Finals Week 1: Thursday Roundup

This blogger is counting down the minutes until he receives a text from Rich asking,
"WHY IS THERE A BEAVER PHOTO ON THE BLOG?" 

STUDS: Clayton Kershaw (M) struck out 9 and allowed 3 runs in a 6-inning win. In a doubleheader, former OSU legend Michael Conforto (PYB) homered, doubled, singled and drove in 4. Javier Baez (FF) and Manny Machado (CB) each were a triple short of a cycle, scored twice and drove in 3. Machado tacked on an error, though.

DUDS: Brad Boxberger (SG), who is lobbying to have this list renamed for him in 2019, allowed 1 run and recorded 1 out. That's not a good ratio, guys. Clay Buchholz (BM), who is made of glass and Scotch tape, failed to make his scheduled start because of a sore elbow.

The mighty Matz. #PitchersWhoRake pic.twitter.com/s54yzHRtVn

— MLB (@MLB) September 13, 2018

Finals Week 1: Wednesday Roundup

HEY! WADE!

STUDS: HEY! WADE! Davis (M) struck out 2 and earned a vulture win in a scoreless inning. Josh Hader (BM) did him one better, striking out 3 in a scoreless inning to earn the win. DJ LeMahieu (AL) singled twice, scored twice and had a walkoff homer. Nolan Arenado (PM) homered, doubled twice and drove in 2. Zach Wheeler (PM) threw 8 shutout innings with 7 strikeouts for the easy win. Stephen Strasburg (FDD) struck out 9 and allowed a run in a 7-inning win.

DUDS: Scott Schebler (BM) walked and was caught stealing. Brian Anderson (FDD) singled and erred. Javier Baez (FF) walked, was caught stealing and made an error. Scooter Gennett (FF) singled and erred.

Finals Week 1: Tuesday Roundup

Preseason fantasy sleeper Luis Castillo hasn't been good this year, but is closing the season strong.

Is that two hits or one?

STUDS: Mike Foltynewicz (PYB) struck out 7 and allowed 1 run in a complete game win. Juan Soto (PM) had a terrific doubleheader, hitting 2 homers, a double, 2 singles and adding a walk, 3 runs and 4 RBIs. Rhys Hoskins (CB) had 2 doubles, a single, 2 walks, a run and an RBI. Jose Quintana (CB) struck out 7 in 6.2 shutout innings to earn the win. Luis Castillo (CB) struck out 9 and allowed a run in 6.1 innings for the win.

DUDS: None.

Finals Week 1: Monday Roundup

Your National League batting leader was a garbage platoon infielder just two years ago.

STUDS: Josh Hader (BM) struck out all 6 batters he faced in 2 innings of relief, and stayed off Twitter. German Marquez (PYB) kept rolling, striking out 11 and allowing 1 run in a 7-inning win. Sean Newcomb (SG) struck out 8 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win. Scooter Gennett (FF) had 4 singles, 3 RBIs and 2 runs. He currently lead the National League in batting average. Ozzie Albies (R) doubled, tripled, drove in 1 and scored twice.

DUDS: Steven Souza (BM) erred. Zach Godley (FDD) allowed 5 runs and struck out 4 in a 4-inning loss.

WEATHER DUDS: Nationals-Phillies and Mets-Marlins were rained out. Nats-Phils play a doubleheader Tuesday allegedly, and Marlins-Mets do the same Wednesday.

Semifinals Week 2: The Check Swing

Don't look behind you! It's Matt's pitching staff!

Well, the finals are upon us, and it's the fourth-seeded Misfits facing seventh-seeded BodySuit Man, just as we all expected. That's like.... an A's-Pirates World Series? I'd go for that. Think of all the yellow!

The season ends in 19 days, on September 30. The finals matchup goes this week and next, wrapping up on September 23. The last week, we're all just playing for glory and the final point total.

On the scoreboard, FDD extended its lead to 121 points on Project Mayhem. PYB is in third, with the Misfits hot on their tail. Arbitration Losers and Stable Geniuses are still in contention to finish in the top four.

Friends, your commissioners are busy and tired, so we're just going to point out some studs, some duds, and anything we find funny in this Check Swing.

The scoreboard

I love the smell of napalm on the baseball field.

1. Fasano Don't Dance (4176.6 points, last week 1): Won in the conso round. Young sluggers Ronald Acuna (51) and Johan Camargo (45) led the way, and Carlos Santana (29) finally showed some signs of life. Pitching went an amazing 2-1 in 10 starts, with Stephen Strasburg (34.7) and Jack Flahery (33) leading the way. Weather and births took away a few potential starts, but what can you do?

2. Project Mayhem (4057.2 points, last week 2): Won in the conso round. Tommy Pham (37.5) annoyed the racist part of the Cardinal fanbase by doing well in Tampa, and young Juan Soto (36.5) kept doing damage. Kyle Freeland (45) went 3-0 in 3 starts, and Aaron Nola (40.7) kept rolling. Closer Raisel Iglesias (8.7) managed a pair of losses. Brandon Crawford (-1) had 2 hits and 2 errors before getting cut.

3. Pitch You Blockhead (3998.7 points, last week 3): Lost in the semifinals. Hitting studs were the guys you'd expect: Anthony Rendon (46.5), Charlie Blackmon (45) and Anthony Rizzo (44.5).  Billy Hamilton (8), Yasmani Grandal (7.5) and Wilmer Difo (12.5) didn't do much. German Marquez (34.7 without any decisons) and Rich Hill (34) led the pitching, while Miles Mikolas (5) and Alex Wood (7) didn't make much out of their lone starts.

Oh dear God.

4. The Misfits (3955 points, last week 5): Won to advance to the finals. Super-stud Christian Yelich had 71.5 points, including a cycle and 19 freaking RBIs. Trevor Story (49.5) kept raking. Max Muncy (16) and Yadi Molina (21) were the weak offensive links. All five pitchers scored between 20.3 and 26.3 points, which is incredible.

5. Arbitration Losers (3930 points, last week 6): Lost in the semifinals. Offense was good: DJ LeMahieu (45), Bryce Harper (40) and Justin Turner (40) were the chief studs. Pitching was a letdown, as Bud Norris (-5.3) took 2 losses and blew a save and Zach Eflin (6.3) notched 3 losses. In fact, the staff went 1-5, with only Jon Lester (24) earning a win.

6. Stable Geniuses (3920 points, last week 4): Lost in the conso round. The pitching numbers will make you sick: 44 runs in 50 innings, and an amazing 1-10 record. Matt Harvey (22) was the best of a bad lot, as Junior Guerra (-2.7), Tanner Roark (2), Brad Boxberger (1.3) and Sean Newcomb (2.3) were garbage. Boxberger had 3 saves... and 3 losses! The offensewas good but not nearly good enough to overcome that. Trea Turner (42.5) led the way, and Jose Peraza and Jesus Aguilar put up 27.5 apiece.

With the passing of a great mustache last week,
we're glad this one is still being celebrated. 

7. Fresh Fish (3874.5 points, last week 7): Lost in the conso round. Max Scherzer (44) was his usual self, and Patrick Corbin 942) kept rolling. The rest of the staff put up 18.3 points, though, which doesn't really help. Scooter Gennett (41) crushed everything, but Buster Posey (0) is done for the year, Matt Wieters (6) did nothing to replace him, and Wil Myers (15) and Matt Kemp (16.5) were sluggish sluggers.

8. BodySuit Man (3732.4 points, last week 9): Won to advance to the finals. Noah Syndergaard (43.7) was more Thor than he has been lately, and the Mets even got him a few runs. Robbie Ray (31.3) was obnoxiously good, and Clay Bucholz (29.3) continued his baffling success. No losses for the staff in 2 weeks, which is amazing. Balanced offense, led by Ender Inciarte (36), Joey Votto (33) and Scott Schebler (30).

9. Clemente's Bucs (3670.5 points, last week 10): Won in the conso round. Ray climbed out of the basement thanks to some solid hitting. Paul Goldschmidt (37), Manny Machado (33.5) and Rhys Hoskins (29.5) predictably led the way. The pitching was balanced: Luis Castillo (29.7), Jose Quintana (26.), Kyle Hendricks (24) and Kenley Jansen (20) all contributed, and only Chris Archer (9) and Luke Weaver (7) didn't do much.

10. The Rookies (3635.1 points, last week 8): Lost in the conso round. Henry's bunch fell into last place with the loss. Newcomer Amed Rosario (34) led the offense, with Freddie Freeman (30), Eugenio Suarez (29.5), Ozzie Albies (27.5) and Tucker Barnhart (27.5) continuing their good years. Trevor Williams (34.7) continued his post-All Star Break dominance, and Felipe "Vazquez" notched 4 saves.

Hitting leaders after Week 22

1. Christian Yelich (M) 455.5
2. Paul Goldschmidt (CB) 439.5
T3. Freddie Freeman (R) 438
T3. Trevor Story (M) 438
5. Javier Baez (FF) 429

Pitching leaders after Week 22

1. Max Scherzer (FF) 488.7
2. Aaron Nola (PM) 404.7
2. Jacob deGrom (FDD) 399
4. Patrick Corbin (FF) 382.7
5. Zack Greinke (R) 337.3

Semifinals Week 2: Sunday Roundup

If Charlie Blackmon keeps hitting like this, he'll never cut his hair, will he?

Semifinals - final scores

• No. 4 The Misfits 398, No. 8 Pitch You Blockhead! 378.7
• No. 7 BodySuit Man 394.2, No. 3 Arbitration Losers 319.8

The 2-week championship series starts today pitting Reid's Misfits against Adam's BodySuit Man.

Yeah, Brad, just squat right there and let it out.

STUDS: Charlie Blackmon (PYB) hit 2 solo homers and a double and scored 3 runs. Justin Turner (AL) had a homer, 2 doubles, a single, a walk, 2 runs and 2 RBIs. DJ LeMahieu (AL) doubled, tripled, drove in a run and scored twice. Ronald Acuna (FDD) tripled, homered, drove in 2, walked twice, scored 3 runs, stole a base and was caught stealing.

DUDS: Vince Velasquez (FF) struck out 4 and allowed 5 runs in a 4-inning loss. Raisel Iglesias (PM) allowed a run and took the loss... to the Padres, so it actually counts double. Brad Boxberger (SG) allowed 3 runs in 0.1 innings, blew the save, took the loss, and slapped your girlfriend.

Semifinals Week 2: Saturday Roundup

Matt Harvey is 7-6 with a 4.35 ERA for the Reds. That might not sound great, but you should see the rest of the Cincinnati pitching staff. 

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

STUDS: In a doubleheader, Anthony Rendon (PYB) homered, doubled, singled, scored 3 runs and drove in 3. Bryce Harper (AL) homered, singled, stole a base, drove in 2, scored 3 runs and walked 5 times. Trea Turner (SG) posted a 9 with only 1 hit, which is quite impressive. He drove in 2, walked twice, stole 2 bases and scored 3 runs. Max Scherzer (FF) went the distance in a win, fanning 11 Cubs and allowing 3 runs. Kyle Freeland (PM) struck out 8 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning victory. Matt Harvey (SG) threw it back to 2015, striking out 10 and allowing 2 runs in a 6-inning win. Of course, it was against the Padres, so... Cesar Hernandez (CB) singled 4 times, drove in 3 and stole a base.

DUDS: Zach Eflin (AL) allowed 6 runs and struck out 5 in a 3-inning loss. Bud Norris (AL) blew it again, allowing an unearned run and taking the loss while retiring only 1 batter. Daniel Murphy (FDD) did a terrible job of taking advantage of a doubleheader; he singled and erred. Paul Goldschmidt (CB) walked and erred.

Semifinals Week 2: Friday Roundup

This is Scott Schebler's conservative, two-strike approach.

Johan Camargo can make plays, chew gum AND look
stylish at the same time.

STUDS: Clayton Kershaw (M) struck out 7 and allowed 2 runs in a 6-inning win. Scott Schebler (BM) hit a grand slam, walked and scored twice. Josh Hader (BM) struck out 5 and got the win in 2 scoreless innings of relief. Patrick Corbin (FF) fanned 9 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win. Johan Camargo (FDD) homered, doubled twice, drove in 2 and scored twice. Marcell Ozuna (PM) hit a pair of solo homers. Aaron Nola (PM) struck out 8 and allowed 3 runs in a 7-inning win.

DUDS: Nolan Arenado (PM) walked once and erred. Travis Shaw (SG) walked twice and erred.