The Check Swing: Week 2

If this keeps up, FBLG will retire No. 21.

1. Retire 21 (2-0, 402 points, last week 2): Welcome to FBLG, Ray. A 216-point week lifted this team into first place in the points race, and the contributions are coming from just about everyone. The injury to Travis d'Arnaud could hurt, though. Up next is a duel with Already Zaun. 

2. Already Zaun (2-0, 385 points, last week 3): Speak of the devil. The Zaunies cracked the 200-point barrier thanks to a 29-point burst from Matt Carpenter and 24 from Jeurys Familia. Will Ryan Braun ever get an extra-base hit?

3. Soler Eclipse (2-0, 368 points, last week 4): Unsurprisingly, Paul Goldschmidt and Matt Harvey are leading the way for Adam's dangerous team. On the other hand, Aramis Ramirez is hitting like just about every Brewer these days, and that's not good.

4. Pitch You Blockhead (2-0, 333 points, last week 1): A dud of a week dropped Scott's team three spots in the rankings. Kolten Wong and Justin Morneau combined for only 3 points, but PYB still managed to slip past the Rookies. Wilmer Flores was the top-scoring position player, posting a 15.

5. The Bryce is Right (0-2, 299 points, last week 8): Bill's team had a decent week but still got thumped by Soler Eclipse in staying winless. Lucas Duda put up 27 points and looks to be a strong producer this season. The middle infield is problematic, though. Jedd Gyorko and Nick Ahmed combined for a paltry 7 points, and now Billy Hamilton is hurt.

6. Arbitration Losers (1-1, 296 points, last week 6): Tim's team fell to 1-1 thanks to the Retire 21 buzzsaw. Howie Kendrick led the way with 30 points, and Ryan Zimmerman contributed 26. The rotation provided only 24 points in 6 starts, though. Looking at you, Jon Lester.

7. Fresh Fish (0-2, 293 points, last week 7): It's been a rough start for Rick's team, our defending champion. David Wright is hurt, Carlos Gonzalez is slumping and Carl Crawford didn't help this week. At least Freddie Freeman can still hit. 

8. Rookies (0-2, 279 points, last week 5): Henry's team put up a lot of zeroes in a loss to PYB. Shelby Miller scored 25 points across a pair of outings, but there wasn't much else to get excited about. Adam Lind cooled off, and Andrew McCutchen and Corey Dickerson were just average. 

9. Misfits (0-2, 268 points, last week 9): Giancarlo Stanton did his usual thing, scoring 28 points for Reid's team. But Devin Mesoraco was out all week with an injury, and Cole Hamels, Jarred Cosart and Francisco Rodriguez combined for only 15. 

10. Chateau Marmol (1-1, 258 points, last week 10): Matt's team got a win but still managed to stay in last place. Casey McGehee came through for Chateau Marmol, scoring minus-1 for the week, giving the team first crack at the waiver wire. We wonder whether there's a third baseman out there who could replace McGehee...

Week 2: Sunday roundup

The Doug Drabek mullet was worth 4 FBLG points, but the beard balanced it out with a minus-4.

Studs: Stephen Strasburg (FF) fanned 7 and allowed 1 run in a 7.1-inning win. Andrew Cashner (CM) struck out 5 and allowed 2 unearned runs in a 6-inning win. Brandon McCarthy (R21) struck out 6 and didn't allow a run in a 6-inning win. Adam Wainwright (Misfits) fanned 4 and allowed 1 run in an 8-inning victory. 

Duds: Tom Koehler (FF) allowed 7 runs in a 3.1-inning loss. He did have a single, though. Casey McGehee (CM) went 0 for 4 with an error. Justin Morneau (PYB) went 0 for 3 with an error. Jean Segura (R21) had an RBI groundout but made his 5th error. 

Final scores

Retire 216, Arbitration Losers 152

Already Zaun 207, Misfits 151

PYB 131, Rookies 120

Soler Eclipse 191, Bryce is Right 163

Chateau Marmol 155, Fresh Fish 152

Week 2: Saturday roundup

Miguel Montero has scored 13 points this season.
Nine of them came on Saturday.

Studs: Jacob deGrom (R21) fanned 8 and didn't allow a run in a 7-inning win. Starling Marte (R21) hit a 3-run homer, smacked a 2-run single and stole a base. Dee Gordon (R21) went 5 for 5 with a double and 3 runs. Miguel Montero (AZ) hit a solo homer and a 2-run homer. 

Dud: Craig Kimbrel (PYB) gave up 2 hits, walked 2 and allowed a run while getting only 1 out and taking the loss.

Scores

Retire 187, Arbitration Losers 127

Already Zaun 197, Misfits 116

PYB 119, Rookies 97

Soler Eclipse 158, Bryce is Right 137

Chateau Marmol 129, Fresh Fish 121

Week 2: Friday roundup

Matt Carpenter's crazy leap over Brayan Pena wasn't enough to get him on our Studs list.

Studs: Clayton Kershaw (R21) doubled, struck out 12 and allowed 3 runs — only 1 earned — in a 6-inning win. Starling Marte (R21) had a 2-run homer, a single, a steal and 2 runs. Wil Myers (AZ) hit a 3-run homer and singled twice. Howie Kendrick (AL) had a 2-run homer and an RBI double. Max Scherzer (CM) struck out 9 and allowed 1 run in an 8-inning victory. A.J. Pollock (CM) went 4 for 5 with a double, a steal, 2 runs and an RBI. 

Duds: Brandon Phillips (FF), Cody Asche (R21) and Chase Utley (AZ) each went 0 for 4 with an error. Jonathan Lucroy (PYB) went 1 for 5 with an error. 

Transactions: PYB places OF Carlos Gomez on the DL and replaces him with Dexter Fowler off the bench.

Scores

Retire 125, Arbitration Losers 106

Already Zaun 141, Misfits 102

PYB 92, Rookies 84

Soler Eclipse 138, Bryce is Right 122

Chateau Marmol 107, Fresh Fish 100

Week 2: Thursday roundup

John Lackey pitched like it was Game 7 of the 2002 World Series.

Studs: John Lackey (SE) fanned 8 and didn't allow a run in a 7-inning win. Giancarlo Stanton (Misfits) hit a 2-run homer, singled and scored twice. 

Duds: Daniel Murphy (Misfits) and Khris Davis (Misfits) each went 1 for 4 with an error.

Scores

Arbitration Losers 84, Retire 81

Already Zaun 93, Misfits 84

Rookies 68, PYB 63

Soler Eclipse 119, Bryce is Right 100

Fresh Fish 80, Chateau Marmol 68

Week 2: Wednesday roundup

One of these No. 42s made an error today. Then again, it's the Nationals, so maybe they all did.

Stud: Wilson Ramos (Bryce) doubled, singled, drove in 3 and scored twice. 

Duds: Wily Peralta (AL) gave up 4 runs on 10 hits with only 1 strikeout in a 5-inning loss. Yunel Escobar (FF) went 0 for 3 with a run and an error. Welcome to Rick's team, Yunel! Joey Votto (R21) went 0 for 2 with an error. 

Transactions: The Bryce is Right adds SS Zack Cozart to fill an empty bench spot. Fresh Fish adds 3B Yunel Escobar to replace David Wright, who goes on the DL.

Scores

Retire 79, Arbitration Losers 62

Already Zaun 76, Misfits 64

Rookies 62, PYB 52

Soler Eclipse 88, Bryce is Right 78

Chateau Marmol 57, Fresh Fish 52

Week 2: Tuesday roundup

We hope you had Pete Mackanin in your third-base-coach fantasy league. 

Studs: Chase Utley (AZ) hit 2 solo homers, had an RBI single and stole a base. Lucas Duda (Bryce) doubled twice, drove in 3 and scored. Corey Dickerson (Rookies) tripled, singled twice, scored 3 times and drove in a run. Giancarlo Stanton (Misfits) doubled, singled twice, drove in 4, scored twice and stole a base. Matt Harvey (SE) struck out 8 and allowed 3 runs in a 6-inning win. 

Duds: None.

Scores

Retire 61, Arbitration Losers 42

Already Zaun 57, Misfits 51

Rookies 45, PYB 21

Soler Eclipse 57, Bryce is Right 56

Fresh Fish 44, Chateau Marmol 29

Week 2: Monday roundup

Oh, so THAT'S why Adam named his team after Jorge Soler.

Studs: Jorge Soler (SE) homered twice, singled, drove in 4 and scored 3 runs. Gerrit Cole (Bryce) struck out 8 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win. 

Duds: Jordan Zimmermann (Rookies) got knocked around by Boston to the tune of 8 runs (7 earned) in a 2.1-inning, strikeout-free loss. That's a minus-8 if you're scoring at home. Kolten Wong (PYB) walked 3 times, scored a run and made 2 errors. Chase Utley (AZ) went 0 for 3 with an error. Jean Segura (R21) doubled but made 2 errors. If Ian Desmond (CM) were a jazz musician, he'd be Erroneous Funk. He drove in a run but made error No. 5. Mark Melancon (Bryce) gave up 3 runs in a nonsave situation. Andrelton Simmons (Rookies) went 0 for 3 and was caught stealing. 

Transactions: Arbitration Losers activate OF Jayson Werth from the DL and bench Juan Lagares.

Scores

Retire 38, Arbitration Losers 31

Misfits 27, Already Zaun 24

Rookies 30, PYB 14

Bryce is Right 41, Soler Eclipse 25

Chateau Marmol 24, Fresh Fish 9

Week 2 Transactions and Lineups

Yes, this forlorn former Cy Young winner has found a home in FBLG.

Players acquired

• Rookies sign SP Eric Stults (April move #1).
• Retire 21 sign SP Tim Lincecum (April move #1) and C Nick Hundley (April move #2).
• Misfits sign SS Brandon Crawford (April move #1).
• Chateau Marmol sign SP Brandon Morrow (April move #1).
• Already Zaun sign SP Anthony DeSclafani (April move #2).

Players released

• None

Lineup changes

• Rookies: Bench 1B Matt Adams; place SP Ian Kennedy on DL; activate 1B Adam Lind and SP Eric Stults.
• Retire 21: Bench SP Tim Hudson; activate SP Tim Lincecum.
• Misfits: Bench SS Adeiny Hechavarria; activate SS Brandon Crawford.
• Soler Eclipse: None.
• Pitch You Blockhead: Bench SP Jason Hammel; activate SP Jimmy Nelson.
• The Bryce is Right: Bench SP Josh Collmenter; activate SP Archie Bradley.
• Chateau Marmol: Bench SP Jon Niese; activate SP Brandon Morrow.
• Arbitration Losers: None.
• Already Zaun: Bench SP Kyle Lohse; activate SP Carlos Martinez.
• Fresh Fish: Bench SP Henderson Alvarez and OF Marlon Byrd; activate SP Tom Koehler and OF Carl Crawford.

The Check Swing: Week 1

This is a rare photo of Ian Desmond playing defense.

1. Pitch You Blockhead (202): If you get 29 points from Nolan Arenado and double starts from Zack Greinke (28) and James Shields (32), it's not a surprise to crack the 200-point barrier. Even if you get a giant goose egg from Wilmer Flores, keeping alive the tradition of lousy Mets shortstops. 

2. Retire 21 (186): FBLG newcomer Ray got major production from Joey Votto (25), Dee Gordon (23) and Justin Upton (24) in a strong debut week. However, Clayton Kershaw started a pair of games and wasn't great in either one. He finished the week with 15 points, which would have been one mediocre start for him last season.

3. Already Zaun (178): A monster week from Adrian Gonzalez (37, possibly a FBLG record) and a typical performance from Troy Tulowitzki (25) helped the Zaunies overcome puke-worthy performances from Chase Utley (6), Ryan Braun (4), Miguel Montero (2) and Kyle Lohse (-2 in 2 starts). 

4. Soler Eclipse (177): Derek Norris posted a surprising 21 points as Adam's team got off to a hot start. Paul Goldschmidt (23) and Aroldis Chapman (23) did their usual things, and Matt Harvey (20) looks as good as ever. 

5. Rookies (159): Corey Dickerson's 28-point outburst was a big boost for Henry's team, which got little from Matt Adams (5), Martin Prado (5), Gio Gonzalez (4) and Ian Kennedy (4). Who would have figured that D.J. LeMahieu and Andrelton Simmons would combine for 40 points? 

6. Arbitration Losers (144): Trevor Rosenthal (17), Angel Pagan (17), Buster Posey (17) and Jhonny Peralta (17) had nice weeks for Tim's team, but he has to be itching for Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth to return from the DL. Juan Lagares (6) and Juan Uribe (3) didn't exactly carry their weight as replacements. 

7. Fresh Fish (141): Our defending playoff and overall points champions stumbled out of the gate despite the efforts of Johnny Cueto (24) and Carlos Gonzalez (21). Too many players failed to reach 10 points, including Marlon Byrd (2), Stephen Strasburg (4), Marcell Ozuna (6), Yadier Molina (6) and Brandon Phillips (6). 

8. The Bryce is Right (136): No team was more hot and cold than Bill's in the opening week. Julio Teheran (30), Billy Hamilton (23) and Todd Frazier (22) were hot. Matt Garza (0), Josh Collmenter (1), Nick Ahmed (1), Mark Melancon (4) and Jedd Gyorko (5) were cold. Also, first-round pick Yasiel Puig needs to score more than 8. 

9. Misfits (117): Reid's team got a big week from Matt Kemp (23), but the infield other than Pedro Alvarez (15) was a mess. Daniel Murphy, Josh Harrison, Adeiny Hechavarria and Devin Mesoraco combined for 18 points, and first-round pick Giancarlo Stanton posted a 7. 

10. Chateau Marmol (103): Matt's team got 27 points from ace Max Scherzer and 18 from Neil Walker, but it barely managed to get into triple digits. How? Tuesday's disaster in Miami led to Matt Latos and Steve Cishek combining for minus-12. And Ian Desmond's 4 errors contributed to his minus-1.