After four weeks, we've seen a couple of teams pull away from the pack. But look at that cluster of teams in the middle of the standings! This week, it's the Seinfeld edition of the blog. Which character is each team most similar to? Find out below.
1. Ryan's Rangers (791 points, 4-0, last week 1): Bill's team used a Sunday charge to get past Danger Zaun and remain undefeated. The Rangers have good pitching depth, exemplified by the 5 10-point starts out of 6 attempts this week. The weak link might be the health of Ryan Braun and the multiple catchers on the disabled list, but it might not matter if Carlos Gomez and Anthony Rendon keep mashing. Seinfeldia: With Bill running the show in first place, Ryan's Rangers must be George Steinbrenner. "I'm too important to this team. Big Stein can't be flopping and twitching!"
2. Danger Zaun (742 points, 1-3, last week 3): The Zaunies are the kings of consistency (if not wins) with weekly scores of 186, 181, 185 and 184. This week, Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross combined for 8 points in 3 starts, which contributed to the loss to the Rangers. Providing the punch on offense is Adrian Gonzalez, who is the No. 2 scorer among position players in FBLG. Will the outfield ever chip in? Seinfeldia: Danger Zaun sure seems like Even Steven with its scoring, so it must be Jerry Seinfeld. "I just lost a job and five minutes later get another, same weekend, same money."
3. Arbitration Losers (698 points, 3-1, last week 5): Tim's team eked out a win against a tough PYB squad, led by Cliff Lee's 30-point week and a 22-point breakout from Ben Revere. The loss of Michael Cuddyer has hurt, though, and Pablo Sandoval, Jean Segura and Jedd Gyorko haven't done much.
Seinfeldia: With Segura getting his face bashed in by Ryan Braun's warmup swing, AL has to be George's girlfriend Audrey. "Well, you're as pretty as any of them; you just need a nose job."
4. Rocky Mountain High (691 points, 3-1, last week 2): Several disappointing performances led to Jon's team losing to the Misfits and dropping two spots in the rankings. Point the blame at Pedro Alvarez (5 points), Carlos Gonzalez (3), Carl Crawford (1) and Russell Martin (1, injured). Perhaps a return to Denver will get Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki back on track next week against Danger Zaun. Seinfeldia: With Brandon Phillips, Matt Garza and Yasiel Puig, Jon's team is feisty, sullen and a little bit disturbed. That means this team is Crazy Joe Davola. "You know I've kiboshed before. And I will kibosh again."
5. Pitch You Blockhead (688 points, 1-3, last week 6): Pitching was the name of the game for PYB this week, with Ian Kennedy and Zack Greinke almost being enough to beat Arbitration Losers. Unfortunately, the offense went in the tank. Marcell Ozuna, Martin Prado, Neil Walker, Yonder Alonso and Jonathan Lucroy all failed to reach 10 points. Seinfeldia: Not enough offense, you say? Scott's team must be Danny Tartabull. "Well, all of a sudden there's a problem with Tartabull's swing..."
6. Fresh Fish (684 points, 2-2, last week 4): A ho-hum week for the Fishes led to a loss to Tanana. The outfield of Giancarlo Stanton, Jayson Werth and Marlon Byrd combined for 51 points, and Bartolo Colon had a 17-point outing. Otherwise, Brandon Belt, Buster Posey, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Casey McGehee were downright awful. Seinfeldia: Rick's team is missing the injured Clayton Kershaw, Ryan Zimmerman, Marco Scutaro and Wandy Rodriguez. Clearly, the Fresh Fish are Bette Midler. "While playing softball in the park, Ms. Midler was injured when another player thoughtlessly rammed her at home plate."
7. Tanana in the Tailpipe (681 points, 2-2, last week 7): Matt's team of troupers managed to improve to 2-2 despite some horrible health news during the week. Tanana was out of transactions for April and had no way to replace Mark Trumbo, Jason Grilli and Bryce Harper, all of whom were placed on the DL. Perhaps that will put the kibosh on the catcher carousel in Tanana town. On the bright side, Adam Wainwright is FBLG's leading scorer, 14 points ahead of Johnny Cueto. Seinfeldia: With things falling apart, Tanana must feel like an eternal target — just like George Costanza. "Do you have any conceivable reason for even getting up in the morning?"
8. E-3 (671 points, 2-2, last week t9): This team's pitching staff erupted in Week 4, leading E-3 to a 214-point outburst. Johnny Cueto, FBLG's second-leading scorer, and A.J. Burnett combined for 73 points. It made up for another poor week from Allen Craig and Curtis Granderson, who combined for 15 points and remain on the south side of the Mendoza line. Seinfeldia: Adam's team finally woke up, you say? This team must be marathon runner Jean-Paul. "Oh come on, you son of a bitch. I'm just trying to be friendly."
9. Misfits (648 points, 2-2, last week 8): Reid's team put up 163 points for the week and isn't too far behind the big cluster of teams ahead of it in the standings. With a 28-point week, Charlie Blackmon still looks like an MVP. When will Joey Votto, Daniel Murphy, Chris Johnson and Matt Kemp join the party? Seinfeldia: It feels like Reid's team is awfully close to erupting, which means the Misfits are Frank Costanza, yelling "Serenity now!" to keep calm. "Are you supposed to yell it?" "The man on the tape wasn't specific."
10. Rookies (613 points, 0-4, last week t9): It's the greatest paradox in FBLG: How can a team that's reliant on so many players from the first-place Braves be in last place? Paul Goldschmidt and Justin Upton have been as good as advertised, but there is plenty of disappointment to go around. Kolten Wong and Cody Asche have been jettisoned; Andrelton Simmons, Evan Gattis, Jason Heyward and B.J. Upton are all at 45 points or less after 4 weeks. The pitching staff has been solid, with Kyle Lohse and Ervin Santana leading the way. Seinfeldia: The Rookies just might be an entertaining mystery all season. Sounds like Kramer, doesn't it? "He is a loathsome, offensive brute, yet I can't look away."
