Week 7: Saturday Roundup

It's been that kind of season for the Dodgers, but they did manage to win a pair of games on Saturday.

Jose Quintana used to pitch for the other Chicago team —
the one with the often-confusing uniform history.
How do you feel about these 1980s throwbacks?

STUDS: Brandon Crawford (PM) was a triple short of a cycle and drove in 4. Andrew McCutchen (FF) went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, 2 RBIs and a run. Max Scherzer (FF) — what a shock to see him on this list — struck out 13 and allowed 2 runs in a 7-inning no-decision. Nice work, Washington bullpen. Kris Bryant (CB) doubled, singled twice, scored, drove in 2, walked twice and stole a base in the doubleheader. In the same 2 games, Anthony Rizzo (PYB) doubled twice, drove in 4, walked and scored. Jose Quintana (CB) flirted with a no-hitter and settled for a scoreless 7-inning win in which he fanned 7. Josh Hader (PYB bench) struck out 6 in a 2.1-inning win. Sorry, Scott.

DUDS: It was not a banner day for BodySuit Man's pitching staff. Freddy Peralta was the only positive contributor, scoring 5 points in a no-decision. Sean Doolittle blew a save and took the loss, allowing 2 runs and striking out 2 in 1 inning. Jon Gray allowed 5 runs and struck out 4 in a 3.2-inning defeat. That's a total of 1.7 points from the trio. Oof. In other BodySuit Man news, Paul DeJong went on the disabled list, Jedd Gyorko made 2 errors to counteract his 2-run single, and Starlin Castro went 0 for 4 with an error.

Week 7: Friday Roundup

Francisco Pena (left) celebrates Yadier Molina's injury giving him the opportunity to play.  

Jose Martinez and the Cardinals
did a lot of celebrating in their 12-4
beatdown of Philadelphia. 

STUDS: Jacob deGrom (FDD) mowed down the Diamondbacks, striking out 13 and allowing 1 run in a 7-inning win. Kyle Freeland (SG) fanned 5 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win against the Giants. Jon Lester (AL) struck out 8 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win against the Reds. Ian Desmond (PYB) homered, doubled and drove in 4. We weren't sure you'd ever make the Studs list again, Ian.

CARDINALS STUDS: Michael Wacha (AL) almost duplicated Lester's numbers for Tim. Wacha fanned 8 and allowed 2 runs in a 6-inning win against the Phillies. Tommy Pham (PM) went 3 for 3 with a double, 3 runs, 1 RBI and 2 walks. Anonymous catcher Francisco Pena (M) was a triple short of a cycle and scored 3 runs. Jose Martinez (BM) went 4 for 5 with a homer, a double, 2 runs and 5 RBIs. That's a nice 13-point day for the big fella. How ugly was this game for Philly? The Phils used 4 pitchers, and the only one who didn't allow a run was shortstop Pedro Florimon.

DUDS: Homer Bailey (PM) got knocked around by the Cubs, allowing 6 runs and striking out 3 in a 4.2-inning loss. Scooter Gennett (FF) singled and erred. Jake Arrieta (BM) allowed 4 runs — 2 earned — and struck out 1 in a 3-inning loss. Miguel Rojas (CB) walked and was caught stealing.

MORE WEATHER BULL: The Nats and Dodgers were rained out and are playing a doubleheader today. Have the Nationals played a single game this week? 

Week 7: Thursday Roundup

Welcome back, Justin Turner Overdrive!

STUDS: In a development that wouldn't have seemed so strange before the season, but now seems alien enough to be growing out of Sigourney Weaver's stomach, all our studs are Dodgers: Kenta Maeda (FF) threw 8 shutout innings and struck out 8 for the win. Justin Turner (AL) had a single, 2 doubles and 5 RBIs.

IF YOU'RE GONNA RUN THROUGH A STOP SIGN, YOU BEST BE READY TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS:



DUDS: Evan Longoria (M) walked and made an error. Christian Villanueva (SG) didn't even start but did enter in time to make an error.

HE'S A BALLBOY BUT HE'LL NEVER BE A BALLMAN:

Play it cool Rodney.......play it cool...... pic.twitter.com/xfwQBtDVzJ

— Ben Ryan (@benjaminryan) May 14, 2018

Week 7: Wednesday Roundup

It was not an exciting day of baseball. No big names were on the mound, and no hitter produced more than 8 points.

Nick Pivetta had the honor of wearing this amazing
uniform for Lehigh Valley every Saturday in 2016.

STUDS: Nick Pivetta (FDD) dominated the Orioles, striking out 11 and allowing 2 hits and 1 run in a 7-inning win. Travis Shaw (SG) homered, doubled, drove in 2 and scored twice. Cesar Hernandez (CB) homered, tripled and scored twice.

DUDS: None. What a boring day.

POSTPONED: Because of rain in Washington, D.C., the Nats and Yankees were unable to finish Tuesday's suspended game and didn't even start Wednesday's game.

Week 7: Tuesday Roundup

So that's what Trevor Williams looks like. How about that?

This is what Jordan Lyles USUALLY does on the mound.

STUDS: Trevor Williams (R) shut down the sad-sack White Sox, striking out 6 and not allowing a run in a 7-inning win. Josh Bell (PM) doubled twice, drove in 3 and scored. Mike Foltynewicz (PYB) struck out 10 in 5 shutout innings. Noah Syndergaard (BM) fanned 7 and allowed 2 runs in a 5-inning win.

DUDS: Tyler Mahle (PM) allowed 4 runs and struck out 2 in a 3.1-inning loss. Javier Baez (FF) went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks and an error. Kurt Suzuki (SG) went 0 for 4 with an error.

NO FREAKING WAY: The Padres have never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter, and wouldn't you know it — Jordan Lyles, of all people, took a perfect game into the 8th inning. Lyles struck out 10 and was yanked after 85 pitches when Trevor Story singled.

POSTPONED: The Phillies and Orioles were rained out; the game will be made up July 12. More rain is forecast for Baltimore on Wednesday, so that one might not happen either.

SUSPENDED: No, not you, Robinson Cano. We're talking about the Yankees-Nationals game, which was suspended with the score 3-3 in the 6th inning. The game will resume Wednesday.

Week 7: Monday Roundup

We will use literally any excuse to post this... Jonathan Villar stars in BUTT SLIDE 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO.

Studs: Jonathan Villar - we remember when he was good, right? - homered, singled twice, scored 3 runs and stole a base. Brandon Belt (SG) was a triple shy of the cycle, scored twice and drove in 3. Freddy Galvis (AL) was a homer shy of the cycle and scored twice. Scott Schebler (R) was a triple shy of the cycle and scored 3 runs.

We pause to admire an amazing defensive play in the other league:



Duds: Trevor Story (M) went 0-fer with an error. You could have pretty much bet on it after the amazing week he had last week. Ditto Anthony Rizzo, who walked twice but was caught stealing and made an error. Jose Peraza singled and committed 2 errors. Must be the Dodgers stink still working its way out of his system. Mark Sanchez (free agent) because he should always and forever be on this list.

It's Butt Day at FBLG HQ.

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

Week 6: Sunday Roundup

Freddy Peralta did more for the Brewers on Sunday than Wily Peralta did in 6 seasons.

STUD: Sean Newcomb (SG) struck out 6 and got the win after tossing 6 shutout innings against Miami's version of Murderers' Row. That's it for Studs. What a lame way to celebrate Mother's Day, guys.

NONROSTER STUD: Milwaukee rookie and injury fill-in Freddy Peralta drew a tough assignment — making his debut at Coors Field. Peralta dealt with it pretty well, taking a no-hitter into the 6th inning and finishing with 13 strikeouts in 5.2 shutout innings.

DUDS: Jacob deGrom (FDD) returned from an elbow injury, endured a rain delay and walked the bases loaded in the first inning. He worked his way out of trouble but endured about a million foul balls and threw 45 pitches in the frame. Because the Mets are the Mets, they pulled deGrom after 1 inning. That's a 3-point no-decision for the righty. Chris Taylor (FDD) went 0 for 3 with an RBI groundout and an error. Jose Peraza (SG) went 1 for 5 with an error. Ryan Braun (BM) went 0 for 5 with 4 Ks.

BECAUSE WHY NOT? It was a slow day in the NL, so please check out this hilarious video from the video game MLB The Show. "Look how they massacred my boy!"

Week 6: Saturday Roundup

When you get a chance to put a photo of a Rockies pitcher in the blog, you jump on that opportunity. 

Like everyone else, Trevor Story seems to like hitting
at Coors Field. 

STUDS: Stephen Strasburg (FDD) allowed 1 run and struck out 9 in a 6.2-inning win in Arizona. Colorado's Kyle Freeland (SG) struck out 6 and got the win in 6.1 shutout innings against Milwaukee. Trevor Story (M) homered twice, doubled, drove in 4 and walked. Freddie Freeman (R) homered twice, singled, drove in 3, scored 3 runs and walked. Felipe Vazquez (R) got the win and fanned 1 in 1.2 shutout innings. Willson Contreras (BM) went 3 for 5 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Ender Inciarte (BM) homered, singled, scored twice, drove in 2, walked twice and stole a base.

DUDS: Wilmer Difo (PYB) came off the bench to go 0 for 1 with an error. Marcell Ozuna (PYB) singled, walked and erred.