Newsletter for games through 9-24-23

MUSINGS

In the “things you can’t code for” category, Carson Fulmer — a former high draft pick who’d be bouncing around the majors but never pitched more than 32 innings in any year and had missed all of 2022 — got into a game with the Angels on Sept 24 and threw 70 pitches…the very next day he pitched again and threw another inning…and he was better in the second appearance…every year as we pass through the dog days of the baseball season, football starts and my attention shifts for about two weeks…then I realize there are pennant races going on and my TV is back on baseball games first…I am really enjoying the competitive races for the last playoff spots…

NATIONAL LEAGUE RACES

The Braves and Phillies are having a run…the Braves are up by a game and both teams went 5-2 this week…and they’re in a 4-team race with the Dodgers and Rays for the best record in the league…gotta hand it to Ben Leckie, as the actual Rays have take on a little water he’s found a way to keep them in the elite teams…all four of those teams are pretty good in real life and all four owners have them in positive WOR territory…Cubs and Dodgers have their divisions wrapped up and whoever doesn’t win the East will get the top wildcard spot…Brewers sitting in the second spot with 83 wins and coming off a 5-2 week…and just behind are the 81-win Padres, the Diamondbacks with 80, and a dark-horse Met team with 79. The combined record for the top 4 wildcard contenders in the NL was 18-7…the Mets limped along at 2-5…it was the Phillie buzzsaw that did in the New Yorkers, who swept 4 games at home…Miami also took a game in a 3-contest set…where there is life there is hope, and the Giants have 77 wins and would need a sweep and some luck, but in a world where Carson Fulmer can throw 70 pitches and talk his manager into putting him in the next day, I guess anything is possible.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Rays and Twins are safely atop their divisions, and the AL West will likely go down to the wire…while contenders Houston, Texas, and Anaheim couldn’t crack .500 this week, the Oakland team went 5-2…if the season ended today, all the wildcard teams would come from the east, with Toronto at 91 wins, followed by Baltimore (83) and Boston (82)…of that group, only the Jays topped .500 on the week…Anaheim sits only 1 game behind Boston, and they close the season at Oakland…that’s either a favora+ble schedule or a huge spoiler opportunity depending on whether Oakland can put up another 5-win week…in the “We Believe in Miracles” contest Cleveland has 76 wins, so with a perfect week and a collapse by the other 3 wildcard teams the Guardians could sneak in…

BIG SERIES COMING UP

Texas and Anaheim is relevant to the playoffs for both teams…Boston draws Tampa and Baltimore while the Orioles play Washington in addition to the Bosox…man, that Baltimore-Boston series looks big…Padres play the Giants and Chisox, Brewers have Cards and Cubs, and DBacks have Chisox and Astros. Giants, Cubs, A’s, and Nationals have serious spoiler potential…

BETTER THAN REALITY

Kansas City is +17 and has been dominating this category all year, but Oakland is now only a game back. Leo’s Chisox are a real team not good enough to contend, but he’s got them +14 and in 3rd overall…special shout out to Adam Symonds who has made a really good Philly team even better, and Greg Achten who’s made a really bad Anaheim team a relevant playoff force…I live 10 minutes from Anaheim Stadium, and I don’t anticipate the Angel-Oakland season-ending series is going to result in traffic delays along the freeway…it’s easy to say that Oakland has the worst owner in baseball, but for my money Moreno is a strong contender, and he’s ahead in the “number of federal indictments” metric…

FEATS AND FAILURES

J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia) hit 6 RBI (on 9/18/2023 against Atlanta)
Hunter Greene (Cincinnati) struck out 11 batters (on 9/18/2023 against Minnesota)
Pablo Lopez (Minnesota) struck out 11 batters (on 9/19/2023 against Cincinnati)
Heston Kjerstad (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 9/19/2023 against Houston)
Rafael Ortega (Texas) stole 3 bases (on 9/19/2023 against Boston)
Logan Gilbert (Seattle) threw a no-hitter! (on 9/20/2023 against Oakland)
Cade Marlowe (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 9/20/2023 against Oakland)
Brandon Drury (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 9/20/2023 against Tampa Bay)
Bobby Dalbec (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 9/20/2023 against Texas)
Jack Suwinski (Pittsburgh) hit 3 homers (on 9/22/2023 against Cincinnati)
Adolis Garcia (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 9/22/2023 against Seattle)
Wilyer Abreu (Boston) struck out 5 times (on 9/23/2023 against Chicago (CWS))
Hunter Greene (Cincinnati) struck out 12 batters (on 9/23/2023 against Pittsburgh)
Brett Phillips (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 9/23/2023 against Minnesota)
Mark Canha (Arizona) hit 10 RBI (on 9/23/2023 against New York (NYY))
Seth Brown (Washington) struck out 4 times (on 9/23/2023 against Atlanta)
Ezequiel Tovar (Colorado) hit 3 homers (on 9/24/2023 against Chicago (CC))
Ezequiel Tovar (Colorado) hit 9 RBI (on 9/24/2023 against Chicago (CC))
Liover Peguero (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 9/24/2023 against Cincinnati)
Gabriel Moreno (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 9/24/2023 against Houston)
Blake Snell (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 9/24/2023 against Toronto)

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Newsletter for games through 9-17-23

COMMENTARY

The Dodgers had an offensive outburst this week…JD Martinez hit 3 homers against Sand Diego on the 12th, Yanier Diaz hit 3 homers against the Martiners on the 16th, and in that same game Anthony Volpe came a single short of the cycle…all of that on route to a 5-1 week, tying Rick with Danny Wildes and the Braves for the best NL record…Danny was 4-2, and edged 1 game up on Adam Symonds and the Phillies for the divisional lead…which creates quite a battle for the last 2 wildcard spots…Milwaukee sits at 78 wins having taken 3 of 4 from the Marlins, but losing 2 of 3 to a Washington team playing spoiler…the Padres have 77 wins, having swept Oakland on the road but dropping 2 of 3 in Los Angeles…the Mets are showing unexpected competence, and the resurgence of Lucchesi, Quintana and Butto has provided a decent rotation…they also sit at 77…the Dbacks are at 76 games, and they dropped 2 of 3 at home to the Cubs and hit the Mets during their hot streak…Mark has the club 14-16 over the last 30 and over .500 in interleague play…Pat Walsh has the Giants 4-3 on the week and 11-9 over the last 20 to hold at 74 wins, just 4 behind the Brewers…the Giants took 3 of 4 from Colorado but the Guardians stayed competitive as an NL spoiler, taking 2 of 3 in Arizona…back in their home league they got swept at home by a Texas team that really needed the wins…that’s five teams fighting it out for the last 2 spots…in the actual AL west there are 3 teams within a game of each other for the divisional title…in the ASFBL, it’s Houston and Texas taking it to the wire with the Astros up by two and half games…the Rangers wasted no opportunity and were 6-1 on the week and are 9-1 over the last 10…the Astros swept Oakland but dropped two of 3 to Kansas City…Oakland had a tough week but the club is still 13 games up on the MLB roster…with Minnesota and Tampa Bay in fairly comfortable division leads, and Texas (88 wins) and Toronto (87) wins in pretty safe wildcard spots, the real action is between the Bosox, Orioles, and Angels for the last spot…Baltimore has the edge with 80 wins, and they split four with the Rays, but Josh Clark’s Cardinals were strong as an interleague spoiler and took 2 of 3 from Baltimore in Camden…the Bosox split with the Yankees but swept a crucial series against the Jays, picking up 2 games on Baltimore…Anaheim has the highest hill to climb, as they have had to go +10 WOR to get into the race with the Orioles and Bosox, and put together a 4-2 week to tighten things up…they swept Seattle but Brian Sullivan’s Tigers were the spoiler, taking 2 of 3 in Anaheim…at least Greg didn’t have to clean out anyone’s locker during the series…Ronald Acuna has a 21-game hitting streak going…longest this season was Joey Meneses of Washington at 23, and that streak ended in June…Hoby Milner of the Brewers has gone 21 appearances without allowing an earned run, but he’s allowed unearned runs in 2 of his last 4 outings…Dodgers lead the ASFBL with 842 runs, 64 more than anyone else…they are still behind the actual Braves, who have 875…Two more regular season lineups to enter! Those spoiler lineups matter, and we had 26 lineups submitted last week!

FEATS AND FAILURES

J.D. Martinez (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 9/11/2023 against San Diego)
Dominic Smith (Washington) had 5 hits (on 9/11/2023 against Pittsburgh)
Forrest Wall (Washington) had 5 hits (on 9/11/2023 against Pittsburgh)
Ryan O’Hearn (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 9/12/2023 against Chicago (CWS))
J.D. Martinez (Los Angeles) hit 3 homers (on 9/12/2023 against San Diego)
J.D. Martinez (Los Angeles) hit 7 RBI (on 9/12/2023 against San Diego)
Jake Cave (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 9/12/2023 against Toronto)
Aaron Judge (New York (NYY)) struck out 4 times (on 9/13/2023 against Boston)
Jordan Montgomery (New York (NYY)) struck out 12 batters (on 9/13/2023 against Boston)
Josh Lowe (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 9/14/2023 against Baltimore)
Ceddanne Rafaela (Boston) struck out 5 times (on 9/14/2023 against New York (NYY))
J.P. Crawford (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 9/14/2023 against Arizona)
Brett Phillips (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 9/15/2023 against Detroit)
Detroit and Anaheim played 14.5 innings on 9/15/2023
Trea Turner (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 9/15/2023 against St. Louis)
Yainer Diaz (Los Angeles) hit 3 homers (on 9/16/2023 against Seattle)
Yainer Diaz (Los Angeles) had 5 hits (on 9/16/2023 against Seattle)
J.D. Martinez (Los Angeles) hit 6 RBI (on 9/16/2023 against Seattle)
Luis Robert Jr. (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 4 times (on 9/17/2023 against Minnesota)

Newsletter for games through 9-10-23

SCHEDULE REVIEW

We have 3 more lineup deadlines on Sept 19, Sept 26, and Oct 3. And players waived on those last 2 dates will be not be reassigned since there isn’t enough time for them to be assigned to the new teams and used by the final deadline…next week I’ll post a review of the playoff tiebreakers…

COMMENTARY

Will Benson of the Reds was a single shy of the cycle on Sept 6 against the Mariners…it was part of a 19-run barrage but was the Reds’ only win of the week…Atlanta went 6-1 to pick up the game they needed to tie the Phillies for first place in the NL East…the Braves had all their games at home and took advantage of the NL Central rivals while the Phils took 2 of 3 at home from Miami and then 2 of 3 on the road from the Padres…the next closest-divisional race is the AL West, where Houston inched another game out in front of the Rangers and is now up by 3 with 3 weeks left…the big series was head-to-head, and Houston swept all 3 games on the road after the Padres took 2 of 3 from them in San Diego…the big races are for the wildcard spots…the Philly/Atlanta runner-up has one spot locked up in the NL, which leaves the Brewers, DBacks, and Padres all within a game of each other for the last 2 spots…Giants are a dark horse at 70 wins, and the Mets have an outside shot with 71…of that crowd, the Brewers had the best week at 4-2, taking two road series from the Pirates and Yankees…in the AL, the Jays lead the wildcard pack with 86 wins and Texas is right behind them with 82, and both seem reasonably safe. After that the Orioles sit at 77 with Anaheim and Boston at 74…putting 3 teams in serious contention for the final spot….Cleveland is gasping for oxygen but has a mathematical chance after their perfect 7-0 performance…hats off to Baltimore, who did all their own work by sweeping the Angels and Bosox on the road….really strong week for the playoff contender…Boston couldn’t make headway against the Orioles, but they did take 2 of 3 from the Rays who lead the entire ASFBL in wins…tough week for the Angels who hit the join Oriole/Guardian buzzsaws, but at least they didn’t have to release some weird statement about how they might trade Mike Trout if it was OK with him…Bobby Witt Jr. leads the ASFBL with 11 triples…Luis Arraez has 197 hits, but he only leads Corey Seager of Texas by 6 batting average points, .347 to .341…so I’m impressed by Matt Olson, but my brain is just having a hard time processing the fact that Hank Aaron doesn’t hold every single Atlanta home run record….

FEATS AND FAILURES

Daniel Cope (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 9/4/2023 against Arizona)
Logan Gilbert (Seattle) struck out 14 batters (on 9/4/2023 against Cincinnati)
Elly De La Cruz (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 9/4/2023 against Seattle)
Zac Gallen (Toronto) struck out 11 batters (on 9/4/2023 against Oakland)
Giancarlo Stanton (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 9/4/2023 against San Diego)
Cal Raleigh (Seattle) hit 3 homers (on 9/5/2023 against Cincinnati)
Matt Vierling (Detroit) had 5 hits (on 9/5/2023 against New York (NYY))
Gleyber Torres (Houston) struck out 5 times (on 9/5/2023 against Texas)
Adam Frazier (Baltimore) had 5 hits (on 9/6/2023 against Anaheim)
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (Miami) stole 3 bases (on 9/6/2023 against Los Angeles)
Liover Peguero (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2023 against Milwaukee)
Wilyer Abreu (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 9/6/2023 against Tampa Bay)
Jordan Lawlar (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 9/7/2023 against Chicago (CC))
Josh Lowe (Tampa Bay) had 5 hits (on 9/8/2023 against Seattle)
Randy Arozarena (Tampa Bay) hit 6 RBI (on 9/8/2023 against Seattle)
Randy Arozarena (Tampa Bay) had 5 hits (on 9/8/2023 against Seattle)
Isaac Paredes (Tampa Bay) hit 9 RBI (on 9/8/2023 against Seattle)
Ceddanne Rafaela (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2023 against Baltimore)
DJ Stewart (New York (NYM)) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2023 against Minnesota)
Leody Taveras (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 9/9/2023 against Miami)
Mason Miller (Oakland) struck out 12 batters (on 9/9/2023 against Texas)
Davis Schneider (Toronto) struck out 5 times (on 9/9/2023 against Kansas City)
Yainer Diaz (Los Angeles) had 5 hits (on 9/9/2023 against Washington)
Akil Baddoo (Detroit) struck out 4 times (on 9/10/2023 against Chicago (CWS))
Corbin Carroll (San Diego) stole 3 bases (on 9/10/2023 against Houston)
J.D. Martinez (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 9/10/2023 against Washington)

Newsletter for games through 9-3-2023

COMMENTARY

The Mets had a pretty decent week, and I attribute it to my decision to remove Julio Urias from my active roster…huge improvement in digital clubhouse chemistry and overall karma…respect women, dude…still 19 games behind Adam Symonds’ Phillies, however…feats and failures are below, but there’s a nice symmetry to 3 players hitting 3 homers this week…the whole world is turning into Jose Altuve…Cubs are probably pretty safe with a 7.5-game lead with a month to go, but the Brewers have picked up 5 games over the last 30 and have to feel good about taking 2 of 3 from the division-leaders this week…Miami is scuffling but is a dangerous spoiler and they took 2 games from Tampa this week…Tampa still leads the league in wins and win percentage…and is 7 games ahead of the actual club…Ben is having himself a year…Padres have the best NL west record over the last 10 games and helped themselves this week in the NL wildcard dogfight…Dodgers still have the best record over the last 20 and hold the largest lead of any first-place team…the Astros jumped Texas with a perfect week to take a 2 game lead in the AL West…right now, the top 3 teams in the AL west would make the playoffs…Joey Meneses of Washington has a 23-game hitting streak, tops in the league…Michael Harris III of the Astros and TJ Friedl of the Reds are each at 21…Tyler Holton of Detroit hadn’t allowed a run in 24 appearances and the run ended on August 25th….Devin Williams of the Brewers hasn’t allowed a run in 21 appearances and the streak is active…the Reds‘ roster leads the league in total vowels with 530, but the Oakland roster has the longest average player name (first and last combined) at over 11.9….in true Oakland fashion, they aren’t doing it with superstars like Christian Encarnacion-Strand (28), but with steady consistency up and down the roster….way to go, Justin Armbreuster (18) and Christian Walker (16)…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Adam Duvall (Arizona) hit 8 RBI (on 8/28/2023 against Los Angeles)
Luis Castillo (Seattle) struck out 11 batters (on 8/28/2023 against Oakland)
Luis Campusano (San Diego) hit 3 homers (on 8/28/2023 against St. Louis)
William Contreras (Milwaukee) hit 3 homers (on 8/29/2023 against Chicago (CC))
Elly De La Cruz (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 8/30/2023 against San Francisco)
Patrick Bailey (San Francisco) struck out 4 times (on 8/31/2023 against San Diego)
Alejandro Kirk (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 9/1/2023 against Cleveland)
J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia) hit 3 homers (on 9/1/2023 against Milwaukee)
J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia) hit 8 RBI (on 9/1/2023 against Milwaukee)
Heston Kjerstad (Baltimore) struck out 4 times (on 9/2/2023 against Arizona)
Shawn Armstrong (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 9/2/2023 against Cleveland)
Jose Caballero (Seattle) struck out 4 times (on 9/2/2023 against New York (NYM))
Kyle Tucker (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 9/3/2023 against Baltimore)
Jonathan Schoop (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 9/3/2023 against Anaheim