Week 8: Monday Roundup

Juan Soto, Pedro Severino and Mark Reynolds. These are your injury-prone 2018 Washington Nationals. 

STUDS: Miles Mikolas (BM) struck out 9 and went the distance in shutting out the Royals. He's the first Cardinal to open a season 6-0 since Allen Watson in 1993. It's worth noting that Watson finished that year with a record of 6-7. Nick Pivetta (FDD) had another impressive outing, striking out 7 and earning the win in 7 shutout innings. Matt Carpenter (AL) was a triple short of a cycle and scored twice. Juan Soto (BM) hit a 422-foot, opposite-field, 3-run homer on the first pitch he saw in the bigs. He also singled and scored twice. Yeah, that'll work.

DUDS: Yasmani Grandal (PYB), Carlos Santana (FDD) and Trevor Story (M) each went 0 for 4 with an error.

Has this ball landed yet?!?

LoCain showing off that POWER. pic.twitter.com/kzpySa3uRm

— MLB (@MLB) May 22, 2018

Week 7: The Check Swing

You can score all the points you want, Brandon. You can basically singlehandedly beat my team.
I may even feel obliged to put your photo atop this blog. But I'll be damned if it's gonna be a flattering shot.

The usual author of this piece, Mr. Deka, asked me to do it this week because he felt my bitterness would be refreshing. I'm obliging him because my bitterness needs a healthy outlet, and nothing is more healthy than making Brandon Belt jokes to disguise my pain. So get ready for some invective.

In actual news, there was very little movement in the overall standings during week 7, with only the 4th and 5th teams switching spots. Four teams - Stable Geniuses, Fasano Don't Dance, Arbitration Losers and Misfits - are tied at 5-2, and poor Project Mayhem is alone at 1-6. There is still plenty of season to go, though.

The scoreboard

1. Stable Geniuses (1378 points, 5-2, last week 1): Let's talk about Brandon Belt. Seems like a nice enough guy, I guess, for a Giant. Deka and I were really excited to draft him last year... then he proceeded to hit .241 and miss 60 games with injury. Well, guess who's leading the National League in OPS+ this season? Yes, the Baby Giraffe is locked in, and never more so than this past week, when he had 5 homers, 11 RBIs and a ridiculous 39 points as Matt's Geniuses edged my poor Fasanos. Bitter? You bet. Matt's offense got contributions from Kyle Schwarber (15.5), Travis Shaw (15) and Odubel Herrera (14.5), but Belt was driving the bus. On the other hand, Kurt Suzuki and Christian Villanueva each finished the week in negative numbers, and wunderkind Scott Kingery continued his struggles with a 0. On the hill, the SG pitchers went 4-0 and were somehow led by Junior Guerra's 19.3 points. Makes no sense, but it's all good. 

We've renamed Ketel Marte "Ketel One" because, well,
he scores one point every couple games.

2. Fasano Don't Dance (1333 points, 5-2, last week 2): Fasano pitchers notched a silly 50 strikeouts in the narrow loss to the Belts. Jack Flaherty put up 32.3 points in 2 starts, including a 13-strikeout gem on Sunday. Jacob deGrom and Nick Pivetta both put up 20+ in a single start, leaving nominal ace Stephen Strasburg's 7.7-point loss as the ugly duckling. Hey, find the strike zone and keep the ball in the park, Strasburg. The FDD offense was ok but not great, led as usual by Braves Ronald Acuna Jr. (16.5) and Nick Markakis (16). Jake Lamb came back from injury which should help the team's power numbers, unless he falls into the giant void that has swallowed up every Dback hitter not named Pollock. The Nats barely played during the week due to weather, leading to minimal contributions from Pedro Severino (3) and Matt Adams (3). At least Ketel Marte (3.5) finally got cut. Lesson learned: Mariners stench doesn't wash off easy.

3. Fresh Fish (1305 points, 3-4, last week 3): Did you know that having Max Scherzer really helps your pitching staff? It's true, I swear it. They don't call me the Harold Reynolds of FBLG blog analysis for nothing. Anyway, Der Scherzer had an 18-point no-decision and only barely got into third place on the Fish pitching rankings this week. Yu Darvish (25 in 2 starts) got his first win, Kenta Maeda (21) had a dominant win, and Patrick Corbin (16.3 in 2 starts) scored well despite going 0-1. That's a pretty nice rotation, Rick. Offensively, Andrew McCutchen (20.5) led the way, with teammate Buster Posey (18.5) and hated rival Matt Kemp (14.5) chipping in in the win against Project Mayhem. This despite having the bloated corpse of Ryan Zimmerman at first base all week. Hey, Ryan: thanks for being terrible again, even before you got injured. Ya turd.

When Mac Williamson has surgery,
that means they give Mac the knife, right?

4. Arbitration Losers (1289.3 points, 5-2, last week 5): Tim's Losers had a strong week in the win against the Rookies, but at some point the injuries have to catch up, right? Let's take a quick peek at Tim's DL... (faints dead away). The injured are: DJ LeMahieu, Hunter Pence, AJ Pollock, Corey Seager, Mac Williamson, Johnny Cueto and Adam Wainwright. That's a lot of really, really good players, and also Mac Williamson. At least Tim got Justin Turner back, and he came off the DL swinging like he was still facing the Cubs in the NLCS, with 16.5 points in a partial week. Matt Carpenter (23) finally showed signs of life, with 6 doubles during the week, and JT Realmuto (18) was good as usual. But Tim is leaning a lot of the likes of Freddy Galvis, Derek Dietrich, Kike Hernandez and Addison Russell. If he keeps his team in contention, he's got owner of the year honors wrapped up. AL's pitching was strong, led by Jon Lester (18) and Michael Wacha (17), although Julio Teheran put up 11 in 2 starts and Chris Stratton managed 15 points despite getting 2 wins. Now THAT is impressive.

When Ender Met the Wall: A Story in Two Pictures

5. BodySuit Man (1258.8 points, 3-4, last week 4): Great sign! Noah Syndergaard scored 33 points in 2 starts last week. Bad sign! Adam's whole pitching staff scored 33.7 points in all their appearances last week. Yes, Jon Gray (-0.3), Jake Arrieta (-1), Sean Doolittle (-3) and Freddy Peralta (5) were somewhere south of stellar as the Costanzas fell to the Bucs. Adam's offense was really good, putting up 92.5 points led by Jose Martinez's 27. Again with the bad news, though: many of them are now injured. Ryan Braun (big shocker there), Yoenis Cespedes (ditto) and Paul DeJong (ok that's actually a surprise) all went on the DL, and Ender Inciarte tried to run through the outfield wall unsuccessfully. The good news is that he avoided major injury and should be back quickly. Still, that's a lot of firepower now on the DL for an offense that may have to carry more than its weight if the pitching remains lame. Also: 7 errors, BodySuit Man? Maybe your mascot should be Jose Offerman.

6. The Misfits (1255.2 points, 5-2, last week 6): Reid keeps winning, this time taking down PYB in a low-scoring affair. Eric Hosmer (27.5) and Christian Yelich (21.5) were monsters at the plate, but everyone in the lineup scored at least 12 except the now-injured Howie Kendrick. The pitching wasn't great, with Tyson Ross (11) earning the team's only win of the week. Wade Davis bounced back with a couple saves, though, and the balanced offense was enough to win the week. Josh Harrison comes off the DL right as Kendrick goes on, so Reid's offense shouldn't lose a step.

7. Pitch You Blockhead (1216.8 points, 3-4, last week 7): There's an old saying in baseball: when Ian Desmond (20) is your offensive leader for a week, that means Ian Desmond is your offensive leader for a week. As a former (multi-year!) owner of Ian Desmond, I have a soft spot for the guy, but you absolutely don't want him as your leading scorer. Scott found that out in the loss to the Misfits, as Desmond, Charlie Blackmon (16.5) and Anthony Rizzo (16) weren't enough to overcome the rest of the offense and pitching being mediocre. Alex Wood (20 in 2 starts) finally got his first win of the year despite pitching well in nearly every start, and Mike Foltynewicz (15) had a strong no-decision. But Joey Lucchesi (4) was bad and then got hurt, and Miles Mikolas (4.7) finally pitched like a dude who's been out of the majors for 3 years.

(pushes glasses up nose) See, it's called the Pit of Sarlacc. You throw
your enemies in there to be slowly digested over a thousand years.

8. The Rookies (1194.2 points, 2-5, last week 8): Lather, rinse, repeat: Henry's Braves were very good this week, with Ozzie Albies (22.5) again leading the way. Freddie Freeman (16.5), non-Brave Scott Schebler (16.5) and fellow non-Brave Albert Almora Jr (15.5) were also good, as the offense scored an even 100 points in a loss to the Fish. But David Peralta (2) and Chris Owings (6) fell in the Dback Death Hole, which swallows hitters whole like the big pit in Return of the Jedi. The Rookies seem to have found a staff ace in Trevor Williams (25 in 2 starts), though, and Zack Greinke (10) pitched well in a no-decision. However, Jeff Samardzija continues to be hilariously awful, Gio Gonzalez was mediocre, and Felipe "Vazquez" had 2 saves but also a blown save/loss combo where the wheels fell completely off.

Just try to remember the good times, Marcell.

9. Project Mayhem (1170.7 points, 1-6, last week 9): Poor, poor Bill. His offense scored 143.5 points and he still couldn't get a win. Brandon Crawford - who is leading the league in hitting this month, because God is hilarious and baseball is stupid - put up 30, and Nolan Arenado, Josh Bell, Jonathan Villar and Tommy Pham had 20.5 each. That's amazing! The team had 54 hits, 34 runs, 26 RBIs, 21 walks... and still lost because the starting pitching was atrocious. Aaron Nola (5) got beaten in his only start, Tyler Mahle went 0-2 in a 2-start week, and Homer Bailey put up -1.3. Closer Jeurys Famila had a win, a save and 14 of the pitching staff's 21 points. So, since the pitching was bad. we'll blame another player who greatly disappointed me after drafting him for the loss - Marcell Ozuna. Oh, Marcell. Two years ago, you were trash. Last year, you were an MVP candidate. Guess which year we drafted you? Now Bill is getting the trash version who scored 5 points all week.

10. Clemente's Bucs (1153.8 points, 3-4, last week 10): Ray can't escape the cellar, but is nearly at .500 after catching some scheduling luck. His team was pretty good in week 7 and destroyed struggling BodySuit Man. CB's offense was strong, led by pretty boy Kris Bryant (24.5) and the less good-looking Cesar Hernandez (22). Imagine if Paul Goldschmidt (7.5) ever starts hitting like he always has? Jose Bautista (6.5) was a bust, waived by the Braves after just a dozen games. Bravo to the Braves for taking a chance, I guess, but did anyone expect a different outcome with an ancient Joey Bats playing third base? Jose Quintana (20.7 in 2 starts) was the only CB starter to do much last week, but closer Brad Hand had 3 saves and 16.7 points. This team needs Goldschmidt and Quintana to lead the way if they're going to get back into it.

The top three hitters so far this year are all Braves.

Hitting leaders after Week 7

1. Ozzie Albies (R) 161.5
2. Freddie Freeman (R) 155.5
3. Nick Markakis (FDD) 152
4. AJ Pollock (AL) 140
5. Bryce Harper (AL) 137

Pitching leaders after Week 7

1. Max Scherzer (FF) 188.7

2. Patrick Corbin (FF) 142.3
3. Jacob deGrom (FDD) 130.3
4. Stephen Strasburg (FDD) 130
5. Aaron Nola (PM) 128.7

Watches Max Scherzer pitch one time.

Week 7: Sunday Roundup

Jack Flaherty thumps manager Mike Matheny on the chest after being pulled from the game. Like all other Cardinals catchers, Matheny was subsequently placed on the disabled list. 

Felipe Vazquez asks his teammates if he should change
his name back to Rivero after Sunday's disaster.

STUDS: Jack Flaherty shut down the Phillies, striking out 13 and allowing 1 run in a 7.2-inning win. Brandon Belt (SG) hit a 3-run homer, singled and scored twice. Yu Darvish (FF) picked up his first (!) win of the year by striking out 7 and allowing 1 run in 6 innings. Noah Syndergaard (BM) fanned 7 and allowed 1 run in a 7-inning win. Alarmingly effective Miguel Rojas (CB) went 3 for 3 with 2 homers, 3 runs and 4 RBIs. He made an error too, but whatever.

DUDS: Felipe Vazquez (R) didn't retire a batter, allowed 4 runs — only 3 earned! — blew the save and took the loss. That's a rare minus-7 for a closer. Carlos Santana (FDD) went 0 for 2 with 2 walks and an error. He also missed a chord change during the second verse of "Black Magic Woman."

Week 7: Saturday Roundup

It's been that kind of season for the Dodgers, but they did manage to win a pair of games on Saturday.

Jose Quintana used to pitch for the other Chicago team —
the one with the often-confusing uniform history.
How do you feel about these 1980s throwbacks?

STUDS: Brandon Crawford (PM) was a triple short of a cycle and drove in 4. Andrew McCutchen (FF) went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, 2 RBIs and a run. Max Scherzer (FF) — what a shock to see him on this list — struck out 13 and allowed 2 runs in a 7-inning no-decision. Nice work, Washington bullpen. Kris Bryant (CB) doubled, singled twice, scored, drove in 2, walked twice and stole a base in the doubleheader. In the same 2 games, Anthony Rizzo (PYB) doubled twice, drove in 4, walked and scored. Jose Quintana (CB) flirted with a no-hitter and settled for a scoreless 7-inning win in which he fanned 7. Josh Hader (PYB bench) struck out 6 in a 2.1-inning win. Sorry, Scott.

DUDS: It was not a banner day for BodySuit Man's pitching staff. Freddy Peralta was the only positive contributor, scoring 5 points in a no-decision. Sean Doolittle blew a save and took the loss, allowing 2 runs and striking out 2 in 1 inning. Jon Gray allowed 5 runs and struck out 4 in a 3.2-inning defeat. That's a total of 1.7 points from the trio. Oof. In other BodySuit Man news, Paul DeJong went on the disabled list, Jedd Gyorko made 2 errors to counteract his 2-run single, and Starlin Castro went 0 for 4 with an error.

Week 7: Friday Roundup

Francisco Pena (left) celebrates Yadier Molina's injury giving him the opportunity to play.  

Jose Martinez and the Cardinals
did a lot of celebrating in their 12-4
beatdown of Philadelphia. 

STUDS: Jacob deGrom (FDD) mowed down the Diamondbacks, striking out 13 and allowing 1 run in a 7-inning win. Kyle Freeland (SG) fanned 5 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win against the Giants. Jon Lester (AL) struck out 8 and allowed 1 run in a 6-inning win against the Reds. Ian Desmond (PYB) homered, doubled and drove in 4. We weren't sure you'd ever make the Studs list again, Ian.

CARDINALS STUDS: Michael Wacha (AL) almost duplicated Lester's numbers for Tim. Wacha fanned 8 and allowed 2 runs in a 6-inning win against the Phillies. Tommy Pham (PM) went 3 for 3 with a double, 3 runs, 1 RBI and 2 walks. Anonymous catcher Francisco Pena (M) was a triple short of a cycle and scored 3 runs. Jose Martinez (BM) went 4 for 5 with a homer, a double, 2 runs and 5 RBIs. That's a nice 13-point day for the big fella. How ugly was this game for Philly? The Phils used 4 pitchers, and the only one who didn't allow a run was shortstop Pedro Florimon.

DUDS: Homer Bailey (PM) got knocked around by the Cubs, allowing 6 runs and striking out 3 in a 4.2-inning loss. Scooter Gennett (FF) singled and erred. Jake Arrieta (BM) allowed 4 runs — 2 earned — and struck out 1 in a 3-inning loss. Miguel Rojas (CB) walked and was caught stealing.

MORE WEATHER BULL: The Nats and Dodgers were rained out and are playing a doubleheader today. Have the Nationals played a single game this week? 

Week 7: Thursday Roundup

Welcome back, Justin Turner Overdrive!

STUDS: In a development that wouldn't have seemed so strange before the season, but now seems alien enough to be growing out of Sigourney Weaver's stomach, all our studs are Dodgers: Kenta Maeda (FF) threw 8 shutout innings and struck out 8 for the win. Justin Turner (AL) had a single, 2 doubles and 5 RBIs.

IF YOU'RE GONNA RUN THROUGH A STOP SIGN, YOU BEST BE READY TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS:



DUDS: Evan Longoria (M) walked and made an error. Christian Villanueva (SG) didn't even start but did enter in time to make an error.

HE'S A BALLBOY BUT HE'LL NEVER BE A BALLMAN:

Play it cool Rodney.......play it cool...... pic.twitter.com/xfwQBtDVzJ

— Ben Ryan (@benjaminryan) May 14, 2018

Week 7: Wednesday Roundup

It was not an exciting day of baseball. No big names were on the mound, and no hitter produced more than 8 points.

Nick Pivetta had the honor of wearing this amazing
uniform for Lehigh Valley every Saturday in 2016.

STUDS: Nick Pivetta (FDD) dominated the Orioles, striking out 11 and allowing 2 hits and 1 run in a 7-inning win. Travis Shaw (SG) homered, doubled, drove in 2 and scored twice. Cesar Hernandez (CB) homered, tripled and scored twice.

DUDS: None. What a boring day.

POSTPONED: Because of rain in Washington, D.C., the Nats and Yankees were unable to finish Tuesday's suspended game and didn't even start Wednesday's game.

Week 7: Tuesday Roundup

So that's what Trevor Williams looks like. How about that?

This is what Jordan Lyles USUALLY does on the mound.

STUDS: Trevor Williams (R) shut down the sad-sack White Sox, striking out 6 and not allowing a run in a 7-inning win. Josh Bell (PM) doubled twice, drove in 3 and scored. Mike Foltynewicz (PYB) struck out 10 in 5 shutout innings. Noah Syndergaard (BM) fanned 7 and allowed 2 runs in a 5-inning win.

DUDS: Tyler Mahle (PM) allowed 4 runs and struck out 2 in a 3.1-inning loss. Javier Baez (FF) went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks and an error. Kurt Suzuki (SG) went 0 for 4 with an error.

NO FREAKING WAY: The Padres have never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter, and wouldn't you know it — Jordan Lyles, of all people, took a perfect game into the 8th inning. Lyles struck out 10 and was yanked after 85 pitches when Trevor Story singled.

POSTPONED: The Phillies and Orioles were rained out; the game will be made up July 12. More rain is forecast for Baltimore on Wednesday, so that one might not happen either.

SUSPENDED: No, not you, Robinson Cano. We're talking about the Yankees-Nationals game, which was suspended with the score 3-3 in the 6th inning. The game will resume Wednesday.

Week 7: Monday Roundup

We will use literally any excuse to post this... Jonathan Villar stars in BUTT SLIDE 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO.

Studs: Jonathan Villar - we remember when he was good, right? - homered, singled twice, scored 3 runs and stole a base. Brandon Belt (SG) was a triple shy of the cycle, scored twice and drove in 3. Freddy Galvis (AL) was a homer shy of the cycle and scored twice. Scott Schebler (R) was a triple shy of the cycle and scored 3 runs.

We pause to admire an amazing defensive play in the other league:



Duds: Trevor Story (M) went 0-fer with an error. You could have pretty much bet on it after the amazing week he had last week. Ditto Anthony Rizzo, who walked twice but was caught stealing and made an error. Jose Peraza singled and committed 2 errors. Must be the Dodgers stink still working its way out of his system. Mark Sanchez (free agent) because he should always and forever be on this list.

It's Butt Day at FBLG HQ.

Week 6: The Check Swing

Aaron Nola has stepped up his hair game and is pitching like an ace. Also, he seems to really love America. 

The Braves are good. The Phillies are good. The Brewers are good. The Dodgers are bad. The Reds are also bad but managed to sweep the Dodgers in a 4-game series. This has been a confusing season except for one constant: The Mets are hilariously inept. 

The scoreboard

Arizona might be better off with a box of burgers
than with Brad Boxberger.

1. Stable Geniuses (1200 points, 4-2, last week 1): The Geniuses remain atop our standings and improved to 4-2 with a blowout win against the Losers. Sean Newcomb (34) proved to be an awesome waiver-wire pickup, fanning 12 batters in 12 scoreless innings and going 2-0. Kyle Freeland (17.3) also had an outstanding week, which helped make up for the injured Carlos Martinez (2) and the save-blowing Brad Boxberger (2). Matt's offense had a good week, with Starling Marte (22) and Odubel Herrera (24.5) putting up crooked numbers again and again. Travis Shaw (21) and Trea Turner (20) each hit 3 homers, and Turner stunningly walked 6 times. Kurt Suzuki (3) was the only hitter who didn't do much for SG. 

2. Fasano Don't Dance (1159.5 points, 5-1, last week 4): The Fightin' Fasanos used a whopping 13 position players, but it paid off in the form of something resembling an offense for the first time all year. Most of the lineup started the year on the waiver wire, including Nick Markakis (26), Matt Adams (21) and Brian "Marlin" Anderson (18.5). Carlos Santana (13.5), who spent a week as a free agent before being reacquired, is trying ever so hard to get his average within 50 points/pounds of his weight. Stephen Strasburg (33.7) went 2-0 and is now one of the top non-Scherzer pitchers in the NL. Zack Godley (14) allowed 8 runs in 12 innings but didn't take a loss thanks to Arizona's strong offense. 

3. Fresh Fish (1135.7 points, 2-4, last week 3): Holy crap, Scooter Gennett (36). He was a one-man Big Red Machine in Week 6, with 13 hits — including 4 homers — 10 RBIs and 7 runs. Max Scherzer (22) was incredible again and is 44.7 points ahead of the No. 2 pitcher in FBLG. Good grief, Max. Patrick Corbin (11) was still pretty good, but his velocity and command are slipping. Javier Baez (22) keeps producing in the middle of the Chicago lineup, but he and Gennett didn't get much help from Rick's veterans. Weren't we just complimenting veterans such as Matt Kemp (6), Carlos Gonzalez (8.5) and Buster Posey (9.5) a week ago? This team could sure use a lift from brittle Ryan Zimmerman (5.5, DL) and shaky Yu Darvish (DL).

4. BodySuit Man (1132.7 points, 3-3, last week 5): How good was Adam's team in Week 6? BodySuit Man put up 201.2 points, and ace Noah Syndergaard didn't even pitch because the Mets don't know what they're doing. That's scary stuff. Jon Gray (26.3) has been inconsistent but was strong in 2 starts, and Sean Doolittle (16) earned saves in 3 appearances. Ender Inciarte (27) has turned it on after a slow start; he homered twice and stole 4 bases in Week 6. But the real story here is Willson Contreras (38.5), who took advantage of matchups against the Marlins and White Sox. Contreras notched 3 homers, 2 triples, 3 doubles, 3 singles, 6 runs, 12 RBIs, a walk and a steal.

5. Arbitration Losers (1116 points, 4-2, last week 2): Tim's pitching staff put up an impressive 52 points despite getting only 4 starts. Still, AL dropped 3 spots in the rankings, so you can guess what the problem was. The leading hitter on the club was Derek Dietrich (15) — and this is NOT the year to have a Marlin as your best offensive weapon. A.J. Pollock (14.5) had a pretty pedestrian week, and Matt Carpenter (0.5) is slashing .145/.294/.282. Tim's favorite player, D.J. LeMahieu (7.5), hit 4 singles, then hit the disabled list. On the bright side, Julio Teheran (18) is pitching quite well, going 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA this season.

Hey! Wade!
You're gonna blow the save...

6. The Misfits (1096.3 points, 4-2, last week 6): Reid's team got it done on both sides of the ball to top Clemente's Bucs. Trevor Story (34) had a classic Trevor Story week, driving in 11 runs at Coors Field, ripping 7 extra-base hits — and hitting zero singles. Lorenzo Cain (20) and Christian Yelich (15) seemed to like hitting in Denver, too. Francisco Pena (2) and Eric Hosmer (6) were no-shows, though. Jeremy Hellickson (28.7) had a phenomenal week for someone of Hellickson's skill level. Tyler Chatwood (14) has walked 5 or more batters in 5 of 7 starts this year; he must have thought that FBLG is awarding points to PITCHERS for bases on balls. Wade Davis (6) blew a save, which led to our favorite Nirvana joke.

7. Pitch You Blockhead (1078.7 points, 3-3, last week 7): Scott's team was locked in a tough battle with PM all week and came away with the W. It's safe to say the slump is over for Anthony Rizzo (30), who homered twice and drove in 9. Anthony Rendon (20) looked good in his return from injury, and Billy Hamilton (16.5) ran wild against the crummy Dodgers. Charlie Blackmon (13.5) had a terrible week by his standards, and Wilmer Difo (-2) had a terrible week by anyone's standards. It must be tough being the second-best Wilmer in the NL East. Rich Hill (9.7 in 2 starts) lasted 1 week before getting hurt again. Bet you didn't know that Miles Mikolas (14.7) and Josh Hader (14) are in the top 12 in FBLG pitching points this season. 

We tend to focus on offense in FBLG, but let's show some
love to Gold Glove winner Tucker Barnhart. The Reds
catcher won the award by beating out Yadier Molina, who
is without a doubt the greatest catcher in the history of the
game. So you KNOW Barnhart is good on defense.

8. The Rookies (1040.5 points, 2-4, last week 8): Henry's team had a good week but was no match for BM. Gio Gonzalez (13) and Zack Greinke (12) each allowed 1 run but came away with no-decisions. Jeff Samardzija (4.7 in 2 starts) and Trevor Williams (4) were just bad. Closer Felipe Vazquez (14.7) made the most of his 3.2 innings, collecting a win and a save. The offense was powered by a couple of Reds and a couple of Braves, which would have been hard to believe before the season. Kudos to Eugenio Suarez (26.5), Tucker Barnhart (20.5), Freddie Freeman (25) and Ozzie Albies (19.5). 

9. Project Mayhem (1006.2 points, 1-5, last week 9): There weren't a lot of positives for Bill's team in Week 6. The pitching staff went 3-2 with 69 points, but more than half of the points and 2 of the wins came from Aaron Nola (37). Homer Bailey (9) and Jarlin Garcia (3) combined to allow 20 runs in 19 innings, and Jameson Taillon (8) got hurt. The offense failed to reach triple digits, with only Josh Bell (20) scoring more than 15.5 points. Tommy Pham (14) and Nolan Arenado (15.5) need to produce more than they did in Week 6, and it would be nice if Jonathan Villar (2.5) produced at all. Like most St. Louis hitters, Marcell Ozuna (10.5) has been a disappointment.

10. Clemente's Bucs (987 points, 2-4, last week 10): Ray's team appears to be getting its act together, but it wasn't enough in Week 6. Kris Bryant (30) heard us calling him out, and he responded with 3 homers and 11 runs. Cesar Hernandez (18) continues to be one of the best values in FLBG, and Miguel Rojas (17.5) remains surprisingly productive. We expect more out of Paul Goldschmidt (10.5) and our favorite Welshman Rhys Hoskins (10.5), though. Kyle Hendricks (20) went 1-1 in 2 starts, and Brad Hand (15) was a strikeout machine. Up-and-down Jose Quintana (15) was up, but Chad Bettis (1) was down. Chase Anderson (DL) didn't pitch because of food poisoning, which is too awful to even joke about.

With a changeup like this, how does Stephen Strasburg ever give up hits?

Hitting leaders after Week 6

1. A.J. Pollock (AL) 140

2t. Freddie Freeman (R) 139

2t. Ozzie Albies (R) 139

4. Nick Markakis (FDD) 136
5. Bryce Harper (AL) 133.5

Pitching leaders after Week 6

1. Max Scherzer (FF) 170.7

2. Patrick Corbin (FF) 126
3. Aaron Nola (PM) 123.7
4. Stephen Strasburg (FDD) 122.3

5. Jacob deGrom (FDD) 106.3