Newsletter for games through 7-21-19

TRADE DEADLINE LOOMING

July 31 will be the last day to exchange players; I’ll work on the website and it will automatically close down at 4pm ET on July 31 (I need to confirm that time but I think my source is the MLB page), so make sure any final trades are completed before then.  Nine trades went through this weekend involving 14 teams and 24 players!  That’s half the league and almost a full roster…

COMMENTS

The mighty Marlins and Rob Perkins continue their incredible run…might be too late for playoff relevance, but they had another winning week at 4-2 and their 20-10 record over the last 30 has been matched only by the Dodgers…never say die in Milwaukee, where Chris Zewiske put together a 5-2 week to challenge the Cubs, who also had a winning week…so did the Cards, who are surging in real life…the Indians, who are surging in real-life, matched the pace in the ASFBL at 6-1…the Twins are dropping off some in real life, and checked in at 2-4….still have a 5-game lead…Boston, the Rays, and the Yankees had 6, 5, and 4 wins, respectively, last week…and are first, second, and third in the AL East….Boston and Tampa are a combined +17.5 WOR…the actual Orioles are 32-68 and the baseball-reference website attributes 2 of those losses to luck…the other 66 are well-earned, I guess…ASFBL Orioles are 7.5 games ahead of that sorry lot due to some fancy moves by Mark Chen…the shootout is in the AL west, where Oakland picked up half a game and Texas picked up a full one on Houston…three teams are separated by 2.5 games…NL east is a combined +14 WOR…Adam Symonds’ Mariners turned in a cool 4-1 this week, and the +7 WOR puts them in the top 5 in that category…gonna brag about Leo Leckie a little bit more, who is at +6 WOR, in the top-7 against the real club, and with an actual team that could be little more than spoiler he has the best WOR in the division and might have a lot to do with the outcome of the division before it’s all over…Yelich has 42 fantasy homers…his 35 also lead MLB…only Sanchez, Alonso, and Bellinger top his real total…in a pitching-thin year, who’d have thought that the Rockies would have 3 pitchers in the top-22 for starter IP? … Bauer, Marquez and Gray also have ERAs under 4.50…Boston is the only other team to have two pitchers with at least 140 fantasy innings…don’t know if you saw all those extra-inning games the Mets kept losing in San Francisco last week, but the computer took notice: the Mets and Giants played 17.5 innings on 7/21/2019 in the longest game of the week…

FEATS AND FAILURES

JaCoby Jones of CIN struck out 5 times against CHC on 7/16/2019
Jose Cisnero of DET had 10 strikeouts against CLE on 7/16/2019
Randal Grichuk of TOR struck out 4 times against BOS on 7/16/2019
Phil Ervin of CIN struck out 4 times against CHC on 7/17/2019
Roberto Perez of CLE struck out 4 times against DET on 7/17/2019
Travis d’Arnaud of LAD struck out 4 times against PHI on 7/17/2019
Noah Syndergaard of NYM had 12 strikeouts against MIN on 7/17/2019
PIT and STL played 13.5 innings on 7/17/2019
Madison Bumgarner of SFG struck out 4 times against COL on 7/17/2019
Nestor Cortes Jr. of NYY had 11 strikeouts against TBR on 7/17/2019
Patrick Corbin of WAS had 11 strikeouts against BAL on 7/17/2019
Dylan Cease of CWS had 11 strikeouts against KCR on 7/18/2019
Gerrit Cole of CLE had 13 strikeouts against DET on 7/18/2019
John Hicks of DET struck out 4 times against CLE on 7/18/2019
Christian Yelich of MIL had 6 RBI against ARI on 7/18/2019
Anthony DeSclafani of CIN had 14 strikeouts against STL on 7/18/2019
Gleyber Torres of NYY struck out 4 times against TBR on 7/18/2019
LAA and SEA played 14.5 innings on 7/19/2019
Charlie Morton of TBR had 12 strikeouts against CWS on 7/19/2019
Alex Gordon of KCR struck out 4 times against CLE on 7/19/2019
Neil Walker of MIA struck out 4 times against LAD on 7/19/2019
Paul Goldschmidt of STL struck out 4 times against CIN on 7/19/2019
Jon Lester of LAA had 13 strikeouts against SEA on 7/20/2019
Daniel Vogelbach of SEA struck out 4 times against LAA on 7/20/2019
Zach Davies of MIL struck out 4 times against ARI on 7/20/2019
Pete Alonso of NYM struck out 4 times against SFG on 7/20/2019
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of TOR robbed 3 hits against DET on 7/20/2019
Josh Staumont of BAL had 10 strikeouts against BOS on 7/21/2019
Pete Alonso of NYM struck out 4 times against SFG on 7/21/2019
Pablo Sandoval of SFG struck out 4 times against NYM on 7/21/2019
Brandon Crawford of SFG struck out 4 times against NYM on 7/21/2019
Freddie Freeman of ATL struck out 4 times against WAS on 7/21/2019
WAS and ATL played 16.5 innings on 7/21/2019

 

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Newsletter for games through 7-14-2019

Quick lineup notes — 28 lineups submitted this week, so thanks to everyone for staying on top of things and making my job easy.  Also, there were a large number of holes in *next* week’s rotation, which is to be expected with all the off days and whatnot, but do make sure you’ve got all the spots filled for next week.

COMMENTARY

With the short week there were some fun series to watch…the Bosox/Dodgers World Series rematch swung to the west coast this time, and the Dodgers swept…the actual Angels are coming hot out of the gate after the break, and swept the Mariners in ASFBL as they did in real life….in two “battle for the basement” series, Miami took 2 of 3 from the Mets while the Tigers took 2 of 3 from the Royals…both 4th-place teams look safe, though…and both have major WOR leads over the real equivalents…Speaking of the Marlines, they are 21-9 over their last 30, best in the NL, and tied with Houston for best in the ASFBL…Oakland and the Giants also swept their way into the second half, meaning the cities of Los Angeles (Angels and Dodgers) and San Francisco (Giants and A’s) were a combined 12-0 in the last ASFBL week…The Rays are now within a half game of the lead in the AL East…Oakland moved to withing a game and a half of Houston in the AL west…Xander Bogaerts hit .571 for the Indians last week…10 ASFBL hitters were .500 or better on the week, and 8 came from the AL…two came from the Giants…Philly made 3 trades involving 9 players this week…Cubs and Royals were also active…don’t know if you saw this, but the Atlantic league used a computer to call balls and strikes in a game last week…*all* ASFBL games have had computer umpires for years…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Jon Gray of COL had 10 strikeouts against CIN on 7/12/2019
Jorge Alfaro of MIA struck out 4 times against NYM on 7/12/2019
Jonathan Villar of BAL robbed 3 hits against TBR on 7/12/2019
Tim Beckham of BAL struck out 4 times against TBR on 7/12/2019
TBR and BAL played 13.5 innings on 7/12/2019
Dylan Cease of CWS had 11 strikeouts against OAK on 7/13/2019
Kolby Allard of LAD had 10 strikeouts against BOS on 7/13/2019
Gerrit Cole of CLE had 10 strikeouts against MIN on 7/13/2019
Khris Davis of NYM struck out 4 times against MIA on 7/13/2019
Jorge Soler of OAK had 5 hits against CWS on 7/14/2019
Rogelio Armenteros of HOU had 10 strikeouts against TEX on 7/14/2019
Elvis Andrus of TEX struck out 4 times against HOU on 7/14/2019
Griffin Canning of LAA had 10 strikeouts against SEA on 7/14/2019
Michael Perez of TBR struck out 4 times against BAL on 7/14/2019

Newsletter for games through 7-7-19

REMINDERS:

The trade deadline this year is July 31; since that’s one day AFTER our July 30 lineups we’ll actually enforce that deadline rather than extend another 6 days.  You should get the results on July 31 and have until midnight to complete trades.

The all-star break gives you an excellent opportunity to reset your rotation, so you might want to give that a gander in next week’s lineups.

And thanks to all of you who wished me a happy Bobby Bonilla Day.

COMMENTS:

Miami rode a 5-1 week to make a jump in the standings and push my Mets into last place…I was so mad at my manger I threw a chair at myself…congrats to Rob Perkins for the great week….Reds and Cards made a strong push in the NL central with 4-2 records, but the Cubs still gained ground at 5-1…Dodgers are cruising but the DBacks pushed ahead of the Padres and into second in the NL west, which could be important in the 5-team wildcard logjam…they’ve been quietly churning away all year but Alan’s Rays had the best record in the league and pulled within 1.5 games of Boston in the AL East…the big question is whether Tony can keep the Bosox engine running over capacity at +9.5 WOR for the rest of the season…everything moved by inches in the AL central, but the Twins finished the first half with an impressive 7.5 game lead as the Indians picked up a little ground this week…Texas and Oakland made noise in the AL west, and are chasing the Astros…Anaheim is going to be the spoiler in that division, and the key to who wins it might be the best divisional record, and if the Angels fare a little better than they’ve been doing the wins they take away from the top of the division could determine the champ…Texas and Oakland are both currently closer to the top of the division than the last wildcard spot…Colin Moran of Pittsburgh hit .522 in the MLB last week an .645 in the ASFBL…team-mate Adam Frazier was .600/.563…those were the top 2 weekly batting averages in the ASFBL…they were a combined 8-10 in the 18-7 win on the 7th against Milwaukee…even Kenta Maeda was 3-4 in that game…my attempt to play Steve Matz as the DH against the Yankees — on the grounds he’s my 8th best hitter — were foiled by the games being played at Citi field…however, and consistent with my thinking, he was a better hitter (1-1, 1 run scored) than pitcher (4IP, 3ER, took the loss) in the game he started against the cross-town rivals…In other pitcher/batter news, Jordan Yamamoto of Miami accounted for 17 strikeouts against Washingon on July 2d; 13 as a pitcher, 4 as a hitter…

FEATS AND FAILURES:

Jay Bruce of BAL hit 3 home runs against TBR on 7/1/2019
Jay Bruce of BAL had 6 RBI against TBR on 7/1/2019
Chance Sisco of BAL struck out 4 times against TBR on 7/1/2019
John Means of KCR had 10 strikeouts against TOR on 7/1/2019
Alex Young of ARI had 10 strikeouts against LAD on 7/2/2019
Charlie Morton of TBR had 12 strikeouts against BAL on 7/2/2019
Mike Minor of BOS had 11 strikeouts against TOR on 7/2/2019
Max Scherzer of WAS had 15 strikeouts against MIA on 7/2/2019
Zack Greinke of ARI had 10 strikeouts against LAD on 7/3/2019
ARI and LAD played 13.5 innings on 7/3/2019
Gerrit Cole of CLE had 10 strikeouts against KCR on 7/3/2019
Rick Porcello of CWS had 10 strikeouts against DET on 7/3/2019
Mookie Betts of CWS had 6 RBI against DET on 7/3/2019
Leury Garcia of BOS struck out 4 times against TOR on 7/4/2019
Anthony Rendon of WAS had 5 hits against MIA on 7/4/2019
Garrett Cooper of MIA struck out 4 times against WAS on 7/4/2019
Jacob deGrom of OAK had 11 strikeouts against SEA on 7/5/2019
Clayton Kershaw of LAD had 11 strikeouts against SDP on 7/5/2019
Joey Gallo of TEX struck out 4 times against MIN on 7/6/2019
Rougned Odor of HOU struck out 4 times against LAA on 7/7/2019
Mike Minor of BOS had 14 strikeouts against DET on 7/7/2019
Max Scherzer of WAS had 11 strikeouts against KCR on 7/7/2019
Jordan Yamamoto of MIA had 16 strikeouts against ATL on 7/7/2019
Adam Frazier of PIT had 5 hits against MIL on 7/7/2019
Charlie Morton of TBR had 12 strikeouts against NYY on 7/7/2019
Aaron Nola of PHI had 11 strikeouts against NYM on 7/7/2019
Dexter Fowler of STL had 6 RBI against SFG on 7/7/2019

Newsletter for games through 6-30

COMMENTS

In this week’s bigger than baseball moment, Tyler Skaggs’ passing has hit some fans here near Anaheim pretty hard…the memorial in the front of Anaheim stadium is really becoming something…anyway, it convinces me that the number of good people out there who really want the best for each other is much larger than the number of haters…RIP #45…shifting gears back to on-the-field stuff, in case you missed this tidbit of reality the Mets demoted four pitchers today….about half their bullpen…the Boston/Yankees series in London used 30 pitchers…after throwing an ASFBL no-hitter with some pretty good numbers, Mike Shawaryn went to the UK and gave up 8 earned runs in an inning and a third…in the actual Baltimore/Cleveland series last week, the lowly Orioles beat the Tribe in back-to-back 13-0 drubbings, before themselves being shut out 2-0…in the ASFBL, Cleveland twice scored 13 runs against the Orioles…13 must be somebody’s lucky number…the 3 hottest MLB teams over the last 30 games are the Dodgers (21-9), the Braves (20-10), and the Nats (20-10)…the ASFBL teams have been hot as well, with 20, 19, and 17 wins over the last 30…nobody in the AL had more than 4 wins last week; those honors went to the Indians and the Rangers…the Rangers are within 1 game of the actual club over the last 30 (17 wins vs. 18 for the MLB equivalent)…Brewers had the best record in the NL central and are creeping to within one game of the actual club…but the Cubs are +8 WOR and the ASFBL team to beat in that division right now…Al Benedek’s Padres had a 4-1 week, are +3 WOR, and are creeping forward in the NL West…tough position to be in the same division as the Dodgers, who lead the league in about everything…they are one of five NL teams within 2.5 games of the wildcard spots…Yankees are 8 games back of their real club, but are 18-12 over their last 30…Atlanta, Chicago, and Minnesota are all in first and are not resting on their laurels as all made trades this week…Rays are staying competitive in the AL East and are +3 WOR…there is no indication that Alan Minsky is considering spending half the baseball season in Canada…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Josh Donaldson of ATL struck out 4 times against CHC on 6/24/2019
Phil Ervin of CIN struck out 4 times against LAA on 6/25/2019
Jon Gray of COL had 11 strikeouts against SFG on 6/25/2019
David Price of CLE had 10 strikeouts against KCR on 6/25/2019
Jacob deGrom of OAK had 11 strikeouts against STL on 6/25/2019
Fernando Tatis Jr. of SDP struck out 4 times against BAL on 6/25/2019
Tommy Milone of SEA had 10 strikeouts against MIL on 6/25/2019
Noe Ramirez of LAA had 10 strikeouts against CIN on 6/26/2019
Curt Casali of CIN struck out 4 times against LAA on 6/26/2019
C.J. Cron of MIN had 6 RBI against TBR on 6/26/2019
Lance Lynn of TEX had 12 strikeouts against DET on 6/26/2019
Max Scherzer of WAS had 11 strikeouts against MIA on 6/26/2019
Aaron Nola of PHI had 10 strikeouts against NYM on 6/27/2019
Jesse Chavez of TEX had 11 strikeouts against DET on 6/27/2019
Adbert Alzolay of CHC had 13 strikeouts against CIN on 6/28/2019
Gerrit Cole of CLE had 14 strikeouts against BAL on 6/28/2019
Yoan Moncada of CWS had 6 RBI against MIN on 6/28/2019
SEA and HOU played 13.5 innings on 6/28/2019
Josh Donaldson of ATL struck out 4 times against NYM on 6/29/2019
Alex Gordon of KCR struck out 4 times against TOR on 6/29/2019
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of TOR had 5 hits against KCR on 6/29/2019
KCR and TOR played 17.5 innings on 6/29/2019
Renato Nunez of SEA struck out 4 times against HOU on 6/29/2019
Logan Allen of SDP had 10 strikeouts against STL on 6/29/2019
Shane Bieber of CLE had 10 strikeouts against BAL on 6/30/2019
Ross Stripling of KCR had 11 strikeouts against TOR on 6/30/2019
Hunter Dozier of KCR struck out 4 times against TOR on 6/30/2019
Freddy Peralta of MIL had 10 strikeouts against PIT on 6/30/2019