Outside of the two divisional leaders, Week 12 in the JLB was mediocre in terms of wins.
Four matchups were virtually a draw, with both Big League Choo and Vandelay being the only teams to pick up 13 wins.
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| Polly want a cracker? Gregory Polanco is happy to be a member of Steroid.ERA. Why? Because he's a member of the most-talked about team in the JLB. This week, at least. |
But that’s enough about the divisional leaders.
It’s time to talk about the greatest, most-needed-to-be-talked-about-team in the JLB.
No, I know, you thought it was going to be my team, the Slammers.
How silly of you all to think that.
The team I’m talking about is Steroid.ERA. Yes, it’s the man with the Parrot as his favorite mascot. (He loves his Buccos.) I guess it’s no surprise he also loves the man who takes a Parrot for a stroll around the bases often.
That man, Edwin Encarnacion, hit four more home runs last week, running his season total to 24. He is batting .277 with 54 runs scored and 63 RBIs. That’s pretty ridiculous for a player who I personally dismissed as a potential keeper for his squad. Grant it, with all the trades ERA made, I assumed Encarnacion was going to be an odd-man out, but fortunately for Steroid, he didn’t make that cut.
This week, when I play Steroid, I may wish he did. Encarnacion has been on fire.
His pitching hasn’t been too shabby either. He only split with Otto Parts last week 11-11-2, and his 2.61 ERA helped with that. You would think his 13 quality starts would have given him the win in that category, but somehow, Otto Parts piled up 14.
Otto had five starters give him two quality starts, including Julio Teheran and Cole Hamels, who combined for 30 strikeouts.
But let’s not get off subject here.
It’s Steroid.ERA here who deserves the limelight after an 11-11 draw.
How about that Gregory Polanco? All those trade offers he shunned and it has paid of so far. Polanco started his career with a 10-plus-game hit streak and he’s batting .344 with 13 runs, a homer, six RBIs and three stolen bases. Together, with Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte, the Pirates may have the best outfield in all of baseball. He’ll likely remain a part of Steroid.ERA for many years to come.
If only he could get McCutchen.
Then again, who wouldn’t want an MVP like Cutch?
Jerk would. He won't stop asking, or spelling his name right. He won 11-9-4 over Coldsmith last week, picking up minimal ground in the division. He could have picked up a little more if Matt Shoemaker didn’t have an excellent week for Coldsmith, logging 15.2 innings with 16 strikeouts.
Still, Jerks won the ERA battle with a 3.43, led by the oldest of pitchers, Bartolo Colon, who pitched another solid eight innings last week for the Jerk. Altogether, he went 8-5 with 3.67 ERA with the Mets.
It’s quite amazing. Every year, I see Bartolo Colon in the draft and I think, “Nah, he can’t do it again.”
Yet, he does.
But, I mean, I know he’s no Clayton Kershaw, but who is?
Kershaw wowed us all last week, striking out 15 in an amazing no-hitter, should-have-been-perfect-game (thanks, Hanley).
It was amazing to watch. Too bad Parker went to be early. He would have seen the southpaw really show us how close he is to becoming the next Andrew Heaney.
Speaking of great Gambler prospects, let’s check in with Mike Zunino. He’s now batting .230, up a little because he has a five-game hit streak going. Sounds promising. I'm feeling like I'm about to get excited. And while we’re at it, let’s check in on Salvador Perez. He’s batting .282.
Even with the Kerfect Game, the Gamblers lost 12-10-2 to the Bombers, who continue to get great hitting from Devin Mesoraco, a guy who I was a year too early on. I had high hopes for him, especially having personally covered him when he played Legion ball for Punxsutawney, but he didn’t hit last year.
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| Early again, but luckier Not only was I early on Devin Mesoraco, I was early on J.D. Martinez. Last year, I drafted Martinez fairly high, and he was scheduled to be my everyday RF. But the Astros prospect struggled and was sent down. With Yasiel Puig's rise to the majors, I dropped him. The Astros gave up on him, too, letting him go and Detroit jumped on him. Now he's batting right behind the other Martinez, Victor. He homered again tonight, now up to nine on the season, and he is batting .314 with 31 RBIs and 16 runs scored. It's been a huge boost for the Tigers, and a huge boost for me after sending Puig away in a trade. Ironic. I gave up on him for Puig and now he's my savior after I gave up on Puig. |
He was on my draft list this year, but the Bombers scooped him up before I could get around to finding a backup for Perez. But he’s not a backup, batting .320 with 25 runs, 14 HRs and 40 RBIs. He should be the All-Star starter for the NL. He’ll be joined on the roster by another Bomber who has been out of his mind, Paul Goldschmidt. The D-Backs first baseman is batting .304 with 57 runs, 15 HRs and 53 RBIs.
Those two were among eight players who batted better than .286 for the Bombers in the win. He posted six wins in both batting and pitching to keep ahold of the last AL wild card spot.
The NL Wild Card spot has a little more competition, with the Outs dropping a little farther behind ERA after a 13-7-4 loss to Vandelay.
The Industries had a huge week — again — with six guys hitting two or more home runs. Carlos Santana was among them, hitting three. Starlin Castro hit a pair and drove in eight runs with his nine hits. Ryan Howard also hit two and drove in six. He’s another great story for 2014, batting .243 with 38 runs, 14 HRs and 50 RBIs.
Yes, the average isn’t exactly where one would want it, but the power has returned, and for Vandelay, it’s been a nice boost at the plate.
His pitching continues to be among the League’s best, too, as he went 8-2 with a 2.49 ERA and 1.06 WHIP last week. The five wins on the pitching side, added with the eight on the batting side, helped him improve his overall record to 145-103-40.
Man, I’m jealous. But not as jealous as I am about Steroid.ERA's roster.
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