Week 6: The Check Swing

Aaron Nola has stepped up his hair game and is pitching like an ace. Also, he seems to really love America. 

The Braves are good. The Phillies are good. The Brewers are good. The Dodgers are bad. The Reds are also bad but managed to sweep the Dodgers in a 4-game series. This has been a confusing season except for one constant: The Mets are hilariously inept. 

The scoreboard

Arizona might be better off with a box of burgers
than with Brad Boxberger.

1. Stable Geniuses (1200 points, 4-2, last week 1): The Geniuses remain atop our standings and improved to 4-2 with a blowout win against the Losers. Sean Newcomb (34) proved to be an awesome waiver-wire pickup, fanning 12 batters in 12 scoreless innings and going 2-0. Kyle Freeland (17.3) also had an outstanding week, which helped make up for the injured Carlos Martinez (2) and the save-blowing Brad Boxberger (2). Matt's offense had a good week, with Starling Marte (22) and Odubel Herrera (24.5) putting up crooked numbers again and again. Travis Shaw (21) and Trea Turner (20) each hit 3 homers, and Turner stunningly walked 6 times. Kurt Suzuki (3) was the only hitter who didn't do much for SG. 

2. Fasano Don't Dance (1159.5 points, 5-1, last week 4): The Fightin' Fasanos used a whopping 13 position players, but it paid off in the form of something resembling an offense for the first time all year. Most of the lineup started the year on the waiver wire, including Nick Markakis (26), Matt Adams (21) and Brian "Marlin" Anderson (18.5). Carlos Santana (13.5), who spent a week as a free agent before being reacquired, is trying ever so hard to get his average within 50 points/pounds of his weight. Stephen Strasburg (33.7) went 2-0 and is now one of the top non-Scherzer pitchers in the NL. Zack Godley (14) allowed 8 runs in 12 innings but didn't take a loss thanks to Arizona's strong offense. 

3. Fresh Fish (1135.7 points, 2-4, last week 3): Holy crap, Scooter Gennett (36). He was a one-man Big Red Machine in Week 6, with 13 hits — including 4 homers — 10 RBIs and 7 runs. Max Scherzer (22) was incredible again and is 44.7 points ahead of the No. 2 pitcher in FBLG. Good grief, Max. Patrick Corbin (11) was still pretty good, but his velocity and command are slipping. Javier Baez (22) keeps producing in the middle of the Chicago lineup, but he and Gennett didn't get much help from Rick's veterans. Weren't we just complimenting veterans such as Matt Kemp (6), Carlos Gonzalez (8.5) and Buster Posey (9.5) a week ago? This team could sure use a lift from brittle Ryan Zimmerman (5.5, DL) and shaky Yu Darvish (DL).

4. BodySuit Man (1132.7 points, 3-3, last week 5): How good was Adam's team in Week 6? BodySuit Man put up 201.2 points, and ace Noah Syndergaard didn't even pitch because the Mets don't know what they're doing. That's scary stuff. Jon Gray (26.3) has been inconsistent but was strong in 2 starts, and Sean Doolittle (16) earned saves in 3 appearances. Ender Inciarte (27) has turned it on after a slow start; he homered twice and stole 4 bases in Week 6. But the real story here is Willson Contreras (38.5), who took advantage of matchups against the Marlins and White Sox. Contreras notched 3 homers, 2 triples, 3 doubles, 3 singles, 6 runs, 12 RBIs, a walk and a steal.

5. Arbitration Losers (1116 points, 4-2, last week 2): Tim's pitching staff put up an impressive 52 points despite getting only 4 starts. Still, AL dropped 3 spots in the rankings, so you can guess what the problem was. The leading hitter on the club was Derek Dietrich (15) — and this is NOT the year to have a Marlin as your best offensive weapon. A.J. Pollock (14.5) had a pretty pedestrian week, and Matt Carpenter (0.5) is slashing .145/.294/.282. Tim's favorite player, D.J. LeMahieu (7.5), hit 4 singles, then hit the disabled list. On the bright side, Julio Teheran (18) is pitching quite well, going 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA this season.

Hey! Wade!
You're gonna blow the save...

6. The Misfits (1096.3 points, 4-2, last week 6): Reid's team got it done on both sides of the ball to top Clemente's Bucs. Trevor Story (34) had a classic Trevor Story week, driving in 11 runs at Coors Field, ripping 7 extra-base hits — and hitting zero singles. Lorenzo Cain (20) and Christian Yelich (15) seemed to like hitting in Denver, too. Francisco Pena (2) and Eric Hosmer (6) were no-shows, though. Jeremy Hellickson (28.7) had a phenomenal week for someone of Hellickson's skill level. Tyler Chatwood (14) has walked 5 or more batters in 5 of 7 starts this year; he must have thought that FBLG is awarding points to PITCHERS for bases on balls. Wade Davis (6) blew a save, which led to our favorite Nirvana joke.

7. Pitch You Blockhead (1078.7 points, 3-3, last week 7): Scott's team was locked in a tough battle with PM all week and came away with the W. It's safe to say the slump is over for Anthony Rizzo (30), who homered twice and drove in 9. Anthony Rendon (20) looked good in his return from injury, and Billy Hamilton (16.5) ran wild against the crummy Dodgers. Charlie Blackmon (13.5) had a terrible week by his standards, and Wilmer Difo (-2) had a terrible week by anyone's standards. It must be tough being the second-best Wilmer in the NL East. Rich Hill (9.7 in 2 starts) lasted 1 week before getting hurt again. Bet you didn't know that Miles Mikolas (14.7) and Josh Hader (14) are in the top 12 in FBLG pitching points this season. 

We tend to focus on offense in FBLG, but let's show some
love to Gold Glove winner Tucker Barnhart. The Reds
catcher won the award by beating out Yadier Molina, who
is without a doubt the greatest catcher in the history of the
game. So you KNOW Barnhart is good on defense.

8. The Rookies (1040.5 points, 2-4, last week 8): Henry's team had a good week but was no match for BM. Gio Gonzalez (13) and Zack Greinke (12) each allowed 1 run but came away with no-decisions. Jeff Samardzija (4.7 in 2 starts) and Trevor Williams (4) were just bad. Closer Felipe Vazquez (14.7) made the most of his 3.2 innings, collecting a win and a save. The offense was powered by a couple of Reds and a couple of Braves, which would have been hard to believe before the season. Kudos to Eugenio Suarez (26.5), Tucker Barnhart (20.5), Freddie Freeman (25) and Ozzie Albies (19.5). 

9. Project Mayhem (1006.2 points, 1-5, last week 9): There weren't a lot of positives for Bill's team in Week 6. The pitching staff went 3-2 with 69 points, but more than half of the points and 2 of the wins came from Aaron Nola (37). Homer Bailey (9) and Jarlin Garcia (3) combined to allow 20 runs in 19 innings, and Jameson Taillon (8) got hurt. The offense failed to reach triple digits, with only Josh Bell (20) scoring more than 15.5 points. Tommy Pham (14) and Nolan Arenado (15.5) need to produce more than they did in Week 6, and it would be nice if Jonathan Villar (2.5) produced at all. Like most St. Louis hitters, Marcell Ozuna (10.5) has been a disappointment.

10. Clemente's Bucs (987 points, 2-4, last week 10): Ray's team appears to be getting its act together, but it wasn't enough in Week 6. Kris Bryant (30) heard us calling him out, and he responded with 3 homers and 11 runs. Cesar Hernandez (18) continues to be one of the best values in FLBG, and Miguel Rojas (17.5) remains surprisingly productive. We expect more out of Paul Goldschmidt (10.5) and our favorite Welshman Rhys Hoskins (10.5), though. Kyle Hendricks (20) went 1-1 in 2 starts, and Brad Hand (15) was a strikeout machine. Up-and-down Jose Quintana (15) was up, but Chad Bettis (1) was down. Chase Anderson (DL) didn't pitch because of food poisoning, which is too awful to even joke about.

With a changeup like this, how does Stephen Strasburg ever give up hits?

Hitting leaders after Week 6

1. A.J. Pollock (AL) 140

2t. Freddie Freeman (R) 139

2t. Ozzie Albies (R) 139

4. Nick Markakis (FDD) 136
5. Bryce Harper (AL) 133.5

Pitching leaders after Week 6

1. Max Scherzer (FF) 170.7

2. Patrick Corbin (FF) 126
3. Aaron Nola (PM) 123.7
4. Stephen Strasburg (FDD) 122.3

5. Jacob deGrom (FDD) 106.3