Week 3: The Check Swing

These two guys combined for 67.5 points in Week 3. They're also the top two point-scorers in FBLG.

"In accordance with Megan's Law..."

1. When the Ledee Breaks (677.3, 2-1, last week 1): Matt's team remained in first place and posted the second-highest score in FBLG in a victory against The Misfits. Ledee displayed a nice balance of offense (131 batting points) and defense (70.3 pitching points). Professional pepperoni slicer Joey Lucchesi was the top pitcher with 20.7 points across 2 outings, and lefties Jose Quintana (19) and Caleb Smith (18) made the most of their single performances. Trevor Story (23) stole 4 bases on his way to a strong week, and Michael Conforto (19.5) hit 3 of Ledee's 9 homers. Matt's team also walked a whopping 30 times! Joey Votto must be so proud. Speaking of first basemen, up-and-coming slugger Christian Walker (19) supplanted the poster boy of bland, Eric Hosmer (1) at the cold corner for Ledee.

2. Lumber Co Lumber (641.5 points, 2-1, last week 2): John's team had juuuuuuuust enough oomph to escape with a win against The Rookies. Jordan Lyles (17), Kenta Maeda (15.7) and Tanner Roark (14.3) picked up wins to lead the pitching staff. Steven Matz (-9) almost torpedoed the whole effort with a disastrous outing, and Josh Hader (1) took a pair of losses. The Milwaukee relief ace struck out 9 in 3 innings — that's good! — but allowed 5 runs — that's bad! Most of LCL's points came from the dangerous offense, which was led by Bryce Harper (22), Robinson Cano (20.5), Freddie Freeman (20.5), Corey Seager (18) and Wil Myers (17). That's a lot of star power — and also Wil Myers.

Joc Pederson points to the moon, which is where his
home run ball just landed.

3. Project Mayhem (640.2, 3-0, last week 6): Don't look now, but Bill's team is undefeated and just posted the top score of the week in a close win against the Bucs. The PM offense was through the roof in Week 3, producing 15 homers and 36 RBIs. J.T. Realmuto (32) drove in 11 of those runs, a surging Joc Pederson (26) mashed 4 long balls, Maikel Franco (22.5) collected 9 hits, and Lorenzo Cain (21.5) and Paul DeJong (20.5) kept producing. Even Franmil Reyes (5) went deep in limited playing time. In fact, Ketel Marte (11.5) was the only PM hitter who didn't homer. On the mound, Walker Buehler (19.3) and Mikes Mikolas (15) finally turned things around, but no one else did much.

4. Hassey's Girl (634.7, 2-1, last week 3): It was an uneven week for the commissioners, who drop one spot in the rankings despite a win against the Fish. Reigning MVP Christian Yelich feasted on Cardinals and Dodgers pitching to the tune of 8 homers, 16 RBIs, 6 walks, 2 singles and 9 runs. That's a 46-point week, folks. Other than Fernando Tatis (18) and Nick Markakis (17), the offense was pretty stagnant. Must be the bad influence of useless fat guy Jesus Aguilar (2). Aaron Nola (21.7) paced the pitching staff despite allowing 8 runs in 9.2 innings. He did go 1-0 and struck out 15, though! Greg Holland (12) lasted a third week of being shockingly effective as Rich's finger hovered over the "waive" button during each outing.

We're fighting the urge to make a joke about where this
helmet went after Kolten Wong tossed it. 

5. Clemente's Bucs (633.8, 0-3, last week 8t): Ray's team is winless but deserves better after another tough loss to a high-scoring opponent. The Bucs posted a score of 198.8, but it wasn't enough to topple PM. Stephen Strasburg (31) was great and moved into the top 5 in pitching points. Kenley Jansen (28.3) had a monster week for a closer, earning 2 wins and 3 saves. Charlie Blackmon's (27.5) bat woke up; it must have been good beard weather in Colorado. The rest of the offense was good if not spectacular, with Josh Donaldson (16.5) homering twice and the joke-worthy middle infield of Kolten Wong/Dansby Swanson combining for 27.5 points. Ray could have used a little more from Nick Margevicius (3), Starling Marte (6) and Tucker Barnhart (7.5).

6. Arbitration Losers (622.5, 2-1, last week 5): It wasn't a great week for Team Tim, but the Losers got enough big performances to curb Adam's enthusiasm (groan). Javier Baez (27.5) did a little bit of everything to lead the offense, and Dereck "Lil' Pudge" Rodriguez (27.7) picked up a couple of wins, which is remarkable considering which team he pitches for. Kevin Gausman (15) was great in a no-decision, and overworked closer Kirby Yates (7) locked down yet another save. Adam Eaton (16) set a new career high by being healthy for three consecutive weeks, and Buster Posey (15.5) looked like he might not be completely done. If you're looking for downsides, and we know that you are, look no further than Manny Machado (9), Joey Votto (8.5), Madison Bumgarner (6) and Julio Teheran (2.7).

This was going to be a photo of Erik Gonzalez,
but we decided to instead bring you a photo of a
different Pittsburgh legend — one with fantastic hair.

7. The Rookies (615, 0-3, last week 7): Henry's club had an atrocious week on offense, but the pitching was pretty good — thanks to lefties Max Fried (22.3) and Patrick Corbin (20.7). Even Wild Thing Robbie Ray (9) was decent in a no-decision. But we're here to focus on the batters' failures. Cody Bellinger (21.5) continued his MVP-caliber campaign, and Ozzie Albies (18.5) had a good week. Unfortunately, there wasn't much beyond that. Nolan Arenado homered twice but scored only 11 points. Austin Barnes (2) replaced Jorge Alfaro and did nothing. Eduardo Escobar (6) and Erik Gonzalez (2) were a black hole at shortstop. Where have you gone, Hunter Renfroe (0)? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

8. Yari's Autonomics (598.5, 1-2, last week 4): When you look at Adam's pitching staff, it seems like this team should be better. Max Scherzer (5.3) has struggled, and he certainly did in Week 3, but he still puts up points. Kyle Freeland (18) was righting the ship before going on the Injured List, and Cole Hamels (20) and Zack Greinke (15) have been producing. The problem has been the offense, which has struggled with injuries and flat-out stinkage. Surprising slugger Pete Alonso (18) was great again, but who else is helping? In Week 3, it was Andrew McCutchen (19). Brian Dozier (12) and Yasiel Puig (12) showed signs of heating up, but injuries to Jean Segura (7.5) and Anthony Rendon (11.5) have been problematic. Fill-ins Garrett Hampson (-4) and Scott Kingery (-1) hurt more than they helped. Meanwhile, Jason Heyward (8) and Ian Desmond (3) would perform a lot better on Adam's 2012 fantasy team.

We thought Pete Alonso was pretty likable until we
realized he kind of looks like A.J. Pierzynski.

9. The Misfits (563.8, 1-2, last week 10): Reid's team has so much potential to erupt, but it just hasn't happened yet. It certainly didn't in Week 3 in the loss to Ledee. Stringy-haired pitcher Jon Gray (32) was fantastic in a pair of wins, allowing 1 run in 13 innings. However, stringy-haired pitcher Noah Syndergaard (12) allowed 9 runs in 10 innings of work. Jack Flaherty (-1.3) was outperformed by Sean Newcomb, who isn't even in the majors anymore. We always say Paul Goldschmidt (23) did his usual thing, and that was true again. Jose Peraza (1) bungled his way to a terrible week, and Justin Turner (6) hasn't done much of anything all season. All he contributed in Week 3 was 3 singles and 6 walks. Ryan Braun (13) finally emerged from his steroid-induced slumber, and Cesar Hernandez (19) quietly put up a bunch of points like he usually does.

10. Fresh Fish (560, 2-0, last week 8t): Despite working one man short thanks to Jacob deGrom's sore arm, Rick's pitching staff did its part in Week 3. Luis Castillo (29) is looking like the steal of the draft and remains the top pitcher in FBLG. Felipe "Vazquez" picked up a pair of saves, and Clayton Kershaw (11) and Joe Musgrove (11) were good despite not getting decisions. The problem was on the offensive side, where only Marcell Ozuna (27.5) bothered to show up. Ozuna hit all 3 of the Fish's round-trippers, had 6 of their 17 RBIs, and collected 7 of their 19 walks. Kris Bryant (13.5) and Anthony Rizzo (12) have been disappointments, and Ian Kinsler (2.5) got his walking papers. Or sitting papers, maybe. Anyway, Alex Verdugo (12) looks like a sneaky good pickup for the Fish. But it didn't make up for the damage done by Offer-med Rosario, who had more errors (5) than points (4).

Batting leaders after Week 3

1. Cody Bellinger (R) 112.5
2. Christian Yelich (HG) 112
3. Anthony Rendon (YA) 83.5
4. Pete Alonso (YA) 79.5
5. Paul DeJong (PM) 76.5

Pitching leaders after Week 3

1. Luis Castillo (FF) 73.7
2. Stephen Strasburg (CB) 62.7
3. German Marquez (HG) 61
4. Kirby Yates (AL) 60
5. Zack Greinke (YA) 58.3