Week 15: Thursday's Roundup

I miss the days where I could have made a "Hey, Eugenio, where did your last throw go?" joke.
Why did he have to go and get good at defense?

Studs: Eugenio Suarez (CB) homered twice and walked. Jameson Taillon (CB) allowed 2 runs and struck out 8 in a 5.1-inning win.

Duds: None.

Week 15: Wednesday's Roundup

It's hard to believe a pitching staff as good as San Diego's could give up so many homers to Nolan Arenado.

Studs: Nolan Arenado (PYB) had a good week all in a day, hitting 3 homers, 2 singles and driving in 7. Domingo Santana (R) was a triple shy of the cycle and scored twice. Chris Taylor (BM) was a triple shy of the cycle, drove in 2 and scored 3 runs. Freddy Galvis (BM) doubled twice, singled, walked and scored 3 runs. Charlie Blackmon (BM) homered, singled twice, drove in 2 and scored 3 runs. Gerrit Cole (BM) struck out 10 and allowed 1 run in a 7-inning no-decision. Corey Seager (Q) homered, singled twice, scored 2 runs and drove in 3. David Peralta (Q) was a triple shy of the cycle and drove in 2. Javier Baez (M) homered, doubled and drove in 3.

Duds: Matt Wieters (PM) and Freddie Freeman (R) went 0-fer with an error. Gedd Jyorko (PM) singled and erred. (Admit it, Gedd Jyorko is a great name.) Corey Knebel (LGM) blew a save by allowing 1 run in 1 inning.

Week 15: Tuesday's Roundup

Travis Shaw can't believe more people aren't talking about how great he's been this year.

Studs: Clayton Kershaw (CB) struck out 7 in 7 shutout innings to earn the win. Michael Wacha (AL) struck out 8 in a 3-hit shutout of the LOLMets. Zack Cozart (PYB) was a triple shy of the cycle and scored twice. Matt Carpenter (BM) had 2 doubles, 2 singles, a run and an RBI. Travis Shaw (LGM) homered, singled twice and drove in 3. Bryce Harper (LGM) homered, tripled, singled twice and scored twice. Gerardo Parra (M) had a double, 2 singles, 2 walks, 3 runs and an RBI.

Duds: Scott Schebler (CB) was caught stealing. Yasmani Grandal (Q) was 0-fer with an error.

Week 15: Monday's Roundup

Tommy Pham and the Phamily.

Studs: Stephen Strasburg (CB) struck out 11 and allowed 1 run in a 7-inning win. Jon Lester (R) struck out 6 and allowed 1 run in a 7-inning win. German Marquez (M) allowed 3 runs and struck out 9 in a 6.2-inning win. Giancarlo Stanton (M) homered twice, walked twice and drove in 3. Tommy Pham (M) homered, singled, walked twice and drove in 3.

Duds: Dexter Fowler (Q) singled, walked and made an error. Christian Yelich (PYB) walked and was caught stealing.

Week 14: The Check Swing

Jimmy Nelson is like a snake in the grass, waiting to destroy your fantasy team's hopes. 

1. Clemente’s Bucs (2734.7 points, 10-4, last week, 1): The extra-long week was good for our leader, who put up 299.2 points against the last-place Misfits. Clayton Kershaw posted a whopping 48 points in a pair of victories, and Kenley Jansen picked up 28 points in only 6 innings of work. On the offensive side, Andrew McCutchen (36.5), Justin Bour (33) and Dee Gordon (28) did most of the damage. 

2. Lawyers Guns and Money (2664.8 points, 10-4, last week 4): Sure, Week 14 included 10 days of games rather than our usual 7, but 335.2 points is a LOT of points. It was enough to move the Fightin' Zevons from 4th to 2nd in the points race. Jimmy Nelson (46.7) fanned 23 batters in a pair of wins, Trevor Cahill (33) was mind-bogglingly effective, and even Jhoulys Chacin (23.3) was impressive. Talk about a scrap-heap rotation! At the plate, it was more of the same for LGM, with Bryce Harper (40), Marcell Ozuna (36.5) and Joey Votto (31) setting the pace. 

Here's Dud of the Week Jon Lester
in happier times, before he allowed
9 runs in 5.2 innings across a pair
of losses in Week 14. 

3. Bodysuit Man (2652.8 points, 9-5, last week 2): Costanza must have been too busy eating spicy chicken and calzones to focus on his matchup with the Fish, which he lost. Charlie Blackmon (43.5) remains the most consistent performer in FBLG; have we mentioned his name on this blog every week? Freddy Galvis (27.5) and Chris Taylor (27.5) were outstanding, too. Sean Newcomb (-0.7) allowed 11 earned runs in 7.2 innings. Happy, pappy? 

4. The Rookies (2641.2 points, 9-5, last week 3): The Scrappin' Greenhorns got some monster performances to stay in the thick of the points race. Alex Wood (37) and Max Scherzer (34.5) went 3-0 to lead the pitching staff, and Ender Inciarte (35.5), Paul DeJong (35) and Domingo Santana (34.5) combined for 16 doubles and 16 RBIs. Let's not talk about Jon Lester (-3.3), though.

5. Pitch! You Blockhead (2559.8 points, 6-8, last week 5): PYB lost to The Rookies, but you can't blame Nolan Arenado (35), Christian Yelich (33.5) or Jacob deGrom (36). Mark Reynolds (27.5) and Brandon Phillips (26) also performed well, and Robbie Ray (18) struck out 13 in a 6-inning start. If you're looking for a goat, you can choose Jeff Samardzija (9 in 2 outings), Hunter Renfroe (7) or Tony Wolters (5). 

6. Quirkin’ For a Livin’ (2453.3 points, 4-10, last week 6): Lance Lynn (33.5) allowed 2 runs in 18.2 innings across 3 starts, but the rest of the pitching staff was laugh-inducing. Jon Gray, Jose Urena and Nick Pivetta combined to allow 32 runs in 32.2 innings. High draft picks Corey Seager (14) and Yoenis Cespedes (12) were pretty lousy, too. But hey, at least Cody Bellinger (37.5) and Scooter Gennett (35.5) were good.  

7. Fresh Fish (2451.3 points, 8-6, last week 7): Daniel Murphy (45.5) and Anthony Rendon (41) combined to drive in 28 runs, which is absolutely ridiculous. Billy Hamilton (33.5) collected 13 hits, which, if you've ever seen HillBilly play, is even MORE ridiculous. Adam Wainwright (29.7) won his 2 starts, but Steven Matz (1.3) got knocked around in 2 losses and Fernando Rodney (-4.7) stunk up the joint in 0.1 inning.  

Billy Hamilton is pretty good for a guy who can't
see where he's going. 

8. Arbitration Losers (2377.7 points, 8-6, last week 8): The offense did the heavy lifting for AL in a win against PM. Kudos to Jay Bruce (29.5), D.J. LeMahieu (28.5), Ryan Braun (28), Brandon Crawford (24.5) and Paul Goldschmidt (24). The pitching staff was good in limited action, going 3-1 with 2 saves in 39.2 innings. 

9. Project Mayhem (2298.2 points, 5-9, last week 9): Mayhem was unable to pick up a win despite getting 43 points from Aaron Nola, who made 3 starts, and 33 points from Rich Hill. Kris Bryant (35.5) and Jedd Gyorko (21.5) paced the offense, but the rest of the bats were pretty average. We're not entirely sure what a Dinelson Lamet is, but apparently he pitches for the Padres — and posted 1 point for PM. 

10. The Misfits (2072.7 points, 1-13, last week 10): Giancarlo Stanton (41.5) homered 5 times and Justin Turner (28) went deep 4 times, but it wasn't enough to get the Misfits past Clemente's Bucs. Josh Bell (35.5) has been a nice pickup at first base, as well. Unfortunately, Joe Ross, Stephen Piscotty and Michael Taylor landed on the DL, and Misfit pitchers allowed 24 earned runs in 35 innings.