Week 4: The Check Swing

Is 59 points the highest weekly total for a position player in FBLG history?
Is there an amateur historian willing to parse the FBLG encyclopedia to find out? 

Parity is the name of the game in FBLG this year. Eight of the league's 10 teams have a record of 2-2. It was a great week to have star players from the Nationals, Diamondbacks and Dodgers, as 9 of the FBLG teams' leading scorers in Week 4 came from those clubs. 

1. Bodysuit Man (822.5 points, 4-0, last week 1): Adam's team is our league's top scoring team and has allowed the fewest points. That's how you become FBLG's only 4-0 team. Bodysuit Man posted 230.8 points this week, led by Patrick Corbin (31.3), Charlie Blackmon (29) and Wil Myers (28). But the news isn't all good for the assistant to the traveling secretary: Adam Eaton (27) blew out his knee and Noah Syndergaard (-4.7) tore a lat muscle. 

2. Quirkin’ For a Livin’ (727 points, 2-2, last week 5): The commissioners have improved with each passing week, and the eruption from Trea Turner (59) was a big part of that in Week 4. The injuries are piling up, though, with Yoenis Cespedes, Joc Pederson, Jon Gray and Hyun-Jin Ryu on the DL. Matt Harvey (-3.7) wasn't even the worst Mets pitcher this week, which is saying something. 

3. Pitch! You Blockhead (711 points, 2-2, last week 4): Ho hum, here's another big performance from Eric Thames (23.5). Jacob deGrom (21), Nolan Arenado (19) and Mark Reynolds (18.5) did their part for Scott's team, but it wasn't enough in a loss to Quirkin'. Another FBLG theme for this week is starting pitchers who got lit up, and PYB's offering is Chad Kuhl (-3.3). 

4. Lawyers Guns and Money (707.3 points, 2-2, last week 3): It was a strange week for Matt's Fightin' Zevons. Bryce Harper (32.5) and A.J. Pollock (29.5) did more than their fair share, but the team was bogged down by the likes of A.J. Ramos (1), Jimmy Nelson (-1) and Willson Contreras (0). In an odd coincidence, Matt's top 3 pitchers (Jeremy Hellickson, Vince Velasquez and John Lackey) each went at least 6 innings and earned wins yet posted scores no higher than 11.3. 

Noah Syndergaard declined to get an MRI,
then went out and got seriously injured.
We're naming him our Dud of the Week
and sending him back to middle school.

5t. Project Mayhem (690.8 points, 2-2, last week 6): Kris Bryant put up 32 points for Bill and wasn't even close to being his leading scorer. What does that mean? It means Ryan Zimmerman (40) is back to being a middle-of-the-lineup threat. Jose Peraza (4) and Antonio Senzatela (0) were underwhelming, though. PM throttled the Sons of Clemente by about 75 points this week, and they now find themselves tied in points. Spooky, right? 

5t. Clemente’s Bucs (690.8 points, 2-2, last week, 2): Kenley Jansen (26.7), Clayton Kershaw (18) and Justin Bour (16.5) were awfully good for Ray this week. Everyone else? Barfaroo. Looking at you, Amir Garrett (-7.7), Aledmys Diaz (1.5), Stephen Strasburg (3), J.T. Realmuto (7), Eugenio Suarez (7) and Dee Gordon (8.5). 

7. Fresh Fish (671.3 points, 2-2, last week 8): Rick got enormous output from Daniel Murphy (39), Anthony Rendon (35), Matt Kemp (25.5) and Yasmany Tomas (20.5). It didn't matter, though; it was the wrong week to face Bodysuit Man. The difference was the pitching: Rick got 24 points from his hurlers, with only Adam Wainwright (11.3) scoring more than 4.3. 

8. Arbitration Losers (656 points, 2-2, last week 7): Paul Goldschmidt (32.5) was the only standout on Tim's team this week, so we'll spend most of this space poking fun at Tim for having Jeff Mathis on his roster. Mathis actually homered for the Losers, but he somehow managed only 2 points for the week. Is the moniker "Premium" meant to be sarcasm, like "Huey Lewis' Greatest Hits"?  

9. The Rookies (632.8 points, 2-2, last week 10): Henry's team was a 4-man wrecking crew against LGM. Zack Greinke (33) struck out 20 batters in 12 innings to lead the charge. On offense, Chris Owings (29), Ender Inciarte (28) and Freddie Freeman (25) put up points by the truckful. If you can win when Max Scherzer (5) and Jon Lester (2.7) disappoint while taking losses, you've got it made. 

10. The Misfits (571 points, 0-4, last week 9): Just about everything is going wrong for Reid's team. Sluggers Giancarlo Stanton (9) and Adrian Gonzalez (9) aren't slugging, closer Shawn Kelley (2) might not really be a closer, the starting pitchers (17, collectively) are struggling, and up-and-comers Stephen Piscotty (11.5) and Javier Baez (5) aren't doing much.