It's been a while. But well worth the wait. Here's Giancarlo Stanton hitting one out of Dodger Stadium:
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
California Penal League 2015 - Week 5 Review
Back-to-back posts! I'm feeling a little bit like Bryce Harper. Now, if only he was in any of my teams... let's get right into it.
Week 5 Recap
The match-up of undefeated squads also doubled as the most exciting head-to-head battle of the week. Ralph's dreams of an undefeated season came to a screeching halt, as Doug squeezed by with a 10 pt win. Both teams played really well, surpassing the 300-pt mark. Ralph suffered a bit of bad luck, as he would've beaten every other team in the league except two; and he happened to play one of them. As for Doug, his dream of going unbeaten stays alive, with Michael Bradley and Mike Trout leading the way.
Week 5 Recap
The match-up of undefeated squads also doubled as the most exciting head-to-head battle of the week. Ralph's dreams of an undefeated season came to a screeching halt, as Doug squeezed by with a 10 pt win. Both teams played really well, surpassing the 300-pt mark. Ralph suffered a bit of bad luck, as he would've beaten every other team in the league except two; and he happened to play one of them. As for Doug, his dream of going unbeaten stays alive, with Michael Bradley and Mike Trout leading the way.
Switching to the very bottom of the standings, I'm happy to report that Drew got his first win! He handily dispatched a very disappointing Kyle. These teams now sit at 11th and 12th, among five (!!!) teams that are 1-4. Everybody would've beaten Kyle this week. I'm sure a team made out of all the players' mothers would've beaten Kyle last week. At least he listened to me and picked up Josh Reddick.
The nice stat where teams currently 1-12 would keep their position if we ranked them by total points is no longer valid. That's thanks to Jon A., who is somehow 4-1 despite having scored less than Pearse and I. A little like the Phillies and Brewers, if you ask me. Let's also remember that he's one Andrew Miller SNB save away from being 5-0. Can I borrow your horseshoe?
Now, let's recognize the best of the best and the worst of the worst.
Now, let's recognize the best of the best and the worst of the worst.
Awards
Back to our weekly format!
Hitter of the Week - Torii Hunter (Good Will Bunting): 40 pts
Just kidding. Of course it's Bryce Harper (Walker Texas Rangers) and his absurd 51 points. 6 homers in 3 games. You already know about the 3-HR game. You also know about the walk-off HR the next day. Kid is absurd. He hit more HR's than had strikeouts this week. That's usually the recipe for POTW.
Goat of the Week, Hitter Edition - Adam Jones (Limp Noodles): 6.5 pts
Drew got his first win, but it wasn't because of his best player. The Oriole had a horrible week at the plate, with only 5 hits (4 singles and 1 double), no runs scored and one RBI. If Drew wants to win any more games, Jones is going to have to play a lot better than this.
Pitcher of the Week - Michael Pineda (Gas House Gorillas): 53.5 pts
Another Yankee pitcher earning an honor. By now, you should know about the 16 strikeout game. What you might not know is that Pineda threw 8 shutout innings against the Jays, one of the most powerful offenses in the AL, on Tuesday. The 30.5 pts from yesterday rank tops in the majors this year, but the 23 pts on Tuesday were pretty stellar too. Hattip to King Felix, his 2000th K, and his major league leading 139 pts.
Goat of the Week, Pitcher Edition - Stephen Strasburg (Home Grown Hitters): -4 pts
This one was hard... but when in doubt, negative points to win. Or lose. As much as I want to give Strasburg the benefit of the doubt because of his shoulder injury, negative points is still worst than not even playing. Honorable mention to David Price and Corey Kluber with their 0 and 0.5 points, respectively.
Goat of the Week, Hitter Edition - Adam Jones (Limp Noodles): 6.5 pts
Drew got his first win, but it wasn't because of his best player. The Oriole had a horrible week at the plate, with only 5 hits (4 singles and 1 double), no runs scored and one RBI. If Drew wants to win any more games, Jones is going to have to play a lot better than this.
Pitcher of the Week - Michael Pineda (Gas House Gorillas): 53.5 pts
Another Yankee pitcher earning an honor. By now, you should know about the 16 strikeout game. What you might not know is that Pineda threw 8 shutout innings against the Jays, one of the most powerful offenses in the AL, on Tuesday. The 30.5 pts from yesterday rank tops in the majors this year, but the 23 pts on Tuesday were pretty stellar too. Hattip to King Felix, his 2000th K, and his major league leading 139 pts.
Goat of the Week, Pitcher Edition - Stephen Strasburg (Home Grown Hitters): -4 pts
This one was hard... but when in doubt, negative points to win. Or lose. As much as I want to give Strasburg the benefit of the doubt because of his shoulder injury, negative points is still worst than not even playing. Honorable mention to David Price and Corey Kluber with their 0 and 0.5 points, respectively.
Surprising Hitter of the Week - Torii Hunter (Good Will Bunting): 40 pts
Ok, Torii, here's your award. Well deserved. It's shocking to me that he has a son in college and still racking up HR's and probably winning AL Player of the Week honors. Hattip to Marlon Byrd (37 pts) and Yasmani Grandal's 2-HR, 8-RBI game (23 pts, top this year for a hitter).
Week 6 Preview
#1 Doug vs. #3 Ryan: Another tough match-up for Doug in his quest for 22-0.
#2 Ralph vs. #8 Dugan: 4-1 vs. 1-4. I would say it's a must win for Dugan but with 4 other teams at 1-4, nothing is must win at this point.
#4 Jon A. vs. #6 Pearse: Our second match-up of teams with winning records. Pearse has 4 two-start pitchers, while Allen has 0. Let's see how this works out for them.
#5 Luis vs. #11 Kyle: Now you know why I was poking Kyle throughout this recap. Bring it on!!!
#7 Bill vs. #9 Jon S.: Bill coming off a big win and Shidler coming off a big loss. Teams going in different directions? We'll see.
#10 Kris Kringle vs. #12 Drew: C'mon Drew, it's time for win #2! Jon Lester leading the way tonight against the Amazing Mets. Kagan, in the meantime, should change his name to Team Injured Reserve. Or at the very least get rid of Joel Peralta. Too early to not be paying attention.
Ok, Torii, here's your award. Well deserved. It's shocking to me that he has a son in college and still racking up HR's and probably winning AL Player of the Week honors. Hattip to Marlon Byrd (37 pts) and Yasmani Grandal's 2-HR, 8-RBI game (23 pts, top this year for a hitter).
Surprising Pitcher of the Week - Wandy Rodriguez (FA): 40 pts
The curveball works again. Wandy retired 34 straight batters between the end of his 1st start and the beginning of his 2nd start. All in all, a stellar effort, despite not picking up the win yesterday against TB. He's your recommended add of the week, against struggling Cleveland on Friday.Honorary mention to Ryan Vogelsong and his 35.5 pts in two starts.
Week 6 Preview
#1 Doug vs. #3 Ryan: Another tough match-up for Doug in his quest for 22-0.
#2 Ralph vs. #8 Dugan: 4-1 vs. 1-4. I would say it's a must win for Dugan but with 4 other teams at 1-4, nothing is must win at this point.
#4 Jon A. vs. #6 Pearse: Our second match-up of teams with winning records. Pearse has 4 two-start pitchers, while Allen has 0. Let's see how this works out for them.
#5 Luis vs. #11 Kyle: Now you know why I was poking Kyle throughout this recap. Bring it on!!!
#7 Bill vs. #9 Jon S.: Bill coming off a big win and Shidler coming off a big loss. Teams going in different directions? We'll see.
#10 Kris Kringle vs. #12 Drew: C'mon Drew, it's time for win #2! Jon Lester leading the way tonight against the Amazing Mets. Kagan, in the meantime, should change his name to Team Injured Reserve. Or at the very least get rid of Joel Peralta. Too early to not be paying attention.
Enjoy the week.
Monday, May 4, 2015
California Penal League 2015 - Week 4 Review
We're baaaaack. Now that I have successfully presented my Ph.D. proposal and my wife is away in Europe, I finally get some time to waste on writing a blog post that only 5 people are gonna read. But it's been too long so let's get right into it!
Week 4 Recap
As usual, we begin at the top of the standings, where 2 teams are still undefeated. Doug took care of business as usual, crushing Kagan by 60, while posting the highest score of the season so far. Kagan's 327.50 would've beaten everybody but two other teams, and sadly he played one of them. Unlucky. The other undefeated team is Ralph, who squeezed past Allen with the last out of the Sunday Night game. Andrew Miller was the hero, closing out the Yanks win and providing the winning points.This is the 34th time Allen has lost with the last out on Sunday night. Or at least it feels that way. All numbers approximate.
Week 4 Recap
As usual, we begin at the top of the standings, where 2 teams are still undefeated. Doug took care of business as usual, crushing Kagan by 60, while posting the highest score of the season so far. Kagan's 327.50 would've beaten everybody but two other teams, and sadly he played one of them. Unlucky. The other undefeated team is Ralph, who squeezed past Allen with the last out of the Sunday Night game. Andrew Miller was the hero, closing out the Yanks win and providing the winning points.This is the 34th time Allen has lost with the last out on Sunday night. Or at least it feels that way. All numbers approximate.
Three other teams are currently above .500. The aforementioned Allen, who is probably spending way too much time looking at his fantasy teams with the way the Phillies are playing. You can say the same about me and the Brewers by the way. Sitting at 3-1 while my real team is in shambles. Craig Counsell is our new manager! Geez. But I digress. The other 3-1 team is Ryan, who has been unspectacularly solid so far, despite losing to Pearse in Week 2.
Speaking of Pearse, he sits tight at 2-2, not having spent a single FAAB dollar yet. He is followed by five 1-3 teams, with a 178 point differential between #7 and #11. Dugan has looked the best out of that bunch so far, but they are two-games under .500 already. Bill has spend $22 in FAAB already, the most out of anybody, but doesn't seem to have found any solutions. At least he is trying.
Which brings us to Drew. Oh, Drew. The only winless team in the league, with the least amount of points scored, while spending exactly $0 in FAAB. With Soltys gone, Drew looked primed to take over his role as doormat and he has delivered in style. 242 points is the high mark for him so far this season. By comparison, Doug hasn't scored less than 300 points in any game this year. Losses by 102, 77, 41 and 38 at least show that he is closing the gap? I don't know, I'm struggling to find anything positive to say. Very unlucky so far, especially with two closers that have done nothing so far this year: Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed. On the bright side, he should get some decent value for Adam Jones and Justin Upton if/when he decides to sell. Soltys would've punted already. Pro tip: Josh Reddick and his 85.50 pts (tied for 23rd best hitter) are on the wire. Use some of that FAAB money, bro.
Teams currently ranked 1 through 12 will keep their exact same spots if we were to rank them based on points scored. So, no good or bad luck so far in the grand scheme of things. Expect this to change as we get into the dog days of summer.
Awards
This is a special edition of the Awards, covering the first month of the season. Next week, we will return to weekly awards.
Hitter of the Month - Nelson Cruz AntarcticanAmericans): 118 pts
13 home runs already, which has him on pace to break Bonds' record. We know that's not gonna happen, especially playing in Safeco. But for those who were worried that the power wasn't going to be there, well, you were wrong. Also leads the majors in RBI's with 25. Expect regression, obviously.
Goat of the Month, Hitter Edition - Carlos Gonzalez (MVPuig): 40 pts
CarGo just doesn't look right. His 39 points in 92 PA gives him a horrendous 0.424 pts/PA. The average is usually around 0.7-0.75. At least 7 of his 17 hits have gone for extra bases. We expect a lot more out of someone playing half his games at Coors and who isn't hurt. At least, not yet. Honorable mention to Victor Martinez, who hasn't hit a HR this year. And honorable mention to Ryan Braun as well, who was trying to run away with this award before hitting 3 HR's in 2 games this week. He still doesn't have a double, though.
Pitcher of the Month - Andrew Miller (Schweddy Balls): 107.50 pts
The new Yankees closer seems to have drank some Mariano juice. 13 IP, 10 saves (leads the majors), and 23 K's. Did I mention the 0.00 ERA? Dominant. The runner-up in this category is the closer for the cross-town rival Mets. Jeurys Familia has taken advantage of the injury to Bobby Parnell and the Jenrry Mejia suspension to tie for the MLB lead with 10 saves (+1 Hold!). Sonny Gray also gets a hat-tip, as he leads all starters in points (105). Overall, relievers have been amazing so far (4 of the top 8). But that's mostly due to starting pitching being sucky.
Goat of the Week, Pitcher Edition - Stephen Strasburg (Home Grown Hitters): 38 pts
Strasburg has not been very good. He hasn't been terrible either, but I'm sure Bill didn't pay top dollar to get 38 points out of him through 5 starts. Honorable mention to Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Jon Lester, and Jordan Zimmermmann, I'm sure they will all figure it out.
Goat of the Month, Hitter Edition - Carlos Gonzalez (MVPuig): 40 pts
CarGo just doesn't look right. His 39 points in 92 PA gives him a horrendous 0.424 pts/PA. The average is usually around 0.7-0.75. At least 7 of his 17 hits have gone for extra bases. We expect a lot more out of someone playing half his games at Coors and who isn't hurt. At least, not yet. Honorable mention to Victor Martinez, who hasn't hit a HR this year. And honorable mention to Ryan Braun as well, who was trying to run away with this award before hitting 3 HR's in 2 games this week. He still doesn't have a double, though.
Pitcher of the Month - Andrew Miller (Schweddy Balls): 107.50 pts
The new Yankees closer seems to have drank some Mariano juice. 13 IP, 10 saves (leads the majors), and 23 K's. Did I mention the 0.00 ERA? Dominant. The runner-up in this category is the closer for the cross-town rival Mets. Jeurys Familia has taken advantage of the injury to Bobby Parnell and the Jenrry Mejia suspension to tie for the MLB lead with 10 saves (+1 Hold!). Sonny Gray also gets a hat-tip, as he leads all starters in points (105). Overall, relievers have been amazing so far (4 of the top 8). But that's mostly due to starting pitching being sucky.
Goat of the Week, Pitcher Edition - Stephen Strasburg (Home Grown Hitters): 38 pts
Strasburg has not been very good. He hasn't been terrible either, but I'm sure Bill didn't pay top dollar to get 38 points out of him through 5 starts. Honorable mention to Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Jon Lester, and Jordan Zimmermmann, I'm sure they will all figure it out.
Biggest Surprise - Devon Travis (AbsolutDomination): 101 pts
Andrew Miller has been great, but he was placed in a position to rack up points. Devon Travis was ranked 1171 by Yahoo before the season. He was not expected to hit 7 home runs this year, much less in a month. That Toronto lineup is scary and I'm happy to report I own 4 of their hitters. I kinda wanna trade for The Artist Formerly Known as E5. Let's go Jays! Honorable mention to Stephen Vogt from Oakland, who leads all catchers with 91.50 pts.
Week 5 Preview
#1 Doug vs. #2 Ralph: It's a showdown between the two undefeated. Got my money on Doug, as usual.
#3 Luis vs. #11 Bill: Lorenzo Cain, who's been awesome, is suspended for Tuesday's game. Wonder if that will have an impact in the final score.
#4 Ryan vs. #9 Kagan: Another 3-1 vs 1-3 match-up. I want the league to be competitive and for Kagan to not lose faith. You can do this!
#5 Jon A. vs. #7 Dugan: Grudge match. Go out there and destroy each other, like Mayweather and Pacq.... oh wait... never mind.
#6 Pearse vs. #8 Jon S.: Todd Frazier, pride of Tom's River, NJ and little league world series hero vs. team injured reserve. 5 guys are hurt or not active in Shidler's roster.
#10 Kyle vs. #12 Drew: It's weird to see Kyle so far down the standings. Come on, Drew. Get that first win. Josh Reddick, man.
Andrew Miller has been great, but he was placed in a position to rack up points. Devon Travis was ranked 1171 by Yahoo before the season. He was not expected to hit 7 home runs this year, much less in a month. That Toronto lineup is scary and I'm happy to report I own 4 of their hitters. I kinda wanna trade for The Artist Formerly Known as E5. Let's go Jays! Honorable mention to Stephen Vogt from Oakland, who leads all catchers with 91.50 pts.
Week 5 Preview
#1 Doug vs. #2 Ralph: It's a showdown between the two undefeated. Got my money on Doug, as usual.
#3 Luis vs. #11 Bill: Lorenzo Cain, who's been awesome, is suspended for Tuesday's game. Wonder if that will have an impact in the final score.
#4 Ryan vs. #9 Kagan: Another 3-1 vs 1-3 match-up. I want the league to be competitive and for Kagan to not lose faith. You can do this!
#5 Jon A. vs. #7 Dugan: Grudge match. Go out there and destroy each other, like Mayweather and Pacq.... oh wait... never mind.
#6 Pearse vs. #8 Jon S.: Todd Frazier, pride of Tom's River, NJ and little league world series hero vs. team injured reserve. 5 guys are hurt or not active in Shidler's roster.
#10 Kyle vs. #12 Drew: It's weird to see Kyle so far down the standings. Come on, Drew. Get that first win. Josh Reddick, man.
I promise to keep the updates coming during the summer! Take care and enjoy the week!
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