Playoffs, Week 1: Friday's Roundup

If a Colorado player hits 3 homers on the road and the Rox still lose by 4 runs, does it make a sound? 

Studs: Charlie Blackmon (GH) hit 3 solo homers off the best arms the Phillies can throw out there (For the record, those were guys named Jake Thompson, Edubray Ramos and ... oh hey, we remember David Hernandez). Willson Contreras (LY) hit a 3-run homer, singled and scored twice. Jake Arrieta (R) singled and struck out 6 while allowing 1 run in a 5.2-inning win. Jonathan Lucroy (FF) singled and hit a 3-run homer and a 2-run homer. Travis d'Arnaud (LGM) hit a 2-run homer, singled twice, scored twice and threw out a base stealer. Freddie Freeman (R21) hit a 3-run homer, had an RBI double and scored twice. Andrew McCutchen (R21) stole a base, hit a solo homer, had an RBI single and scored twice. 

Duds: Daniel Descalso (M) scored and erred. Gerardo Parra (GH) singled and erred. Adam Wainwright (LY) doubled and struck out 2, but he allowed 7 runs in a 2-inning loss. Jake Lamb (LY) went 0 for 4 with his 200th error of the season. Well done, Jake! Jonathan Villar (R) went 0 for 4 with 4 Ks and an error. Not to be outdone, Chris Carter (R) went 0 for 2 with 2 Ks, 2 walks, a run and an error. Zack Cozart (PYB) went 0 for 5 with 3 Ks and an error. Brandon Crawford (AL) went 0 for 4 with an error. 

Scores

1) Fresh Fish 156, 8) Arbitration Losers 120

7) Rookies 109, 2) The Lumbar Yard 102

6) Hundley Eyes 112, 3) Lawyers, Guns & Money 95

5) Misfits 107, 4) Pitch You Blockhead 92

Goldschmidt Happens 115

Retire 21 146

Playoffs, Week 1: Thursday's Roundup

Chris Owings told Keith Law where to shove it.

Can we talk about why chris owings is batting fifth for a major league team today

— keithlaw (@keithlaw) August 11, 2016

Studs: Chris Owings was a homer shy of a cycle and drove in 3. Charlie Blackmon (GH) homered, doubled, singled twice and scored 3 runs. Jameson Taillon (AL) threw 8 shutout innings and struck out 4 in a win. 

Dud: None. Gallery clap for everyone. 

Scores

1) Fresh Fish 130, 8) Arbitration Losers 101

2) The Lumbar Yard 85, 7) Rookies 76

6) Hundley Eyes 98, 3) Lawyers, Guns & Money 71

5) Misfits 103, 4) Pitch You Blockhead 86

Goldschmidt Happens 89

Retire 21 110

Playoffs, Week 1: Wednesday's Roundup

Jason Hammel asks his catcher whether he can believe
Hammel's record is 12-5. "No," says Willson Contreras.

Studs: Jason Hammel (FF) singled, scored, got the win and struck out 6 in 7 shutout innings. Jayson Werth (FF) hit a 3-run homer, doubled and scored 3 runs. Freddie Freeman (R21) hit a pair of solo homers and singled. Matt Carpenter (R21) homered, tripled and scored twice. Jaime Garcia (R21) singled and fanned 4 while allowing 2 runs in an 8-inning win. Jean Segura (HE) doubled twice, singled, stole 2 bases and scored 2 runs. 

Dud: Travis d'Arnaud (LGM) went 0 for 4 with an error, but he did throw out a base stealer. 

Transactions: GH places SP Junior Guerra on the DL and signs Matt Garza.

Scores

1) Fresh Fish 128, 8) Arbitration Losers 71

7) Rookies 65, 2) The Lumbar Yard 65

6) Hundley Eyes 88, 3) Lawyers, Guns & Money 59

4) Pitch You Blockhead 80, 5) Misfits 73

Goldschmidt Happens 58

Retire 21 97

Playoffs, Week 1: Tuesday's Roundup

Remember when Neil Walker was really hot in April, then terrible for 3 months? Well, he's hot again. 

Studs: Neil Walker (M) hit a 2-run homer, singled twice and scored twice. Tom Koehler (FF) got the win and struck out 6 in 7 shutout innings. Howie Kendrick (FF) had an RBI double and a 2-run homer. John Lackey (LGM) struck out 6 and allowed 1 run in an 8-inning win. Billy Hamilton (HE) singled twice, scored 3 runs and stole 3 bases against the greatest defensive catcher in the history of baseball, according to the Cardinals. 

Duds: Vincent Velasquez (GH) allowed 3 homers and 9 runs in a 4.2-inning loss, but he did strike out 6. In the same game, Jonathan Villar (R) and Ender Inciarte (M) both went 0 for 3 and were caught stealing. Matt Carpenter (R21) went 1 for 4 with an error. 

Transactions: Arbitration Losers activate SP Zack Greinke and bench Gio Gonzalez. LGM places RP A.J. Ramos on the disabled list and sign Tony Cingrani. 

Scores

1) Fresh Fish 66, 8) Arbitration Losers 55

7) Rookies 46, 2) The Lumbar Yard 24

6) Hundley Eyes 72, 3) Lawyers, Guns & Money 50

5) Misfits 53, 4) Pitch You Blockhead 51

Goldschmidt Happens 38

Retire 21 49

Playoffs, Week 1: Monday's Roundup

The official stance of the blog is unapologetically anti-Brandon Crawford, but when a guy has a 7-hit game,
he deserves to have his ugly, greasy picture here. See how magnanimous we can be?

Studs: Brandon Crawford (AL) had 7 hits - yes, SEVEN - including a double, a triple, and the go-ahead RBI single in the 14th inning. Yasmani Grandal (HE) homered, doubled and scored 3 runs. Corey Seager (LY) was the only player on Adam's team to play Monday, so he carried the load with a pair of solo homers. Christian Yelich (Rookies) was a triple shy of the cycle and drove in 4. Martin Prado (FF) homered, doubled, drove in 2 and scored 3 runs.

Duds: Zach Eflin (AL) singled, doubled, scored... and still put up a -3, allowing 7 runs and striking out no one in a 3-inning loss. Adam Duvall (LGM) had a steal and an error.

Scores

1) Fresh Fish 21, 8) Arbitration Losers 19
7) Rookies 28, 2) The Lumbar Yard 8
6) Hundley Eyes 35, 3) Lawyers, Guns & Money 23
4) Pitch You Blockhead 16, 5) Misfits 11
Goldschmidt Happens 15
Retire 21 26

Week 19 (Playoffs, Week 1) Transactions and Lineups

Just like the real trade deadline, pitching was the name of the game heading into the FBLG playoffs.
9 of 10 players signed today are pitchers, including Matt Moroe.

Players acquired

• Fresh Fish sign SP Ivan Nova (August move #1).
• The Lumbar Yard sign SP Homer Bailey (August move #2).
• Misfits sign SP Matt Moore (August move #1) and SS Daniel Descalso (August move #2).
• Lawyers, Guns & Money sign SP Julio Urias (August move #2).
• Pitch You Blockhead steal SP Tyler Chatwood (August move #1) from The Lumbar Yard.
• Arbitration Losers sign RP Tony Watson (August move #1).
• Hundley Eyes sign SP Zach Davies (August move #2).
• Retire 21 sign SP Jaime Garcia (bonus move) and SP Tyler Anderson (bonus move).

Players released

• 3B David Freese
• SP Mike Leake
• RP Fernando Rodney
• SP Patrick Corbin
• OF Yasiel Puig

Players unprotected/available to be stolen

• none on Fresh Fish
• 3B Aaron Hill (Rookies) 
• 3B Jung-Ho Kang (The Lumbar Yard)
• OF Michael Conforto (Goldschmidt Happens)
• 2B Kelby Tomlinson (Misfits)
• SP James Shields (LG&M)
• OF Ichiro Suzuki (PYB)
• IF/OF Kike Hernandez (Arbitration Losers)
• C Welington Castillo (Hundley Eyes)
• OF Keon Broxton (Retire 21)

Please email the commish by first pitch Saturday to change your unprotected player.

• SP Christian Friedrich (PYB) is also available to be stolen after spending four weeks on the bench.

Lineup changes

• Fresh Fish: None.
• Rookies: None.
• The Lumbar Yard: Bench C Francisco Cervelli; move Willson Contreras from OF to C; activate OF Trea Turner.
• Goldschmidt Happens: Bench OF Jason Heyward and SP Junior Guerra; activate OF Jorge Soler.
• Misfits: Bench SP Mike Foltynewicz; place OF David Peralta and SS Aledmys Diaz on DL; activate SP Matt Moore, SS Daniel Descalso and OF Ender Inciarte.
• Lawyers, Guns & Money: Bench SP James Shields and SP Adam Conley; place SP Aaron Nola on DL; activate SP John Lackey and SP Julio Urias.
• Pitch You Blockhead: Bench SP Jimmy Nelson; activate SP Tyler Chatwood.
• Arbitration Losers: Bench RP Jonathan Papelbon and OF Joc Pederson; activate RP Tony Watson and OF Curtis Granderson.
• Hundley Eyes: Bench SP Jerad Eickhoff, SP Jon Gray and C Welington Castillo; activate SP Kenta Maeda, SP Zach Davies and C Yasmani Grandal.
• Retire 21: Bench SP Brandon McCarthy and SP Drew Pomeranz; activate SP Francisco Liriano, SP Tyler Anderson and SP Jaime Garcia.

Week 18: The Check Swing

Brandon Phillips scored 32 points for the Rookies in the last week of the regular season. 

Another FBLG regular season is in the books, and it was a strange one. No team was better than 11-7, which is pretty remarkable. Also, the 7th place team in the points race is only 130 points back. Here are the matchups for the first round, which lasts 2 weeks. For the 1/8 and 2/7 matchups, the lower seed must win both weeks to advance. For the 3/6 and 4/5 matchups, the team with the higher 2-week total advances.

1 Fresh Fish - 8 Arbitration Losers

2 The Lumbar Yard - 7 Rookies

3 Lawyers, Guns & Money - 6 Hundley Eyes

4 Pitch You Blockhead - 5 Misfits

1. Fresh Fish (3,127 points, 11-7, last week 2): The Fish held off the Fightin' Zevons to lock down the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. Jonathan Lucroy didn't have any trouble adjusting to the American League, posting 20 points in his first week in a Rangers uniform. 

2. Hundley Eyes (3,107 points, 9-9, last week 2): A stagnant offense and unimpressive outings from Jose Fernandez (8) and Noah Syndergaard (6) led to a loss that pushed the commissioners down to the 6 seed and a matchup with a dangerous LGM squad.

3. Lawyers, Guns & Money (3,070 points, 10-8, last week 3): A big week from Kyle Hendricks (36) wasn't enough to counteract the performances of James Shields (-12), Carlos Martinez (1) and A.J. Ramos (1). Eduardo Nunez was a 3-time Dud and a 1-time Stud. 

4t. Rookies (3,022 points, 9-9, last week 7): Chris Carter (9) was the low man for a Rookies team that put up 234 points to surge up the rankings. Brandon Phillips (32), Stephen Strasburg (28) and Jonathan Villar (25) did a large chunk of the damage. 

Hilariously terrible James Shields posted starts of -3 and -9
 for LGM to earn our Dud of the Week award. He somehow
did worse than PYB's Jimmy Nelson, who had starts of
-1 and -5. 

4t. Pitch You Blockhead (3,022 points, 10-8, last week 5): It was a wildly inconsistent week from PYB, which beat the Misfits thanks to big numbers from Jacob deGrom (31), Wilson Ramos (28), Wil Myers (26) and Nolan Arenado (25). 

6. Arbitration Losers (3,014 points, 7-11, last week 4): The Losers slipped into the playoffs but face a tall task against the top-seeded Fish in the first round. The pitching could be an issue, with Jonathan Papelbon losing his job, Bud Norris getting hurt and Zach Eflin being Zach Eflin. 

7. The Lumbar Yard (2,997 points, 11-7, last week 6): The Yard earned one of the coveted top 2 playoff berths by blasting R21. If this team wins matchups when Corey Seager (8) and Bryce Harper (9) struggle to reach double digits, the Yard can make some noise down the stretch. 

8. Misfits (2,923 points, 10-8, last week 9): Holes in the lineup really cost the Misfits in their loss to PYB. Aledmys Diaz (injured), Derek Norris (4), Gregory Polanco (3) and Scott Kazmir (0) were no-shows, and now David Peralta is on the DL as well. 

9. Retire 21 (2,875 points, 7-11, last week 8): Wow. These guys had no interest in participating in the FBLG playoffs. Stinkers from Mike Leake (-3), Matt Carpenter (-2), Brandon McCarthy (1), Steven Matz (3) and Andrew McCutchen (4) contributed to a 94-point output in a must-win situation. 

10. Goldschmidt Happens (2,686 points, 6-12, last week 10): Charlie Blackmon (24), David Dahl (22) and Yangervis Solarte (24) will look to keep the momentum going until GH rejoins the crowd in the consolation round.  

Week 18: Sunday's Roundup

Adrian Gonzalez joined the 300-homer club on Sunday. 

Studs: Jerad Eickhoff (HE) had an RBI double, scored and struck out 5 while allowing 5 runs — 4 earned — in a 6-inning win. Billy Hamilton (HE) doubled, singled twice, stole 4 bases and scored 3 runs. Nolan Arenado (PYB) homered twice, doubled and drove in 5. Adrian Gonzalez (FF) was a triple short of a cycle (as if) and scored 3 runs. Martin Prado (FF) had a 2-run double, singled twice and scored twice. Jonathan Villar (R) stole 2 bases, homered and scored 3 runs. Christian Yelich (R) doubled twice, singled, drove in 3 and scored a run. Tanner Roark (LY) got the win and struck out 5 in 7 shutout innings. Jake Lamb (LY) hit a 2-run homer, singled twice and scored twice. Mike Foltynewicz (M) singled, scored, struck out 4 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win. 

Duds: Jon Gray (HE) gave up 8 runs and fanned 3 in a 3.2-inning loss. Maikel Franco (HE) went 0 for 4 with an error. Jimmy Nelson (PYB) made 2 errors, allowed 7 runs — 6 earned — and struck out 4 in a 4.1-inning loss. James Shields (LGM) allowed 8 runs and struck out 1 in a 1.1-inning loss. In his defense, only 4 of the 6 hits he allowed were homers. Daniel Murphy (LY) went 0 for 3 with an error. 

Scores

Arbitration Losers 154, Hundley Eyes 140

Fresh Fish 168, Lawyers, Guns & Money 160 

Rookies 234, Goldschmidt Happens 156

The Lumbar Yard 188, Retire 21 94

Pitch You Blockhead 172, Misfits 164