It was a bit of a rough go of it for the Naturals down the stretch. They had to go at it without two of their best hitters along with several other injuries which left them playing short-handed throughout the final month of the season. Meanwhile, they were being chased by a red hot Demigods squad who had cut the lead to just one point with one day left in the season. Despite all of that, not only did they hang on through a dramatic final day to clinch the title, but they managed to smash the ultimate team record along the way. No team has finished with more points than the 89 they earned this year. Nick’s Naturals are the 2014 DTBL Champions!
You couldn’t have asked for a much better setup for final day drama. The Demigods put up a great final week to close the Naturals lead to just one point heading into Sunday’s games. They did so by passing the Naturals in WHIP, tightening their deficit in RBIs to just two and making moves in several other categories as well. The Demigods lead in WHIP was by the smallest of margins, meaning that category would almost certainly be determined on Sunday when the Demigods had two starters taking the mound (Johnny Cueto and Cole Hamels) opposed by three Naturals hurlers (Zack Greinke, David Price and Jordan Zimmermann). Cueto and Hamels acquitted themselves well, but they were upstaged by the Naturals trio, to say the least. All three picked up victories, allowing a combined one run. Oh, and Zimmermann threw the first no-hitter in Nationals history. Needless to say, that was enough for the Naturals to regain the WHIP title, costing the Demigods a point in the process. They also gained a point in ERA and wins on the final day. The Demigods were able to pass them in RBIs, but that was far too little to overcome the pitching shift. The final tally: 89 points for the Naturals and 86.5 for the Demigods.
The Naturals’ 89 points broke the league record previously held by the 2007 Darkhorses with 87. Their 47 batting points ranks second all-time behind their 2010 co-championship squad which put up a perfect 50. They finished first or second in all five offensive categories. The pitching wasn’t too bad either. 42 pitching points would normally lead the league, but the Demigods actually outdid them there. But thanks to those last day wins, the Naturals finished in the top half of all ten categories and won four of them (AVG, R, W, SV). I will cover the Demigods more in a later article, but their season was record-breaking as well. Their 86.5 points is not only the most ever for a non-champion, but it actually ranks as the third highest team total in league history, trailing only the Naturals and ’07 Darkhorses. Unfortunately for them, they picked the wrong year to put up those kind of numbers.
Early in the season, the Naturals benefited from being one of the few teams not totally decimated by injuries. Of course, their luck in that department changed significantly down the stretch. But in the end, their hot start was enough to carry them to the title. They held the lead almost the entire season. Through most of the first half, it appeared there would be no late season drama as their lead was routinely in double digits. But injuries to Troy Tulowtizki and Joey Votto, among others, wound up being a bit of an equalizer. However, it was shrewd draft picks and a couple key free agent acquisitions which made the difference in the end. An already loaded roster became the most talented in the league thanks to those moves.
It started with the draft when, despite picking seventh, the Naturals managed to acquire several of the best players available. Speedster Billy Hamilton lived up to expectations and was one of the most productive first round picks. Nolan Arenado provided great value from the fourth round. Likewise with Adam Eaton in the sixth. But one of the two biggest steals in the draft was their selection of Anthony Rendon in the sixth round (Demigods drafting Corey Kluber in the 10th probably gets the nod as the biggest steal). Rendon finished second in the league in runs with 115, hit 21 homers with 17 steals and should be a leading candidate for DTBL Rookie of the Year.
These guys augmented a roster that was already pretty loaded. Andrew McCutchen had another MVP candidate kind of season with a .319 average, 23 home runs and 18 steals. Miguel Cabrera had another .300+, 25+ HR, 100+ RBI and R season that was actually a bit of a disappointment because of his insane standards. Justin Upton pitched in 29 home runs and 102 RBI as well. But probably the most valuable player on the roster was Victor Martinez. V-Mart hit a career high 32 home runs with a .335 average and 103 RBI. He led the Naturals offensive players with a 5.6 PAR, good for sixth in the league, but undervalues him at his hard-to-fill position of catcher.
The Naturals have been an offensive powerhouse for years now, so it was the elite performance of the pitching staff that may have cemented their championship status. None of these guys are likely to win the Cy Young, but the trio who pitched Sunday (Price, Greinke and Zimmermann) also happened to be their three best pitchers. It was fitting that they were the ones to nail down the title. Price led the rotation with 271 strikeouts and a 1.079 WHIP. Greinke won the most games (17) and had the lowest ERA (2.71). And Zimmermann was strong in all four of those categories as well. The in-season signing of Phil Hughes turned out to be a key move as well as he filled in for the injured Homer Bailey and the injured/traded Matt Cain. The bullpen featured four of the league’s most dominating closers: Greg Holland, Glen Perkins, Francisco Rodriguez and Jake McGee. They blew the rest of the league away in saves. Rodriguez and McGee were also in-season signings. So while the early use of free agent signings left the Naturals short-handed in the final month, it wasn’t like they were wasted moves.
It is unwise to bet against the Naturals in a close championship race. They have come out on top of most of the great pennant races of the past decade. This was their fourth DTBL title and none of the four have been by more than 3 1/2 points. Their average margin of victory is 1.75 points. In 2010, they tied the Darkhorses for the first/only co-championship in league history. Then two years later they came out on top of the epic five team race. And now you can add this year, when another Naturals championship wasn’t locked up until the final day of the season. With this fourth title, the Naturals have joined the Darkhorses with the second most DTBL championships, trailing only the Kings. Not bad for the league’s youngest franchise. All four of those titles have come in the past ten years and now they have won three of the last five championships, easily putting them in the lead for team of the decade at the half-way mark of the 10s.
Much more to come soon on these season recaps, starting with the Demigods’ heartbreak and a look at a few other teams who didn’t suck. I hope you enjoy the MLB playoffs, which got off to a thrilling start last night. Once again, congratulations to Nick’s Naturals!
Congrats, Nick! It was a great and exciting finish–didn’t turn out how I’d hoped, but definitely well-deserved.