Welcome to the third edition of The Check Swing. This week, we're calling out those players whose performances haven't been up to snuff. It's the Get Your Shit Together edition.
1. Ryan's Rangers (600 points, 3-0, last week 1): Bill's boys are looking like a powerhouse three weeks into the year. Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez and Anthony Rendon are all over 60 points, and Devin Mesoraco is hitting .515. Only Chris Owings and his singles-hitting ways are keeping the offense from running on all cylinders. GYST: Tony Cingrani is tough to hit and he strikes out plenty of hitters, but it would be nice if he pitched deeper into games.
2. Rocky Mountain High (560 points, 3-0, last week 7): It's pretty shocking that Jon's leading scorer isn't Carlos Gonzalez or Troy Tulowitzki. It's actually Lance Lynn, who has gotten off to another strong start. Dan Haren has been good, too, scoring 56 points. One concern: Will the Dodgers use Kenley Jansen in 120 games this season? GYST: Brandon Phillips is Jon's lowest scorer with only 25 points. That's hard to believe.
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Carlos Gomez flipped out when he heard his name would be
mentioned in the GYST edition of the blog. |
3. Danger Zaun (558 points, 1-2, last week 4): The Rich/Brian team is in contention thanks to the power of Adrian Gonzalez and a pitching staff with a trio of 50-point scorers. Francisco Rodriguez has been a pleasant surprise, and Billy Hamilton might actually be figuring it out. GYST: Hey, Ian Desmond. Hitting .233 and leading the league in errors is not a recipe for success.
4. Fresh Fish (551 points, 2-1, last week 3): Giancarlo Stanton has been a monster in the first three weeks, leading FBLG with 73 points. Brandon Belt has cooled off but is still one of the top first basemen, and Mike Leake has been good at the back of the rotation. GYST: Jhonny Peralta has barely outscored Dan Uggla. That's all you need to know.
5. Arbitration Losers (532 points, 2-1, last week 2): It was a week to forget for Tim's team, which got thumped by Fresh Fish. Jedd Gyorko, Jean Segura, Chase Headley, Yadier Molina, Ben Revere and Michael Cuddyer all failed to reach 10 points for the week. Freddie Freeman had a great week, though, and is FBLG's top first baseman. GYST: Either Pablo Sandoval (.171) or Headley (.190) has to grab the third-base job and run with it.
6. Pitch You Blockhead (526 points, 1-2, last week 5): Yonder Alonso and Hanley Ramirez are off to sluggish starts, but Scott's team is in good shape because of good pitching from Zack Greinke and Alex Wood plus the usual from Neil Walker and Jay Bruce. GYST: Martin Prado is one of many Diamondbacks who have underperformed in the first month, but 33 points from the guy hitting behind Paul Goldschmidt is inexcusable.
7. Tanana in the Tailpipe (506 points, 1-2, last week 6): It was an unusual week for Matt's Tailpipers, who got a combined 57 points from Adam Wainwright and Homer Bailey but not much from the offense. Adam LaRoche, Mark Trumbo, Starlin Castro and Matt Carpenter failed to reach 10 points, and Carlos Ruiz posted a -2. GYST: Bryce Harper was Matt's second-round pick, but he's 23 points behind both Trumbo and Christian Yelich, who were taken in later rounds.
8. Misfits (485 points, 1-2, last week 8): Reid's team had a solid week with the bats but a brutal week on the mound in losing to the previously winless Danger Zaun. Starting pitchers Madison Bumgarner, Michael Wacha, Francisco Liriano and Bronson Arroyo combined for 15 points (thanks mostly to Arroyo's -8). GYST: Hunter Pence has 35 points, which matches the production of Charlie Blackmon — and Blackmon wasn't even on Reid's team when he erupted during the first week of the season.
t9. Rookies (457 points, 0-3, last week t9): Henry's rotation looks pretty good with the consistency of Jordan Zimmermann, Ervin Santana and Kyle Lohse. Unfortunately, the lineup hasn't done much with the exception of Paul Goldschmidt and Justin Upton. GYST: It would be easy to pick on Kolten Wong (25 points) or Cody Asche (17 points), but the real problem child is Jason Heyward. The Braves outfielder has only 2 points more than teammate B.J. Upton this season.
t9. E-3 (457 points, 1-2, last week t9): Adam's crew finally got in the win column with a victory against Tanana in the Tailpipe. Jimmy Rollins is off to a solid start, and Johnny Cueto seems to have replaced Matt Cain as the ace of this team. Are Craig Kimbrel's arm pain and rough outing this week a concern? GYST: Curtis Granderson is hitting .127 and has scored only 23 points in three weeks.
