Week 4: Saturday Roundup

Now pitching for the Giants, Jean Machi. No, wait. It's Yusmeiro Petit. Oh, hold on...
Bah gawd! That's Pablo Sandoval's music!

PANDA EXPRESS: This is a historic day for baseball, folks. Pablo Sandoval took the mound for San Francisco at the end of a blowout loss to Los Angeles. Seriously, folks. Just look at that picture above. A fat position player taking the mound, his bulging belly weakening the seams of his uniform, his shirt coming untucked and his belt hanging on for dear life. He was throwing fastballs in the high 80s and snapping off curves in the 60s. Plus, he wasted no time between pitches (take some notes, Pedro Baez) and retired the Dodgers in order. We'll even show him enough respect to avoid "clean plate/clean inning" or "innings eater" jokes. He's clearly the poster child for FBLG. Click here to see Panda's clean inning.

We were all set to highlight Odubel Herrera's home-run
robbery of Freddie Freeman on the blog, but Pablo Sandoval
stole the spotlight. This was Nick Pivetta's reaction to seeing
Odubel make a good defensive play for a change. 

STUDS: Mike Foltynewicz (PYB) struck out 6 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win in Philadelphia. David Peralta (R) homered twice, singled and walked. Chris Taylor (FDD) went off in a doubleheader, tallying a homer, a double, 2 singles, 5 runs, 2 RBIs, a steal and a walk. Cody Bellinger (SG) followed suit, tripling, singling twice, scoring 3 runs, driving in 3 and walking.

DUDS: Chris Stratton (SG) didn't last long in a start against the Dodgers, which is exactly what you want when you're playing 2 games in 1 day. Stratton gave up 6 runs and struck out 3 in a 1.1-inning loss. Yasmani Grandal (PYB) went 0 for 2 with an error off the bench in game 1, then went 1 for 4 in game 2. Scooter Gennett (FF) and Trevor Story (M) each went 1 for 4 with an error.

BECAUSE OF COURSE HE DID: Jose Quintana (CB) pitched poorly in several starts and found his way to Ray's bench, where he had a 19-point outing against the Brewers. Don't you hate that?

OUCH: The Fresh Fish already were shorthanded with Justin Bour day to day and Carlos Gonzalez recently going on the DL. On Saturday, Wil Myers and Yasiel Puig left their respective games with injuries.

Week 4: Friday Roundup

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jose Peraza had 4 extra-base hits in 24 games entering
Friday. He now has 8 extra-base hits this season.

STUDS: Jacob deGrom (FDD) finally got some help from his bullpen — and a big contribution from Asdrubal Cabrera, so we should probably stop bashing the guy. The Mets pitcher struck out 8 and got the win in 7.1 shutout innings. Cabrera (PYB) hit a 3-run homer, doubled, scored twice and walked. A.J. Pollock (AL) was a double short of a cycle, scored 3 runs and drove in 2. Odubel Herrera (SG) homered twice and drove in 4. Howie Kendrick (M) was a triple short of a cycle and drove in 2.

CINCY STUDS: The Reds put up 20 hits and 15 runs in Minnesota, so we're listing these guys separately. Eugenio Suarez (R) went 4 for 6 with a double, 2 runs and an RBI. Jose Peraza (SG) went 4 for 6 with 2 solo homers, 2 doubles and 3 runs. Adam Duvall (FDD) arose from the dead to make the list for the first time this season, doubling twice, scoring twice and driving in 2. Joey Votto (BM) was a triple short of a cycle, scored twice and — naturally — walked twice. After a slow start that had Adam considering trading Votto for a Marlin to be named later, Votto has homered in 4 straight games.

DUD: Colin Moran (PYB) had an RBI and an error.

Week 4: Thursday Roundup

Baseball, you’ve been put on notice.

Acuña Jr. is the REAL deal. pic.twitter.com/ZxHkgjpPKX

— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2018

How do you like that bullpen, Mr. Met?

STUDS: Ronald Acuña (FDD) was a triple short of the cycle, scored twice and drove in 2. Welcome to the big leagues, kids. Kyle Hendricks (CB) fanned 5 and didn't allow a run in a 7-inning win. Freddie Freeman (R) hit 3 doubles, walked and scored twice. Ozzie Albies (R) homered, doubled and drove in 3. David Peralta (R) homered, singled, walked twice, drove in 2 and scored twice.

DUDS: Jeurys Familia (PM) allowed 1 run and blew the save in his 1-strikeout inning of work. You know how the song goes: "Meet the Mets; greet the Mets; step right up and score some late-inning runs against the Mets." We're not exactly sure what a Ben Lively is, but it allowed homered to Jarrod Dyson and Nick Ahmed today. Don't expect to see Lively on a FBLG roster anytime soon.

DUIs: Jung Ho Kang managed to get his hands on a work visa, reportedly purchased from a guy who parked his windowless van in the alley behind a strip club, and will rejoin the Pirates. Let the bidding begin!

Week 4: Wednesday Roundup

J.T. Realmuto is trying so hard to get traded away from Miami.

Francisco Cervelli drove in 6 runs today.
Not bad for a European fashion model. 

STUDS: Topping the list of players I never thought we'd see in the Studs list is Miguel Rojas (CB), who hit a 3-run homer, singled, scored twice and walked. Max Scherzer (FF) struck out 10 and allowed 2 runs in a 6-inning win. J.T. Realmuto (AL) hit a 2-run homer and a solo homer. Francisco Cervelli (PM) committed an error but made up for it by going 3 for 4 with a homer, 6 RBIs and a walk. Michael Wacha (AL) allowed 1 run and fanned 8 in a 6-inning win against the LOLMets. Trea Turner (SG) went 5 for 6 with a double, a steal, 2 runs and 2 RBIs.

DUDS: Jameson Taillon (PM) served up 7 runs and struck out 3 in a 3.2-inning loss. Steven Matz (R) allowed 7 runs — only 3 earned — and struck out 3 in a 3.1 inning loss. He also committed an error. That was a better performance than his Rookies teammate Jeff Samardzija, who allowed 6 runs and fanned 3 in a 3.2-inning loss. Todd Frazier (BM) singled, walked and erred. Maikel Franco (FF) singled and erred. Jose Pirela (PYB) went 1 for 4 with 3Ks and an error, and he also was caught stealing.

PATHETIC: The Dodgers became the first team this season to lose a series to the Marlins.

Week 4: Tuesday Roundup

Did you know that Scooter Gennett wears No. 3 because he's a big Dale Earnhardt fan?

Kyle Schwarber homers were a lot more fun when
they were fat-guy homers. 

NOTE: The commissioners appreciate your patience as the blogs could be delayed for the next several days. Usually, I try to do the blog before bedtime, but often there's an NL game running well past 10 p.m. On those days, Rich covers for me and does the blog the following morning. This week, Rich is off trying to find his way to Mordor or something, so the blogs may have to wait until I get home from work. Like today!

STUDS: Scooter Gennett (FF) hit a pair of bombs — including the game-winner in extra innings. He also singled, scored 3 runs and drove in 4. Tommy Pham (PM) went 3 for 3 with a homer, 2 RBIs and a walk. Kurt Suzuki (SG) went 3 for 5 with a homer, 2 RBIs and 2 runs. Kyle Schwarber (SG) hit a pair of solo homers.

DUDS: Jose Pirela (PYB) singled, walked and erred. Most active FBLG pitchers were just "meh"; Robbie Ray (FDD) posted the highest score at 12.7, and he didn't even last the five innings required to earn a victory. The 11 Ks in 4.2 innings were pretty nice though, Robbie.

Week 4: Monday Roundup

Perennially underrated right fielder Nick Markakis just keeps hitting.
Plus, he has played at least 147 games in 11 of his 12 seasons.

Studs: Nick Markakis (FDD) homered, singled twice and drove in 3. Trevor Story (M) homered, scored twice, drove in 2, walked and stole a base.

Dud: Evan Longoria (M) walked, scored, and made an error.

Bonus duds: Rockies relievers Jake McGee and Scott Oberg managed to give up 9 runs to the Padres - THE PADRES - while only getting 2 outs. They combined to give up 6 hits, 3 walks and a homer as the anemic Padres finished with 13 runs on 16 hits.

That went far: Loath as we are to feature Giants highlights on here, this ball was crushed:

Mac Williamson opposite field OVER triples valley is a thing of beauty. pic.twitter.com/Lxtt0jebGU

— #PitchersWhoRake (@PitcherzWhoRake) April 24, 2018

Week 3: The Check Swing

Javier Baez doesn't even need a proper bat to beat your fantasy team.

Three weeks into the season, your first-place NL teams are the Mets, Cardinals and Diamondbacks. Didn't see that coming, did you? On the other hand, the last-place teams are the Marlins, Reds and Padres. Some things never change.

Patrick Corbin has been making hitters look ridiculous.
Of course, Hunter Pence was already there.

The scoreboard

1. Fresh Fish (640.7 points, 1-2, last week 1): Our leaders put up enough points to stay in first place in the rankings, but the Fish lost their matchup with SG. Rick clearly needs more Marlins on this team so he can drift back to the pack. Ace (!) Patrick Corbin (42) was masterful in a pair of starts, striking out 19 batters in 15 innings while going 2-0. Max Scherzer (19) and Kenta Maeda (16.7) also picked up wins, as did new closer Hunter Strickland (10). Yu Darvish (0.7) was a mess again, though. Javier Baez (30) hammered out 12 hits — 7 for extra bases — and drove in 9; he also made 3 errors, completing the full Baez experience. Buster Posey (4.5) was a Dud, so Rick should probably cut him and pick up Jeff Mathis.

2. Arbitration Losers (628.2 points, 2-1, last week 5): We here at the FBLG Media Center like to give our former commissioner a hard time for a bevy of reasons (*cough, LeMahieu, cough*), and that's not going to change today. Tim has four of his beloved Giants on his team, and he didn't play ANY of them in his win against BodySuit Man. Coincidence? (We'll ignore the fact that Johnny Cueto would have provided 36 points if Tim had activated him.) Anyway, AL posted 202 points thanks to a pitching staff that went 5-0 with 96 puntos. Julio Teheran (32) was good twice in a row, Hector Neris (17.3) somehow didn't allow any runs, and Corey Seager (22.5) finally started hitting.

3. Stable Geniuses (615.8 points, 1-2, last week 4): Matt's club knocked off our top team to get in the win column. Nick Pivetta (17.3) had a nice pair of outings but didn't earn a win; Matt promptly cut him. Luke Weaver (-2) got shelled; Matt promptly cut him. Watch your back, Kenley Jansen (8) and Zack Wheeler (2). We can laugh at this pitching staff all we want (and we will) for posting an 0-2 record with 1 save, 1 blown save and only 38.3 points, but remember: the Geniuses WON. That's because the offense put up 150.5 points. Travis Shaw (24.5) and Odubel Herrera (21) led the way as balance was the name of the game.

A newspaper cover that pokes fun at
Matt Harvey and points out how awful
the Mets' bullpen is? We'll take two!

4. Fasano Don't Dance (605.8 points, 2-1, last week 3): The commissioners picked up another win and remain near the top in the rankings, but there are concerns. Specifically, the offense is trash. Fasano posted 91 offensive points and 86.7 pitching points in the win against The Misfits. If we were to redo the draft after 3 weeks, most of these hitters would go undrafted (looking at you, Ian Happ, Addison Russell, Brian Anderson, Adam Duvall and Chris Iannetta). Michael Taylor (16.5) and Chris Taylor (16.5) were adequate but not great, and that was the BEST the offense had to offer. On the mound, winless Jacob deGrom (33.3) would have had an incredible week if the Mets' bullpen had been literally any other bullpen in baseball.

5. Pitch You Blockhead (605.2 points, 2-1, last week 8): Scott's team got some big performances as it beat up on The Rookies. Yasmani Grandal (30) drove in 11 runs, Asdrubal Cabrera (28) extended the deal he made with the devil, and Charlie Blackmon (20) did his usual thing. Shame on the Dodgers for not getting at least 1 win for Alex Wood (20.3), who was great in a pair of starts. Miles Mikolas (17) was outstanding in earning PYB's only win. Brad Boxberger (-2) picked up a save but went 0-2. Oof.

6. The Misfits (585.7 points, 2-1, last week 6): An ugly week on the mound doomed Reid's team in a loss to FDD. Newcomer Tyson Ross (16.7) has returned from baseball Siberia — the Rangers — and looks fantasy-relevant again. The rest of the staff was a disappointment. Matt Harvey (1) was so bad that he's being bumped to the Mets' bullpen, which is like covering up manure by stacking more manure on top of it. Even Clayton Kershaw (4) got hit hard. Reid did get plenty of offense from a number of sources, including Trevor Story (26), Lorenzo Cain (25.5) and Evan Longoria (18.5). Yadier Molina (19) did everything The Right Way and is quickly becoming Rich's favorite catcher with a neck tattoo.

The Fightin' Costanzas had better not try
to slip the commissioners a mickey.

7. BodySuit Man (573.8 points, 1-2, last week 9): BodySuit Man submitted a formal request to be omitted from this week's review. Sorry, Adam. BM wasn't necessarily bad this week, but there wasn't much to get excited about. The good was Jake Arrieta (22), Brandon McCarthy (15.3) and Paul DeJong (23), who managed to stop whiffing just long enough to pop 3 homers. The bad was Jon Gray (-2), Jon Gray's hair (still), Jose Martinez (11) cooling off, and Joey Votto (11.5) apparently being allergic to extra-base hits. But hey, Yoenis Cespedes has made it 3 weeks without getting hurt, and that's something. 

8. Clemente's Bucs (566.7 points, 2-1, last week 7): Sometimes in baseball, a pitcher will win without his best stuff. That's what Ray did this week in beating PM 151-96.3. The pitching staff was nothing special, allowing 11 earned runs in 24 innings. But these guys somehow went 4-0. At the plate, Rhys Hoskins (27) and Cesar Hernandez (20) did most of the damage, with top picks Paul Goldschmidt (18.5) and Kris Bryant (11.5) helping out. We won't mention the "performances" of Austin Hedges (3.5), Domingo Santana (3.5), Miguel Rojas (6) and Adam Frazier (5).

9. Project Mayhem (544.5 points, 1-2, last week 2): Aaron Nola (22) and Eric Thames (18) had a solid week as ... Bill's team fell short of the 100-point mark and plummeted 7 spots in the rankings. Should we stop there? No? Sorry, Bill. There are too many Duds to count, but we'll try: Jeurys Familia (0), Jameson Taillon (-3.3), Brandon Crawford (-1), Jonathan Villar (3.5), Marcell Ozuna (5), Tommy Pham (7) and Francisco Cervelli (7.5) did nothing to help the cause.

10. The Rookies (541.2 points, 1-2, last week 10): No offense to Henry — which means we're about to greatly offend Henry — but if Ryan Flaherty (17.5) and Trevor Williams (16) are your top performers, you're probably not going to win. Zack Greinke (13) was OK but needs to strike out more than 2 guys in 7 innings or we're going to start calling him Zack Leakey. Freddie Freeman (9.5) and David Peralta (9.5) didn't do enough, and Ozzie Albies (12) cooled considerably. FBLG punching bag Nick Ahmed (6.5) homered and doubled, but he made 2 errors.

Hitting leaders after Week 3

1. Bryce Harper (AL) 82.5
2. Rhys Hoskins (CB) 74.5
3. Javier Baez (FF) 74
4. D.J. LeMahieu (AL) 72
5. Asdrubal Cabrera (PYB) 70.5

Pitching leaders after Week 3

1. Patrick Corbin (FF) 94.3
2. Max Scherzer (FF) 92
3. Jacob deGrom (FFD) 73
4. Carlos Martinez (SG) 70.7
5. Noah Syndergaard (BM) 66.3

Asdrubal Cabrera is on top of the world now, but just you wait.

Week 3: Sunday Roundup

We might have lost Jacob deGrom's legendary locks, but Josh Hader is filling the void.

We'd like to thank Brandon Belt for wasting
everyone's time by fouling off 16 pitches in
a 21-pitch AB against the Angels. 

The commissioners' office was closed for the weekend, which is why there were no blog entries for Friday and Saturday. Here's what you missed: The Mets' bullpen farted away another dominant performance by Jacob deGrom, Javier Baez went something like 20 for 22, and some stuff happened that annoyed Rich.

STUDS: Michael Taylor (FDD) was a triple short of a cycle, stole 2 bases, scored twice and walked. Trevor Story (M) went 3 for 4 with a triple, 2 RBIs, a run and a walk. Charlie Blackmon (PYB) went 3 for 5 with a homer and 3 runs. Josh Hader (PYB) struck out 3 in a 2-inning save. Miles Mikolas (PYB) fanned 6 and allowed 2 runs — 1 earned — in a 7-inning win against the Reds. Patrick Corbin (FF) continues to look like Sandy Koufax, striking out 11 and allowing 2 runs in a 6-inning win.

DUDS: Scott Kingery (SG) went 0 for 5 with 2 Ks and an error. Matt Carpenter (AL) went 0 for 3 with a walk, a run and an error. Brandon Crawford (PM) singled and erred.