Newsletter for games through 6-4-2023

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I (once again) inadvertently posted our newsletter to the website for the Academic Senate at Cal State Fullerton, which (once again) was noticed by the ASFBL owners and not the Academic Senate. Anyway, I put in many heartfelt thanks for the Baty card gift, which you all probably missed. But, if you get a chance, do go back one week and a take glance, if only to wonder how it’s possible that two players hit for the cycle and, more strangely, that one of them was Eduardo Escobar…here’s my note of thanks this week: It’s been a month where my Mom has been in the ICU (she’s now out, doing great, and hoping to head home) and last night my best friend from my Texas days passed. Rick had his own brush with the hospital. It’s all made me want to focus more on the things in life that give joy, and this league is definitely one of them. So here’s one more big thank you for the guys that make this part of my a truly pleasant diversion from the rest of it, and I am more and more convinced that these nuggets of happiness are what make life worth living…thanks for the therapy moment, friends…

COMMENTARY

On the last day of the week Julio Teheran (Chicago Cubs) threw a perfect game against San Diego! No hits, walks, or errors! Maybe the most remarkable thing about the feat was that there were only 3 strikeouts…It was a week with 6 trades and twenty-nine lineups submitted! Fun and humbling to look at the status grid and find that of the 2 teams that needed tweaks one of them was mine…the CBS injury page is a little over-zealous in reporting injuries, and we’ve been able to handle things manually but there’s a chance we’ll need to switch the DL source…Gotta love the NL west, where the DBacks and Dodgers are tied for first (just like in MLB) and both are an identical +1 WOR…real story there is the Giants who went 5-1 last week…three teams within 2 games of first…Pirates crept a game closer to the Cubs and the Cardinals remain above water in the WOR category despite a tough week…as the actual Oakland and St. Louis clubs flounder, Josh Clark and John Weerts are a collective +6 WOR…Danny Wildes has been doing a fine job with Atlanta and has them in first place and better than the MLB club, but Adam Symonds is a staggering +8 WOR (tops in the ASFBL) and lurks only 2.5 back…Ben Leckie’s Rays have a 70% win rate and are 9 games up in first place, which makes it amazing to think that they are only 10-10 over the last 20…the AL central has its struggles but Tim Walsh has made the Twins the clear front-runners…Leo put up a 5-1 week, however, and has a way of finishing strong…the state of Texas was 10-3 in the AL West this week…Seattle is fighting uphill but they have a better record in the division than outside of it, which is saying something given that all the other teams are in positive WOR space…Soler and Alonso each have 24 HR…Soler has an ungodly 69 RBI and Mountcastle (Orioles) and Jung (Texas) have 66 and 59…53 tops the MLB…Rangers lead MLB with 386 runs scored; Tampa has 392 in the ASFBL…best team ERA in MLB is Houston at 3.25 and they also lead ASFBL with a 3.49 mark…no team has stranded more runners than the Brewer bullpen, who have allowed only 18% of inherited runners to score…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Ian Happ (Chicago (CC)) struck out 4 times (on 5/29/2023 against Tampa Bay) 
Jose Siri (Tampa Bay) hit 6 RBI (on 5/29/2023 against Chicago (CC)) 
Kyle Farmer (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 5/29/2023 against Houston) 
Nolan Arenado (St. Louis) hit 6 RBI (on 5/29/2023 against Kansas City) 
Paul DeJong (St. Louis) stole 3 bases (on 5/29/2023 against Kansas City) 
Stuart Fairchild (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 5/30/2023 against Boston) 
Luis Robert Jr. (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 4 times (on 5/30/2023 against Anaheim) 
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Houston) struck out 4 times (on 5/30/2023 against Minnesota) 
Jake McCarthy (Kansas City) stole 3 bases (on 5/30/2023 against St. Louis) 
Anthony Volpe (St. Louis) struck out 5 times (on 5/30/2023 against Kansas City) 
DJ LeMahieu (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 5/30/2023 against Kansas City) 
Chad Wallach (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 5/31/2023 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Patrick Wisdom (Chicago (CC)) struck out 4 times (on 5/31/2023 against Tampa Bay) 
Mitch Garver (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 5/31/2023 against Detroit) 
Ramon Laureano (Oakland) had 5 hits (on 5/31/2023 against Atlanta) 
Ezequiel Tovar (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 6/1/2023 against Arizona) 
Anthony Rizzo (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 6/3/2023 against Pittsburgh) 
Mike Brosseau (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 6/4/2023 against Cincinnati) 
Chad Wallach (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 6/4/2023 against Houston) 
Brandon Belt (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 6/4/2023 against New York (NYM)) 
Nathaniel Lowe (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 6/4/2023 against Seattle) 

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Newsletter for games through 5-28-23

SPEECHLESS

So I received in the mail a rookie Brett Baty card graded 10/10…an amazingly thoughtful gesture that filled my week with joy…for those who don’t know, I was in Colorado with my Mom, fresh out of ICU and going through rehab, and so it was an emotional boost at a crucial time…I can’t thank you all enough for joining in this endeavor of mine, and I deeply, deeply appreciate that you tune in every week and share a hobby that lightens the load of life…special thanks to Leo and Mark Yee who seemed to play a key role in the Acquistion…low-grade photo included in the last newsletter.

COMMENTARY

Brenton Doyle of the Rockies hit for the cycle on 5/25/2023 against Miami!!!….think that’s the first one this year…In true Met fashion, Eduardo Escobar of the Mets also hit for the cycle on 5/27/2023 against Colorado, and in the same game Teoscar Hernandez outed for the cycle by striking out 4 times…Big weeks in the NL went to the Cardinals and the Reds, who each went 5-2…it pushed Josh Clark into positive WOR territory…John Weerts and the Oakland A’s are +6 WOR, third in the league, and all trends are positive for the WOR race…the buzz on the Mets blogsites is a general anger at Oakland for challenging the 1962 Mets as the worst team in modern baseball history…of course, there are other strong contenders but I think the Met fanbase really wants to remember 1962 as a year of historic comic failure…the AL week belonged to the Angels and Rangers, who locked horns at 5-1 to push to the top of a 3-team race…AL west is the only ASFBL division with three 30-win teams…Toronto has the best fielding in the ASFBL, having allowed only 2 more hits than they have taken away…San Diego and Miami round out the top 3…Yankees lead the ASFBL with 36 stolen bases…Royals and Cubs each have 31…Guardians have 30…Tampa Bay has slugged 102 fantasy homers, with Atlanta right behind at 98…Rays have about 200 more at-bats…Angels have a league-leading 23 saves…Andrew Wantz has 11 and Estevez has 9…Cubs lead the ASFBL in ERA at 3.71 and the Twins are tops in the AL at 3.76…Twins tie with Cleveland for the fewest HR allowed…Mariners have given up the fewest walks…surprisingly, the Dodgers, Angels, and Astros are all in the bottom-6 for most bases on balls given up…Giants have a team batting average of .301 to lead the league, but Texas has scored the most runs with 333…Tampa Bay is in the top-3 of both categories…don’t mean to scare others in the AL West, but the actual ERA of Astros pitchers on the roster is 3.00…for Twin starters its 2.99…the actual ERA of the Houston bullpen is 2.65, and Cleveland, Seattle, and Pittsburgh are all under 3.00…Mariner pitchers have the lowest actual WHIP but have allowed the 10th-most homers…on cue, Brett Baty had 6 fantasy RBI on the 23rd against the Cubs…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Jarren Duran (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 5/22/2023 against Anaheim) 
Matt McLain (Cincinnati)  had 5 hits (on 5/22/2023 against St. Louis) 
Luis Robert Jr. (Chicago (CWS)) hit 3 homers (on 5/22/2023 against Cleveland) 
Jose Ramirez (Cleveland) struck out 4 times (on 5/22/2023 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Bo Bichette (San Francisco)  had 6 hits (on 5/22/2023 against Minnesota) 
Michael Conforto (San Francisco) hit 8 RBI (on 5/22/2023 against Minnesota) 
Michael Conforto (San Francisco)  had 6 hits (on 5/22/2023 against Minnesota) 
Brandon Marsh (Philadelphia) robbed 3 hits (on 5/22/2023 against Arizona) 
Ryan Noda (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 5/22/2023 against Seattle) 
Christian Bethancourt (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 5/22/2023 against Toronto) 
Kevin Gausman (Toronto) struck out 12 batters (on 5/22/2023 against Tampa Bay) 
Nico Hoerner (Chicago (CC)) stole 3 bases (on 5/23/2023 against New York (NYM)) 
Patrick Wisdom (Chicago (CC)) hit 6 RBI (on 5/23/2023 against New York (NYM)) 
Tim Anderson (Chicago (CWS))  had 5 hits (on 5/23/2023 against Cleveland) 
Manuel Margot (Chicago (CWS))  had 5 hits (on 5/23/2023 against Cleveland) 
Maikel Garcia (Kansas City)  had 5 hits (on 5/23/2023 against Detroit) 
Willi Castro (Minnesota)  had 5 hits (on 5/23/2023 against San Francisco) 
Josh Jung (Texas)  had 5 hits (on 5/23/2023 against Pittsburgh) 
Marcus Semien (Texas)  had 5 hits (on 5/23/2023 against Pittsburgh) 
Brent Rooker Jr. (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 5/23/2023 against Seattle) 
Yordan Alvarez (Toronto) hit 3 homers (on 5/23/2023 against Tampa Bay) 
Rougned Odor (San Diego)  had 6 hits (on 5/23/2023 against Washington) 
Hunter Renfroe (Anaheim)  had 5 hits (on 5/24/2023 against Boston) 
Harrison Bader (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 5/24/2023 against Cincinnati) 
Jon Berti (Miami) struck out 4 times (on 5/24/2023 against Colorado) 
Patrick Bailey (San Francisco)  had 5 hits (on 5/24/2023 against Minnesota) 
Jordan Westburg (Baltimore)  had 6 hits (on 5/24/2023 against New York (NYY)) 
Josh H. Smith (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 5/24/2023 against Pittsburgh) 
Nick Senzel (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 5/25/2023 against St. Louis) 
Elias Diaz (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 5/25/2023 against Miami) 
Brenton Doyle (Colorado) hit 8 RBI (on 5/25/2023 against Miami) 
William Contreras (Milwaukee) hit 6 RBI (on 5/25/2023 against San Francisco) 
Paul Goldschmidt (New York (NYY)) struck out 4 times (on 5/25/2023 against Baltimore) 
Tim Lopes (San Diego)  had 5 hits (on 5/25/2023 against Washington) 
Hunter Renfroe (Anaheim) struck out 4 times (on 5/26/2023 against Miami) 
Trea Turner (Philadelphia) struck out 4 times (on 5/26/2023 against Atlanta) 
Bryce Harper (Philadelphia)  had 5 hits (on 5/26/2023 against Atlanta) 
TJ Friedl Jr. (Cincinnati)  had 5 hits (on 5/26/2023 against Chicago (CC)) 
Harrison Bader (St. Louis) hit 6 RBI (on 5/26/2023 against Cleveland) 
Ezequiel Tovar (Colorado)  hit for the cycle! (on 5/26/2023 against New York (NYM)) 
Mark Vientos (New York (NYM)) hit 6 RBI (on 5/26/2023 against Colorado) 
Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 5/26/2023 against Washington) 
Luis Garcia (Washington)  had 6 hits (on 5/26/2023 against Kansas City) 
Kyle Finnegan (Washington) struck out 11 batters (on 5/26/2023 against Kansas City) 
Canaan Smith-Njigba (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 5/26/2023 against Seattle) 
Mark Canha (New York (NYM))  had 5 hits (on 5/27/2023 against Colorado) 
Brandon Belt (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 5/27/2023 against Minnesota) 
Mookie Betts (Los Angeles) hit 7 RBI (on 5/27/2023 against Tampa Bay) 
Jonny DeLuca (Los Angeles)  had 5 hits (on 5/27/2023 against Tampa Bay) 
Adolis Garcia (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 5/28/2023 against Baltimore) 
Pete Alonso (New York (NYM)) hit 3 homers (on 5/28/2023 against Colorado) 
Pete Alonso (New York (NYM)) hit 6 RBI (on 5/28/2023 against Colorado) 
Maikel Garcia (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 5/28/2023 against Washington) 

Newsletter for games through 5-21-23

No newsletter this week; I’m on the road and dealing with some family medical stuff and just didn’t have the energy to put something out.

But I did get this in the email before I left, and I’m speechless, guys. Really appreciate it!

Newsletter for games through 5-14-23

UPDATES

The stolen bases are back on track; attempts are a little more frequent than MLB and success rates are slightly lower, but I’ll check those this coming weekend to make sure these aren’t adjustments trying to get to appropriate levels (frequency rates might be, success rates probably aren’t, but I’ll check both out)…and if you haven’t seen the MLB commercial with Dan Vogelbach yet, it’s worth watching and better with the sound off…and Mark Chen has basically ruined cable TV for me ever since he pointed out that I can get the MLB streaming channel for free due to my mobile service…why do I need to watch anything else when I can tune in whatever game I want and have it start whenever I want to sit down and watch it?

COMMENTARY

It is truly frightening that Ben Leckie has the Rays 3 games better than the actual club…the rest of the AL East is all negative-WOR but it might just be because they have to play the Rays…and the Rays are “only” winning 76% of their divisional games, which is lower than the 81% win rate they have overall…forget the “will Oakland have the worst season in MLB history” storyline, I wanna know if the Rays are going to be the best…Tigers, Guardians, and Twins all had identical 4-2 wins and still sit at the top of the AL central, but the Chisox and Royals have the best WOR…Ben Brockreide’s Rangers had a perfect 7-0 week just as Greg Achten’s Angels stumbled and moved 2.5 games into first in the AL West…and Ben can thank Steve Skrovan who’s Cleveland club swept Anaheim…Angels are still +5 WOR…and I know in my soul John Weerts is going to make something of this Oakland team…+4 WOR so far…Jim Casey is being Jim Casey and had the Astros 5-1 last week…he’s made 18 trades so far…for what might be the first time in ASFBL history I had to make a fix to a lineup submitted by Adam Symonds (I think an old AAA pitcher record got stuck in the rotation schedule or something)…didn’t slow him down, and the final result was a 4-1 record and another week in first place…Danny Wildes has the Braves in second in what looks like a 2-team race so far…and the team with the largest payroll in baseball history plays the team with the smallest payroll in the league over the last decade…so the Mets will probably give up more ground when they hit the Rays next week….nobody in the NL central cracked .500 this week so the Gordon Leckie-run Cubs are still on top with +6.5 WOR and a 4-game lead over Case Cobb and the upstart Pirates…the actual Dodgers are so white-hot it would take Rick Wynne to keep up with them, and he nearly did at 4-2…he’s only a game behind the actual club but trails Mark Druyos and the DBacks by one after they won series against Miami and San Francisco…Giants have the best batting average in the league at .284 and DBacks are third, putting two of the top three teams in the NL West…Dodgers are fifth in runs scored, just behind the Giants….Tampa leads everyone…also have an ASFBL-best 2.94 team ERA…Twins are second at 3.06…Cubs don’t lead anything but are top-5 in all…Dodgers, Cleveland, Tampa, and Atlanta have allowed the fewest HR with 28, 29, 30, and 31 respectively…Dbacks and Phillies have allowed the fewest inherited runners to score, but Tampa and Anaheim have the most saves….best fielding net (hits prevented minus bad plays and errors) go to Toronto, Miami, and Cincinnati in the top 3 spots…Mets and Yankees are both -11…Colton Cowser of the Orioles hit .526 last week in 19 at-bats…also walked 9 times…Ketel Marte scored 10 runs for the DBacks….Manuel Margot of the Chisox hit .385…Bryce Miller of the Mariners turned in 14.67 innings out of the pen and didn’t allow a run…Freddy Peralta of the Braves walked 10 in 10.67 innings but only allowed 1 run to score…Gerrit Cole leads the ASFBL with 80 strikeouts so far…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Miguel Vargas (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 5/9/2023 against Milwaukee) 
Trent Grisham (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 5/9/2023 against Minnesota) 
Gabriel Arias (Cleveland) struck out 4 times (on 5/10/2023 against Detroit) 
Randy Arozarena (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 5/11/2023 against New York (NYY)) 
Alex Cobb (San Francisco) struck out 11 batters (on 5/12/2023 against Arizona) 
Casey Schmitt (San Francisco)  had 5 hits (on 5/12/2023 against Arizona) 
Connor Joe (Pittsburgh) struck out 4 times (on 5/12/2023 against Baltimore) 
Aaron Nola (Philadelphia) struck out 11 batters (on 5/12/2023 against Colorado) 
Jesse Winker (Milwaukee) struck out 4 times (on 5/12/2023 against Kansas City) 
Taylor Walls (Tampa Bay) struck out 4 times (on 5/12/2023 against New York (NYY)) 
Wil Myers (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 5/13/2023 against Miami) 
Jorge Mateo (Baltimore) hit 6 RBI (on 5/14/2023 against Pittsburgh) 
Christopher Morel (Chicago (CC)) struck out 4 times (on 5/14/2023 against Minnesota)

Week #4 — games through 5-7-23

COMMENTARY

Mets’ lament…my team is doing about what the actual team is doing, which is depressing…the real issues is that Rick Wynne kept insisting after our Verlander-Kershaw trade that I couldn’t keep both players…and all games either pitcher started this week ended in a loss…I think we completed a trade that made each team exactly the same…Danny Wildes got the Braves to the only winning week for any team in NL East…Gordon Leckie repeated that feat with he Cubs in the NL Central and nudged 4 games up on everyone else for the biggest divisional lead in the NL…Josh Clark has the Cardinals at +3 WOR, tops in the division, and only a half-game behind Pat Walsh’s Giants for best WOR rate for any team not leading the division…and kudos to Rick and Adam Symonds for keeping pace or exceeding their actual clubs while holding the divisional lead…Mark Druyos and Pat are giving Rick a run for his money, both improving over the actual clubs and both with 19 wins or more…Dodgers have 21… Giants are doing it in interleague play with an 11-4 record agains the AL…this balanced schedule will even that out by the end of the season, but it’s wild that so far the Giants have 15 interleague games, the Phillies have 18, and the Padres have zero…Ben Leckie has to feel good about the Rays, and you’re not really going to improve on a real record of 28-7, but Johnny Mac has the only plus-WOR mark in the division with the Jays as is only 5 back, which is coverable ground if the Rays ever cool down…best record ever was the 1906 Cubs at 76%…current Rays are at 80%…best MLB in the last century are the Mariners at 71.6%…Mike Mendoza is doing the best job of pushing buttons in the AL central at +4 WOR, but Tim Walsh and Steve Skrovan both have their clubs within 1 game of the real team and sit at first and second with only 2.5 games separating them…Top 3 AL central teams are negative-WOR and Royals and Chisox are both positive…Rangers pushed ahead in the MLB AL West this week but Greg Achten held the lead against Ben Brockreiede and Texas, despite the Rangers creeping a game closer…John Weerts deserves special accolades for avoiding the Vegas Malaise and getting Oakland +4 WOR…Houston and Seattle each had tough weeks but Jim Casey has the Astros +4 WOR…Oakland is in the top-5 WOR…Lourdes Gurriel hit .500 for the DBacks last week…Thairo Estrada stole 3 bases…Kevin Pillar hit .357 for Atlanta while striking out 11 times…someone should tell him the new rules are supposed to stop stuff like that…Santander of the Orioles did him one better by hitting .308 but striking out 12 times…Evan Phillips of the Dodgers inherited 6 runners over 10.33 innings last week and stranded them all…Zach Eflin walked 6 in only 12.67 innings this week, but he also struck out 20…Xzavion Curry of the Guardians has what is undoubtedly the highest-scoring Scrabble name in MLB history…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Thairo Estrada (San Francisco) stole 3 bases (on 5/1/2023 against Houston) 
Kevin Pillar (Atlanta) struck out 5 times (on 5/1/2023 against New York (NYM)) 
Chris Sale (Boston) struck out 11 batters (on 5/2/2023 against Toronto) 
Jason Vosler (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 5/3/2023 against San Diego) 
Anaheim and St. Louis played 14.5 innings on5/3/2023
Yordan Alvarez (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 5/4/2023 against Boston) 
Kevin Kiermaier (Toronto) struck out 4 times (on 5/4/2023 against Boston) 
Sean Murphy (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 5/5/2023 against Baltimore) 
Elvis Andrus (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 4 times (on 5/5/2023 against Cincinnati) 
Mitch Keller (Pittsburgh) struck out 11 batters (on 5/5/2023 against Toronto) 
Edmundo Sosa (Philadelphia)  had 5 hits (on 5/6/2023 against Boston) 
Jarred Kelenic (Los Angeles) hit 8 RBI (on 5/6/2023 against San Diego) 
Amed Rosario (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 5/7/2023 against Washington) 
Dansby Swanson (Chicago (CC)) struck out 4 times (on 5/7/2023 against Miami) 
Triston Casas (Boston) struck out 4 times (on 5/7/2023 against Philadelphia) 
Trent Grisham (San Diego) struck out 4 times (on 5/7/2023 against Los Angeles) 
Kyle Higashioka (New York (NYY)) struck out 4 times (on 5/7/2023 against Tampa Bay)

Week #3: Newsletter for games through 4-30-23

COMMENTARY

Cal. State Fullerton is one of the 3-4 largest campuses in the western US, and it’s Senate Forum is a publication of the Academic Senate, which is the body that governs the 50,000+ person campus. The point is to discuss important higher education and campus issues to get a dialogue running in advance of major decisions. Which must have made it seem a little unusual to their readership that our ASFBL fantasy baseball newsletter was published there last week…but, encouragingly, none of those 50,000 people seemed to notice (or, I prefer to think, they were simply enraptured by the hot start of the Chicago Cubs)…anyway, I’ve re-posted the newsletter back on our site, where it belongs…Boy, I’m I messing it up with Paul Block…failed to identify him as a newcomer owner in week #1, and posted his accomplishments on the wrong website in week two…fortunately, I have one more strike to work with…tip of the cap this week goes to Greg Achten’s Angels, sitting +6 WOR and atop both the WOR standings and the AL west…the 6-1 week was best in the ASFBL and puts him 3.5 games over Texas and Houston…and that division has no slouches; the worst WOR is -1…Greg has only made 2 roster-tweak trades, so he’s doing it with lineup artistry…and he’s put Mike Trout on the trading block…in the NL Mark Druyos had 6-0 week and moved to the top of the NL west, ousting the mighty Dodgers and staying well ahead of the Giants despite Pat Walsh’s impressive +3.5 WOR…the Dodgers will get a shot in the arm when it stops raining long enough for Verlander to get a chance to pitch again…Danny Wildes had a 6-1 week with the Braves to move into a second-place tie in the NL East…Adam Symonds still holds the top spot and is +4 WOR…and is getting Bryce Harper back…Gordo Leckie still has the Cubs on the top of the NL central and went 4-2 last week, but Casey Cobb’s upstart Pirates went 5-1 and the actual club remains on fire…If you all will forgive a real-life digression, is there anything cooler than watching the Tampa Bay-Pirate series and watching the small clubs duke it out for the best record in baseball?…speaking of which, Tampa, Toronto, and Baltimore all had 5 wins last week…4 of the 5 teams in the AL east have winning records…I’m betting Mark Yee’s Yankees aren’t the odd team out by the end of the year…Tim Walsh and Steve Skrovan have started their annual game of see-saw as they trade spots atop the AL central…separated by half a game at present…Mike Mendoza has the Royals at +4 WOR, 2d in the AL, and is going to have an impact on the divisional race before it’s over…the Vegas/Oakland Athletics are struggling this year, but John Weerts owns the rights to Brent Rooker who is tearing it up in the MLB and ASFBL…hit .536 for the fantasy club last week…5 homers….as a side note, I’m running a side passion project that’s a musical set to run in August, and the cast are making it impossible to figure out what their first and last names are…why did your parents do this to me, Cameron Connor, Miles Henry, and Jordyn Brady?…I mention this because I will never figure out the correct first name of Connor Joe or Joe Connor or whoever he is…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Marcus Semien (Texas) struck out 5 times (on 4/24/2023 against Cincinnati) 
Brian Serven (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 4/24/2023 against Cleveland) 
Spencer Strider (Tampa Bay) struck out 12 batters (on 4/24/2023 against Houston) 
Kevin Gausman (Toronto) struck out 11 batters (on 4/24/2023 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Ozzie Albies (Atlanta) hit 6 RBI (on 4/25/2023 against Miami) 
Kevin Smith (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 4/26/2023 against Anaheim) 
Shea Langeliers (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 4/26/2023 against Anaheim) 
Jason Delay (Pittsburgh)  had 5 hits (on 4/27/2023 against Los Angeles) 
Joey Gallo (Minnesota) struck out 4 times (on 4/28/2023 against Kansas City) 
Jace Peterson (Oakland) struck out 4 times (on 4/28/2023 against Cincinnati) 
Spencer Strider (Tampa Bay) struck out 11 batters (on 4/29/2023 against Chicago (CWS)) 
Taylor Motter (St. Louis) struck out 4 times (on 4/29/2023 against Los Angeles) 
Jason Vosler (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 4/29/2023 against Oakland) 
Brian Serven (Colorado) struck out 5 times (on 4/30/2023 against Arizona) 
Clayton Kershaw (New York (NYM)) struck out 12 batters (on 4/30/2023 against Atlanta)

Week #2: Newsletter for games through 4-23-23

COMMENTARY

Boy, did I blow it with Brian Sullivan last week, identifying Paul Block as our only new owner…in fact, Brian is in his first ASFBL campaign (“first year in the show”) and he’s got the hang of it…posted a winning week at 4-2 and is .5 ahead of the actual Tiger club….Brian has yet to pull of his first trade but he’s got some depth at AAA pitching and Kyle Gibson is due to adjust down…Paul, meanwhile, has his team at +3 WOR and just finished a winning week…the newcomers were a combined 7-4 and both are doing better than their actual clubs…Mike Mendoz’s Royals might be said to have come to earth with a 1-5 week, but he’s still in first and still leads the league at +6 WOR…Steve Skrovan has the Guardians in a dead tie…tied for first, tied with the actual club…at .500…taking mediocrity to new middles, but doing it with style…second over WOR belongs to Adam Symonds who has the Phillies in first place by 3.5 in the NL East…he’s 9-1 over the last 10 games…completed 3 trades last week and 5 since the season opened on April 17…Gordie’s Cubs are still in first in the NL central and he’s 6-0 in the division…Pirates also had a 4-2 week for Casey Cobb…the NL West is a real-life logjam with 3 teams that all have 12 wins, but the ASFBL has given a little separation as Rick Wynne has 2 games on the actual Dodgers and sits in first place (with Justin Verlander getting ready to come off the DL) and Pat Walsh’s Gaints are 2.5 games better than the actual club…I don’t think it’s mathematically possible to out-perform the acutal Rays but Ben is only 1 game back and leads the ASFBL with an ungodly 82% win rate…Hugh Brown’s Bosox are the only club in the AL East that isn’t lagging bechind their actual club….Tampa Bay and Toronto were collectively 11-1 this week…Leo’s Chisox aren’t that competitive in real life but he’s got the ASFBL version a nick ahead, even after a tough week…Greg Acthen continues to have the Angels atop the AL West which puts him in a better position to resign Ohtani than Arte Moreno…that is hardly the only way in which Greg is preferable to Arte…no felonious collusions with Anaheim city officials, for example…Ben Brockreide’s Rangers set the pace in the division at 5-1…four of five AL west teams are in positive-WOR range, even though three of them have losing records in their own division…Cardinals have the best NL interleague record…

NAME GAMES

How’s this for a pitching staff? Chad Green, Hunter Greene, Riley Greene, Jon Gray, Josiah Gray, Sonny Gray, Hunter Brown. Pitching coach is obviously Bud Black. First base is Evan White, and the outfield is Seth Brown, Riley Greene, and maybe Charlie Blackmon.

FEATS AND FAILURES

Stuart Fairchild (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 4/17/2023 against Tampa Bay) 
Johan Oviedo (Pittsburgh) struck out 12 batters (on 4/17/2023 against Colorado) 
Spencer Strider (Tampa Bay) struck out 14 batters (on 4/18/2023 against Cincinnati) 
Ryan Feltner (Colorado) struck out 12 batters (on 4/18/2023 against Pittsburgh) 
Jonah Heim (Texas) hit 3 homers (on 4/19/2023 against Kansas City) 
Teoscar Hernandez (New York (NYM)) hit 6 RBI (on 4/19/2023 against Los Angeles) 
Clayton Kershaw (New York (NYM)) struck out 13 batters (on 4/19/2023 against Los Angeles) 
Shohei Ohtani (Anaheim) struck out 20 batters (on 4/19/2023 against New York (NYY)) 
Paul Goldschmidt (New York (NYY)) struck out 4 times (on 4/19/2023 against Anaheim) 
Edmundo Sosa (Philadelphia)  had 5 hits (on 4/21/2023 against Colorado) 
Kodai Senga (New York (NYM)) struck out 12 batters (on 4/21/2023 against San Francisco) 
Nathaniel Lowe (Texas) struck out 4 times (on 4/21/2023 against Oakland) 
Marcus Semien (Texas)  had 5 hits (on 4/21/2023 against Oakland) 
Kyle Lewis (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 4/22/2023 against San Diego) 
Kevin Pillar (Atlanta) struck out 4 times (on 4/22/2023 against Houston) 
Zac Gallen (Houston) struck out 11 batters (on 4/22/2023 against Atlanta) 
Carlos Perez (Oakland) hit 6 RBI (on 4/22/2023 against Texas)

Opening Day!!!! 2023 season underway

REMINDERS and TECHNICAL NOTES

After this week waivers are in effect, and everyone will have 2 free waivers, which is how we deal with presason injuries…we have switched from baseball-reference as our primary data source to the baseball-savant website, with fill-ins from baseball cube on the snippets of information we can’t pull from savant….one change will be that baseball-savant doesn’t show innings by position, but the number of plays by position…you’ll still get a player and their 2 most common positions but that will be defined by balls touched and not innings….I’ll update the rules page to reflect the changes…there are some other small tweaks on the way (an update to the trades page to show the level of play, etc.)…as always, I appreciate your insight…and I need to express another word of gratitude to all of you for being patient and generally cool during the launch…data gremlins lurk throughout the season but I’m hopeful we’ll get the generally download process stable by next week…

COMMENTS

“Best newcomer” award goes to Paul Block…admittedly, he’s the only new owner, but finishing 2 games ahead in your week is still pretty good…”best returning aged veteran” is Casey Cobb, who’s got Pittsburgh right in the middle of pack…good to have you back, Casey!…he returns with over 1,100 lifetime ASFBL wins…Gotta give kudos to the good starts, so congrats to Adam Symods putting his Phillies +4 WOR and in first place in the NL East…Gordon Leckie has the Cubbies in first place in the Central….Rick Wynne is in his customary spot on top of the NL West, but Pat Walsh has an NL-leading 4.5 WOR count and is only a half game back…Ben Leckie has the Rays where they should be given their hot start and Mark Chen has kept pace with the actual Orioles to stay in 2d place…but by far Mike Mendoza’s hot start is the one they’d do an ESPN feature on, what with being in first place and leading the league with +6 WOR…6 games ahead of the actual club with only 16 games played…that’ll be hard to match all season but it’s a heckuva start…Greg Achten is after Phil Nevin’s job in a division where 4 teams are in positive WOR territory, and the re-dedicated Josh Mitchell has the Mariners +1 WOR and ready to challenge…JD Davis started hot with 10 homers…Luis Arraez is hitting .492 and leading the league doing so…Matt Chapman and Josh Mitchell both graduated from Fullerton — Matt as a third baseman, Josh as a student-body President — but only Matt is second in the ASFBL in hitting….Ryan Mountcastle has an absurb 23 RBI for the fantasy Orioles, 3 ahead of the 20 he has in real life…in my “name awards” category I have these winners: “Best pitcher name/worst hitter name” goes to Jake Outman…”Best middle relief name” to Jonathan Holder…”Best Valentine’s Date” is Ji Hwan Bae…”Worst Bullpen Verb” is Bailey Falter…”Best Up The Middle Combination” — Brett Wisely at second, Patrick Wisdom at third, Matt Wise pitching, Dwayne Wise in center, with JD Smart pitching in relief…I am pleased to say that no silicon chip residue ended up on the fingers of Matt Scherzer, and no ASFBL suspension needed to be issued…

FEATS AND FAILURES

Stuart Fairchild (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 3/30/2023 against Pittsburgh)
Luke Maile (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 3/30/2023 against Pittsburgh)
Jake Burger (Chicago (CWS)) struck out 4 times (on 3/30/2023 against Houston)
Edward Olivares (Kansas City) struck out 4 times (on 3/30/2023 against Minnesota)
Pablo Lopez (Minnesota) struck out 13 batters (on 3/30/2023 against Kansas City)
Trayce Thompson (Los Angeles) struck out 4 times (on 3/30/2023 against Arizona)
Shohei Ohtani (Anaheim) struck out 11 batters (on 3/30/2023 against Oakland)
Juan Soto (San Diego) hit 6 RBI (on 3/31/2023 against Colorado)
C.J. Cron (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 3/31/2023 against San Diego)
Ryan Mountcastle (Baltimore) hit 6 RBI (on 4/1/2023 against Boston)
Elehuris Montero (Colorado) struck out 4 times (on 4/1/2023 against San Diego)
Jeffrey Springs (Tampa Bay) struck out 15 batters (on 4/1/2023 against Detroit)
Kyle Lewis (Arizona) struck out 4 times (on 4/2/2023 against Los Angeles)
Jacob deGrom (Texas) struck out 13 batters (on 4/2/2023 against Philadelphia)
Stuart Fairchild (Cincinnati) struck out 4 times (on 4/3/2023 against Chicago (CC))
Victor Caratini (Milwaukee) had 5 hits (on 4/3/2023 against New York (NYM))

World Series Wrap up 2022

BREWERS ARE THE CHAMPS!!!!! HOUSTON PUSHES THE SERIES TO SIX GAMES…

My favorite book, dating to high school, is the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which famously suggested that the universe is governed by the forces of randomness as much as anything else (which explains a lot about baseball, IMHO), and that the ultimate answer to everything was 42…so imagine my excitement when the Brewers won games 1-3 by the identical score of 4-2…what are the odds against a 4-game sweep where every game ends with the same score, and that score is 4-2? But Houston would not have it, and they took the next 2 games 4-3 and 3-2, which are close and exciting games, and tantalizingly close to 4-2, but not quite…the decisive game was a slugfest with all the runs charged to the starters (7 for Sandoval, 8 for Beiber, both trade aquisitions), but the bats abruptly stopped after the 6th and neither bullpen gave up a run….Urias and Mitchell ended up 7-7 at the top of the order, and the best outcome of all was that Mike Trout won a fantasy World Championship….

Jim Casey has over 2,000 lifetime ASFBL wins in a career that started in 1995…it wasn’t until 2000 that he started making noise, when he won the WOR championship with the Cubbies…by 2011 he had won the world championship with the Giants…he topped 100 wins every year between 2009-2011, and matched his career high with 102 wins this year…this year marks his 6th consecutive playoff appearance which have included three LCS appearances and this trip to the World Series…he’s repeatedly and honestly suggested the ASFBL hold face-to-face winter meetings, which sounds at least as much fun as it is logistically difficult, but the fact that he came up with the idea speaks volumes about where his heart is…27 years is quite a run, Jim, and we’ll see again in the spring!

Chris Zewiske entered the league in 2001 with the Padres and has been running the Brewers ever since…he took 4th place WOR in 2002 with +14 wins over the actual team and — get this — only 70 wins…he’s transformed the Brew Crew into an ASFABL jauggernaut and been in the playoffs 5 of the last 6 years, including two LCS apperances and this year’s World Championship…2002 marks his FIRST EVER world championship and his second-highest win total in 19 seasons…the +2 WOR doesn’t seem that impressive until you consider how good the actual team was…when the Brewers were less competitive in 2013 he finish +14 WOR…if I’m reading his legal bio correctly, he joined the ASFBL one year after passing the bar and has been named a “Super Lawyer” each of the past 2 years, which no doubt help his trade negotiating skills…great to see you don the champion’s crown just shy of 2 decades, Chris, and you truly have had a season to be proud of!

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2022

NATIONAL LEAGUE

After going up 2-1 the Cubs lost two to the Brewers to put them on the brink, but they stormed to a 10-1 win in game six in a game Matt Mervis hit 2 homers to force the decisive game 7. Corbin Burns cooled the Cub bats off and homers by Trout and Mitchell provided just enough offense for the Brewers to take the series in seven. Chris Zewiske has managed 7 more playoff wins for Trout this season than the Angels have during his career. Gordon Leckie finishes a phenomenal season, grabbing the last wildcard spot in the final week and taking two series before falling in seven games. Gordie got into the league in 1994 through his connection with Leo and brought in 2014…after a 61-win season in his first year he was the league champ in 1995 and he’s not missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons since 2001-2005…after 25 seasons, his best 2 WOR seasons are his last two…a true Midwesterner, he’s managed both the Cubs and Chisox and ran the Tigers for a decade between 2006 and 2016…you’re an ASFBL fixture, Gordon, and congrats on another great season!

AMERICAN LEAGUE

The Astros only scored 2 runs in game 1 but they were enough behind Framber Valdez; the Jays scored 9 runs in game 2 but that wasn’t enough as the Astros scored in double-digits…after 3 games the Jays had lost them all but by a total of only 4 runs, and in game 4 Houston completed the sweep behind 6 strong innings from Joe Musgrove and a 3-inning save by Brandon Eisert…Starling Marte homered…John MacDonald played his first ASFBL season in 1999 and is unique in that he’s taken breaks between 2002-2005 and 2015-2016….he won championships in 2001 and 2006 to bookend the first break …that makes him the only player in ASFBL history to win a championship, take a hiatus, and win the championship again immediately upon return…he’s made the playoffs each of the past 3 seasons…and this year is his best finish since the world championship in 2006…when your email is “JohnnyMacLives4Sports” you know that he’s a student of the game…always an active owner and always putting competitive teams out there, you bring a lot to the league, and I look forward to seeing you next season, John!

WORLD SERIES

Astros host by virtue of having a better record, and I’ll ask Chris and Jim to get their lineups in by tomorrow. As soon as we have confirmation from both of them that the lineups are ready I’ll run the games and we’ll wrap the season.