual club is 18-12 over their last 30 games and I think ESPN reported they have the best AL record in June…so although Steve Skrovan played his hand perfectly and dealt Carrasco (10 day DL, that he’s been on for 19 days) and Kluber (60 day DL) for Gerrit Cole and David Price, he can’t pick up any ground on the actual club…still,  after another winning week the Indians are 13-7 in their last 20…and he’s not standing still, having made 3 more trades this week…Miami roared this week, going 6-1 to tie the Dodgers for the best record in the NL…that shockingly good Dodger club has won 9 of the last 10 and is 4 games better than the real Dodgers who have the best record in MLB…Atlanta had another tough week but is still in first by double-digits and +5.5 WOR…Cubs went 5-1 and are the only NL central team with positive WOR…also have a double-digit lead…Padres checked in at 5-1 and are in positive WOR territory…Toronto went 5-2 and became the 4th AL West team with positive WOR…Baltimore would have the best WOR in the AL if not for division mate Boston…Houston went 6-1 and broke the logjam in the AL west a little bit, although Texas and Oakland lurk and Seattle is +4 WOR…Baltimore is 12-4 in 1-run games, which is truly amazing considering they are 32-48 overall…Ketel Marte hit .600 for the actual DBacks this week but a paltry .591 in the ASFBL…the Cubs have Mike Trout now, and he hit .480 for them last week, nudging out Kris Bryant and his .458 performance…AL division leaders Minnesota and Boston went head-to-head this week and the Twins came out ahead g tames to 1…I am pleased to say that no ASFBL games were delayed by anyone trying to hug Cody Bellinger…

From the Orioles Desk: “I got outscored 49-20 this week, but I went 4-3!  According to https://captaincalculator.com/sports/baseball/pythagorean-expectation-calculator/, I should have gone 1-6. I took a quick glance at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_expectation, but I couldn’t figure out how to calculate the odds of going 4-3 with such a negative run differential.  I probably used to know this in college, but not now.  All I know is I got really lucky!”

FEATS AND FAILURES

Kyle Schwarber of LAA struck out 4 times against TOR on 6/17/2019
Brad Peacock of HOU had 14 strikeouts against CIN on 6/17/2019
Mallex Smith of SEA struck out 4 times against KCR on 6/17/2019
Aaron Nola of PHI had 11 strikeouts against WAS on 6/17/2019
Charlie Morton of TBR had 10 strikeouts against NYY on 6/17/2019
Shohei Ohtani of LAA struck out 4 times against TOR on 6/18/2019
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of TOR had 6 RBI against LAA on 6/18/2019
Brian Anderson of MIA struck out 4 times against STL on 6/18/2019
Sandy Alcantara of MIA struck out 4 times against STL on 6/18/2019
Brandon Woodruff of MIL had 12 strikeouts against SDP on 6/18/2019
Jacob deGrom of OAK had 11 strikeouts against BAL on 6/19/2019
Dwight Smith Jr. of BAL struck out 4 times against OAK on 6/19/2019
Yordan Alvarez of HOU had 6 RBI against CIN on 6/19/2019
Tommy Milone of SEA had 13 strikeouts against KCR on 6/19/2019
Jorge Bonifacio of KCR struck out 4 times against SEA on 6/19/2019
Hyun-Jin Ryu of LAD had 12 strikeouts against SFG on 6/19/2019
Daniel Vogelbach of SEA hit 3 home runs against BAL on 6/20/2019
Daniel Vogelbach of SEA had 5 hits against BAL on 6/20/2019
Trey Mancini of SEA hit 3 home runs against BAL on 6/20/2019
Brian Flynn of KCR had 11 strikeouts against MIN on 6/20/2019
Mitch Garver of MIN struck out 4 times against KCR on 6/20/2019
Miguel Sano of MIN struck out 4 times against KCR on 6/20/2019
MIN and KCR played 15.5 innings on 6/20/2019
Joey Gallo of TEX struck out 4 times against CWS on 6/21/2019
Ben Gamel of MIL struck out 4 times against CIN on 6/21/2019
Walker Buehler of LAD had 13 strikeouts against COL on 6/21/2019
Mike Minor of BOS had 11 strikeouts against TOR on 6/21/2019
BAL and SEA played 14.5 innings on 6/22/2019
Gerrit Cole of CLE had 13 strikeouts against DET on 6/22/2019
Randy Dobnak of MIN had 11 strikeouts against KCR on 6/22/2019
Stevie Wilkerson of BAL struck out 4 times against SEA on 6/23/2019
Jake Marisnick of HOU struck out 4 times against NYY on 6/23/2019
Jonathan Schoop of MIN struck out 4 times against KCR on 6/23/2019
Miguel Sano of MIN struck out 4 times against KCR on 6/23/2019
Justin Verlander of BOS had 12 strikeouts against TOR on 6/23/2019

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Newsletter for games through 6-16-2019

COMMENTARY

Greetings from Dallas, a 4-day roadstand for the ASFBL this week…I have developed a new appreciation for the hardships encountered by those who must wait until 6pm to see the start of baseball when it is clearly meant to come on at 4pm…big news this week was the no-hitter from Mike Shawaryn of Boston against the Orioles on 6/14/2019, striking out 17 along the way…you’d be likely to think “well, that’s just the Orioles” but Mark Chen has them +6 WOR…no thanks to the Bosox, who swept the series in Baltimore…Shawaryn has had a pretty solid 3.72 ERA in AAA this year, but is .90 in his 10 innings in Boston to far…the Nats, Mets, and Marlins were all 4-2 this week, which would suggest that they were making gains on the Braves…an errant suggestion, since the Braves went 6-1…Oakland, Houston and Texas are all now separated by a single game…Houston gained a half game this week and Texas lost one, which is a lot of movement in a division that tight….The Indians had their second straight winning week but Minnesota finally caught it’s stride at 5-1…the Brewers picked up a little ground on a very strong Cub team…Miami and the Angels are scrapping, but each is at-or-over .500 over the last 20 games…Bellinger and Sanchez are tied with 28 ASFBL HR…Cesar Puello is hitting .484 in 64 AB…Top 3 BB guys are Harper, Trout, and Yelich…Indians won the Battle of Ohio, sweeping the Reds this week…my time here in Texas is supposed to be spent on the high school national speech and debate championship, which bills itself as the largest academic competition of any sort in North America…I think of it as the Nuke LaLouche of computer programming tasks; there will be some spectacular moments but the only sure thing is regular meltdowns and crises…so far, I’ve stranded all the inherited runners…I now beg everyone reading this to find some wood and knock on it for me…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Willson Contreras of CHC struck out 4 times against COL on 6/10/2019
Jason Heyward of CHC struck out 4 times against COL on 6/10/2019
Pete Alonso of NYM had 5 hits against NYY on 6/10/2019
Nick Ahmed of ARI had 5 hits against PHI on 6/11/2019
Gerrit Cole of CLE had 11 strikeouts against CIN on 6/11/2019
Yasiel Puig of CIN struck out 4 times against CLE on 6/11/2019
Mallex Smith of SEA struck out 4 times against MIN on 6/11/2019
Max Scherzer of WAS had 14 strikeouts against CWS on 6/11/2019
Aaron Nola of PHI had 10 strikeouts against ARI on 6/12/2019
CHC and COL played 14.5 innings on 6/12/2019
Brandon Belt of SFG hit 3 home runs against SDP on 6/12/2019
Jake Odorizzi of MIN had 12 strikeouts against SEA on 6/12/2019
STL and MIA played 13.5 innings on 6/12/2019
Justin Verlander of BOS had 10 strikeouts against TEX on 6/12/2019
Rich Hill of LAD had 10 strikeouts against CHC on 6/13/2019
Kyle Gibson of MIN had 14 strikeouts against SEA on 6/13/2019
Lucas Giolito of BOS had 12 strikeouts against TEX on 6/13/2019
Hyun-Jin Ryu of LAD had 16 strikeouts against CHC on 6/14/2019
David Bote of CHC struck out 4 times against LAD on 6/14/2019
Ildemaro Vargas of KCR struck out 4 times against MIN on 6/14/2019
Brett Gardner of NYY had 6 RBI against CWS on 6/15/2019
Didi Gregorius of NYY struck out 4 times against CWS on 6/15/2019
Mike Fiers of OAK had 10 strikeouts against SEA on 6/15/2019
Dylan Bundy of SEA had 10 strikeouts against OAK on 6/15/2019
Jose Berrios of MIN had 11 strikeouts against KCR on 6/16/2019
Eric Thames of OAK struck out 4 times against SEA on 6/16/2019
Chris Sale of HOU had 10 strikeouts against TOR on 6/16/2019
Freddy Galvis of TOR struck out 4 times against HOU on 6/16/2019

Newsletter for games through 6-9-19

RANDOM REFLECTIONS

Thanks for the many and unexpected birthday wishes…I don’t know how so many of the ASFBLers figured out the anniversary of my trip around the sun, but it was a really nice surprise and much appreciated…with the signings of Kimbrel and Keuchel, the winter free agent season has finally ended…in June…clear sign of climate change, in my opinion…the second-place Brewers would really have put some heat on the first-place Cubs with their 6-0 record…had the Cubs not also gone 6–0….only one team in the NL East had a winning record…that would be the Phillies, picking up a little ground on Atlanta…they hold the top wild card spot in the NL right now…and Andy is hanging tough keeping the Nats +3 WOR, but Danny has really got the Braves firing on all cylinders…their +8.5 WOR is best in the NL…best WOR in the AL is Boston at +9.5, which almost isn’t fair since the actual club is pretty good…Leo has the Royals +9 and they are still in 4th place in the AL central…which is the division where the Indians had the best week at 5-1…Steve Horak’s Chisox are +1 WOR and in striking distance of the Twins…Alan’s DRays had the best record in the division, are +1 WOR over a really good actual club, and are only a game back of the white hot Bosox…I haven’t even been paying attention to how he’s setting his rotation, but it’s gotta be a challenge with all those openers being used…the AL west is totally nuts; Houston is below the actual club but had the best week in the division at 6-1 but is still in 3rd place….all of 1 game back…Oakland holds the division lead on the strength of 37 wins but is .03 percentage-points behind Texas who is negative half a game behind them…math I would worry about except that it will all resolve when all 162 games are played…the Dodgers look like the class of the NL West, although Rick’s team finally looked human and the Padres and Giants had the best weeks in the division…the actual WHIP of the current Bosox ASFBL pitchers is .99, best in the league as one might expect, and something any actual GM would kill for…KC has 52 actual stolen bases, also tops in the league…and finally, although Steve Skrovan didn’t know last Monday was my birthday, he gifted Leo and I field-level seats for Thursday’s Dodger game against the Cubs…I think we can all agree that it’s fair and reasonable that he get 43 free waivers, first priority for all waiver claims this week, and his pick of any two players from the Bosox or Dodgers…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Wade Miley of HOU had 10 strikeouts against SEA on 6/3/2019
Hyun-Jin Ryu of LAD had 10 strikeouts against ARI on 6/4/2019
Tom Murphy of SEA struck out 4 times against HOU on 6/5/2019
Gerrit Cole of CLE had 11 strikeouts against MIN on 6/5/2019
Jake Odorizzi of MIN had 10 strikeouts against CLE on 6/5/2019
Socrates Brito of TOR struck out 4 times against NYY on 6/5/2019
Julio Teheran of ATL had 13 strikeouts against PIT on 6/6/2019
Lucas Sims of CIN had 12 strikeouts against STL on 6/6/2019
Matthew Boyd of DET had 10 strikeouts against TBR on 6/6/2019
Rougned Odor of HOU struck out 4 times against BAL on 6/7/2019
Joey Votto of CIN had 5 hits against PHI on 6/7/2019
Kyle Gibson of MIN had 11 strikeouts against DET on 6/7/2019
Jesse Chavez of TEX had 16 strikeouts against OAK on 6/7/2019
Justin Verlander of BOS had 10 strikeouts against TBR on 6/7/2019
Charlie Morton of TBR had 13 strikeouts against BOS on 6/7/2019
Hunter Renfroe of SDP struck out 4 times against WAS on 6/7/2019
Austin Riley of ATL struck out 4 times against MIA on 6/8/2019
Curt Casali of CIN struck out 4 times against PHI on 6/8/2019
Nick Ramirez of DET had 11 strikeouts against MIN on 6/8/2019
Adbert Alzolay of CHC had 10 strikeouts against STL on 6/8/2019
Lucas Giolito of BOS had 14 strikeouts against TBR on 6/8/2019
Ji-Man Choi of TBR struck out 4 times against BOS on 6/8/2019
Robbie Ray of ARI had 11 strikeouts against TOR on 6/9/2019
Peter Lambert of COL had 13 strikeouts against NYM on 6/9/2019
Nolan Arenado of COL had 7 RBI against NYM on 6/9/2019
Nolan Arenado of COL had 5 hits against NYM on 6/9/2019
Hyun-Jin Ryu of LAD had 11 strikeouts against SFG on 6/9/2019
Stephen Vogt of SFG struck out 4 times against LAD on 6/9/2019
Orlando Arcia of MIL robbed 3 hits against PIT on 6/9/2019
Stephen Strasburg of WAS had 10 strikeouts against SDP on 6/9/2019

Newsletter for games through 6-2-2019

COMMENTS

Ben Brockreide leads the league in trades, which by itself signals a highly involved owners, but he’s also +1.5 WOR, which means that he’s been making good trades…Greg Achten’s Anaheim team got hot was the real team got hot and he went 6-1 this week…the Yankees went 6-1 and made up ground in the AL East…and Hugh Brown’s Colorado team went 6-1…only to lose ground to the Dodgers, who went 7-0…Steve Horak’s Chisox turned in the only winning week in the AL central at 5-2, picking up 2.5 games on Minnesota in the process…Danny Wildes’ Braves had the only winning week in the Al East, and extended their division lead to double-digits…no second-place team in any NL division is closer than 7.5, but there are 7 teams within 2.5 games of the last wildcard spot…the top two home-running hitters in the NL both have 25 homers each…and both are Dodgers…Jay Bruce has 23, and has done much to account for the Oriole +6 WOR figure…of the top 8 walk leaders, Bryce Harper is the only one with under 200 AB…he also has the most walks…Will Harris of the Padres has stranded all 14 inherited runners…Brian Shaw of the Rockies leads all ASFBL pitchers in appearances, with 30…Max Scherzer struck out 25 guys in only 16 innings last week…Curt Casali of the Reds hit .591 in 22 AB last week…the Reds went 5-1…the Braves beat the Tigers 15-4 on 6/2, which is a pretty wide margin, but the most amazing thing was that Austin Riley had 8 RBI…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Jared Walsh of LAA struck out 4 times against OAK on 5/27/2019
David Bote of CHC struck out 4 times against HOU on 5/27/2019
Xander Bogaerts of CLE had 5 hits against BOS on 5/27/2019
Max Scherzer of WAS had 13 strikeouts against MIA on 5/27/2019
Blake Snell of TBR had 10 strikeouts against TOR on 5/27/2019
Andrew Heaney of LAA had 10 strikeouts against OAK on 5/28/2019
Eric Thames of OAK struck out 4 times against LAA on 5/28/2019
Justin Verlander of BOS had 13 strikeouts against CLE on 5/28/2019
Rich Hill of LAD had 11 strikeouts against NYM on 5/28/2019
James Paxton of NYY had 10 strikeouts against SDP on 5/28/2019
Gary Sanchez of NYY hit 3 home runs against SDP on 5/28/2019
Josh Donaldson of ATL struck out 4 times against WAS on 5/28/2019
Jack Flaherty of STL had 10 strikeouts against PHI on 5/29/2019
Paul Goldschmidt of STL had 6 RBI against PHI on 5/29/2019
Robbie Ray of ARI had 11 strikeouts against COL on 5/30/2019
Aaron Nola of PHI had 10 strikeouts against STL on 5/30/2019
Griffin Canning of LAA had 12 strikeouts against SEA on 5/31/2019
Albert Almora of CHC hit 3 home runs against STL on 5/31/2019
Albert Almora of CHC had 7 RBI against STL on 5/31/2019
Gerrit Cole of CLE had 12 strikeouts against CWS on 5/31/2019
Tim Anderson of CWS hit 3 home runs against CLE on 5/31/2019
Eric Thames of OAK struck out 5 times against HOU on 5/31/2019
Jake Odorizzi of MIN had 10 strikeouts against TBR on 5/31/2019
Ehire Adrianza of MIN had 5 hits against TBR on 5/31/2019
Walker Buehler of LAD had 11 strikeouts against PHI on 5/31/2019
Russell Martin of LAD struck out 4 times against PHI on 5/31/2019
Tanner Roark of CIN had 10 strikeouts against WAS on 5/31/2019
Josh Bell of BOS had 5 hits against NYY on 6/1/2019
Daniel PonceDeLeon of STL had 11 strikeouts against CHC on 6/1/2019
Paul DeJong of STL had 6 RBI against CHC on 6/1/2019
David Price of CLE had 10 strikeouts against CWS on 6/1/2019
Matthew Boyd of DET had 13 strikeouts against ATL on 6/1/2019
Trevor Richards of MIA had 11 strikeouts against SDP on 6/1/2019
Merrill Kelly of ARI had 10 strikeouts against NYM on 6/1/2019
Max Scherzer of WAS had 12 strikeouts against CIN on 6/1/2019
Ronald Guzman of BOS struck out 4 times against NYY on 6/2/2019
Lucas Giolito of CWS had 16 strikeouts against CLE on 6/2/2019
Alex Bregman of CLE struck out 4 times against CWS on 6/2/2019
CLE and CWS played 13.5 innings on 6/2/2019
Jesse Chavez of TEX had 11 strikeouts against KCR on 6/2/2019
Miguel Sano of MIN had 6 RBI against TBR on 6/2/2019
Rich Hill of LAD had 12 strikeouts against PHI on 6/2/2019