The Fridge, er, CC Sabathia is either smiling because the buffet
line just opened, or because Daddy's Little Boys are in first place.
Parity rules!
Four weeks into the CWFLB season has already seen an unprecedented amount of parity among the ranks. For the first time in the 5 year history of the league, no team was able to get a 4-0 jump out of the gate, as the DLB fell to the Jackrabbits in a tight Week 4 contest. On the flip side, no teams are winless, as 3 squads each are 3-1 and 1-3 with the remainder sitting at 2-2. And in an interesting development for stathead geeks like myself, the Dickie Thon division has put up 7453.17 points through 4 weeks…while the Steve Jeltz division has put up 7453.50! A clear, 1/3 point of dominance shown by the Jeltz division – nice job, guys! Let’s take a team-by-team spin through the league and look at the month that was.
Daddy’s Little Boys (3-1, 1348.67 pts for (1st), 1171.5 pts against (1st), Power Rk: T1)
After Rocky’s pre-season prediction of the Little Boys as the “team to beat”, many thought there would be a lot of pressure on Scotty’s squad. Unlike another self-proclaimed “team to beat” from Philly, the DLB played up to the hype and was the league’s last undefeated team before falling to the Rabbits in Week 4. Prior to Week 4, the Boys easily handled 3 division opponents by a combined 185 points.
The DLB has been paced thus far by David Ortiz (111 pts, #1 DH), Carl Crawford (101 pts, #8 OF), Miguel Cabrera (97 pts, #3 3B) and Edgar Renteria (97 pts, #4 SS). On the mound, one of the league’s top rotations has not disappointed – Johan Santana (116.5 pts, #2 SP) and C.C. Sabathia (98 pts, #11 SP) are off to fabulous starts, while Joe Nathan (103.7 pts, #11 RP) has been his usual steady self.
Overall batting: 716 points, #6 overall
Overall pitching: 632.67 points, #1 overall
Bashful Satanists (2-2, 1261.33 pts for (6th), 1177.33 pts against (2nd), Power Rk: 6)
Coming straight from an offseason of frustrating inactivity, the Satanists weren’t sure where they stacked up for 2007. On the one hand, they had a solid offense (When healthy) including the 2006 AL MVP. On the other hand, they had a weak starting pitching staff and no established closer on opening day. In fact, due to a busy traveling weekend before the season kicked off, free agent Dustin Hermanson logged a week as the Satanists’ #1 closer. Yikes. After an abysmal Week 1 showing, Coach K’s boys have righted the ship and brought it back to .500, including an obliteration of the T-Baggers in Week 4 that featured the high score for the month (427.5 points) and the largest margin of victory (170 points).
Hot starters for the Satanists include: #1 overall expansion selection Jimmy Rollins (130 pts, #2 SS, #3 overall), Magglio Ordonez (108 pts, #3 OF), Chipper Jones (108 pts, #2 3B) and Justin Morneau (95 pts, #3 1B). A couple of Satanist pitchers are off to shockingly good starts – Tim Hudson, rebounding from a miserable 2006 (111.5 pts, #4 SP) and Al Reyes, picked up during Week 1 (124.5 total pts, #2 RP). Aaron Harang has also started strong, following up a nice 2006 campaign (109.7 pts, #5 SP).
Overall batting: 735 points, #4 overall
Overall pitching: 526.33 points, #9 overall
Jackrabbits (2-2, 1251.33 pts for (7th), 1247.83 pts against (7th), Power Rk: 7)
The Jackrabbits were seen by many as the up and coming team to watch for in the 2007 season. Rocky projected a playoff berth and the 4th best record before the start of the season, and why wouldn’t he? A team full of promising young arms and a few veteran bats (not to mention 2006 NL MVP Ryan Howard) looked poised to take the Thon division by storm…not so fast, my friend. After drubbing the Satanists in Week 1, the Rabbits absorbed a 52 point loss to the EBalls before a hard luck loss to the ‘topes in Week 3 despite the 3rd highest score for the week. A come-from-behind win over the DLB in Week 4 saved the month for the Rabbits and put them in the 2-2 Dickie Thon dogpile going into May.
Jumping Jackrabbits include: The ageless Barry Bonds (102 pts, #7 OF) and Jeff Francoeur (97 pts, #10 OF). MVP Ryan Howard is off to a tough start, 12th among all first sackers. Owner Brandon Brown has played the matchup game with his pitchers, so only Takashi Saito has overwhelming first month stats that have counted (103.3 pts, #12 RP). Counting total points, Dan Haren, Cole Hamels and Rich Hill are all in the top 20 among starting pitchers overall.
Overall batting: 674 points, #7 overall
Overall pitching: 577.33 points, #4 overall
Elephant Balls (2-2, 1226.17 pts for (9th), 1197.83 pts against (3rd), Power Rk: 8)
The E-Balls season has been devoid of excitement thus far, as all four games have been decided by more than 50 points. “Big wins, big losses and big balls” seems to be owner George Pastino’s motto through the season’s first month. The squad boasts the league’s leading offense, stealing a ridiculous 44 bases (2nd – 23, the Stophers) and legging out 11 triples (2nd – 6, Satanists and Lynchmob). All of this offense has helped hide the fact that the E-Balls pitching has been beyond atrocious – accounting for only 416 points, over 60 points behind the next worst staff in the league (SlumLords, 477). Should continue to be an up-and-down, topsy turvy season for the Balls.
The biggest Elephant Balls include: Jose Reyes (142 pts, #1 SS, #2 overall), Ian Kinsler (112 pts, #2 2B), and Vernon Wells (105 pts, #4 OF). As you could guess, none of the E-Balls’ pitchers are really setting the world on fire – Erik Bedard leads the staff with 90.5 points (#22 SP).
Overall batting: 810 points, #1 overall
Overall pitching: 416.17 points, #12 overall
T-Baggers (2-2, 1138.67 pts for (10th), 1298.33 pts against (10th), Power Rk: 9)
Nip Weller’s T-Baggers finished with a flourish in 2006 and stayed alive in the playoff chase until the bitter end. Expectations coming into this season are the highest they’ve been in the 3-year existence of the franchise. With rookie of the year candidate (and bat throwing specialist) Delmon Young bolstering one of the league’s best outfields, Weller’s squad hoped to jump out to a quick start. Instead, they find themselves in the quagmire with the rest of the Thon division. The ‘baggers got off to a nice start by upsetting Rocky’s Isotopes on the road, but it’s been L-W-L since then, culminating in a beatdown from his side-bet rival the Bashful Satanists in Week 4. Can the ‘baggers get off the mat, bounce back and contend for a playoff berth?
Professional ‘bag boys include: Honestly, offensively, nobody is exactly over-performing. Marcus Giles is the 8th rated 2B right now, Andruw Jones is 13th among outfielders (91 pts), and Todd Helton is 4th among 1Bs (91 pts). Dontrelle Willis has paced the pitchers (102.5 pts, #10 SP) and Bob Wickman was off to nice start before getting pummeled over the past week and going on the DL.
Overall batting: 610 points, #11 overall
Overall pitching: 528.67 points, #8 overall
Isotopes (1-3, 1227.0 pts for (8th), 1360.33 pts against (12th), Power Rk: 10)
Rocky put a bulls-eye on his team’s back with a prediction of a finals appearance for the ‘topes in his blog preview in March. With some owners still bitter about Rocky’s stunning playoff run in 2005 (eerily similar to his favorite football team’s playoff run later that year), there was no doubt that the rest of the Thon division would be gunning for Rocky’s boys. Sure enough, the ‘topes have seen the best that their opponents could muster. It took a 400+ point Week 3 performance to get their only win as the Jackrabbits put up 381 that week. Even the best teams need a little help from the schedule maker, and right now, the ‘topes are begging for a breather. They face a critical Week 5 match-up with the division leading DLB – a loss would put Rocky’s squad 3 games off the division lead just 5 weeks into the season.
Glowing Isotope performers include: Well, it’s been a disappointing month. Hanley Ramirez is 3rd overall among SS with 100 points, but injury caused Rock to miss out on 12 of those. All-World 1B Albert Pujols is off to a shockingly slow start, ranking 8th among 1Bs (80 pts). Stud outfielder Bobby Abreu is off to a slow start (83 pts, 24th) and Carlos Lee was traded for Adam Wainwright and Roger Clemens, neither of whom has put up any positive numbers in the past couple of weeks. From the mound, Josh Beckett is off to a phenomenal start (116.8 pts, #1 SP) and K-Rod is mowing them down as always (109.7 pts, #7 RP), but that’s been it for Isotope highlights in April.
Overall batting: 659 points, #9 overall
Overall pitching: 568.0 points, #5 overall
Jeltz division review to follow…
No comments:
Post a Comment