NOTES AND NOTHINGS
There have been some tweaks over the weekend, with some bug fixes to batted-ball distributions and pitcher use and removing (in most places) the “ ” character string in place of a non-breaking space…the batters and pitchers of the week now appear among the list of things on the left-hand sidebar for your perusal during the most boring of your zoom meetings next week…I can quickly tell, for instance, that Hyun Jin Ryu of the Buffalo Blue Jays pitching 14 innings and struck out 20 last week…the big new feature is the WATCH function on the box scores; click it and you get a batter-by-batter walkthrough of each game…or that three Philly hitters all hit .300 or better this week, including Rhys Hoskins who hit 5 HR, which is not surprising since they played my Mets…Meanwhile, Atlanta and Philadelphia combined to go 12-1 last week adn grab command of the top of the NL East…Rick Wynne finally came down to earth with a 4-2 week, and he’s dead-on zero WOR…for those of you new to the league, Rick has played for over 20 years and never finished with a negative WOR, but the combination of the red-hot actual Dodgers and the short season makes this one exciting challenge…it was a tough week all-around for the NL central, but newcomer Michael Mendoza has the Pirates 3.5 better than the real club, which isn’t too shabby, and Jeremy Moore’s Cardinals had the best record in the division…you kind of felt it coming, but Alan Minsky’s Rays went 5-1 and jumped right back into the thick of things…and the big story in the AL has to be Mark Chen’s Orioles, sitting atop the AL East with the 2d best record in the AL and an AL-best 6.5 games over reality…Raph’s Reds own the top spot in either league at 8.5…Leo is clinging to the top spot in the AL central but got a serious challenge from the Indians this week, who went 5-1…the Tigers, led by newcomer Pat Walsh, were undefeated…tough year for the Royals, but Josh Clark has them performing better in the division and in 1-run games than they’re doing overall…the big move in the AL West was Seattle, now +1 WOR and in second place
PENNANT RACES
Top 6 in the NL are: Atlanta, Philly, Cincinnati, Cubs, Dodgers, and Padres (!)…top 2 wildcard teams would be Washington who’s only 1 game up on the logjam of Giants, DBacks, and Rockies, and it could totally be the case that 4 teams from the NL West make the playoffs…talk about unprecedented times…But if 19 wins gets you in the last playoff spot at this point nobody else has fewer than 16.
In the AL, The Orioles, Jays, Chisox, Cleveland, Astros, and Seattle hold the automatic spots, and Minnesota is a health 5-6 games ahead in the top wildcard spot…after that, the Rays, Bosox, Yankees, Tigers, A’s and Angels are all locked up between 17-19 wins…one strong week is going to make all the difference…
FEATS AND FAILURES
- Adam Haseley (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 8/31/2020 against Washington)
- Adam Duvall (Atlanta) hit 6 RBI (on 8/31/2020 against Boston)
- Freddie Freeman (Atlanta) had 5 hits (on 8/31/2020 against Boston)
- Carlos Carrasco (Cleveland) struck out 12 batters (on 8/31/2020 against Kansas City)
- Hyun Jin Ryu (Toronto) struck out 14 batters (on 9/1/2020 against Miami)
- Alec Bohm (Pittsburgh) hit 6 RBI (on 9/1/2020 against Chicago (CC))
- Trea Turner (New York (NYY)) hit 3 homers (on 9/1/2020 against Tampa Bay)
- Mike Brosseau (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 9/1/2020 against New York (NYY))
- Myles Straw (Houston) had 5 hits (on 9/1/2020 against Texas)
- Nolan Arenado (Colorado) had 5 hits (on 9/2/2020 against San Francisco)
- Jason Kipnis (Chicago (CC)) struck out 4 times (on 9/2/2020 against Pittsburgh)
- Yu Darvish (Chicago (CC)) struck out 12 batters (on 9/2/2020 against Pittsburgh)
- Tyler Glasnow (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 9/2/2020 against New York (NYY))
- Shane Bieber (Cleveland) struck out 13 batters (on 9/2/2020 against Kansas City)
- Max Scherzer (Washington) struck out 11 batters (on 9/3/2020 against Philadelphia)
- Luis Castillo (Cincinnati) struck out 14 batters (on 9/4/2020 against Pittsburgh)
- Wil Myers (San Diego) hit 7 RBI (on 9/5/2020 against Oakland)
- Greg Garcia (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 9/5/2020 against Oakland)
- Zach Davies (San Diego) struck out 11 batters (on 9/5/2020 against Oakland)
- Randy Arozarena (Tampa Bay) had 5 hits (on 9/5/2020 against Miami)
- Nicholas Castellanos (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 9/5/2020 against Pittsburgh)
- Trevor Bauer (Cincinnati) struck out 11 batters (on 9/5/2020 against Pittsburgh)
- Victor Reyes (Detroit) stole 3 bases (on 9/5/2020 against Minnesota)
- Delino DeShields (Cleveland) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2020 against Milwaukee)
- Nicholas Castellanos (Cincinnati) hit 6 RBI (on 9/6/2020 against Pittsburgh)
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Toronto) had 5 hits (on 9/6/2020 against Boston)
- Nicky Lopez (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2020 against Chicago (CWS))
- Matt Foster (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 13 batters (on 9/6/2020 against Kansas City)
- Joe Hudson (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2020 against Texas)
- Josh Fuentes (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2020 against Los Angeles)
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