Well, after a few weeks hiatus, the week in review is back. After a season of murkiness, we can start to see some clear waters as some of the algae has been cleared away. There are only 5 weeks to go and it looks like 2 teams are most likely eliminated. Now, I could be wrong here, but the fact that on average, it takes about 120 Wins to make it into the playoffs, is ample reason to believe that Morning Wood and Champs have run out of time. Woodie needs 42 Wins in the last 5 weeks to reach the average number of 120. This means a Winning Percentage of .700 going 42-18. Champs needs to go 37-23, which definitely can be done, but look at all the horses in front. Plaz only needs 24 Wins to get to the elusive mark, which means going 24-36. There are currently 5 teams in front of Champs, which means all 5 must lose more than they win and Ed's team gets "really" hot! Mathmatically, everyone is alive, but reality is setting in on the teams mentioned. REDS and Zonk are right on the cusp, but still have a shot in my opinion.
What does all this mean? It means that this late in the season is really the first time reality is hitting some teams square in the face and next year awaits for vengeance. Never have the season gone on this long before teams fall out of contention. There are only 5 WEEKS left!!! Again, I can't say this enough, but certainly this is a testimony on how great the managers are in HH! Woodie's team may be in last place right now, but COME ON! His squad put up some impressive stats last week on offense. He's got a good club. This has been the most competitive year ever in Hardball Heaven and that is really saying something!
BASEMAN 8 to Woodie 3: Let's just look at Woodie's numbers from last week and you tell me if this is really a last place team? 36 runs, 65 hits, 13 HR's, 43 RBI's, and a .298 batting average. Woodie only got 2 points on offense, which is just plain bad luck. Most weeks, he wins on offense with these numbers. B-Man's offense has just been on a tear lately is all. What looked awful the first half of the season has been coming to life in the 2nd half. The offense doesn't look like much at first glance, but now is playing up to potential and hence the solid numbers. What has been Woodie's achilles heal this season is mostly the pitching. Yes, there are lots of K's and W's, but those are only 2 categories. Streaming pitchers constantly is not a recipe for success. Believe me as I had to do it last year, and it sucked. Too much pressure each week to be depending on the waiver wire. The majority of time, one just has to hope for a split. That puts too much stress on the offense to produce every week. Therefore, the streaming strategy the majority of time doesn't work in head to head. Balance, Balance, Balance is the key. This matchup could have easily gone the other way just as well.
Hardballers 5 to Stars 5: What a tight battle this was with Randy coming back on Sunday. Solid numbers from both teams on offense and defense. Other than RBI's and HR's, each category was tight. Randy had a whopping 44 RBI's with Aaron Hill leading the way. That guy is a gem! Stars had 14 HR's with Adrian Gonzalez and Granderson hitting 3 apiece. Too bad for Stephen that Gonzalez never got traded to the Red Sox. He's a nice player, but would rather have him not in San Diego for fantasy purposes. Two of the best playing each other and it was what should be expected. This could easily be a finals matchup!
Squirrels 8 to REDS 2: Juan won big last week, but really had some good fortune playing a REDS team that did not show much resistance. But don't get me wrong, Juan's team is good and is worthy of 2nd place in the standings right now. The ERA was stellar at 1.60. Other than the relief pitching, Juan's team rivals B-Man's and is pretty good. Again, the hitting seems a little light, but if Beltran can come back healthy, then Squirrels will have gathered a "golden acorn!" Why the hell drop Beltran so freaking early onto the waiver wire is beyond me! We'll wait and see what happens here. For Rick, there is not really much to say about his week, except it was the poorest showing overall by any team. Unfortunately, he may take it out on me this week and beat my own team up. Quite possible!
Plaz 8 to Uticans 3: Just when Plaz needs a big win, he gets it. J. Rivera, Crawford, and Zimmerman came through last week and helped get a split on offense. This team can hit with the best of them and even showed some pop! I think Plaz with be right there in the end because it's a team that can do some major team for a few weeks, but it is also a team that can not sustain long winning streaks due to some holes in the arsenal like relief and the power. The team seems to be up and then down. But, not a team to overlook at all! Utica is still depending solely on offense. I keep waiting for this team to falter and it very well could. The pitching is downright terrible! An 8.40 ERA! OK, so he has Buehrle, but he isn't going to always throw perfect games and sure didn't last week as he got raked for 2 losses and an ERA over 10. Even if Utica makes the playoffs, I give the team no shot to win it all due to the poor pitching. In one to maybe two weeks, the defense could surprise, but no way for 4 straight weeks, which is what is necessary to run the table in the playoffs. It would take nothing short of a miracle, even with the offensive laden talent on the club. Just my opinion.
Ageless 7 to Champs 4: Finally for Mike, his team broke out of it's woes. The team has been coming on a bit and had a killer week on offense. I mean 44 runs, 73 hits, 14 HR's, 39RBI's and a .324 avg. The sticks came out this week against ED. Kendry Morales has been a nice pickup. What did I say about getting Aramis Ramirez back too. Pitching was nothing spectacular as the K:BB ratio was absolutely abysmal, but with a hot offense, you can get away with so-so defense. Ageless is lurking and don't be surprised if this team pulls off what happened last year and surprised the hell out of people. Could very well do it again. For Champs, Andrew McCutcheon has been "money" and he is one to watch for next season in fantasy drafting. Ed has tried desparately to fill the holes in his squad and has had mixed success. This is the case of a very intimidating looking team, but when put to paper just a few too many holes in certain categories.
Zonk 6 to Hitters 6: Like Stars vs. Hardballers, this was another great matchup all the way around. Both offensive and defensive numbers were solid. Too bad they played each other. Both teams are still in the playoff hunt. Hitters went nuts with 73 hits as Nyjer Morgan and Miguel Cabrera led the way. Nyjer Morgan has been a great pickup and I wish I never let him go. He really reminds me of a young Juan Pierre. Morgan is another one to watch in next year's draft! Zonk had solid outings from Derreck Lee, Brian Roberts and Ichiro. Not to mention Jimmy Rollins who had 6 SB's. Zonk's speed has really improved. Will Zonk's strategy keep him in the running? It's unique to say the least. You already know my stance on streaming and putting so much pressure on the offense. Zonk needs his offense more than ever now to start reeling off victories to edge closer. Tennesse has the goods to do some damage. A long shot in my mind with the pitching, but nonetheless a dark horse.
Glad to be back with you all in another segment of Week in Review!
BASEMAN
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