Week 3: The Check Swing

Welington Castilllo hit 5 homers and drove in 9 runs this week for Hundley Eyes. And David Freese is a zombie.

1. Hundley Eyes (569 points, 2-1, last week 3): It was a complete team effort from the commissioners, as everyone reached double figures except Trevor Story (7) in a win against the Rookies. Welington Castillo (30) and Maikel Franco (23) finally broke out, and Kenta Maeda (19) dazzled again.

2. Pitch You Blockhead (560 points, 3-0, last week 1): Scott squeaked past LGM to become our league's only undefeated team. Jeff Samardzija (23) and Wil Myers (22) led the scoring, and the only players in single digits were Dodgers: Ross Stripling (6) and Yasiel Puig (7). 

3. The Lumbar Yard (550 points, 2-1, last week 7): Who needs Kyle Schwarber, Adam Wainwright and Shelby Miller? Adam sure didn't, as the Yard posted a 225-point outburst led by Tanner Roark (28), Anthony Rizzo (26) and Bryce Harper (25). 

4. Rookies (538 points, 1-2, last week 5): Monster weeks from Stephen Strasburg (40), Jake Arrieta (33 in a no-hitter) and Chris Carter (28) nearly helped Henry topple Hundley Eyes. The 199-point effort would have been better if Brandon Finnegan (-4) and Tony Wolters (-1) hadn't aided the enemy.

5. Fresh Fish (535 points, 2-1, last week 2): Jason Hammel (39) and Adrian Gonzalez (20) led the charge for Rick, but it wasn't enough in a loss to The Lumbar Yard. Howie Kendrick (5), Adeiny Hechavarria (4), Johnny Cueto (5) and James Shields (5) didn't do much to help the cause.

6. Lawyers, Guns & Money (527 points, 1-2, last week 4): Matt fell 3 points short of defeating PYB, but there's no obvious scapegoat. John Lackey (27) and Odubel Herrera (21) were the scoring leaders for the Fightin' Zevons, and closer A.J. Ramos was the low man (7). 

Brandon Finnegan got roughed up, but Tony Wolters
earned Dud of the Week honors by going 0 for 14 in 5 games.

7. Arbitration Losers (500 points, 1-2, last week 8): Ryan Braun (33) paced Tim's offense thanks to some lousy Philadelphia and Minnesota pitching. Archie Bradley (1) came up from the minors and "contributed," and Joey Votto (8) had an off week.

8. Misfits (486 points, 1-2, last week 6): The Misfits got past the defending champs despite scoring only 158 points. Neil Walker (23) led the way, but Max Scherzer (0) and Justin Turner (1) were disappointments. On the bright side, Matt Harvey posted a 14 in his best outing so far. 

9. Goldschmidt Happens (464 points, 2-1, last week 9): Jason Heyward (25) was one of Bill's strong performers, but there were far too many weak performances in a loss to the Arbitration Losers. We'll point the blame mostly at Vincent Velasquez (3), Jorge Soler (3) and Miguel Montero (3). 

10. Retire 21 (442 points, 0-3, last week 10): Dexter Fowler (30) had another huge week and looks like a monster this season for Ray. But the pitching staff let him down again, posting 37 points across 6 starts and 2 relief appearances in a 5-point loss to the Misfits. 

Week 3: Sunday's Roundup

Jason Heyward and Anthony Rizzo sure took advantage of Cincinnati pitching. 

Studs: Randal Grichuk (M) doubled, singled twice, drove in 3, scored and stole a base. Gerardo Parra (GH) had a double, 3 singles, 4 RBIs, a steal and a run. Jason Heyward (GH) had a double, 3 singles, 3 RBIs, a run and a stolen base. David Freese (GH) had 3 doubles, 2 runs and an RBI. Anthony Rizzo (LY) blased a pair of 2-run homers. Corey Seager (LY) tripled, doubled, drove in 3 and scored. Starling Marte (R) had a double, 3 singles, 2 runs and 2 RBIs. Jason Hammel (FF) singled, scored, struck out 7 and got the win in 6 scoreless innings. Welington Castillo (HE) hit a 3-run homer, singled twice, scored twice and stole a base. J.T. Realmuto (R21) went 4 for 4 with a homer and a double. 

Dud: Trevor Story (HE) went 0 for 5 with a run and an error.

Scores

Arbitration Losers 181, Goldschmidt Happens 155

The Lumbar Yard 225, Fresh Fish 182

Misfits 158, Retire 21 153

Hundley Eyes 219, Rookies 199

Pitch You Blockhead 190, Lawyers, Guns & Money 187

Week 3: Saturday's Roundup

If you had three guesses for which Washington pitcher struck out 15 batters in a game...

Studs: Tanner Roark (LY) got the win and struck out 15 Twins in a 7-inning win. Yes, you read that correctly. Fifteen strikeouts for Tanner Roark. Get it together, Twinkies. The Phillies seem to like facing Milwaukee pitching: Odubel Herrera (LGM) stole 2 bases, hit a 2-run homer, singled twice and scored 4 runs; and Maikel Franco (HE) homered, singled twice and drove in 4. Kenta Maeda (HE) got the win and fanned 8 in 6.1 shutout innings at Coors Field. Dexter Fowler (R21) doubled twice, scored twice, stole a base and drove in a run. 

Duds: Heck of a performance by the aptly named Goldschmidt Happens. David Freese (GH) went 0 for 3 with an error. Jorge Soler (GH) came off the bench to go 0 for 1 with an error. Jeremy Jeffress (GH) allowed 3 runs in 1 inning. 

Scores

Arbitration Losers 160, Goldschmidt Happens 108

The Lumbar Yard 175, Fresh Fish 142

Misfits 129, Retire 21 109

Hundley Eyes 196, Rookies 160

Pitch You Blockhead 164, Lawyers, Guns & Money 153

Week 3: Friday's Roundup

One of the things we love about the National League:
pitchers who help themselves with a bat.

Studs: Jon Lester (M) brought in a run with a squeeze bunt and struck out 4 while allowing 1 run in a 7-inning victory. Aaron Nola (LGM) struck out 7 and allowed 1 run in a 7-inning win. Wil Myers (PYB) was a triple short of a cycle, drove in 3 and stole a base. Jeff Samardzija (PYB) doubled, singled, drove in 3, struck out 5 and allowed 1 run in a 7.2-inning win. Gio Gonzalez (AL) had a sacrifice fly and struck out 8 while allowing 3 runs (2 earned) in a 6-inning win. Maikel Franco (HE) had a 2-run homer, a solo homer and a single. Welington Castillo (HE) blasted a pair of solo homers. Josh Harrison (R21) doubled twice, singled, scored twice and drove in a run. 

Duds: Yasmany Tomas (FF) went 1 for 5 with an error. Matt Carpenter (R21) went 0 for 4 with 2 Ks and an error. 

Scores

Arbitration Losers 133, Goldschmidt Happens 92

Fresh Fish 131, The Lumbar Yard 129

Misfits 117, Retire 21 88

Hundley Eyes 144, Rookies 139

Pitch You Blockhead 142, Lawyers, Guns & Money 127

Week 3: Thursday's Roundup

Jake Arrieta leaps into his grandfather's arms
after no-hitting the Reds.

Studs: Doesn't it seem like just a couple of months ago that we talked about Jake Arrieta (R) throwing a no-hitter? Well, he did it again; this time he shut down Cincinnati, striking out 6, singling twice and scoring a run. Ben Zobrist (HE) was a triple short of a cycle and drove in 3. Don't you just hate when you bench the wrong guy? Especially when Retire 21 could have kept Kris Bryant and Matt Carpenter in the lineup if Bryant had played just one more game in the outfield before Monday. Instead, Bryant went berserk on Ray's bench, homering twice, singling twice, scoring 4 runs and driving in 6. How good is Clayton Kershaw (FF)? He made this list despite allowing 10 hits in a no-decision. He allowed 1 run and struck out 10 Braves in 8 innings. Gerrit Cole (GH) got the win and struck out 7 in 6 shutout innings. 

Duds: Adonis Garcia (R) went 2 for 4 but made a pair of errors. Brandon Finnegan (R) made an error, allowed 5 runs and fanned 2 in a 4-inning loss. Also, his team was no-hit, so (shrug)... 

Scores

Arbitration Losers 97, Goldschmidt Happens 79

Fresh Fish 110, The Lumbar Yard 105

Retire 21 70, Misfits 60

Hundley Eyes 119, Rookies 116

Lawyers, Guns & Money 95, Pitch You Blockhead 92

Week 3: Wednesday's Roundup

Corey Seager makes an error in Tuesday's game. He made another error Wednesday.

Studs: Zack Greinke (AL) finally turned things around, outdueling FBLG teammate Madison Bumgarner. Greinke singled and struck out 7 while allowing 1 run in a 6.2-inning victory. Carlos Martinez (LGM) had an RBI single and struck out 5 while allowing 1 run in a 7-inning win. Chris Carter (R) had a 2-run homer and an RBI double. Freddy Galvis (R21) hit a 2-run homer, doubled and scored twice. 

Duds: Corey Seager (LY) scored a run and made an error to appear on the Duds list on consecutive days. Nick Markakis (R21) went 0 for 3 with an error. 

Scores

Arbitration Losers 91, Goldschmidt Happens 46

The Lumbar Yard 79, Fresh Fish 71

Retire 21 54, Misfits 51

Hundley Eyes 102, Rookies 77

Lawyers, Guns & Money 90, Pitch You Blockhead 88

Week 3: Tuesday's Roundup

Stephen Strasburg has picked up where he left off last season.

Studs: Robbie Ray (LY) singled and got the win while striking out 8 in 6 shutout innings. Stephen Strasburg (R) singled twice, scored, got the win and fanned 10 in 8 shutout innings. Jason Hammel (FF) had a 2-run single, struck out 6 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win. Neil Walker (M) hit a pair of solo homers. 

Duds: Justin Turner (M) went 0 for 3 with 2 errors. Corey Seager (LY) had an RBI groundout and an error. Trevor Story (HE) went 0 for 4 with an error, but at least he only whiffed once. 

Scores

Arbitration Losers 32, Goldschmidt Happens 22

The Lumbar Yard 57, Fresh Fish 50

Retire 21 41, Misfits 30

Hundley Eyes 81, Rookies 54

Lawyers, Guns & Money 63, Pitch You Blockhead 49

Week 3: Monday's Roundup

Big John allowed only 4 hits to what had been a pretty potent St. Louis offense.

Studs: John Lackey (LGM) had an RBI single and struck out 11 Cardinals without allowing a run in a 7-inning win. Jose Fernandez (HE) fanned 9 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win. Noah Syndergaard (HE) struck out 8 and allowed 1 run in a 7-inning victory. David Wright (LY) homered twice — his first homers and RBIs of the season. 

Duds: Gerardo Parra (GH) went 0 for 4 with an error. 

Scores

Arbitration Losers 13, Goldschmidt Happens 8

The Lumbar Yard 18, Fresh Fish 15

Retire 21 23, Misfits 14

Hundley Eyes 75, Rookies 5

Lawyers, Guns & Money 47, Pitch You Blockhead 14

Week 3 Transactions and Lineups

We're just using Kike Hernandez's picture because a Giants fan signed him this week.

Players acquired

• Rookies sign C Tony Wolters (April move #2) and steal 1B Chris Carter (bonus move) from Pitch You Blockhead.
• Goldschmidt Happens sign 2B/OF Kelly Johnson (April move #3).
• Lawyers, Guns & Money steal SP Adam Conley (April move #2) from Rookies.
• Pitch You Blockhead sign SP Ross Stripling (bonus move).
• Arbitration Losers sign IF/OF Kike Hernandez (April move #2).
• Hundley Eyes sign OF Mallex Smith (April move #1).
• Retire 21 sign SP Charlie Morton (bonus move).

Players released

• OF Hector Olivera
• OF Michael Bourn
• 1B/OF Ben Paulsen

Players unprotected/available to be stolen

• SP Jarred Cosart (Fresh Fish)
• C Devin Mesoraco (Rookies)
• OF Juan Lagares (Lumbar Yard)
• 2B Kolten Wong (Goldschmidt Happens)
• SP Jeremy Hellickson (LG&M)
• SP Taylor Jungmann (PYB)
• C Wilson Ramos (Arbitration Losers)
• OF Mallex Smith (Hundley Eyes)
• 2B/SS Trea Turner (Retire 21)
• None on Misfits

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

Lineup changes

• Fresh Fish: Bench OF Matt Holliday and SP Jarred Cosart; activate OF Yasmany Tomas and SP James Shields.
• Rookies: Bench 1B Lucas Duda; place OF Alex Guerrero on DL; activate 1B Chris Carter, C Tony Wolters and 3B Adonis Garcia.
• The Lumbar Yard: Bench SP Adam Wainwright and SP Jon Niese; activate SP Robbie Ray and SP Tanner Roark.
• Goldschmidt Happens: Bench SP Wei-Yen Chen, 2B Kolten Wong and OF Jeremy Hazelbaker; activate SP Gerrit Cole, 2B Kelly Johnson and OF Jorge Soler.
• Misfits: Place C Nick Hundley on DL; activate C Yasmani Grandal.
• Lawyers, Guns & Money: Bench OF Joc Pederson and SP Kyle Hendricks; activate OF Odubel Herrera and SP Adam Conley.
• Pitch You Blockhead: Bench SP Taylor Jungmann, OF Jon Jay and 2B Jean Segura; activate SP Ross Stripling, OF Michael Conforto and 2B Joe Panik.
• Arbitration Losers: Bench SP Tom Koehler and OF Curtis Granderson; activate SP Archie Bradley and OF Jayson Werth.
• Hundley Eyes: Bench SP Patrick Corbin and SP Juan Nicasio; activate SP Jerad Eickhoff and SP Kenta Maeda.
• Retire 21: Bench SP Steven Matz, 3B Kris Bryant and C Travis d'Arnaud; activate SP Charlie Morton, 3B Matt Carpenter and C J.T. Realmuto.

Week 2: The Check Swing

Nolan Arenado sure looked like an MVP candidate in Week 2.

1. Pitch You Blockhead (370 points, 2-0, last week 1): That's right, folks. Our first-place team has 3 Padres hitters and 2 Brewers starting pitchers. Go figure! Of course, PYB also has Nolan Arenado, who went berserk with a 34-point week. 

2. Fresh Fish (353 points, 2-0, last week 5): Howie Kendrick returned to action but contributed only 3 points for Rick's team. But that's OK because Yoenis Cespedes (22) and Matt Holliday (20) propelled the offense, and Clayton Kershaw (16), Johnny Cueto (19) and Jason Hammel (18) pitched like aces.

3. Hundley Eyes (350 points, 1-1, last week 2): Thanks for nothing, Welington Castillo (8), Ben Zobrist (4) and Trevor Rosenthal (3). Patrick Corbin scored 23 points in 2 starts and was the team's leading scorer, which isn't saying much. Where have you gone, Ryan Zimmerman?

4. Lawyers, Guns & Money (340 points, 1-1, last week 3): John Lackey (19) and Carlos Martinez (16) had nice outings for the Fightin' Zevons, but the much-touted offense sputtered all week. Only Carlos Gonzalez (23) did anything of note, and Buster Posey (3) was a no-show. 

5. Rookies (339 points, 1-1, last week 7): The offense was brutal this week, but Henry's team was carried by the rotation: Jake Arrieta, Stephen Strasburg, Brandon Finnegan and Jaime Garcia posted 96 of the Rookies' 185 points.

6. Misfits (328 points, 0-2, last week 6): Randal Grichuk (24) came alive, and Max Scherzer (35) did his usual thing. But there has to be concern about Matt Harvey, who hasn't looked like himself this season. 

Adam Wainwright, our Dud of the Week, has totaled
2 points in 3 starts for The Lumbar Yard.

7. The Lumbar Yard (325 points, 1-1, last week 10): It was a good week for Adam's Nationals: Bryce Harper (34), Daniel Murphy (23) and Joe Ross (19) led The Lumbar Yard to a victory. That said, Adam Wainwright and David Wright are stinking up the joint. 

8. Arbitration Losers (319 points, 0-2, last week 4): Tim's Giants did him no favors in Week 2. Brandon Crawford (6), Matt Duffy (5) and Madison Bumgarner (7) certainly fell short of expectations. Also, Tom Koehler (-2) appears to be lobbying for a trade to the Fresh Fish. 

9. Goldschmidt Happens (309 points, 2-0, last week 9): Bill picked up Jeremy Hazelbaker just in time for the Cardinals outfielder to slam on the brakes. Hazelbaker scored 1 point in 3 games. On the other hand, Vincent Velasquez looks like a nice find. 

10. Retire 21 (289 points, 0-2, last week 8): Nick Markakis leads the league with 9 doubles, but that's about the only positive for the defending champs so far. Ray's team got only 30 points from its starting pitchers this week, and that's obviously not going to cut it.