Week 5: The Check Swing

Do you like blown saves? Do you wonder how Hector Neris still has a job? Yeah, so do we! 

OK, we're 5 weeks into the season, and the expected NL contenders have been disappointments. The Nationals, Cubs and Dodgers all are in 4th place in their respective divisions. Can any or all of them get their acts together? 

The scoreboard

1. Stable Geniuses (1000.2 points, 3-2, last week 1): Pitching made the difference for Matt in his team's win against PYB. The Geniuses have made plenty of pitching transactions this season, and they certainly paid off in Week 5. Brad Boxberger (19) took over for Kenley Jansen and picked up a win in addition to a pair of saves. Sean Newcomb (20) showed what he can do when he doesn't walk people, and Carlos Martinez (16.3) pitched like the ace he's been since a rough opening outing. The offense was balanced, with Trea Turner (18), Starling Marte (16) and Cody Bellinger (13.5) leading the way. The third-base duo of Travis Shaw (3) and Christian Villanueva (2) was unusually quiet, though. And Zack Wheeler (-2) took over the Matt Harvey role for the Mets.

Yeah, we're excited to have Corey Dickerson
back in the NL too, Kimera Bartee.

2. Arbitration Losers (983 points, 4-1, last week 4): With an output of 197.8, Tim's team was the best of Week 5 in FBLG. The rotation was strong, with Chris Stratton (14) and Julio Teheran (18) winning their starts, and Jon Lester (18) and Michael Wacha (15.3) pitching well in a pair of no-decisions apiece. Hector Neris (0) was his usual volatile self, with a save, a blown save and a loss in 2 innings of work. With D.J. LeMahieu and Corey Seager on the DL, replacements Freddy Galvis (5.5) and Kike Hernandez (5.5) were huge steps down. But it didn't matter for AL because A.J. Pollock (33), Bryce Harper (28.5) and Corey Dickerson (27.5) were a 3-headed monster. The trio combined for 11 homers, 26 RBIs and 15 runs. 

3. Fresh Fish (978 points, 2-3, last week 3): Rick's team was the second-highest-scoring club in FBLG, but the luck of the scheduling draw led to a loss against the Losers. Seemingly every week we point out the mastery of Max Scherzer, and this entry will be no different. Mad Max (37.7) fanned 23 hitters in 12.2 innings yet picked up only 1 win in his 2 starts. Yu Darvish (4.3) was awful again, then was placed on the DL. Hunter Strickland (0) matched his counterpart Hector Neris in what might be the first pointless duel of closers in FBLG history. Maikel Franco (26) homered 3 times and was the offensive leader of FF, which would be funny if it weren't so sad. Andrew McCutchen (23.5), Buster Posey (21.5) and Matt Kemp (19.5) showed the value of steady veterans.

4. Fasano Don't Dance (957 points, 4-1, last week 2): The commissioners' strong pitching was bound to crash and burn at some point; Week 5 was that point. Stephen Strasburg (21) was outstanding, but the rest of the staff combined for only 11 puntos. Jacob deGrom (10) was pitching well before getting hurt; Zack Godley (7) allowed 1 run in a hard-luck loss; Brandon Morrow (1) blew a save; and Nick Pivetta (-7) got tattooed. The offense (mostly) awakened, with Nick Markakis (28.5), Brian Anderson (20) and Chris Taylor (16.5) having a nice week. However, the commissioners appear to be replaying the dreaded first-base carousel from two years ago: Carlos Santana (3), Matt Adams (5.5) and Justin Bour (0.5) got time at the position in Week 5.  

5. BodySuit Man (922.5 points, 2-3, last week 5): Adam's team went down the wire against Fasano but wasn't able to pull out a victory. If only Brandon McCarthy (-5.7) hadn't gotten shelled, Willson Contreras (-0.5) hadn't been an error machine, and Noah Syndergaard (12 in 2 winless starts) didn't pitch for the Mets. Tanner Roark (23.3) and Sean Doolittle (12.7) provided the only wins for BM, which makes you wonder what happened to Jake Arrieta (3.7 in 2 starts). Starlin Castro (24) and Joey Votto (22.5) did their part at the plate, but no one else on BM stepped up. You could even say Paul DeJong (3.5) and Yoenis Cespedes (8) stepped down. 

We miss Fatt Adams. 

6. The Misfits (908.2 points, 3-2, last week 7): Reid's team had a close matchup with PM and managed to come away with a win. Eric Hosmer (27) did a little bit of everything, and Christian Yelich (20) appears to be heating up. Gerardo Parra (16) doubled 3 times and had a solid week. Wade Davis (15) saved 3 games and was the top scorer on the pitching staff, which somehow posted a record of 0-0. That's hard to do! The bigger issue for The Misfits will be finding a way to replace Clayton Kershaw (10) and Yadier Molina (6.5), both of whom have landed on the DL for an undetermined period of time. 

7. Pitch You Blockhead (899.8 points, 2-3, last week 6): Scott's offense was able to hang with Matt's, but the PYB pitching staff couldn't keep up. The 41.7 points mostly came from Josh Hader (21.7) and Miles Mikolas (16); Joey Lucchesi (4) and Mike Foltynewicz (0) were letdowns. Alex Wood was on the bench, and Rich Hill and Zach Davies were on the DL. On the offensive side, Anthony Rizzo (18) homered 3 times and appears to be emerging from his slump. Asdrubal Cabrera (17.5) continues to defy this blog's criticism, which annoys us to no end. Charlie Blackmon (24.5) did his usual thing, too. Anthony Rendon (3) is back from the DL, which should provide an offensive boost for PYB — and allows Scott to jettison the utterly mediocre Colin Moran (3). 

8. The Rookies (863.7 points, 2-3, last week 8): Henry's offense was a real downer in Week 5, but The Rookies came away with a W thanks to a matchup against the struggling Bucs. Only 3 hitters scored more than 6.5 points for The Rooks: Freddie Freeman (20.5), Eugenio Suarez (18.5) and Ozzie Albies (17). Some other hitters will have to emerge for this team to move up in the standings. Looking at you, David Peralta (2) and Jay Bruce (5.5). On the mound, Zack Greinke (28.7) pitched well in 11.2 innings, and Gio Gonzalez (15) earned a win in a scoreless outing.  

Marcell Ozuna hit .312 with 37 homers last year.
He's hitting .258 with 2 homers this year.

9. Project Mayhem (839.2 points, 1-4, last week 10): Bill's team actually had one of the best offensive performances of the week, but the pitching staff couldn't get the job done. Aaron Nola (19.3) was great, but everyone else was a no-show. Jameson Taillon (10) went 0-1 in a pair of starts, Tyler Mahle (4) took a loss, Hyun-Jin Ryu (3.3) suffered a serious injury, and Jeurys Familia (1) pitched only once. On the bright side, Nolan Arenado (28.5) homered 4 times and drove in 9, and Brandon Crawford (23) collected 11 hits and drove in 7. However, we're wondering whether Marcell Ozuna (9) was a one-hit wonder after his incredible 2017 season.

10. Clemente's Bucs (819 points, 2-3, last week 9): Ray will want to forget this week. Clemente's leading scorer was Rhys Hoskins (16), and the top pitcher was closer Brad Hand (14.3) — who blew a save and went 0-1. In fact, the CB staff collectively went 1-5 and allowed 20 earned runs in 30.1 innings. Jose Quintana (5) can't decide whether he's an ace or a waiver-wire guy. Paul Goldschmidt (4) hasn't done much of note all season and currently is ranked as the No. 6 first baseman; he's hitting .225 with 4 homers. Kris Bryant (15.5) has been solid when healthy but is the No. 7 third baseman. Those two will need to perform like the top-11 picks they were for CB to climb out of the FBLG basement.

Hitting leaders after Week 5

1. A.J. Pollock (AL) 125.5

2. Bryce Harper (AL) 122.5

3. Ozzie Albies (R) 119.5

4. Freddie Freeman (R) 114

5. Nick Markakis (FDD) 113

Pitching leaders after Week 5

1. Max Scherzer (FF) 148.7

2. Patrick Corbin (FF) 115

3. Jacob deGrom (FDD) 103.3

4. Carlos Martinez (SG) 95

5. Noah Syndergaard (BM) 91.7