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The Stretch Run

Monday, September 23rd, 2013

Choppers outfielder Jayson Werth

I’m not sure we will ever see a final week of a baseball season quite like last year’s when five teams had a great chance to win the DTBL title right up to the last few pitches of the season.  So compared to that, this year’s pennant race may seem a little boring.  But for the four teams who have found themselves near the top of the standings most of the year, there is plenty of drama left in this season.

Let’s start with the team that came out of last year’s wild finish with the title.  The Naturals haven’t quite been able to replicate last year’s success.  They currently sit in fourth place, 11 points behind the leader.  I’ll be honest, it doesn’t appear that they will be able to successfully defend their title.  They just have too much ground to make up and too many teams to catch.  The only case you could make for them to win this thing would be to put up an obscene stat line in the last week combined with a collapse from the three teams above.  Part of the Naturals problem has been that the player they depend on the most, Miguel Cabrera, has been severely limited by injuries over the last month or so.  Without his typical mashing, the Naturals offense just hasn’t been that strong.  Also, the September injury to Allen Craig couldn’t have come at a worse time with nobody capable of replacing him.  Their pitching has actually been very good of late, recently passing the Kings in both ERA and WHIP.  However, I just don’t see enough categories where gaining additional points is possible to give them a realistic shot at winning this thing.

The case for the Choppers winning the league is much stronger.  The surprise team of the year, the Choppers have been on fire of late.  Their surprising pitching staff is now second in the league in pitching points, leading the way in saves and an impressive second place in ERA.  Chris Sale has been a beast all year, despite the unfortunately low win total.  C.J. Wilson is quietly having an outstanding year as well.  The Choppers offense has been slugging their way up the standings too.  It appears they will finish the season on top of the home run and RBI categories.  If there were such a thing as second half MVP, Jayson Werth would be a strong candidate for it.  Their key injury is to Jose Baustista, but his loss hasn’t really hurt their offense at all.  The Choppers opportunities to pick up points are limited, but average and runs are the two to watch, especially since the teams they are chasing in those categories are the two ahead of them in the overall standings.  They definitely need the Kings and Mavericks to drop a couple points this week, but that is very possible.  Assuming they hang onto a top 3 spot, this will be their best finish since 2001.  But they still have higher aspirations than just that.

The Kings have been the title favorites for a while now.  They have topped the standings most of the season.  On occasion during the middle of the summer, it looked like they might run away with the title as they frequently held a double digit point lead.  But now they are hanging on for dear life.  They actually gave up the lead for a few days near the end of August.  But a couple strong weeks since have boosted them back to the lead.  The moment when things started turning south for the Kings is easy to identify:  when their best player, Carlos Gonzalez, suffered his finger injury in early July.  The Kings have had to move on without him for virtually the entire second half of the season.  But fortunately for them, they have found a few guys to pick up the slack on offense down the stretch, led by Ryan Zimmerman.  The recent concern has been with the previously solid pitching staff.  In the last week, they coughed up several points in ERA and WHIP.  Barring a terrible last week, they should be safe from losing more points in most pitching categories though.  Their vulnerability comes in two key categories:  runs scored (currently 1st) and stolen bases (4th).  If they can hold off the Choppers and/or Mavericks in those categories, they should be able to claim their fifth DTBL championship.  That is hardly a sure thing at this point though.

I saved the Mavericks for last because I have a little more to say about them.  There were two big stories involving the Mavericks in August which deserved their own articles, but I had a few hectic weeks around that time and wasn’t able to make the time to write about them.  First, the Mavericks and Jackalope pulled off a major deadline trade.  The Mavs sent shortstop Jurickson Profar, first baseman Eric Hosmer and their third round pick in 2014 to the Jackalope for shortstop Elvis Andrus, second baseman Daniel Murphy, relief pitcher Steve Cishek and a fifth round draft pick.  The most fascinating thing about this trade is that the two key players in the deal, Andrus and Profar, have had their careers so tightly tied to one another the last couple years.  Profar was widely considered the top prospect in baseball entering this season.  The problem is, he is a shortstop for the Rangers, who happen to already have a pretty good shortstop by the name of Andrus.  Profar has spent the entire season on the MLB roster, but has been a part time player, seriously hampering his fantasy value.  But the Jackalope weren’t too worried about that considering this season was already a lost cause for them anyway.  Expect the Rangers to fix this log jam in the winter, especially if they wind up missing the playoffs which now appears quite possible.  Andrus and Profar should both be everyday players by next spring.  The Jackalope also received an intriguing player in Hosmer, who is finally starting to show some of that potential that hasn’t been seen since his rookie year.  This trade makes all the sense in the world for the Jackalope, acquiring two keepers for one as they begin their rebuild.  Likewise, the Mavericks made a major upgrade at their weakest spot:  middle infield.  Cishek has given them a boost in the bullpen, which is now one of the league’s best to go along with their unbeatable rotation.  I’m already declaring this trade a win/win for both sides.

The other piece of Mavericks news in late August was not nearly as positive.  Phenom pitcher Matt Harvey was diagnosed with a partially torn UCL in his elbow.  Usually, this leads to Tommy John surgery, but as of now it appears Harvey will try to rest and rehab without surgery.  This will be a huge story next spring, because if he does succumb to surgery, that would obviously be a huge blow to the Mavericks for 2014.  But as for this season, the injury has not had a major impact because the Mavericks had/have such an enormous lead in the three categories where Harvey provided the most value:  ERA, WHIP and strike outs.  If the Mavericks don’t win the title, it won’t be because Harvey got hurt.  But this story clearly put a bit of a damper on their championship hunt.

The Mavericks are definitely the team with the best chance of catching the Kings in the final week.  I can’t really put a probability figure on it, but I think they have a great chance.  The Kings have been very vulnerable for a couple months now and have anything but a safe lead in a couple key categories, as described above.  The Mavericks need a big week from their offense though.  Like all of the other title contenders, the Mavericks are going down the stretch without one of their best offensive players.  Team home run leader Edwin Encarnacion had season ending wrist surgery just last week.  But the Mavericks have likely maxed out in the power categories anyway.  Batting average, runs scored and stolen bases are the key.  And they just happen to have the best player in baseball when it comes to contributing to all three of those categories:  Mike Trout.  Just like last season, Trout is finishing this campaign on fire.  He will attempt to carry most of the load for the Mavs in the final week.  His heroic effort down the stretch last season came up just short.  Perhaps this year will be different.

So we have four teams vying for the title.  It should be a fun week.  Unfortunately, if the title comes down to the final day like it did last season, I won’t be able to do another live blog/tweet event because I will be spending most of Sunday behind the wheel driving back from South Bend.  So you will be on your own to figure out what’s going on.  The live stats should make that much easier to do this year though, if you are so inclined.  Good luck to the championship contenders!

Posted in Choppers, Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Naturals | No Comments »

2013 Season Preview: Part II

Monday, April 1st, 2013

Cougars pitcher Gio Gonzalez

Last year concluded with a frantic five team race for the title on the final day of the season.  But just two months prior to that, there were as many as seven teams right in the hunt for the championship.  I’m not saying that will happen again this year, but there is precedent for all of the following teams to be championship contenders, even if they don’t significantly exceed their projections.  These are the teams that are projected to finish seventh up to fifth place.  Actually, the computed standings had two teams tied for sixth place, so I will just review them alphabetically.

Charlie’s Thunder Choppers

Category – Projected Rank (2012 Rank)

  • Batting Average – 10th (6th)
  • Home Runs – 3rd (3rd)
  • Runs Batted In – 7th (8th-T)
  • Runs Scored – 8th (6th)
  • Stolen Bases – 7th (6th)
  • Earned Run Average – 6th (7th)
  • WHIP Ratio – 10th (7th)
  • Wins – 5th (6th)
  • Saves – 2nd (5th-T)
  • Strike Outs – 3rd (4th)
  • Total Batting Points – 8th-T (6th)
  • Total Pitching Points – 5th (7th-T)
  • Total Points – 6th-T (6th)

Summary:

The Choppers are another team that could be expected to exceed their pitching projections.  For the second straight year, they might choose to use a sixth starting pitcher in a RP slot (Alexi Ogando).  Ogando isn’t likely to repeat Chris Sale’s ’12 season, but he could give the Choppers a nice win and strike out boost.  But they also have four closers on the roster, so they won’t be punting saves by any means.  Sale is their only elite starting pitcher, but they have a lot of intriguing guys who are capable of racking up strike outs, in particular.  On offense, it appears home runs will be their strength again this year.  Newcomer Anthony Rizzo will attempt to pick up the slack early on while Curtis Granderson is on the shelf.  Jose Bautista needs to stay healthy this year.  B.J. Upton appears to be primed for a huge season, in which case he could give the Choppers a boost in power and speed categories.  It has been a while since the Choppers were a serious title contender, but they will have a chance this year if their starting pitching pans out.

Mike’s Moonshiners

Category – Projected Rank (2012 Rank)

  • Batting Average – 6th (1st)
  • Home Runs – 6th (7th)
  • Runs Batted In – 4th (3rd)
  • Runs Scored – 4th (3rd)
  • Stolen Bases – 8th (5th)
  • Earned Run Average – 5th (2nd)
  • WHIP Ratio – 6th (6th)
  • Wins -  7th (2nd)
  • Saves – 7th (4th)
  • Strike Outs – 8th (8th)
  • Total Batting Points – 6th (3rd)
  • Total Pitching Points – 8th-T (3rd)
  • Total Points – 6th-T (4th)

Summary:

And here we have our first appearance from one of the “Big 5″ who chased the title on the final day of the season.  This might be the most surprising projection of all.  Let’s not forget that the Moonshiners came within 1 1/2 points of winning the title last year and were the league’s most balanced team.  They were the only team to accumulate over 30 batting and pitching points.  So why the gloomy forecast for this season?  Well, they only had one draft pick in the first three rounds this year, so they didn’t have an opportunity to significantly pad their projections with one or two acquisitions.  But that doesn’t mean this team won’t contend.  The biggest key is for R.A. Dickey to not take an enormous step backwards like he is projected to do.  Dickey, Jered Weaver and Yovani Gallardo lead the rotation that will be a bit thin until Brandon Beachy returns from Tommy John surgery.  The bullpen only has two definite closers, but first round pick Fernando Rodney is good enough to make sure they aren’t buried in saves.  They have solid players across the board on offense, so I just don’t see them finishing in the bottom half of the league in batting points.  Prince Fielder, David Wright and Desmond Jennings are three players who I expect to easily exceed their projected numbers.  I strongly believe the Moonshiners will contend for their first DTBL title again this year.

Kelly’s Cougars

Category – Projected Rank (2012 Rank)

  • Batting Average – 7th (10th)
  • Home Runs – 4th (9th)
  • Runs Batted In – 5th (8th-T)
  • Runs Scored – 9th (9th)
  • Stolen Bases – 10th (3rd)
  • Earned Run Average – 3rd (5th)
  • WHIP Ratio – 5th (4th)
  • Wins -  1st (1st)
  • Saves – 6th (9th)
  • Strike Outs – 6th (7th)
  • Total Batting Points – 8th-T (9th)
  • Total Pitching Points – 2nd (5th)
  • Total Points – 5th (8th)

Summary:

Now here is a real sleeper candidate.  The Cougars have not finished in the top half of the league since 2004.  But this definitely looks like a team that is capable of making a big leap forward.  The most interesting thing in these projections is the Cougars shift from a speed to a power team.  In light of some spring training injuries, I think fourth in home runs is a little unrealistic, but they certainly do have more power on the roster.  They will need to overcome early injuries to Mark Teixeira and Brett Lawrie though.  Assuming he isn’t out too long, expect a big bounce-back season from Lawrie to help justify his status as the #1 pick in last year’s draft.  The pitching staff is very good.  I don’t think it is possible for Kris Medlen to repeat his performance as a starter last year, but he won’t need to.  Gio Gonzalez, Madison Bumgarner and Adam Wainwright join Medlen as four legitimate aces.  5th place may seem like an awfully optimistic prediction for this team, but I think it is quite possible they will finally make their return to the top half of the standings.

I didn’t get around to doing any previews yesterday, so I’m a day behind schedule.  My new goal is two more teams tomorrow (Tuesday) and then the top two championship contenders (according to the projections) on Wednesday.  I hope you are enjoying the first full day of baseball!

Posted in Choppers, Cougars, Moonshiners | No Comments »

No Clowning Around

Monday, March 11th, 2013

Darkhorses outfielder Bryce Harper

Who should the Darkhorses have picked with the first selection in the 2013 DTBL Draft?  That’s a clown question, bro.  With one of the clearest cut decisions in recent memory, the Darkhorses selected 20 year old outfielder Bryce Harper.  The Nationals young phenom burst onto the scene last summer at the ripe age of 19 and proceeded to win the National League Rookie of the Year award.  He bounced back from a mid-summer slump to tear the league apart on his way to a .270 average with 22 home runs and 18 stolen bases.  The home run total was the second most by a teenager in MLB history.

A year after most of the league made the mistake of allowing Mike Trout to slip to the second round, the Darkhorses ensured that the same wouldn’t happen this time around.  Of course, Harper has much higher expectations heading into this season than Trout did a year ago since he has a roster spot locked up and is even expected to hit third in the lineup for one of the top World Series contenders.  Although both are legitimate five tool players, Harper does have a slightly different skill set than Trout.  Harper is projected to be the bigger power threat while Trout has unmatched speed on the bases and in the outfield.  The sky is the limit for Harper, and his bust potential seems extremely low.

Harper is only the second player to become a first overall selection in both the MLB and DTBL drafts.  Alex Rodriguez is the other, which makes it interesting that Harper is entering the league at the exact same time as ARod’s 16 year career with the Kings is coming to an end.  I’m sure the Darkhorses would be happy to get at least a decade and a half of service out of Harper.  I’m 99% positive that Harper was the youngest player to ever be drafted by a DTBL team in the first round (maybe any round), an honor he held for less than 24 hours (more on that later).  The Darkhorses are looking to bounce back from two straight disappointing, injury-riddled seasons.  Harper has the potential to quickly accelerate the rebuilding process, much like Trout did for the Mavericks a year ago.

Last year, the Gators had the tall order of trying to rebuild without the benefit of a first or second round pick.  This year, they held onto those picks and wisely used them to pick up a few of the best young players in the draft.  With the second overall pick, they selected Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes who made an immediate impact in his first big league season, hitting several prodigious home runs early in the season.  He somewhat quietly proceeded to have an outstanding season that surely would have earned him a Rookie of the Year nod if it weren’t for some guy named Trout.  Cespedes slugged 23 home runs with 82 RBI and 16 steals.  Like Harper, he has big time power potential with the ability to add a bunch of stolen bases too.

If Kris Medlen can come anywhere close to matching his 2012 numbers, the Cougars might suddenly have one of the league’s top pitching staffs.  Medlen, a Tommy John surgery survivor, started last season in the bullpen, but then became nearly unhittable after moving into the rotation.  He won 10 games with a miniscule 1.57 ERA and a sub 1.00 WHIP.  The Cougars selected him with the third pick in the draft.  The Demigods then followed with another starting pitcher, Yu Darvish.  Along with Cespedes, Darvish was the other key foreign import to the big leagues last season.  He displayed overpowering stuff, striking out 221 hitters in just 190 innings.  He should help the Demigods recover from a season that was largely derailed by a shaky pitching staff.  The Choppers took the Cubs young first baseman, Anthony Rizzo, with the fifth pick.  Rizzo had been a highly touted prospect for a number of years, before finally breaking through with a solid season for his third MLB organization.  Rizzo figures to be a centerpiece in the Cubs lineup for some time to come.

For the most part, the top five picks were fairly clear cut.  I know those five players were the top five on my draft board, and I suspect I’m not alone.  But I felt there was a significant drop-off in available talent after those five.  Which was kind of fitting because the next five teams all came within an eyelash of winning the championship last year anyway.

For the second straight year, the Jackalope were the first team to select a non-DTBL rookie.  With the sixth pick, they took second baseman Danny Espinosa, who spent the last two seasons with the Kings.  Espinosa spent almost the entire ’12 season on the Kings bench, but only because he was at a log jammed position.  He actually had a very solid year and provides significant power and speed for a middle infielder.  He seems to be getting better each year too.  Next, the Moonshiners selected closer Fernando Rodney, the obvious #1 relief pitcher on the board.  Rodney re-emerged as an elite closer for the Rays, saving 48 games with a ridiculous 0.60 ERA.  Seventh is the earliest a relief pitcher has been selected since 2010.  But the Moonshiners were in desperate need of a second closer and only had two picks in the first rounds with which to acquire one.

For the fourth straight years, the Mavericks had multiple first round picks.  This time, they didn’t acquire the second one until just before they were on the clock with the eighth pick.  They dealt one member of their stable of first basemen, Ike Davis, to the Kings for the ninth overall pick.  So with two consecutive picks, the Mavericks did what has become their trademark:  they selected two young prospects, second baseman Jurickson Profar and third baseman Manny Machado.  Both have big upside, but Machado figures to make a more immediate impact since Profar is temporarily without a position in Texas, behind Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler.  Of course, this is a similar situation that Mike Trout was in a year ago.  Profar just turned 20 a few weeks ago, which is notable for a couple reasons.  First, I believe it makes him the youngest player in DTBL history (he’s a few months younger than Harper).  Next, he is the first DTBL player to have been born after the inaugural DTBL Draft in January of 1993.  So he’s actually younger than this league!  (Damn, we’re getting old)

For the second straight year, the Kings used the first round to try to fill their gaping hole at first base.  But this time, they did so by trading their pick for Ike Davis.  Davis got off to a horrific start in 2012, due in part to his slow recovery from valley fever, which he contracted during spring training.  But he rebounded in the second half of the season and turned into one of the leading home run hitters after the break.  He finished the season with 32 bombs.  Finally, the Naturals used the last pick of the first round to re-acquire catcher Victor Martinez.  Martinez missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL suffered over the previous winter.  The Naturals were clearly reluctant to let him go after holding him on the roster for the entire season.  However, when the opportunity came to pick him up again, they jumped all over it.  Although his catching days may be over, he will likely produce stellar numbers at a position that is extremely difficult to fill.

For the most part, there were few surprises in the first round.  And I honestly can’t criticize any of the picks.  The top five teams went with the best players available, while the second half of the round featured last year’s contenders fill holes and/or proceed with their successful draft strategies.

The pace of the draft has been great so far too.  We’re already into the fifth round at the four day mark, so I’d say we are well ahead of schedule.  Keep up the good work!

Posted in Choppers, Cougars, Darkhorses, Demigods, Draft, Gators, Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

American Dominance

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

All-Star Game MVP Carlos Ruiz

Just like the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday, there was little drama in the DTBL All-Star Game on Thursday evening.  In the 19th annual mid-summer game, the American Division cruised to a 12-1 victory over their National Division counterparts.  The game even started eerily similar to the MLB game with Justin Verlander getting torched in the top of the first.  The National All-Stars didn’t record their first hit until the fifth inning.  Gators catcher Carlos Ruiz was named the MVP, going 3 for 3 with a home run and four runs knocked in.  The game was played at the Demidome, home of Dom’s Demigods.

The game got off to an ominous start for the National Division with Verlander hitting Andrew McCutchen with the first pitch of the game.  McCutchen came around to score on a base hit by Jose Bautista.  David Wright followed with another RBI single.  Later in the inning, Ruiz got his big night started with a two run single to give the American team a quick 4-0 lead in the first.

The American starting pitcher, Matt Cain, was far more effective.  He pitched two scoreless, hitless innings and was followed by David Price who pitched two innings without giving up a hit either.  Stephen Strasburg was the second pitcher into the game for the National squad, but he was only slightly more effective than Verlander.  He gave up a two run home run to Miguel Cabrera in the top of the second, which increased the American lead to six.  They were on cruise control from there, but were definitely not done scoring.

In the top of the fifth, Cole Hamels came in to pitch for the National Division and promptly gave up extra base hits to the first three hitters he faced.  Doubles by Mark Trumbo and Ian Kinsler proceeded a two run home run by Ruiz.  Half way through the game, it was 9-0 American with the National All-Stars still looking for their first hit.  That hit finally came in the bottom of the fifth when Buster Posey hit a solo home run to end the no-hitter and shutout.

The American Division still had more runs in them.  They scored three more in the top of the seventh to push the score to 12-1.  The big hit of the inning was a bases clearing three run double by Ryan Braun.  Neither team scored the rest of the way.  Craig Kimbrel finished things off in the ninth with a pair of strike outs, including one of A.J. Pierzynski to end mercifully end the game.

There were plenty of offensive stars for the American Division, but Ruiz was the obvious choice for MVP.  Ruiz and Braun both had three hits and at least three RBIs (four for Ruiz).  Cabrera, Bautista and Kinsler each had multiple hits as well.  All told, the American All-Stars recorded 12 runs on 16 hits.  Meanwhile, the National team only recorded four hits, with Posey’s home run being the only hit by a National starter.  Jason Kipnis had a pair of hits off the bench.

Cain and Price were the pitching stars of the game.  Although the OOTP box score credits Price with the win, that distinction actually belongs to Cain since we don’t have a minimum inning requirement for earning a victory in an All-Star Game.  Verlander took the loss.  The defensive star of the game was probably McCutchen.  He had six putouts in six innings in center field.  Interestingly, he made catches to end five of the six innings he played.

As usual, the game was played using the Out of the Park Baseball simulation game.  For the second straight year, there was a live webcast of the game on LiveStream.  Check out the link below if you would like to watch the archived video.  Congrats to Jay for managing his team to an easy win and thanks for taking the time to take part in the game.  Here’s to an exciting second half!

Box Score

LiveStream Channel (with archived video)

Posted in All-Star Game, Choppers, Cougars, Demigods, Gators, Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

Around the League

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

Moonshiners savior R.A. Dickey

We’re only in the last week of June, but I’m ready to declare that we have quite a pennant race brewing.  At no point has any team in the league asserted its dominance, thus leaving us with a situation where seven out of the ten teams are in a very good position to win the championship.  Those seven teams are all within 10 points of first place, with the top five separated by just four points.  Somehow, the Mavericks have managed to hold the top spot most of the year, but it has been by the thinnest of margins at most times, including today when they are just 1/2 point clear of the Jackalope.

As we near the half way point of the season, I’m going to take a quick look at each of the ten teams, highlighting some of the key stories for each team.  I will start with the three teams who are not currently in the thick of the race and then work my way up to the top of the standings.

Darkhorses

Only a year and a half removed from four consecutive championships, it would be fair to say things have gone downhill since then.  While last year was a shocking disappointment for the Darkhorses, this season has been an absolute nightmare.  Injuries have been the story of the league this season, but no team has had their season completely ruined by injuries like the Darkhorses.  They sit in last place with just 18.5 points, so they are in serious jeopardy of breaking the league’s all time low water mark of 20 points since the league expanded to 10 teams in 1998.  If you look at their roster, there is no way they should be this bad.  Besides the injuries, incredibly disappointing seasons from Adrian Gonzalez and Tim Lincecum haven’t helped either.  If those guys can turn it around and Chris Carpenter, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner return soon, maybe they can gain a little momentum and avoid a historically bad season.

Gators

Still a work in progress, and not really a threat this year, but things are looking up for the Gators.  Their ridiculously bad offense from ’11 has improved a bit and their pitching staff is respectable.  But there is still a lot of work to do.  Their huge pre-draft trade with the Mavericks hasn’t really worked out.  Nelson Cruz has been so-so and Mark Reynolds has provided virtually nothing.  They could have used those picks to improve in other areas, but what’s done is done.  The first draft pick they did make, Melky Cabrera in round three, has been a huge surprise, currently third in the league with a .355 average.  The Gators appear to be headed for another high draft slot next season.  With some exciting young players coming into the league again next year, maybe they will have an opportunity to grab one of them.

Demigods

The third team not currently in the title race is the Demigods.  At the beginning of the year, they looked like a team ready to make a run at the championship.  But like the Darkhorses, the Demigods have been sabotaged by injuries.  One in particular:  Matt Kemp.  In April, Kemp appeared to be a shoe-in for his second straight DTBL MVP award and a possible Triple Crown.  But since then, he has missed the better part of the last two months.  Who knows what he will provide when he returns?  But a healthy Kemp and Evan Longoria could get the Demigods back into contention.

Cougars

Although they are only in seventh place, this is the best Cougars team in a long time.  They are just 9.5 points behind the Mavericks and could get even closer if a couple of their pitchers turn things around.  Josh Hamilton has carried the offense, despite slowing down a bit of late.  Jason Kipnis has been one of the biggest steals of the draft, providing big time power and speed at a weak second base position.  Many were surprised when the Cougars passed on Stephen Strasburg with the first pick of the draft.  That may not have been a wise decision, but the Cougars made up for it by grabbing his Nationals teammate Gio Gonzalez in the second round.  Gonzalez’s numbers are pretty similar to Strasburg’s and you have to figure the Cougars would not have taken Gonzalez if they had gone with Strasburg in round one.

Choppers

The transformation of the Choppers has been quite remarkable.  Last year they were all offense with a questionable pitching staff.  This year, it is just the opposite.  They are second in the league with 40 pitching points, but only have 20 batting points.  One player is mostly responsible for the pitching turnaround:  Chris Sale.  Over the years, many teams have benefited from an extra starting pitcher in a relief pitching slot.  But normally, that pitcher doesn’t put up All-Star caliber stats like Sale is doing this year.  He’s keeping together a staff whose starting rotation is bandaged up with a bunch of free agent signings to fill in for other injured starters.  The injuries to the Choppers rotation could be a huge problem in the upcoming weeks/months.  But there is certainly reason to believe the offense will pick it up.  Jose Bautista is heating up, now in a tie for the league lead in home runs.  He could help the Choppers pick up some offensive points to move even closer to first place.

Kings

It is hard to say that a team four points out of first has been a huge disappointment, but to some degree, I think that can be said about the Kings.  The pitching staff has been atrocious as a whole.  They are ninth in the league in ERA and near the bottom in WHIP and wins too.  Justin Verlander needs some help.  Recently, the Kings have done a poor job of rotating their extra starting pitchers into the lineup.  In the last eight days, they missed out on a one hit shutout by Ervin Santana and seven great innings from Edwin Jackson last night.  If they could ever start picking the right five starting pitchers for a given week, they could be on to something.  For the most part, the offense has been great, leading the league in batting points.  But the lack of production from two Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse, has been troubling.  The Kings are still in pretty good shape despite being in fifth place though.

Naturals

Much of what I wrote about the Choppers also applies to the Naturals.  They have transformed from an offensive juggernaut with a mediocre pitching staff to a team with a disappointing offense and the best pitching staff in the league.  Matt Cain, Zack Greinke and David Price have been outstanding for the Naturals rotation.  Jordan Zimmermann would be right there too if he would ever get run support and win some games.  The Naturals have to be considered one of the most dangerous teams heading into the second half because you  have to figure their offense will improve.  Having said that, the recent injury to Troy Tulowitzki could be extremely costly.  He’s expected to miss the next 6-8 weeks and they don’t have an obvious candidate to pick up the slack.

Moonshiners

The Moonshiners are perhaps the league’s most intriguing team right now.  They have suffered some very costly injuries to their pitching staff, with the most devastating one coming this past week when Brandon Beachy was lost for the season with a torn UCL.  Beachy was leading the league in ERA and had a sub 1.00 WHIP.  But one free agent signing may have saved their season.  Since joining the Moonshiners a month ago, R.A. Dickey has not allowed an earned run.  Read that again.  Dickey has a 0.00 ERA, 0.495 WHIP, four wins and 42 strike outs in just 34.1 innings with the Moonshiners.  The 37 year old knuckleballer has been the league’s best story this year and may have a huge say in determining if the Moonshiners can win their first DTBL championship.

Jackalope

It really can’t get any tighter at the top of the standings.  As of today, the defending champions sit one half point behind the Mavericks.  Batting points:  35.5 for the Mavericks, 35.0 for the Jackalope.  Pitching points:  both have 33.  So both teams are holding their own in batting and pitching.  The Jackalope got off to a bit of a slow start, but ever since their two biggest stars, Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun, have started to heat up, so has this team.  I think they have to be considered the favorites at this point, especially if they are able to get anything out of Ryan Howard in the second half.  Their dominating rotation from last year hasn’t been quite the same this season.  But Felix Hernandez has been better of late, Cliff Lee will eventually win a game and Roy Halladay should provide he boost when he gets healthy.  As long as they keep it close, I like their chances down the stretch.

Mavericks

This has been a pretty remarkable season for the Mavericks, following two consecutive eighth place finishes.  Despite the incredible tightness of the race, they have managed to hold onto first place most of the year.  Their strategy of stockpiling draft picks is paying off.  Their pre-draft trade with the Gators may alter the course of this league for years to come.  The two players they acquired with the draft picks they received in that trade:  Stephen Strasburg and Mike Trout.  Strasburg leads the league in strike outs and is not far behind in ERA, WHIP and wins too.  What the Nationals decide to do with him when he reaches that magical 160 IP mark could have a dramatic impact on this league.  I’ll probably write about this more when that date gets closer because I have a strong opinion on the matter.  Meanwhile, I’ll be honest, I thought Trout was a bit of a gamble in the early second round because I wasn’t so sure the Angels would be able to make room for him this season.  Boy was I wrong.  He is hitting .351 and will probably be leading the league in stolen bases before June is over.  If Adam Dunn, Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Jones keep hitting home runs at their current rates, the Mavericks are going to be tough to catch, despite all the teams nipping on their heels.

Posted in Choppers, Cougars, Darkhorses, Demigods, Gators, Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

A Crowded Infirmary

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

Choppers relief pitcher Mariano Rivera

Memorial Day is usually a good point in the season to take stock in how the baseball season is going and examine where it may be headed.  As usual, there are hitters and pitchers who are vastly exceeding expectations, and have done so for long enough to make you think it may not be a fluke.  Some of those players are helping to put their DTBL teams at or near the top of the standings.  However, there seems to be a much bigger factor in determining a team’s success (or lack there of) this season:  injuries.

Almost daily, there is another key player going down to an injury, whether it be a minor day-to-day issue, or one that has the player headed to season ending surgery.  We’ve had torn ACLs, torn UCLs, sprained knees, torn hamstrings, broken hands, blurred vision, chronic illness, you name it.  It started in spring training when two closers were lost for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery (Naturals’ Joakim Soria, Jackalope Ryan Madson).  Two DTBL first round draft picks are yet to play a game this season (Kings’ Michael Morse, Choppers’ Michael Pineda).  It is never a good sign when two of the most mentioned names in baseball are Tommy John and Dr. James Andrews.

Even the previously indestructible players are falling victim to this plague.  The surest thing in baseball, Choppers’ Mariano Rivera, tore his ACL while shagging fly balls.  And just yesterday, the always reliable Roy Halladay (Jackalope) was lost for 6-8 weeks due to a lat strain.  Halladay wasn’t the only ace to go down yesterday either.  Jered Weaver (Moonshiners) was pulled from his start in the first inning with a back problem.  Fellow Moonshiner starting pitcher Ted Lilly hit the DL as well, as did red hot Kings catcher Jonathan LuCroy who suffered the freakiest injury of the season, breaking his hand due to a falling suitcase in a hotel room.

In those last two paragraphs, I named nine different players, and that didn’t even begin to scratch the surface.  Every DTBL team has been affected, some more than others.  I probably need to take a closer look at each roster to see if this is still the case, but prior to this most recent string of injuries, there were three teams in particular who had been absolutely decimated:  the Darkhorses, Choppers and Demigods.  All three are around the double digit mark in total number of players who have spent time on the DL, including some very critical losses.  I suspect the Moonshiners are moving close to this list as well after losing 40% of their rotation yesterday.  The Darkhorses injury problems were so bad, for a while they were fielding a major league roster with at least three disabled players.  The Choppers and Demigods minors are/were filled with virtually nothing but injured players.

The Mavericks have been in first place virtually the entire season.  In large part, that is because they had been the healthiest team in the league.  Until about a week ago, their only injured player was 12th round draft pick, and projected bench player, Lorenzo Cain.  But now the Mavericks have joined the rest of the league after having lost Neftali Feliz and Austin Jackson.  Still, they are in better shape than most.  With the exception of two pre-season injuries (Madson and Ryan Howard), the Jackalope had been relatively healthy as well, which helped guide them past the Mavericks for a couple days last week.  But now this Halladay injury could be a major problem for the defending champions.

On a positive note, these injuries have certainly restrained any one team from running out to a huge lead, keeping most of the league very much in the mix.  Half of the league is within 10 points of first place and two others are within 20.  So if any of these teams can get relatively healthy, there are plenty of points to be gained.  But that “healthy” term seems inconceivable for some teams at this point.

It was suggested to me by one league member that we look into adding additional DL slot(s) to our rosters in the future.  I am not necessarily opposed to this idea, but keep in mind that such a change would require a number of other adjustments as well, like the total number of players on the league roster and maybe a change to the free agent signing limit too.  This is a conversation I’m willing to have though if the consensus is that change is needed.  Obviously, no change will be made for this season though.  In the mean time, hopefully some of this madness will come to an end and we’ll be able to determine a champion based on player performance rather than healthy body tallies.

Hopefully my next article will be about player(s) who are actually contributing to their DTBL squads!

Posted in Choppers, Darkhorses, Demigods, Jackalope, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | 4 Comments »

Choppers looking to break out from middle of pack

Friday, April 13th, 2012

Chris Sale, RP

Projected Finish: Fifth                          2011 Finish: Sixth

AVG: D                                                              W: B
HR: B                                                                 ERA: B
R: C                                                                   WHIP:B
RBI: C                                                                K: A
SB: C                                                                 SV: B
Marc’s favorite draft pick: Brandon Morrow, SP, Round 4 – solid 200 K contributor

Charlie’s favorite draft pick: Chris Sale, RP, Round 6 – Charlie has made a habit of drafting RP-eligible players who will start in the current year (Phil Hughes/C.J. Wilson in 2010, Tim Stauffer in 2011), and tall, skinny Sale could put up numbers better than any of them in those years

Overview: The Choppers offense broke through in 2011 in a major way with outstanding seasons from Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson and free agent pickup Alex Gordon, but outside of SVs and Ks, their pitching staff didn’t pull its weight.

By taking SPs with three of their first four picks (Michael Pineda, Matt Garza and Morrow) as well as a starter with RP eligibility (Sale), the Choppers addressed their biggest need. However, the first-round selection of Michael Pineda was my least favorite of the three. Pineda had a good rookie year in Seattle, a pitchers haven, but he was shipped to the Yankees this year and will have to throw in New Yankee Stadium, where his 44.8 percent fly ball rate could lead to a spike in his 0.95 HR per 9 IP rate.

The Choppers are putting a fair amount of faith in Mark Trumbo getting enough ABs to warrant being their only full-time 1B. However, if the Giants ever give Brandon Belt a real shot and he succeeds, he could prove to have been a great eighth-round pick this year.

It was surprising to see the projection systems rank the Choppers’ offense in the middle of the DTBL pack. However, a strong set of OFs could make up for a more ordinary group of infielders.

Choppers   dscx- Projected Finish: Fifth                          2011 Finish: Sixth
AVG: D

HR: B

R: C

RBI: C

SB: C

W: B

ERA: B

WHIP:B

K: A

SV: B
Marc’s favorite draft pick: Brandon Morrow, SP, Round 4 – solid 200 K contributor

Charlie’s favorite draft pick: Chris Sale, RP, Round 6 – Charlie has made a habit of drafting RP-eligible players who will start in the current year (Phil Hughes/C.J. Wilson in 2010, Tim Stauffer in 2011), and tall, skinny Sale could put up numbers better than any of them in those years

Overview: The Choppers offense broke through in 2011 in a major way with outstanding seasons from Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson and free agent pickup Alex Gordon, but outside of SVs and Ks, their pitching staff didn’t pull its weight.

By taking SPs with three of their first four picks (Michael Pineda, Matt Garza and Morrow) as well as a starter with RP eligibility (Sale), the Choppers addressed their biggest need. However, the first-round selection of Michael Pineda was my least favorite of the three. Pineda had a good rookie year in Seattle, a pitchers haven, but he was shipped to the Yankees this year and will have to throw in New Yankee Stadium, where his 44.8 percent fly ball rate could lead to a spike in his 0.95 HR per 9 IP rate.

The Choppers are putting a fair amount of faith in Mark Trumbo getting enough ABs to warrant being their only full-time 1B. However, if the Giants ever give Brandon Belt a real shot and he succeeds, he could prove to have been a great eighth-round pick this year.

It was surprising to see the projection systems rank the Choppers’ offense in the middle of the DTBL pack. However, a strong set of OFs could make up for a more ordinary group of infielders.

AVG: D

HR: B

R: C

RBI: C

SB: C

W: B

ERA: B

WHIP:B

K: A

SV: B


Marc’s favorite draft pick: Brandon Morrow, Round 4 – solid 200 K contributor

Charlie’s favorite draft pick: Chris Sale, Round 6 – Charlie has made a habit of drafting RP-eligible players who will start in the current year (Phil Hughes/C.J. Wilson in 2010, Tim Stauffer in 2011), and tall, skinny Sale could put up numbers better than any of them in those years

Overview: The Choppers offense broke through in 2011 in a major way with outstanding seasons from Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson and Alex Gordon, but outside of SVs and Ks, their pitching staff didn’t pull its weight.

By taking SPs with three of their first four picks as well as a starter with RP eligibility (Sale), the Choppers addressed their biggest need. However, the first-round selection of Michael Pineda was one of the picks I didn’t like. Pineda had a good rookie year in Seattle, a pitchers haven, but he was shipped to the Yankees this year and will have to throw in New Yankee Stadium, where fly balls turn to home runs.

The Choppers are putting a fair amount of faith in Mark Trumbo getting enough ABs to warrant being their only full-time 1B. However, if the Giants ever give Brandon Belt a real shot and he succeeds, he could prove to have been a great eighth-round pick this year. The projection systems are down on the Choppers offense this year

Posted in Choppers | 1 Comment »

A Veteran Wins DTBL ROY

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Choppers outfielder Jose Bautista

Going into this year’s draft, the 2011 DTBL rookie class was not highly touted.  To make matters worse, several of the top youngsters picked in that draft proceeded to have very disappointing and/or injury-plagued seasons.  However, the rookie class turned out to be rather deep with a bunch of players taken after the first round easily exceeding expectations.  In the end, it was a “veteran” who won the 2011 DTBL Rookie of the Year Award.  The honor went to Choppers outfielder Jose Bautista.

2011 was Jose Bautista’s eighth MLB season, but the first season in which he appeared on a DTBL roster, making him eligible for this award.  From 2004-2009, Bautista was little more than a platoon/role player in the outfield and at third base with virtually no fantasy value.  But in 2010, he broke out in a big way, slugging 54 home runs with 124 RBIs.  Those numbers immediately made him one of the most sought after players in this year’s draft.  The Choppers felt very fortunate to pick him up with the fourth pick in the draft.  Although he entered this season with many wondering if 2010 was a fluke, he did not disappoint.  He hit 43 home runs with 103 RBIs and 105 runs scored.  His .302 batting average surpassed his previous single season high by more than 40 points.  So while ’10 was his true breakout season, ’11 was the year he became a complete hitter and a legitimate superstar.  He managed to lead the DTBL in home runs in his very first season.  Finishing the season at age 30 made Bautista a very unusual “rookie”, but he is not the oldest DTBL ROY winner.  I believe that distinction belongs to Andres Galarraga who won the league’s first Rookie of the Year Award in 1994 at the age of 33.

Bautista was a huge part of a vastly improved Choppers squad.  Although they finished the season in sixth place, the Choppers were in the hunt until the final month of the season and were much more competitive than they have been in recent years.  That is largely due to the significant power boost provided by Bautista and Curtis Granderson.  The slugging duo finished first and second in the league in home runs.  Both figure to be strong candidates for the MVP Award, which will be announced next week.  The Choppers finished in the top half of the league in all five offensive categories, a year after finishing in the bottom half in all except batting average.

The depth of this year’s rookie class is very apparent after taking a glance at the award’s voting results.  American League Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson was on the DTBL ballot as well, but did not receive a single vote.  Bautista won the award by garnering 7 of the 10 first place votes and a total of 87 points.  The runner up was Bautista’s Choppers teammate, relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel.  Kimbrel saved 46 games with a 2.10 ERA, 1.039 WHIP and an extremely impressive 127 strike outs.  He was named the National League Rookie of the Year earlier this week.  Kimbrel was a third round pick by the Choppers.  Since they traded away their second round pick, all the Choppers first two picks wound up doing was finish first and second in the DTBL ROY vote.  Kimbrel received the other three first place votes and accumulated 75 points.  Another closer came in third, the Jackalope’s John Axford, who matched Kimbrel’s 46 save total.  The only pitcher with more saves than these two DTBL rookies was Jose Valverde.  Axford received enough votes to get 37 points.  His Jackalope teammate, slugging outfielder Mike Stanton, finished fourth.  Stanton’s 34 home runs gave the champions just the kind of power threat they needed.  Just like the Choppers, the Jackalope struck gold in the first couple rounds of the draft.  Stanton was a first round selection and Axford was picked in the second round.  Rounding out the top five was yet another closer, the Moonshiners’ Drew Storen.  Storen saved 43 games.  The Kimbrel/Axford/Storen combination is about as good of a set of rookie closers as you will ever see.

Click here to see the full voting results.

The 2011 Cy Young Award winner will be announced this Friday and the DTBL Most Valuable Player will be named next Tuesday, November 22.

Posted in Awards, Choppers | No Comments »

Good, Bad and Ugly

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Moonshiners first baseman Prince Fielder

You’ve heard all about the champion Jackalope.  Now it’s time to take a look back at the 2011 season for the other nine teams.  I’ve grouped them into three categories:  the good, the bad and the ugly.  These groups don’t necessarily relate to the order of finish, but how competitive the teams were compared to expectations.  The three teams I identified as “good” all finished higher in the standings than they did a year ago and should feel like they are headed in the right direction.  “Bad” isn’t really the right word for the second group, because two of the three teams actually finished near the top of the standings.  Disappointing is a better way to describe them.  Finally, the teams that fall into the “ugly” category would probably like to pretend 2011 never happened.

THE GOOD

Mike’s Moonshiners

The quickest team out of the gate, the Moonshiners led the league for a good part of the first quarter of the season.  They stumbled a bit in early summer and never really recovered, finishing in third place.  However, that was up two spots from a year ago and was their best finish since 2008.  The improvement was almost entirely due to the pitching staff, which received a huge boost from the Jackalope trade which brought them ace pitcher and Cy Young candidate Jared Weaver.  While I already mentioned how beneficial that trade was to the Jackalope, the impact was similar for the Moonshiners.  Weaver turned their average pitching staff into one of the league’s best.  He finished in the top five of the league in ERA, WHIP and wins.  Meanwhile, the offense was carried by slugging first baseman Prince Fielder (38 HR, 120 RBI) and 30/30 man Ian Kinsler (32 HR, 30 SB).  Now that the pitching staff has been fixed, the Moonshiners will look to improve their offense going into 2012.  With the Jackalope winning their first title this year, the Moonshiners are now the longest tenured DTBL team without a title.  They figure to have a good chance to change that next year.

Dom’s Demigods

The biggest jump in the standings was made by the Demigods.  After finishing dead last a year ago, they managed to move into the top half of the standings with a fifth place finish in 2011.  This is despite the fact that they got almost nothing out of their first overall pick (Buster Posey);  same with his catching partner Joe Mauer.  The rest of the offense was surprisingly good though, finishing in the top five in every category and leading the league in batting average.  The indisputable MVP of the team was Matt Kemp, who hit .324 with 39 HR, 126 RBI, 115 R, 40 SB.  He led the league in RBIs and was the only player to appear on the league leaderboard in all five categories.  He even flirted with the NL Triple Crown until the final week of the season.  The pitching staff was a bit of a disappointment, but overall, the Demigods appear to be headed in the right direction.

Charlie’s Thunder Choppers

Although they only wound up finishing one spot higher than a year ago (6th, up from 7th), this was a much better year for the Choppers.  They were a title contender in the second half of the season for the first time in five years.  They wound up finishing 16 1/2 points out of first, cutting almost half the deficit from a year ago (32 points).  As I documented in an article a couple months ago, it was some recent first round draft picks that helped pump some more juice into the Choppers offense.  Jose Bautista and Curtis Granderson finished first and second in the league in home runs (43 and 41 respectively).  Both are strong MVP candidates, while Bautista is even eligible for the DTBL Rookie of the Year award.  Granderson led the league with 136 runs scored, the highest total since 2007.  The Choppers boast another strong ROY candidate in closer Craig Kimbrel who saved 46 games in his first full MLB season.  If the Choppers can add one or two more elite starting pitchers, they are another team to watch in 2012.

THE BAD

Nick’s Naturals

Okay, I admit it isn’t really fair to put the Naturals in a category labeled as “bad”, because they were definitely not that.  But a defending champion almost always has its sights set on repeating, and the Naturals weren’t quite able to do that this year, finishing a distant second.  In some ways, this Naturals team was every bit as good as the one that tied for title last year, but the Jackalope were just a little better.  The Naturals were unable to repeat their amazing feat of 50 batting points from a year ago, but still led the league with 45.  They figured they would need to get more out of their pitching staff though.  Unfortunately for them, that didn’t really happen.  Newly acquired Zack Greinke was solid, but he, along with the rest of the staff, didn’t have a truly spectacular season.  Still, the Naturals shouldn’t regret their Greinke/Howard trade, because the pitching would have been worse without Greinke.  Miguel Cabrera and Joey Votto led the league’s best offense.  Cabrera won the batting title with a .344 average.  Overall, there is nothing for the Naturals to be ashamed of this year.  They were as close as one half point behind the Jackalope in late August.  They figure to be right back in the title hunt again next year.

Kevin’s Kings

Again, this wasn’t a “bad” season for the Kings.  They finished exactly where they did a year ago, in fourth place.  However, this time fourth place meant 15 points back and not really a serious contender down the stretch.  Last year, they were in the hunt right until the end and finished just five points behind the co-champions.  Other than place of finish, there was virtually nothing in common between the 2010 and 2011 Kings.  This year’s squad had a below average offense and one of the league’s best pitching staffs.  It was just the opposite in ’10.  The main reason for the pitching upswing was one man:  Justin Verlander.  Verlander tied a DTBL single season record with 24 wins.  He also led the league in WHIP (0.920) and strike outs (250).  Really, he’s the only Kings pitcher who sticks out as having an impressive year, yet they managed to garner 40 pitching points.  On offense, it was an underwhelming and injury plagued season for almost all of the Kings stars.  Jose Reyes bounced back to being one of the league’s elite players, but he too couldn’t stay healthy.  It is hard to say where this franchise is headed.  Without Verlander’s monster year, they could have finished near the bottom of the standings this year.  On the other hand, had a few key guys stayed healthy, they may have been in the hunt until the end.

Marc’s Mavericks

Now this is the one team in this group where the “bad” label probably applies.  For the second straight year, the Mavericks finished in eighth place.  But this isn’t a franchise that typically goes through long rebuilding processes.  Last year, they were completely wrecked by injuries and essentially gave up with a couple months to play.  This year, they had some injuries, but that wasn’t the biggest problem.  Disappointing seasons from almost all of their young players gave them little hope of competing.  They have had five first round picks the past two years, and I would call several of them major disappointments at this point.  Carlos Santana and Matt Wieters had decent seasons at a weak offensive position, but the jury is still out on them.  Gordon Beckham and Jayson Heward have been huge busts so far.  The only Maverick who really stood out as having a tremendous 2011 season was Clayton Kershaw.  Kerhsaw led the league in ERA (2.28) and was just behind Verlander in WHIP (0.977), wins (21) and strike outs (248).  It should definitely come down to those two for the Cy Young award.  The Mavericks really need to hit some home runs with their early picks in next year’s draft because the last two years have been rather forgettable.

THE UGLY

David’s Darkhorses

The Darkhorses set a standard of excellence in winning four consecutive DTBL championships from 2006-2010.  This year, not only did they fail to meet that standard, but they wound up with the worst finish in league history for a defending champion, finishing a distant seventh.  They won those four titles by having the most balanced team in the league, usually finishing first or second in both batting and pitching.  This year, they somehow managed to fall to the middle of the pack in both areas.  Injuries were a factor, but not to the extent you would expect for a team that fell apart like this.  Below average seasons for most of the roster is the main explanation.  I suppose it was bound to happen eventually.  On the bright side, Jacoby Ellsbury turned himself into one of the best fantasy players with a 32 HR, 39 SB season while hitting .321.  His Red Sox teammate Adrian Gonzalez had another solid year for the Darkhorses, but dropped off a bit in the second half.  One major problem with the pitching staff was the criminally bad run support Tim Lincecum received.  He only won 13 games despite putting up his usual dominating numbers in the other categories.  James Shields and Chris Carpenter also won fewer games than you would expect from their other numbers.  I’ll chalk this up as a worst-case scenario season for the Darkhorses.  Surely, things will go better next year.

Greg’s Gators

I should point out that until the final day of the season, it appeared the Gators, and possibly the Cougars as well, were going to break the DTBL record for fewest total points in the 10 team era.  Fortunately for them, both teams picked up a point or two in the final day and avoided this place in history.  They wound up tied for ninth place with a putrid 21 total points, one clear of the record low mark of 20 by Tim’s Titans in 1999.

While the Gators did avoid that distinction, they managed to set a different low water mark.  Their six batting points are the fewest ever in the 10 team era (since ’98, batting or pitching).  Only a couple stolen bases prevented them from finishing dead last in all five offensive categories.  Sadly, they were in last by a fairly wide margin in most categories.  They are going to have a tough time finding enough players worthy of keeping.  About the only offensive player who put up keeper-worthy numbers was Dan Uggla, and even he only hit .233.  The pitching staff was a little better, mostly thanks to C.C. Sabathia.  Injuries to Jair Jurrjens and Josh Johnson prevented them from having a pretty respectable staff.  Overall, there is a lot of work to do for this squad.  I think 2011 was clearly the worst season in franchise history.

Kelly’s Cougars

I think Kelly clearly had more important things on her mind this year, which caused her to not put a lot of time and effort into her team.  I’m not sure it would have mattered though.  Much as was the case with the White Sox, Adam Dunn almost single-handedly ruined the Cougars season.  Nobody had a particularly good season either though.  Josh Hamilton fought through injuries, and other key players were simply inconsistent.  The pitching staff was especially poor, though that can be partly blamed on the loss of staff ace Adam Wainwright to Tommy John surgery before the season even started.  This will be chalked up as a forgettable year for the Cougars.  Perhaps with some bounce back years from their key players, 2012 should be better.

Posted in Choppers, Cougars, Darkhorses, Demigods, Gators, Kings, Mavericks, Moonshiners, Naturals | No Comments »

Thome Joins 600 Club

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Jim Thome

On Monday night, Jim Thome became the eighth player in MLB history to reach the 600 career home run milestone.  He hit home runs 599 and 600 in consecutive at bats, the first player to do so.  The milestone home run came in the top of the seventh inning off Tigers lefty Daniel Schlereth.  Both of his home runs were hit to the opposite field in Comerica Park, quite a feat in its own right.  Thome helped lead the Twins to a 9-6 victory over the Tigers.

Thome is one of just five players in the 600 home run club who has never been implicated as a steroid user.  He needs ten more home runs to pass Sammy Sosa to move into 7th place on the all-time list.  Although possible, it seems unlikely he will move up any further than that.  Not that there was ever much question about it anyway, but this achievement further cements Thome’s Hall of Fame credentials.  In addition to being one of the game’s all-time great sluggers, he has to be among the most respected by his peers as well.  He has a reputation as an all-around great person.  Personally, I couldn’t be happier for him, even though he plays for the Twins.

Thome has played for five major league teams in 21 seasons.  He came up in the Indians organization, the team for which he hit the most home runs in 12 great seasons.  He then had two very good seasons in Philadelphia before losing his job to Ryan Howard.  Following the 2005 season, he was traded to the White Sox where he had 3 1/2 very productive seasons.  After a brief stay with the Dodgers, he has spent the last two years in Minnesota.

Since Thome has been something of a part-time player for the Twins, his DTBL career has been stifled a bit in recent years.  He has 546 career home runs, placing  him third on the league’s all-time list behind Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.  He is also third in career RBIs (1,492) and fifth in runs scored (1,402).  However, he has not appeared on a DTBL roster this season and is currently a free agent.

Jim Thome has only played for two DTBL teams.  Originally drafted by the Kings in 1995, they released him after four very productive years.  He was the victim of a position crunch for the Kings who also had Frank Thomas and Mark McGwire at first base in ’98 (that was the season McGwire hit 70 home runs).  The Kings loss was the Choppers gain though.  They drafted Thome in the second round in 1999 and he promptly helped his new team win the DTBL Championship that season.  He stuck around with the Choppers for 11 years and 401 home runs.  Only Sammy Sosa has hit more home runs in a Choppers uniform.  The Choppers finally let him go following the 2009 season.  The Kings then reacquired him as a free agent last year, where he quietly put up solid numbers in a short period of time.  He was cut following the season and has been a free agent since.

Congrats to Jim Thome!

Posted in Choppers, Kings | 3 Comments »

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