Week 26: Friday roundup

Nolan Arenado has 42 homers and 42 doubles this year.
For comparison, Troy Tulowitzki's career highs are 32 and 36, respectively. 

Studs: Jake Arrieta (AZ) improved to 22-6 by striking out 7 in 6 shutout innings. Nolan Arenado (PYB) had a solo homer and a 2-run double and scored twice. 

Duds: Todd Frazier (Bryce) went 0 for 6 with 3 Ks and an error. Francisco Cervelli (Rookies) went 0 for 5 with an error. Jean Segura (R21) went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks and an error. 

Note: The Mets-Nats and Marlins-Phillies games were postponed by rain, or a hurricane or something.

Transactions: Already Zaun puts Wil Myers on season-ending DL and activate Kike Hernandez.

Consolation final scores

Pitch You Blockhead 106, Already Zaun 85

Other scores

Chateau Marmol 122

Fresh Fish 88 

Bryce is Right 69

Rookies 74

Retire 88

Arbitration Losers 88

Misfits 94

Soler Eclipse 66

Week 26: Thursday roundup

This is a metaphor for how many of you are paying attention to FBLG at this point of the season.

Stud: Stephen Strasburg (FF) got the win and struck out 7 in 6 shutout innings. 

Dud: Dee Gordon (R21) went 0 for 4 and was caught stealing for the 19th time. 

Transactions: The Misfits bench OF Matt Kemp, move Josh Harrison from 3B to OF and activate 3B Justin Turner.

Consolation final scores

Pitch You Blockhead 94, Already Zaun 56

Other scores

Chateau Marmol 97

Fresh Fish 80 

Bryce is Right 61

Rookies 63

Retire 79

Arbitration Losers 80

Misfits 83

Soler Eclipse 45

Week 26: Wednesday roundup

Mike Leake threw a shutout, but don't look for him on the Studs list.

Studs: Jon Lester (AL) singled, scored twice, struck out 9 and allowed 1 run in an 8-inning win. In a doubleheader, Matt Carpenter (AZ) homered, tripled, doubled twice and scored 5 runs. Jason Heyward (CM) singled in game one of the doubleheader; in game two, he hit a grand slam, doubled, singled and scored twice. Addison Russell (CM) stole 2 bases, doubled, singled twice, drove in 2 and scored. Matt Duffy (Bryce) stole a base, hit a 2-run homer, singled twice and scored twice. Francisco Cervelli (Rookies) hit a grand slam, doubled and scored twice. Starlin Castro (SE) went 4 for 5 with a homer, a double, 2 RBIs and 3 runs. 

Duds: Mike Leake (AL) threw a 2-hit shutout but made our Duds list because he scored 15 points, falling short of our Studs threshold for pitchers. How? Leake went 0 for 3 and struck out only 1 batter. Come on, Leake. Charlie Morton (R21) gave up 5 runs and struck out 1 in a 2-inning loss. Michael Wacha (AZ) struck out 4 and allowed 6 runs in a 4-inning loss. 

Consolation final scores

Pitch You Blockhead 65, Already Zaun 46

Other scores

Chateau Marmol 76

Fresh Fish 52 

Bryce is Right 54

Rookies 52

Retire 67

Arbitration Losers 72

Misfits 75
Soler Eclipse 31

Week 26: Tuesday roundup

Clayton Kershaw's 27-point outing just about handed Retire 21 the points championship. 

Studs: Clayton Kershaw (R21) struck out 13, shut out the Giants and helped the Dodgers finally clinch the NL West. Dan Haren (FF) got the win and struck out 6 in 7.1 shutout innings. Lucas Duda (Bryce) hit a 2-run homer, a solo homer and a single. A.J. Pierzynski (PYB) blasted 2 solo homers and singled. Jean Segura (R21) had an RBI double and a 2-run homer. 

Duds: Jay Bruce (Rookies) went 0 for 3 with 2 errors. Brandon Crawford (CM) went 0 for 3 with an error. 

Note: The Pirates-Cardinals game was rained out.

Consolation final scores

Pitch You Blockhead 47, Already Zaun 24

Other scores

Chateau Marmol 44

Fresh Fish 46 

Bryce is Right 22

Rookies 23

Retire 57

Arbitration Losers 22

Misfits 54

Soler Eclipse 7

Week 26: Monday roundup

Crazy Joe Maddon's crazy managerial moves paid off again.

Studs: Max Scherzer (CM) singled twice, struck out 10 and allowed 1 run in an 8-inning win. Joe Maddon (No. 1 draft pick in the insane manager pool) played Kris Bryant at four positions; batted Tommy LaStella in the cleanup spot; and used pitchers Trevor Cahill, Clayton Richard and Fernando Rodney — and the Cubs still won the game.

Duds: Mark Melancon (Bryce) struck out 2 in 1 inning but allowed 3 runs and took the loss. Eugenio Suarez (Misfits) went 0 for 3 with an error. Jhonny Peralta (AL) went 0 for 4 with an error. 

Consolation final scores

Pitch You Blockhead 27, Already Zaun 7

Other scores

Chateau Marmol 27

Fresh Fish 7 

Bryce is Right 2

Rookies 3

Retire 16

Arbitration Losers 9

Misfits 24
Soler Eclipse 2

Week 26 (Consolation Finals) Transactions and Lineups

Where did Jon Niese go? He was just right here... damn, that's good camo.
After a season in which Niese came and went from Chateau Marmol's lineup like one of those steam cleaners
you can rent at the grocery store, we find it fitting that he gets cut loose before the final week.

Players acquired

• Retire 21 sign SP Jake Peavy (September move #4).
• Bryce is Right sign SP Tom Koehler (September move #4).
• Chateau Marmol sign SP Adam Conley (September move #4).
• Fresh Fish sign C Miguel Montero (September move #2).

Players released

• SP Carlos Martinez
• OF Ryan Braun
• SP Jimmy Nelson
• SP Jon Niese
• C Yadier Molina
• 3B Juan Uribe
• SP Aaron Harang

Lineup changes

• Rookies: None.
• Retire 21: Bench SP Jacob deGrom; activate SP Jake Peavy and SP Charlie Morton.
• Misfits: Bench SP Chris Heston; activate SP J.A. Happ.
• Soler Eclipse: Bench SP Alex Wood and SS Jose Reyes; move Starlin Castro from 2B to SS; activate SP Matt Harvey and 2B Jace Peterson.
• Pitch You Blockhead: Bench SP A.J. Burnett; activate SP Zack Greinke.
• The Bryce is Right: Bench SP Julio Teheran; activate SP Tom Koehler.
• Chateau Marmol: Bench SS Corey Seager; activate SS Brandon Crawford and SP Adam Conley.
• Arbitration Losers: Bench SP Jhoulys Chacin; activate SP Mike Leake.
• Already Zaun: Activate SP Brandon Finnegan.
• Fresh Fish: Activate C Miguel Montero.

The Check Swing: Week 25

Startling Marte led Retire 21 to the playoff title. 

1. Retire 21 (4,539 points, last week 2): Starling Marte's 33-point week helped Ray win the playoff championship and take the lead in the overall points race. A 23-point start from Jacob deGrom on Sunday made the difference for the Sons of Clemente in their comeback win against the Arbitration Losers.

2. Already Zaun (4,522 points, last week 1): Give R21 credit for taking the points lead, but the Zaunies have done a great job of throwing it away, as well. Jake Arrieta came up big with a 55-point week, but only Matt Carpenter (26) joined him on the production train. On the bright side, AZ faces PYB in the consolation finals this week.

3. Arbitration Losers (4,349 points, last week 3): The Losers came up just short in the playoff championship series, but let's not overlook the significant surge this team made after a slow start. After 10 weeks, Tim's team was 7th in the points race. Stephen Piscotty made an impact this week with 24 points.   

4. Pitch You Blockhead (4,210 points, last week 4): After a 20-point win against Already Zaun in the consolation round, PYB gets another crack at the commissioners in the consolation finals. Let's see whether Wilmer Flores can do better than this week's minus-1 effort. 

5. The Bryce is Right (4,059 points, last week 6): A 29-point week from Lucas Duda and 24 points from Khris Davis made up for Bill's best player being choked by Jonathan Papelbon. 

6. Chateau Marmol (4,050 points, last week 5): Thirty-two points from Jaime Garcia and minus-2 from Brett Anderson? Yeah, that sounds about right. 

7. Misfits (4,041 points, last week 8): It was a good week for Reid to rely on Mets and Marlins in finishing 3rd in the playoffs. Well done, Justin Bour (29), J.T. Realmuto (14), Daniel Murphy (32), Curtis Granderson (22) and Yoenis Cespedes (15).

8. Soler Eclipse (4,029 points, last week 7): Thanks for nothing, Jose Reyes (2), Alex Wood (4), Patrick Corbin (0) and Aroldis Chapman (2).

9. Rookies (3,925 points, last week 9): What went wrong for the Rookies this year? D.J. LeMahieu is likely to be the team's second-leading scorer. Ouch. 

10. Fresh Fish (3,652 points, last week 10): Oh, NOW Stephen Strasburg pitches like the 11th pick in the draft should.

Week 25, finals: Sunday roundup

Trevor Rosenthal had a rough day (again) on a rough day for NL closers. 

Jonathan Papelbon's left arm was much more effective
than his right Sunday.

Studs: Jake Arrieta (AZ) hit a solo homer and allowed only 1 hit and no runs while striking out 9 in a 7-inning win. Jacob deGrom (R21) singled twice, drove in 2, struck out 9 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win. Ender Inciarte (PYB) went 4 for 5 with a 2-run homer and a solo homer. Nolan Arenado (PYB) made an error, but he homered, singled, drove in 5 and scored twice. Justin Bour (Misfits) hit a 2-run homer and a solo homer. Khris Davis (Bryce) hit a 3-run homer and a solo homer. 

Duds: Trevor Rosenthal (AL) gave up 4 runs, took the loss and failed to get an out. Alex Wood (SE) doubled and singled — but allowed 8 runs and struck out 1 in a 5.1-inning loss. Shelby Miller (Rookies) allowed 7 runs (4 earned) and made an error while fanning 2 in a 5.1-inning loss. Jonathan Papelbon (CM) gave up 5 runs (only 2 earned) and struck out 1 in a 1-inning loss. Anthony Rendon (AL) went 0 for 3 with an error. Kolten Wong (PYB) singled and erred. 

Transactions: PYB benches the inactive SP Zack Greinke and get the points from Lance Lynn this week.

Final scores

Retire 192, Arbitration Losers 177 (Retire 21 wins playoff championship)

Misfits 205, Soler Eclipse 161 (Misfits finish in 3rd)

Consolation scores

Pitch You Blockhead 175, Already Zaun 155

Fresh Fish 174, Chateau Marmol 151

Bryce is Right 179, Rookies 136