It is hard to believe, that the playoffs are near with only 5 weeks left in the regular season. I always like to look back at last year and see where teams were and lo and behold the top teams haven't changed much. The top 3 teams (Stars, B-Man and Tennesse) were 1, 3,and 4 respectively last season. That is being pretty consistent and unless there is a complete collapse in the final weeks, don't look for much to change. Squirrels and Plaz who made the playoffs last year are still in the running, but have to do some damage quickly. Plaz, especially, has come on of late, but needs to continue his torrid pace to sneak in. Squirrels has really fallen off. There is time, but the team has been going in the wrong direction. Uticans, who was another playoff team last year is just playing out the string as his season has been over for some time now. Teams that are hot right now are Zonk, Stars, and Ageless. Don't look for much to change there. That leaves one playoff spot open with REDS and Hardballers being the frontrunner. I have no idea who would take that one? I said Randy earlier, but not as positive about that now. What went on in the matchups last week? Let's take a look!
Stars 10 to REDS 2: The jury was out for Stephen's Stars team at one point in the season due to youth and well players that haven't yet proven themselves. Well, the jury has spoken and says that this team is for real. The numbers keep climbing as the stats prove it. Stephen was winning early, but not always deserving. Now the wins are demonstrative and deserving of first place. It's going to be a showdown for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, but you can believe Stars team will be one of these spots. Where do I even start after last week's performance over a REDS team that had decent numbers, but got ripped apart. Let's start with Carlos "Cargo" Gonzalez. This guy is phenomenal. First player since Dwight Evans to hit for the cycle with a walk off 3 run bomb and I mean "BOMB." Hit it into the 3rd deck at Coors, which is a rare feat. The guy has nagging injuries from time to time, but what a hitter. Joey Votto is just as good in my mind, except for the speed. Aaron Hill is starting to show just what kind of player he was last year for the Jays as well. To me more important than the offense right now is how the pitching is rolling along. There was some underperforming earlier in the year, but right now is clicking on all cylinders. Francisco Liriano is unhittable at the moment. Javier Vazquez has stepped it up and Ted Lilly is now a Dodger meaning more W's. Scary situation right now for anyone playing Stars. Rick's REDS for as good as they are just got demoralized this week and got knocked down to the 8th spot in a tie with Randy. Just when a team looks like they are moving up, they get knocked down more than a peg in this league. Hard to keep positioning it seems. With 3 guys on the DL on offense, this leaves little flexibility in Rick's offense, and the pitching is a short staff too. Can this team hang on? David Wright and Miguel Cabrera you can count on, but having 3 Cubs on offense is asking for an awful lot. Brad Lidge scares me to death after watching some of his outings of late. Rick's team is walking a tightrope right now and can't afford another big defeat. Although a game out of the playoffs, this team will have to barely sneak in, as I don't see it dominating. Remains to be seen what will happen, but not giving my vote of confidence here.
BASEMAN 7 to 15.5 Games in ???? Weeks: Timmy have to recommend you get some better names going as these latest are hard to really get a feel for. Anyway, Timmy may want to change his name to "Out of It" as there is just too much ground to make up. This was a very tough contest though as B-Man is really having a hard time lately as was the case again until the last day. The pitching was excelling for Timmy this week going 5-0 in Wins and Losses with a 2.30 ERA. Plus 15 BB's to 61 K's is remarkably good. The hitting which wasn't great at all was led by David Ortiz with 3 bombs and newly acquired Carlos Lee with 2. The trade did prove to be a good one for Timmy as Beltre and Lee both had excellent weeks. Without them and Ortiz, not much else was going on. With the addition of Vladimir, watch for the offense to do some damage. Pitching was led by Garza and his no-hitter. B-Man had no chance to hang with the pitching this week as it was too good. B-Man still had a decent week all the way around. When the team hits .251 and gets 33 runs and 36 RBI's, as well as 10 HR's and 61 hits, there is some production going on. Need Victorino and Pedroia to get back to help with a more flexible lineup. Two big catalysts are out, but there has been enough depth to still get good numbers. Pitching hasn't been bad, but has ran into hot defensive teams lately like Plaz and Timmy's team. It's a testimony to how savvy teams are in this league when a 10.5 game lead is evaporated in 3 weeks.
Tennessee 6 to Hardballers 5: Question here? How does Randy's team go 1-7 in W's and L's, but finish with a 3.75 ERA. Bad luck has to be the answer. Don't see those types of numbers too often. Tommy was fortunate to win this one as his pitching saved him and it wasn't that dominant. Randy showed again, his weak spot is RBI's and HR's, yet no moves have been made to shore up this area. I can see the strategy of winning 4 offensive categories, and at least splitting pitching, but the conservative approach right now is keeping Hardballers on the outskirts of a playoff spot. There are some trading pieces on this team and I honestly would be looking long and hard to shore up some weak spots, so I wouldn't just sneak into the playoffs only to be knocked out in either round 1 or 2. Hitters on the other hand has made some valuable moves off the waiver wire to continue and bring this team up the rankings. Proof lies in Pagan, Dickey, Colby Lewis, Keppinger, and Axford. Team doesn't look the best name wise, but getting the job done nonetheless. Tennessee would shock us all if he can get a first place finish, which he is in the running for. No one really expected much from this team at the beginning of the season and Tommy is looking to make those of us who doubted him look "Silly."
Ageless 8 to Squirrels 4: Ageless's team reminds me a lot of Tennessee's. You look at it and think ok there some key pieces here, but nothing really grabs you. Wrong! What was surprising this week is that the team had 12 SB's and only 31 runs, but had 36 RBI's. I would think the runs would be larger. Point is that the team can produce a little bit of everything. Mike has also shored up his pitching with Zito. Clayton Richard and Brett Myers have been nice surprises as well. Shrewd pickups like on Tennessee has vaulted this team into a good standing at the moment. Don't bet against this team as Utica and I are always saying now! Squirrels like I said before is in a freefall and hopefully for Juan some of his additions via trade will help because he needs help fast. The offense was a nightmare last week and although it is better than it showed, I don't believe it will win most points on most weeks. The pitching I love and most weeks will win more points than the opponent. The problem is that Squirrels needs dominating wins right now. It will be tough to do so with the offensive production it's getting. Will have to get some luck to get back in it.
Champs 6 to Zonk 6: Again with Champs it is his pitching versus the other's team's hitting. In this case it was Zonk's offense having a stellar week. 17 Hr's may be the record on the season, and 50 is one of the top numbers for RBI's. Oh yeah, there was a measly 44 runs. Too bad for Stephen he wound up with a tie! Champs pitching wasn't at his usual impeccable numbers, but still better than most of us. Very tough to beat him in pitching. I like the trade for both teams actually. Surprised ED gave up Jimmy Rollins, but Zonk needs a shortstop and Rollins should be an upgrade over Barmes. Zonk also got a reliable pitcher in Santana and Ed had the pitching to give up. Getting Morneau and Nelson Cruz was most valuable for Champs. This team now has a shot to win it all. But are there now chinks in the pitching? Petitte and Strasburg on the DL with Santana gone? It may have taken a step back, but still a solid staff. I like the fact that both of these two teams took a risk to shake things up when something needed to be done! Good trade.
Plaz 8 to Uticans 3: I'm sorry, but I have to stick with the Uticans moniker after all these years. Not the best of matchups here according to the numbers, but Plaz did just enough to get a convincing win he needed. Plaz is getting healthy. Is there enough time though? Would be great to see a run to make the playoff chase even more interesting. The offense is loaded. Can the pitching hang in there? Plaz cannot falter one week. Uticans keeps plugging along despite a dismal season. Ok, I will reference the name as Kerm is in Fantasy Hell right now at the bottom, but now needs to change his name to "IN Fantasy Hell." There is no coming back!
Hope you enjoyed!
BASEMAN
