California Penal League 2015 - All-Star Break Edition

Welcome back for your "mid-season" review

All-Star Break Recap

I wish the All-Star break was closer to the midpoint of the season, which came and went like 2 weeks ago. All teams have played close to 90 games, with about 70 remaining. Either way, it's a good time to see how our league is doing.

Doug sits at the top of the standings, after outscoring the nearest competition by over 300 points. Looks like the regular season title is his to lose. A game behind Doug is Ralph, who has been the surprise at the top of the standings after a disappointing finish last season. It's not a coincidence that the top two teams also have made the most roster moves. Activity wins championships. Rounding up those with double digits wins are Pearse and myself. Pearse already played Doug twice, so he has the scheduling advantage in the race for 2nd place and the bye week. I've been bashing Allen for being lucky most of the year, but now he's actually unlucky that he isn't ranked higher, given the total points his team has scored to date. Losing 3 out of the last 5 against stiff competition (Doug, Ryan, myself) will do that to you. Finally, we have Ryan in 6th, who narrowly edges Bill for the coveted last playoff spot. The tie between Ryan and Shidler a few weeks back practically ensures that the points scored tiebreaker won't be necessary to decide the last playoff spot. A lot of baseball still to be played though, as 10 weeks remain and things can change in a heartbeat.

Reminder: Because of the ASB, the current matchup will last two weeks, until 7/26. Now on to the mid-season awards.

Mid-season Awards

The best of the best and the worst of the worst. Players bit by the injury bug are ranked accordingly.

Hitter of the Mid-Season - Paul Goldschmidt (Good Will Bunting): 4.1 pts/gm

Goldschmidt is aiming at a 30/30 season, having hit 21 HRs and stolen 16 bases already. The 70 RBI also leads the majors. Did you know that Allen owns the top 3 run-producers in the majors in Goldy, Machado, and Stanton? Too bad Stanton will be on the shelf for a while. Runner-ups: Harper (4.3 pts/gm), Trout (3.8 pts/gm).

Goat of the Mid-Season, Hitter Edition - Ian Desmond (Walker Texas Rangers): 1.8 pts/gm
Ian Desmond, you've been so awful, you're the only preseason top-25 hitter to be averaging less than 2.0 pts/game. Other hitters have scored less total points (Puig), but there's an injury excuse there. What's your excuse, Mr. Desmond? Runner-ups: Beltré (2.3 pts/gm), Canó (2.3 pts/gm).

Pitcher of the Mid-Season - Max Scherzer (AbsolutDomination): 19.1 pts/gm
Mad Max narrowly edges Chris Sale for this award. Even if we take away the bonus for the no-hitter, Scherzer has been 20 points total better than Sale. Scherzer's 19.1 pts/gm are a whole 1 point better than Sale's 18.1 pts/gm. Still, can't say enough about how great both these guys have been. A distant 3rd is Zack Greinke, by the way.

Goat of the Mid-Season, Pitcher Edition - Stephen Strasburg (Home Grown Hitters): 6.2 pts/gm
Strasburg has been hurt quite a bit this year, with a variety of ailments. But when he's actually played, he hasn't helped anybody. His 6.2 pts/gm are less than relievers like Craig Kimbrel (6.4), Mark Melancon (6.4), Greg Holland (6.9), etc, you know you aren't pitching well. Runner-ups: Teheran (8.5), Lester (9.8), Iwakuma (6.4). At least Lester got his first major league hit.

Surprising Hitter of the Mid-Season - Mark Teixeira (Home Grown Hitters): 3.6 pts/gm
Tex was so done last year that he went undrafted this season (O-rank: 259). That quickly changed after he started blasting HR after HR. He's up to 22 in the year, good to be the only hitter outside the preseason top 25 to be in the current top 25. Runner-ups: A-Rod, L. Cain, S. Vogt.

Actually, I just changed my mind. Stephen Vogt should get this award. 2nd among all catchers in total points, O-rank: 313. Screw the Yanks.

Surprising Pitcher of the Mid-Season - Dallas Keuchel (Good Will Bunting): 18.1 pts/gm

This one is definitely the most lopsided of all awards. Keuchel has been outstanding, ranking 4th among all pitchers in total points. For someone that Yahoo ranked outside the top 200, that's simply amazing. Runner-up: Carlos Martinez (14.7 pts/gm).

Week 15 Preview

#1 Doug vs. #9 Kagan:."Another one bites the dust...."
#2 Ralph vs. #5 Jon A.: One of two stellar two-week match-ups.
#3 Luis vs. #4 Pearse: And this would be stellar match-up #2.
#6 Ryan vs. #11 Kyle: Kyle's already thinking football season. Must-win for Ryan in his quest for 6th place.
#7 Bill vs. #10 Drew: Yawn.
#8 Jon S. vs. #12 Dugan: Can Dugan break Soltys' record for most losses in a season? What's the record anyway? The answer next week.

Enjoy Bastille Day tomorrow! 

California Penal League - Week 14 Review

Welcome back! This is your weekly fantasy baseball newsletter, featuring highlights and lowlights, upsets and beatdowns, flames and lames. Let's start with the two exciting match-ups decided on Sunday night.

Week 14 Recap

We start with the upset of the week, where Bill took down (former) league leader Doug despite Doug's late rally. Down 5 points heading into Sunday Night, Doug had Miguel Cabrera while Bill had Joe Nathan left. Cabrera couldn't deliver, as David Price and the Rays limited him to a sac fly in 4 at-bats. Nathan would add insult upon injury by coming in and adding 3 unneeded points. Bill, who once upon a time was 0-5, takes down the favorite and moves to 6-8, tied for 5th.

Another incredible match-up decided on Sunday Night featured Kyle's comeback against poor Pearse. Now, this is when things get interesting because Kyle had no players left going into Sunday night. Remember this fact: Kyle had no one left who could score points! Meanwhile Pearse had Rick Porcello and a 1 point lead! Bench Porcello and you have win... Start Porcello, lose 4.67 points, and now you're 2-12. Wow. Let this be a lesson to everybody: there's no such thing as over-managing your team.

We had one more upset, as Ralph beats Dugan to remain in the coveted 6th and last playoff spot. Dugan misses an opportunity to cut Doug's lead in the race for the bye week. Jon A. beat Mike in the 5-8 teams match-up. We reached to Mr. Mike for comments this morning: "I'm getting close to throwing in the towel", he said, so there you have it. Jon A. remains in 5th place. Ryan had no trouble destroying Drew and I did the same with Jon S.

Now let's hand out some fake silverware...

Awards

Hitter of the Week - Jayson Werth (Home Grown Hitters): 39 pts
Low scoring week for hitters overall, as Werth takes home weekly honors. 3 home runs, 2 steals, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. They key, as always, try not to strikeout too much.

Goat of the Week, Hitter Edition - Chris Davis (Honey Nut Ichiros): -0.50 pts
I hate to pick on a single player week after week, but The Artist Formerly Known as Crush Davis was awful again. 2/23 with a single ribby and 11 strikeouts. Awful.

Pitcher of the Week - Garrett Richards (AbsolutDomination): 56.67 pts
Richards let all MLB pitchers in strikeouts this week with 20, punching out 9 Pale Sox and 11 'stros in his two starts. Only 11 baserunners allowed in 15.1 innings, while averaging a 97.3 MPH fastball. Kid's good.

Goat of the Week, Pitcher Edition - Kyle Gibson (Honey Nut Ichiros): -9.50 pts
Gibson got rocked by the Yankees, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) in 2 innings of work. Zero strikeouts didn't help matters. I promise it is not "Pick on Mike" week. Nobody else was this atrocious.

Week 15 Preview

#1 Luis vs. #3 Dugan: Matchup of the Week. Dugan has the upper hand based on number of pitchers with 2-game starts this week.
#2 Doug vs. #6 Ralph: Will Ralph make it two upsets in a row? Or will Doug right the ship?
#4 Ryan vs. #12 Pearse: Ryan is the forgotten man in the race for the top. He's currently on two games out of 1st place and 4 games ahead of 5th place.
#5 Jon A. vs. #11 Drew: If Drew wins, these two teams will be tied again. Crazy.
#7 Bill vs. #8 Kyle: Huge matchup in the playoff race. Neither team can afford to lose.
#9 Jon S. vs. #10 Mike: Pillowfight of the Week!!!!

Enjoy your last week of baseball before the All-Star Break!