Week 18 Reloaded

Week 18’s Liquid Courage League action was loaded with closely contested matchups, regardless of the way the final tallies made them appear.  Plus, the first playoff spot was clinched and the race for the fourth and final playoff spot tightened up considerably.

TEAM		BATTERS							PITCHERS							TOTAL
NAME		R	HR	RBI	SB	OBP	SLG		IP	QS	SV	ERA	WHIP	K/9		SCORE
Fightin' Vizquels (85-124-7)		46	9	45	7	.3343	.4143		38.2	2	1	4.190	1.371	4.655		3-8-1
Cleveland Wahoos (102-104-10)		41	13	31	7	.3075	.4348		75.2	7	4	2.379	1.163	7.731		8-3-1

Brian’s guys aren’t the only Wahoos with a winning track record.

The Fightin’ Vizquels made a run at the Wahoos, giving the two-time NL champion everything they could handle for a large part of the week.  In the end, though, they came up just short, with their slim playoff hopes all but extinguished.  The Fightin’s made a strong offensive showing, but their pitching wasn’t up to the task, losing every category on that side by a large margin. The Wahoos, however, continued their largely strong showing since just before the All-Star break, and combined with the week’s other results now find themselves sitting just outside the postseason picture. 

MVP:  Garrett Richards (2 GS, 15.1 IP, 2 QS, 0.59 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 8.22 K/9).  No one was more representative of the Wahoos’ pitching dominance than the Angels fireballer, who was nearly untouchable over his two starts last week.

LVP:  The Vizquel's pitching staff.  It’s nearly impossible to single out one player to blame the team’s pitching collapse on, as no one really had a terrible performance.  The staff as a whole was simply entirely unimpressive.  With Matt Cain done for the season, Matt Garza’s return in doubt, and Jacob deGrom’s Monday placement on the DL, the Vizquels need to consider making some pitching moves in order to compete down the stretch and in the consolation roto.

TEAM		BATTERS							PITCHERS							TOTAL
NAME		R	HR	RBI	SB	OBP	SLG		IP	QS	SV	ERA	WHIP	K/9		SCORE
DL All Stars (105-102-9)		30	8	33	2	.2989	.3620		51.0	4	3	4.588	1.314	8.471		1-10-1
Bowling Overhand (141-60-15)		34	8	29	4	.3000	.3758		67.2	7	6	2.793	1.153	8.512		10-1-1

Bowling Overhand hopes this depiction of the week’s matchup doesn’t turn around on them in the playoffs.

The Most Interesting Team in the World^TM met their nemesis, the DL All Stars, for the second time this season, and the results were remarkably similar to the first matchup.  The 10-1-1 final margin obscures how close this matchup actually was, as no fewer than six categories were decided by a margin that could have been overcome by one or two strong one-game performances.  In fact, a league-average offensive performance by either team would likely have buried the other on that side, turning the game into either a tie or a sweep.  In the end, nearly all those close categories swung Bowling Overhand’s way, and they offically became the league’s first playoff-bound team, with a 41.5 game lead over the 5^th-place Cleveland Wahoos.  Meanwhile, the All Stars’ playoff hopes took a substantial blow, as their lead over the Wahoos shrunk to just 2.5 games, with two other teams within 6.5 games.

MVP: Josh Harrison (.480 OBP, .609 SLG, 5 R, 3 SB).  While Alex Cobb, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Felix Hernandez, and Albert Pujols can all make claims to this award, Harrison’s contributions essentially made the difference in four categories.

LVP: Josh Hamilton (.103 OBP, .214 SLG, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI).  The other important Josh in the matchup, Hamilton’s rough week didn’t help the All Stars in runs, on-base percentage or slugging, all categories that were there for the taking in this offensive mess.

TEAM		BATTERS							PITCHERS							TOTAL
NAME		R	HR	RBI	SB	OBP	SLG		IP	QS	SV	ERA	WHIP	K/9		SCORE
Royal Rooters (72-134-10)		35	7	33	5	.3628	.4015		31.1	3	4	2.872	1.340	9.479		4-8-0
Team No Idea (99-107-10)		47	14	38	3	.3634	.4924		71.2	4	5	5.274	1.605	8.791		8-4-0

Not sure which one of these guys is a clean-up hitter?  Neither are we.

Don’t look now, but the men of No Idea are in the midst of a playoff push.  Nicole’s team has quietly put together a long string of strong performances and is 9 games over .500 since the last week of June.  The Rooters, however, showed their big win last week was simply an aberration, falling back into the struggles that have plagued them all season.  Strong pitching performances carried the Rooter effort, keeping the result from being totally one-sided, but the categories No Idea took were generally by large margins.  If No Idea can sneak into the playoffs, they’re beginning to look like the team no one will want to meet, while if they end up in the consolation roto, their chances of landing next year’s top pick appear strong.

MVP: Pablo Sandoval (.419 OBP, .655 SLG, 5 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI).  There were a number of strong offensive performances in this matchup, but Kung Fu Panda’s was particularly impressive.

LVP: Rajai Davis (.182 OBP, .219 SLG, 3 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB).  It was tempting to pick on some of Nicole’s pitchers, but with the way No Idea piled up counting stats in the pitching categories combined with the lopsidedness of the hitting stats, the Rooters’ poster boy for offensive ineptness “wins” the LVP.  Fact is, if Davis isn’t running, he’s not helping.

TEAM		BATTERS							PITCHERS							TOTAL
NAME		R	HR	RBI	SB	OBP	SLG		IP	QS	SV	ERA	WHIP	K/9		SCORE
Yakety Sax (126-81-9)		34	7	43	2	.3429	.3922		68.0	6	4	3.706	1.235	7.544		2-9-1
Deathvalley Demons (99-109-8)		36	10	44	6	.3815	.4842		64.0	6	5	2.953	1.172	7.453		9-2-1

The Deathvalley Demons’ family.  “It’s pronounced Gore-don.”

Speaking of teams that find themselves just outside the playoff picture, the Deathvalley Demons rebounded from a drubbing at the hands of the Royal Rooters in resounding fashion against Yakety Sax.  The Sackers likely never saw this one coming, as the Demons put forth an outstanding effort in nearly every category, missing a sweep by the narrowest of margins.  Yakety Sax, for their part, nearly pulled out runs, homers, RBIs, and quality starts, which would have turned the defeat into a tie.  The Sackers managed to hold their lead over the DL All Stars and still have the inside track to the 2 seed, but will need to rebound and perform well down the stretch.

MVP: Alex Gordon (.458 OBP, .810 SLG, 6 R, 3 HR, 6 RBI).  For the first time in a while, Gordon looked like the player the Demons traded for back in June.  If the Royals star keeps it up, the Demons will be much harder to keep out of the postseason.

LVP: Miguel Cabrera (.250 OBP, .148 SLG, 3 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI).  An unfortunate week for baseball’s premier hitter to struggle; while there are a few other players from Yakety Sax who could claim this award, the combination of the close losses in offensive categories and subpar performance cement it for Miggy.

TEAM		BATTERS							PITCHERS							TOTAL
NAME		R	HR	RBI	SB	OBP	SLG		IP	QS	SV	ERA	WHIP	K/9		SCORE
The Evil Empire (82-122-12)		41	11	45	4	.3488	.4498		66.1	4	3	3.392	1.357	7.869		5-7-0
Danger Zone (122-90-4)		39	8	46	12	.2936	.3836		80.1	8	0	3.361	1.071	7.954		7-5-0

The Evil Empire 5, Danger Zone 7

Danger Zone’s last desperate attack.

As seems to happen so often, Danger Zone was once again involved in the matchup of the week.  This was actually kind of fascinating to watch, as the Empire seemed to have the Zoners dominated for much of the week, but the lead was slowly chipped away, with Danger Zone pulling out the win due to Gio Gonzalez’ benching actually hurting the Empire and costing them K/9 (with an assist to Rick Porcello’s impromptu relief appearance).  Just another week for the Empire, really, as strange occurrences such as this have plagued them all season long.  Danger Zone looks to have all but sewn up the 3 seed for the playoffs, while if the Empire can actually get some things to break their way (and take advantage of the consolation roto scoring format that probably favors them), they will be a legitimate threat to end up with the number one pick next year.

MVP: Corey Kluber (2 GS, 13.1 IP, 0.68 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 11.48 K/9, 2 QS).  The season’s breakout pitcher continued to roll along, with 2 great starts that did a lot to swing ERA and K/9 Danger Zone’s way.

LVP: Alfredo Simon (2 GS, 10 IP, 6.30 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 0 QS, 5.40 K/9) and Addison Reed (2 GP, 2 IP, 9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 4.50 K/9, 0 SV).  Speaking of swinging ERA and K/9, these two guys were a pretty big part of that, too.

Standings

American League
1.	Yakety Sax		126-81-9
2.	DL All Stars		105-102-9
3.	Fightin' Vizquels		85-124-7
4.	The Evil Empire		82-122-12
5.	Royal Rooters		72-134-10
National League
1.	Bowling Overhand		141-60-15
2.	Danger Zone		122-90-4
3.	Cleveland Wahoos		102-104-10
4.	Team No Idea		99-107-10
5.	Deathvalley Demons		99-109-8
Updated Wednesday, August 13, 2014 Trophies Tiger Blood: Bowling Overhand The Sandman: Latroy Hawkins (somehow), Mark Melancon The Dirty Fuentes: Fernando Rodney, Steve Cishek Speedy Gonzalez: Norichiko Aoki The Gehrig Award: Devin Mesoraco, Ryan Howard The Melky Special: Melky Cabrera creates an award by getting on base 8 times in the same game Walter Johnson: James Shields, John Lester, Garrett Richards El Sombrero de Oro: Justin Upton The Vin Mazzaro: Wade Miley

League Manager's Poll

Poll of the Week #15: Post Trade Deadline Edition
What was the biggest trade of the deadline moves?

 57%
Lester for Cespedes* (4 votes)

 43%
Price for Jackson in a 3 team deal (3 votes)

0%
Craig for Lackey (0 votes)

0%
Other (0 votes)

You voted on Aug 4
Total Votes: 7  (One per Owner)