Newsletter for games through 5-22-2022

COMMENTARY

Just a little more about the Oakland A’s last week…they played NINE games in SEVEN days…John Weerts managed to use three #5 starters, finish the week with nobody over 130% usage, and win four games…DBacks and White Sox each played 8 games this week…Arizona went 5-3 and the Chisox split the games…sort of a side note, but I support all the rules changes of the Savannah Bananas, but most especially the one where a batter is out if a fan catches a foul ball… Toronto beat Seattle 29-0 on the 16th…it was bad but reasonably normal until a badly over-used Justus Sheffield gave up 11 runs in 2/3rds of an inning…gotta watch those over-use figures…every Blue Jay had 3 or more hits…Manoah went the distance for the shutout…the blowout didn’t burn up the Blue Jay bats too much, and they won 3 of the next 4 games…speaking of blowouts, the actual Cardinals beat the Pirates 18-4 on May 22…the fantasy Cardinals beat them 15-4 on May 21…Pirates had the upper hand 10-1 the day before, though…Brewers had the best record in the NL this week…Giants crawled into a dead tie in the NL west against the Dodgers…Dodgers are tied with the Mets for the best NL record over the last 20 games…the AL East went nuts this week; Boston and New York were both 6-1, and Tampa went 5-1…the entire division was 22-11…Twins were the only team to run the table and vaulted themselves 3.5 up in the AL central…Cleveland is an impressive +3.5 WOR, just behind Boston and Anaheim…I’m voiding Greg Achten’s ASFBL land deal around ASFBL Anaheim stadium due to probably financial impropriety…the Angels are 16-4 over their last 20 games, best in the ASFBL, and are undefeated in inter-league play…as an annual tradition, Greg and I meet for an Angels game in July, where we typically trade our best players to each other than the immediately get season-ending injuries…which should give hope to the rest of the AL…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Raimel Tapia (Toronto)  had 6 hits (on 5/16/2022 against Seattle) 
Alek Manoah (Toronto) struck out 12 batters (on 5/16/2022 against Seattle) 
Nathan Lukes (Toronto)  had 5 hits (on 5/16/2022 against Seattle) 
Justin Steele (Chicago (CC)) struck out 12 batters (on 5/16/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Ronald Acuna Jr. (Atlanta) stole 3 bases (on 5/16/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Trey Mancini (Arizona) hit 6 RBI (on 5/16/2022 against Los Angeles) 
Wil Myers (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 5/17/2022 against Philadelphia) 
William Contreras (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 5/18/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Ozzie Albies (Atlanta) struck out 5 times (on 5/18/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Eric Lauer (Milwaukee) struck out 11 batters (on 5/18/2022 against Atlanta) 
Shane McClanahan (Tampa Bay) struck out 12 batters (on 5/18/2022 against Detroit) 
Kevin Smith (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 5/18/2022 against Minnesota) 
Trevor Story (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 5/18/2022 against Houston) 
Eric Hosmer (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 5/19/2022 against Philadelphia) 
Eugenio Suarez (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 5/19/2022 against Boston) 
Leody Taveras (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 5/19/2022 against Houston) 
Michael Chavis (Pittsburgh) hit 6 RBI (on 5/20/2022 against St. Louis) 
Aaron Judge (St. Louis) hit 3 homers (on 5/21/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Eli White (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 5/21/2022 against Houston) 

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Newsletter for games through 5-15-2022

COMMENTARY

There were NINETEEN trades in the ASFBL last week…Jim Casey and the Astros were involved in six of them…Josh Clark and the Cardinals made 4…that’s gotta be our most active week ever, and it probably means something that both teams had winning weeks…The first-ever ASFBL Purple Heart goes to the John Weerts’ Oakland club this week…MLB gifted them with two double-headers 4 days apart, so he couldn’t even use the same starters in both games…they played 9 games this week, which will surely stand as an all-time record…finishing 4-5 in that stretch counts as a win…and that’s in the fiercely competitive AL West, where you can be fighting for 4th place with Ben Brockreide’s +3 Rangers….by the way, at our annual department awards assembly on Sunday we gave out the “Brockreide” scholarship…named after Wayne…or be the Astros, go 4-2, and lose ground to the Angels who are scorching at 5-2…Check out the ASFBL AL East, where four teams are within a half-game of first place…big week for Mark Yee’s Yankees, who are heating up, and moved into first by a half game…Baltimore is in last but all of 2 games back, and closer to first than the Astros, Braves, or Cubs, who are all in second place…and the best WOR team in the division is Boston…kudos to the Royals who had the best record in the AL Central this week…the Tigers also had a full schedule and a double-header and played 8 games…the 4-4 finish got them a full game on the division-leading Twins, and moved them into the top WOR spot in their division…Steve Skrovan is poised in second place with a talented team and +2 WOR…Did I jinx Rick Wynne or give him karma by prognosticating about him last week? He went 5-2, moved into first place in the NL West and into positive-WOR territory against a hot actual Dodger club…Colorado is only 2.5 back and has the best WOR in the west…Cardinals and Cubs marched lockstep at 4-2 in the NL central…Cardinals hold first and the Cubs have the better WOR…best in the ASFBL, in fact…Miami had the best record in the NL this week and the Phillies were 5-2…feats and failures is shorter this week…and I kinda like that…thanks to all for handling our first-ever mid-season roster cut so well! You all managed to make the week more fun!

FEATS AND FAILURES

Chris Taylor (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 5/10/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Austin Hays (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 5/10/2022 against St. Louis) 
Aaron Judge (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 5/10/2022 against Baltimore) 
Amed Rosario (Cleveland)  had 5 hits (on 5/11/2022 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Yuli Gurriel (Houston) hit 6 RBI (on 5/11/2022 against Minnesota) 
Aristides Aquino (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 5/12/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Shane McClanahan (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 5/13/2022 against Toronto) 
Shohei Ohtani (Anaheim) struck out 12 batters (on 5/14/2022 against Oakland)

Newsletter for games through 5-8-22

ROSTER UPDATE

The league has moved from rosters of 28 to rosters of 26…and we’ll do that next week. If you don’t want to waive anyone, you might consider trading some of your mutual problems or burning the free waivers.

NEWSLETTER UPDATE

As I briefly announced on email, I posted the fantasy baseball newsletter of last week on the CSU Fullerton Academic Senate website. Five of our 30 players noticed that and let me know…not one member of the 80-person Senate body seemed to notice…or they just kept quiet to so they could get more posts like that one…in my heart I want to believe that they read the thing and were impressed with Josh Mitchell and Josh Clark…

COMMENTARY

Shout out to the Diamondbacks and Reds, two teams struggling with real teams that are on the rough side this year…they both went 5-1 (best in the NL) and postured to make WOR moves….you know the NL west is a bloodbath when Rick Wynne is in 4th place…and has a .653 winning percentage…here’s betting he doesn’t finish the year 2 games under the actual club…and kudos to the Giants and Rockies who are first and second in the division and both in plus-WOR territory…Padres round out that division with a quality team…Braves are in second and Nationals are at the bottom of the NL east, but they’re the only teams in the division that aren’t tugging around negative-WOR marks…Cardinals lead the central and are +1.5 WOR, but the Cubs are dangerous in 3rd place with the best WOR in the NL (5.5)….Brewers lurk at second place with a stacked club…A 6-1 week vaulted the Rays into first place in the AL East…Boston is +4 WOR…the Yankees are the most fun ASFBL team to watch…they are competing against a really good actual club in the WOR race and have almost complete roster turnover…this was a tough week but don’t count them out…the Twins are the class of the actual AL central and lead the ASFBL, but the Guardians are +1.5 WOR and are only 2 games back…saving the best for last, the Angels went a perfect 7-0, have the best overall ASFBL record, and are 2 games up on a red-hot actual Anaheim club…and that division is nuts, as the only ASFBL division where every team is even-or-positive in the wins over reality, and hot as the Angels are they have lost ground to the Mariners who are +3 WOR to improve on the Angels +2….Houston lurks at second…Texas had winning week, is in plus WOR territory, and only 2 games out of a wildcard spot…just to gush a bit, the league has stabilized so that we only have 2 or so new owners a year, just about everyone submits a lineup every week, and trade activity stays constant…8 more trades this week…Cubs moving Suzuki was a big move (his OPS is +143 and there’s a ton of buzz around him) and that was the second trade of the week…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Zac Gallen (Arizona) struck out 14 batters (on 5/2/2022 against Miami) 
Jeimer Candelario (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 5/3/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Derek Hill (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 5/3/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Zach Logue (Oakland) struck out 11 batters (on 5/3/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Corey Kluber (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 5/4/2022 against Oakland) 
Corbin Burnes (Milwaukee) struck out 11 batters (on 5/4/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Teoscar Hernandez (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 5/5/2022 against Cleveland) 
Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia) hit 3 homers (on 5/5/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Ha-Seong Kim (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 5/5/2022 against Miami) 
Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles) struck out 11 batters (on 5/6/2022 against Chicago (CC)) 
Sean Murphy (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 5/7/2022 against Minnesota) 
Omar Narvaez (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 5/7/2022 against Atlanta) 
Kyle Wright (Atlanta) struck out 11 batters (on 5/7/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Eric Lauer (Milwaukee) struck out 14 batters (on 5/7/2022 against Atlanta) 
Taylor Ward (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 5/8/2022 against Washington)

Newsletter for games through 5-1

COMMENTARY

Josh Clark’s Cardinals continue their hot streak and hold first in the Central and hold the best record in the NL…Gordon Leckie’s Cubs are nipping at their heels with 4.5 wins over the actual team and lurk 2 games back…the NL west is a battle royale, with the Padres, Giants, Rockies, and Dodgers are all within 1 game of first place, and all have winning records…Josh Mitchell holds the best record in the NL and is a game and a half ahead of the Angels….Ben Brockreide’s Rangers have the beset WOR in the division…Hugh Brown’s Bosox have the best WOR in the American League and are all of a half game in front of the Yankees…Rays and Jays re within 2 games of first…Kevin Gausman of Toronto walked 14 batters in 13 and a third innings…Aaron Judge hit 5 homers last week…for the Cardinals…Mike Trout walked 8 times…for the Brewers…Kyle Schwarber scored 8 times and knocked in 7 last week…while striking out 10 times…but had zero fantasy ejections for freaking out over third strikes…Dermis Garcia of Oakland hit .333 with 5 runs…in only 18 at-bats…top hitter of the week was Eric Hosmer of the Padres who hit .520…just in front of Xander Bogaerts of the Bosox who hit .516….Nine trades pulled off this week, with the AL West with the Astros and Oakland leading the way…when the Fullerton Flyers of the now-defunct Golden League needed a gimmick, they bought the rights to an internet personality and then traded him for a case of beer…in the ASFBL this week, Baltimore traded Trey Mancini for beer…Seth of Arizona…28 lineups this week…on a day I needed everything to go smoothly you all really came through…thanks a ton!

FEATS AND FAILURES

Jose Azocar (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 4/26/2022 against Cincinnati) 
Nick Castellanos (Philadelphia) hit 6 RBI (on 4/26/2022 against Colorado) 
Bryce Harper (Philadelphia) hit 6 RBI (on 4/26/2022 against Colorado) 
Alfonso Rivas (Chicago (CC)) hit 6 RBI (on 4/26/2022 against Atlanta) 
Joe Ryan (Minnesota) struck out 11 batters (on 4/26/2022 against Detroit) 
Carlos Rodon (San Francisco) struck out 14 batters (on 4/26/2022 against Oakland) 
Tomas Nido (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 4/27/2022 against St. Louis) 
Aaron Judge (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 4/27/2022 against New York (NYM)) 
Byron Buxton (Minnesota) struck out 5 times (on 4/27/2022 against Detroit) 
Aristides Aquino (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 4/28/2022 against San Diego) 
Chris Bassitt (New York (NYY)) struck out 11 batters (on 4/28/2022 against Baltimore) 
Austin Meadows (Detroit)  had 5 hits (on 4/28/2022 against Minnesota) 
Bobby Dalbec (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 4/28/2022 against Toronto) 
Jazz Chisholm (Miami) struck out 4 times (on 4/29/2022 against Seattle) 
Logan Gilbert (Seattle) struck out 11 batters (on 4/29/2022 against Miami) 
Justin Steele (Chicago (CC)) struck out 11 batters (on 4/29/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Trent Grisham (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 4/30/2022 against Pittsburgh) 
Seiya Suzuki (Chicago (CC)) struck out 4 times (on 4/30/2022 against Milwaukee) 
Kevin Kiermaier (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 5/1/2022 against Minnesota) 
Joe Ryan (Minnesota) struck out 15 batters (on 5/1/2022 against Tampa Bay) 
Chris Taylor (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 5/1/2022 against Detroit) 
Spencer Torkelson (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 5/1/2022 against Los Angeles) 
Travis Jankowski (New York (NYM))  had 5 hits (on 5/1/2022 against Philadelphia)