Week 17: The Check Swing

Since Jacob deGrom no longer has his flowing locks, we're turning our lonely eyes to Jon Gray.

It’s been a busy couple of days in the Commissioners’ Office, so this blog will be shorter than usual. It’s annoying that life gets in the way sometimes, but so it goes.

FBLG saw just a couple of minor changes in the overall points standings this week, and 7 of our 8 playoff berths have been decided. We also have three teams within 50 points of our points leaders.

On the Vladimir Guerrero side, Fasano Don't Dance and Arbitration Losers are tied atop the division and have clinched playoff berths. The Misfits have clinched a spot and remain one game back, and Project Mayhem and BodySuit Man are tied for fourth — battling for the final playoff spot. 

On the Chipper Jones side, division winner Fresh Fish, Stable Geniuses, Pitch You Blockhead and The Rookies have clinched playoff spots. Clemente's Bucs has been eliminated. 

The scoreboard

1. Fresh Fish** (3202.8 points, 10-7, last week 1): Rick’s team scored only 155 points in a loss to The Misfits, which allowed the rest of the field to catch up a bit. Javier Baez (29.5), Carlos Gonzalez (22) and Justin Bour (15) combined to hit 8 of the Fish’s 9 homers, and Max Scherzer (19) and Patrick Corbin (16) pitched well in wins. But Kenta Maeda (3) allowed 9 runs in 10 innings in a pair of losses. Matt Kemp (2) and Scooter Gennett (5.5) were no-shows as well. 

2. Fasano Don't Dance** (3181.5 points, 11-6, last week 3): The commissioners are finding that pitching wins are hard to come by, but the staff still put up 73.7 points in a blowout win against The Rookies. Every starting pitcher reached double figures for the week, led by Jack Flaherty (23.3) in a double-start week. Ronald Acuna (24.5) was the only hitter who had a big week, but the rest of the lineup showed balance. 

Kenta Maeda walks off the mound
with that guy from "Pawn Stars."

3. Stable Geniuses** (3173 points, 8-9, last week 2): It was a good week for Matt’s club, but the offense just couldn’t keep up with Project Mayhem’s. Trea Turner (28.5) stole 6 bases and scored 8 runs. Cody Bellinger (18) drove in 6 runs on 4 hits and added 4 walks. Tanner Roark (wait, really?) racked up 31 points in a pair of wins. Too bad Sean Newcomb didn’t pitch all week, which might have been the difference between a win and a loss. 

4. Project Mayhem (3159 points, 8-9, last week 4): Bill’s team is as dangerous as any in FLBG, but PM’s quest for a playoff berth will go down to the final week. The PM offense posted 142.5 points in a win against SG, led by Nolan Arenado (24), Juan Soto (22.5) and Ben Zobrist (21.5). Zack Wheeler (21) showed that he’s too good for the Mets, and Aaron Nola (19) pitched well twice but couldn’t earn a win. Raisel Iglesias (-1) appears to be disappointed that he’s still with the Reds.

5. Arbitration Losers** (3065.2 points, 11-6, last week 5): In another close Week 17 matchup, Tim’s team held on for a 3.2-point win against the Bucs. Julio Teheran (19.7 in 2 starts) and Cole Hamels (19) were good, but Jon Lester (2) and Andrew Suarez (-1) were bad. Matt Carpenter (36) went berserk with the bat, hitting 4 homers among his 11 hits, walking 8 times, scoring 7 runs and driving in 7. Bryce Harper (27) showed signs of emerging from his months-long slump. 

6. Pitch You Blockhead** (3062.5 points, 7-10, last week 6): Scott’s team had a good week but wasn’t able to keep up with BM. PYB didn’t have any double starts, but some bad luck led to the pitchers going 1-2 despite allowing 7 earned runs in 30 innings. Apparently, these guys got the Mets treatment. Anthony Rendon (24.5) was the top hitter, collecting 9 hits and driving in 8 runs. Asdrubal Cabrera (17.5), Yasmani Grandal (17.5) and Anthony Rizzo (16.5) each homered twice. 

7. The Misfits** (3037.3 points, 10-7, last week 7): A big week from Reid’s offense put The Misfits past our points leaders. Trevor Story (29.5) homered 4 times and drove in 11, and Christian Yelich (29.5) pushed his way into the Top 5 scorers among position players. Eric Hosmer (22) might have set a new season high for Padres hitters. On the mound, Anibal Sanchez (19) and Clayton Kershaw (16) were good in victories, but Wade Davis (-6) was a train wreck, blowing 2 saves and taking 2 losses. 

He's not just a member of the
Hair Club for Idiots on Twitter.
He's the president.

8. BodySuit Man (2887.9 points, 8-9, last week 9): Adam’s team got some great pitching to put up a big number and beat PYB. Jon Gray (30.3) has been fantastic since his brief demotion to Triple-A, and Freddy Peralta (26) might be the ace the Brewers need. Jake Arrieta (18) picked up a W, and Josh Hader (16.3) earned a win and a save. Imagine if Noah Syndergaard (5) had done anything. Steven Souza (22.5) had the only offensive performance of note. 

9. The Rookies** (2858.5 points, 7-10, last week 8): Sometimes your team just flat-out takes a week off, and that’s what happened to Henry. The pitchers totaled 15 points in only 21 innings while going 0-4. Eugenio Suarez (19) and Freddie Freeman (18) were pretty good, but the offense still totaled only 75 points. On the bright side, Felipe “Vazquez” (9) picked up a pair of saves. 

10. Clemente's Bucs (2834.8 points, 5-12, last week 10): Ray got a bunch of mid-range performances from his players in a loss to AL. Rhys Hoskins (20) was the high man, which isn’t saying much. The pitching was fine, totaling 50 points, but there were no double starts to beef things up. Manny Machado (17) and Paul Goldschmidt (15) weren’t as good as they need to be. 

** - clinched playoff spot

Is Christian Yelich a better player in Milwaukee,
or has he just lost the stench of failure from Miami?

Hitting leaders after Week 17

1. Javier Baez (FF) 355.5

2. Nolan Arenado (PM) 351

3. Freddie Freeman (R) 342.5

4. Christian Yelich (M) 337.5

5. Nick Markakis (FDD) 334.5

Pitching leaders after Week 17

1. Max Scherzer (FF) 384.7

2. Aaron Nola (PM) 304

3. Jacob deGrom (FDD) 293.3

4. Patrick Corbin (FF) 291.3

5. Zack Greinke (R) 285.7