Between a Mexico wedding, being sick from said Mexico
wedding, and traveling for work, it’s been a bit rough the last couple weeks.
For those who read the blog just to keep up on the JLB, I’ve
let you down.
But, I’m back.
So, where do we stand?
Well, Big League Choo is 3.5 games ahead of the Bombers for
first place in the American League, while the rest of the AL is under .500.
(Where have we heard that before?)
In fact, the drop off is so severe from second to third,
that the last place team in the National League, Chief Otto Parts, is three
games better than third place in the AL.
The Cheese Steaks hold a 9-game lead in first in the
National League where all is crazy. Vandelay jumped all the way up to third,
while the Outs popped up to fourth.
The Outs had a ridiculous week, thanks to Bryce Harper’s six
home runs and 13 RBIs. It’s the second time that a team has had a player go for
six homers against me this year as Steroid.ERA did it Week 2 with Nelson Cruz.
If you take Cruz and Harper’s weeks against me and combine
them, you get 22-for-46 with nine singles, a double, 12 homers, 23 RBIs, six
walks, 15 runs scored.
That’s just unfair.
The Outs pitching also returned to form — for the most part,
minus one Corey Clobbered — as Garrett Richards, Jordan Zimmerman and Madison
Bumgarner went a combined 2-1 with five quality starts and 37 strikeouts. In
total, he pulled off an 11-5-6 win.
Vandelay had a bigger week, winning 15-4-2 over his brother,
Otto Parts, and the offense played a big role, blasting 10 homers and driving
in 40 runs. Michael Brantley hit a pair of homers and drove in four, while
Kolten Wong hit two with seven RBIs. Jason Kipnis and Matt Holiday each had 10
hits to lead the way.
Vandelay did get the cheap CG because Eddie Butler pitched all
5.1 innings of a rain-shortened contest, but justice was served in the world as
Otto had Brett Anderson for the Dodgers, who pitched the other five innings for
the CG.
The other NL matchup featured Steroid beating Philly Cheese
11-9-2, and this matchup could have gone either way. Steroid lost singles and
homers by two, they tied walks, and Cheese fell short in batting average
.294-.292. The difference maker was Steroid’s pitching, which tallied 99
strikeouts behind five players who hit double-digits for the week. The eight
quality starts, 8-5 record and 3.48 ERA were all category winners.
In the AL, the Bombers picked up the biggest win, at 14-7-1
over Chalupa. Eight wins came in pitching as Bartolo Colon and Aaron Harang
combined for a 3-1 record and three quality starts. Colon’s 15 strikeouts were
the difference in a category NJ won by two.
Offensively, Evan Longoria and Paul Goldschmidt both hit
three homers last week and combined for 12 for the Bombers’ 30 RBIs.
Joc Pederson also had three homers for Chalupa, but
considering it is home run or bust for Pederson of late, the Bombers were not
worried.
Choo beat the Jerk 11-6-5, who got 14 pitching starts last
week. Let’s take a moment to applaud him. OK, back to the recap. Choo won seven
pitching categories and got stellar weeks from Michael Pineda and Danny Salazar
who combined for 42 strikeouts. Salazer went 1-1 with 20 strikeouts in 14
innings with a 3.21 ERA, while Pineda dominated, striking out 22 in 15 innings.
He was 2-0 with an 0.60 ERA.
On the season, Pineda is 5-0 with 54 strikeouts and 2.72
ERA. I think it’s safe to say, Seattle, you lost that deal BIG TIME. And Choo
looks to be among the first-round winners from a year ago, joining the Outs,
who drafted Kris Bryant. Dynasty leagues, you draft one year and look like a
genius 400 days later.
It’s nearly 750 days later and Parker isn’t looking much
like a genius. Mike Zunino is batting in the 100s. Oh, Seattle, you lose again.
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