Well, the magic ended this past week.
The Gamblers were riding a high with Aaron Harang’s
ridiculous start that made the Cleveland Indians look like … well, the Handi
Jerks. Offseason blunders abound.
Harang gave up nine runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings against
the Marlins on a day when the Gamblers’ pitching staff gave up 22 runs in 20.1
innings (9.74 ERA). Edwin Jackson and Drew Hutchinson both gave up four earned
runs, while Garza lasted only three innings, giving up five.
It was a back-breaker for the Gamblers in the ERA
department, but he took nine of 12 batting categories to make up for it and win
14-5-5 over the N.J. Bombers.
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| One of the many non-roster invitees for the Gamblers who are making a difference for the first-place fantasy squad. |
Without Ryan Braun, he still managed 75 hits, a .314 average
with 35 runs, 21 doubles, a triple, six homers and 41 RBIs.
Strangely, the Gamblers are doing this with players who were
not keepers. Joey Votto, Adam Jones and Nick Castellanos weren’t on their game
last week, and they haven’t lived up to their expectations.
Instead, the Gamblers got big production from Juan Uribe,
Torii Hunter and Adeiny Hechavarria — on draft pick and two free agents.
Remember, there’s nothing of value after we select keepers, he says.
If that were the case, he’d be in last place.
Instead, he’s tied for first with the Choo, who also picked
up a big win. His 14-8-2 win kept him right alongside his most hated rival.
The Choo was running even with the Panthers late in the
week, but a big weekend boosted him ahead. Leading the way were Yasiel Puig —
you’re welcome, Choo — and Troy Tulowitzki.
Puig picked up six hits in a double header and went
12-for-27 during the week with seven RBIs and three stolen bases.
But that was nothing compared to Tulo, who batted .619 for
the week (13-for-21) with nine runs scored, three doubles, two homers and eight
RBIs. His stats were the difference in runs (he won by two), singles (tied),
doubles (won by three) and homers (won by two).
Can you imagine what his numbers will be like if he stays healthy all year?
For the Sex Panthers, pitching continues to be a problem. A
few weeks ago, she was staring at several pitchers — Ubaldo Jimenez, Phil Hughes,
Ricky Nolasco, Wade Miley, Hiroki Kuroda and Justin Masterson — who were all
giving up five or six runs often. It was hard to give up on any of them because
some were keepers and others were high draft picks, but finally, she cut Hughes
loose.
Of course, Choo picked him up for the weekend and used him
against her to get a quality start and a win, the latter which gave him another
category on Sunday.
To make matters worse for the Panthers, it was Hughes' third
straight quality start and win since leaving the team.
We’ve all had this happen in some form or another, so we can
feel her pain, but man, this is a tough pill to swallow — especially if this is
the start of a great run by Hughes.
He’s in a pitcher's ballpark, so one would think he’d fare better than he has. Plus, his strike percentage ranks among the top of MLB with
guys like Cliff Lee and Nate Eovaldi.
Speak of the devil, how about that Nate Eovaldi, Parker?
He’s 2-1 with six quality starts, a 2.78 ERA, 45 strikeouts
and a 0.99 WHIP. I can’t believe I wasted a first-round pick on that kind of
production with minor league eligibility.
In comparison, Masahiro Tanaka is 4-0 with six quality
starts and a 2.53 ERA, 51 strikeouts and an 0.96 WHIP.
I’m not saying you would want Eovaldi over Tanaka, but man,
he’s been nearly as good. If he had the run support Tanaka got, he’d have more
than just two wins in those six quality starts.
They’re not the only first-round pitchers doing very well.
The Jerks, who selected ahead of me, picked Ervin Santana, who is 3-0 with a
2.41 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He didn’t get the win last week, but his quality
start was among four he had last week.
Four. I know, it’s not a lot. But when you only have six
starts total, it’s not a bad percentage.
Six starts. This is a product of the Handi Jerks’ legion of
relief pitchers who helped earn two extra wins, five holds and a 2.80 ERA with
a 1.15 WHIP.
As it turned out, against Coldsmith, that was overkill in a
16-4-4 win. The Helicopter Pilot had a 7.27 ERA after blowups by CC Sabathia,
Robbie Ross, Edinson Volquez and Tommy Milone.
For CC, it was nine earned runs in a pair of troubling
starts in a season where his ERA is now 5.75. One has to wonder if this is the
end of the line for Sabathia. If it is, Coldsmith is in a world of trouble
without a true No. 1 on the team. To make matters worse, the offense has been
rather quiet with the exception of Jayson Werth and Dee Gordon, whose six
stolen bases salvaged him a batting category. But he’s now 38-61-21 and 24
games back in the American League.
It’s not time to sell, but he has to have something take
shape in the pitching department because I can’t pick out two sure-fire
starting pitching keepers moving forward.
That’s something that no National League team has to worry
about.
Yes, here we go, it’s National League time.
Not much changed in the standings outside of the Slammers
moving up to No. 2 and the Cheese Steaks dropping to No. 5 after a 14-7-3 win.
It was one of four wins this week that had a margin of six
categories or more.
Over the first four weeks, we saw only six matchups decided
by six or more categories.
Of course, the two matchups that did not fit that profile
were a pair of stalemates in the National League. Vandelay and the Outs ended
the week 10-10-4, while Steroid.ERA managed a slim 11-10-3 win.
That left Vandelay atop the National League, 14 games above
.500. The other three teams remained virtually as they were after last week.
Worth noting is that Vandelay continues to slug, pounding
another 13 homers behind three from Giancarlo Stanton — who else — and
three from Carlos Santana. The Industries now have 55 home runs, 12 more than
the next best total.
Outside of homers, the most productive offense last week was
the Slammers, who have been on a tear over the last three weeks. With JLB-bests
in singles (239) doubles (93), SACs (19) and average (.281), the Slammers have
pulled back into contention in the National League.
Last week, 81 hits (48 singles, 22 doubles, two triples,
nine homers) and 47 RBIs fueled the 14-7-3 win. Leading the way were Justin
Morneau (7-for-24, two HRs, six RBIs), Pedro Alvarez (8-for-21, HR, four RBIs)
and Andrew McCutchen (7-for-18, two doubles, three RBIs).
But the big difference was timely spot starts by Jhonny
Peralta, David Freese, Gerardo Parra, Miguel Montero, Michael Morse and Melky
Cabrera, who combined for 21 hits, seven runs, two homers and 11 RBIs.
And, of course, I have to mention, Sonny Gray and his
complete-game shutout — thank you, Choo. It was the only bright spot in one of the worst pitching
weeks in Slammers history. It’s true because as the research Parker made me do
several weeks ago showed, I almost always have a better pitching staff than him.
This week, that was not the case.
EXTRA BASES: It
turns out the Jerks will need some extra work from the Legion of Relief
Pitchers this week after a random Monday spot start by Yusmeiro Petit blew up
in his face. The Pirates touched him for eight runs in 4.1 innings. Oops. … The
Sex Panthers had five triples last week. Five. That could possibly be a record,
but looking up matchup records is a task for this summer, so I’ll let you know
later. … Choo continues to look smarter than we thought with Johnny Cueto, who
had his fourth straight outing of 8.0 innings or more. He struck out another 10
and now is 3-2 with 60 strikeouts, seven quality starts, a 1.31 ERA and a 0.73
WHIP. That’s Cy Young worthy. If that happens, then he would have traded a 2013
Cy Young for a 2014 Cy Young. That will look better. ... The Gamblers may get Clayton Kershaw back and nobody cares.
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