FTB 8

Gentlemen:

Through six weeks of play, the Wahoos have taken over the top spot in the league with 2894.1 points, a shade ahead of the Skipjacks with 2878, knocking the Skipjacks off of the top perch after two weeks in the No. 1 spot. At the other end of the spectrum, the Tribe has taken over the thirteen hole from the Redbirds, sounding in with 2302.2 through six weeks, a hefty 591.9 points off of the lead.

Here are the standings through six weeks:

1.	Wahoos	2894.1
2.	Skipjacks	2878.0
3.	Bombers	2789.1
4.	Chiefs	2774.6
5.	Cubs	2739.5
6.	Bums	2710.4
7.	Senators	2638.1
8.	Tigers	2604.6
9.	Blues	2556.5
10.	Bears	2477.8
11.	Monarchs	2453.5
12.	Redbirds	2420.1
13.	Tribe	2302.2

TIGERS, BLUES, CHIEFS SURGE

Although Possum’s Wahoos took over the top spot in the standings, the real story of Week 6 was the breakout performances of the Tigers (566.7), Blues (560.6), and Chiefs (552.7), vaulting each of these teams from positions of near despair to places in the standings from which they can launch their next move.

Overall, it was a high-scoring week for the Hot Stove League, with four different teams scoring more than 500 points, and three others scoring at least 460. Only two teams fell below the Mendoza line, the defending Monarchs with 391.1 and the cellar-dwelling Tribe with 317.8. Here are the point totals from Week 6 from top to bottom:

1.	Tigers	566.7
2.	Blues	560.6
3.	Chiefs	552.7
4.	Wahoos	526.2
5.	Cubs	469.6
6.	Skipjacks	460.8
	Redbirds	460.8
8.	Bums	435.3
9.	Bears	414.2
10.	Bombers	407.1
11.	Senators	402.0
12.	Monarchs	391.1
13.	Tribe	317.8

TOP HITTERS

It is no wonder that B.T. enjoyed his surge during Week 6, with Bryce Harper and Paul Goldschmidt leading the league in points. Here are the top ten through six weeks:

1.	Harper	Chiefs	237.3
2.	Goldschmidt	Chiefs	199.4
3.	Rizzo	Bears	195.6
4.	González	Bums	191.7
5.	Cruz	Tribe	189.8
6.	Cabrera	Wahoos	185.0
7.	Hosmer	Blues	175.3
8.	Carpenter	Bums	165.7
9.	Gordon	Bombers	165.4
10.	Frazier	Bombers	163.7

TOP PITCHERS

Although his won-loss record is only 4-3, Max Scherzer leads the pitchers through six weeks with 222 points, just one ahead of Zack Greinke. Here are the top ten through six:

1.	Scherzer	Wahoos	222.0
2.	Greinke	Cubs	221.0
3.	Gray	Skipjacks	219.0
4.	King Felix	Senators	217.0
5.	Miller	Skipjacks	215.0
6.	Keuchel	Blues	212.0
7.	Archer	Bums	190.0
	Harvey	Skipjacks	190.0
9.	Burnett	Cubs	187.0
10.	Cueto	Bears	186.0

WHO’S HOT – HITTERS

1.	Harper	Chiefs	70.0
2.	Kris Bryant	Bears	54.5
3.	Kipnis	Chiefs	54.0
4.	Cabrera	Wahoos	49.2
5.	Brad Miller (who?)	Wahoos	47.6

WHO’S HOT – PITCHERS

1.	Scherzer	Wahoos	71.0
2.	Miller	Skipjacks	70.0
3.	Lynn	Wahoos	64.0
4.	Arrieta	Chiefs	63.0
5.	Burnett	Cubs	62.0

PROMISES, PROMISES

I promised myself this year that I would stay on top of things in this league from start to finish, checking the standings and rosters every single day at least once, if not twice, and so far, this recipe has been reasonably helpful, at least in terms of keeping the Senators out of the cellar. However, as we all know, sometimes the best move is the one that you don’t make, and a shining example is my pickup of discard Matt Garza from the bone pile last week, and my insertion of him into the starting lineup for the game on Saturday against the Mets. While it all started out seemingly innocent enough, with Garza holding the Mets to 1 run on 4 hits through three innings, what I didn’t know was all of the Mets outs were loud ones, as Garza used two hard-hit balls that turned into double plays to escape further damage during the first third of the game. Suddenly, the baseball gods reached down into Citi Field and orchestrated the following shit storm for Garza in the bottom of the fourth:

*	Michael Cuddyer singles to shallow right.
*	Daniel Murphy walks, Cuddyer to second.
*	Eric Campbell grounds out, pitcher to first, Cuddyer to third and Murphy to second.
*	Kevin Plawecki reaches on a fielder’s choice, shortstop to catcher, Cuddyer scores, still one out.
*	Jacob deGrom singles to left center, Daniel Murphy to third, Plawecki to second.
*	Mets slugger Wilmer Flores hits a grand slam (385 feet) to deep left center, pushing the score to 6-0.
*	Curtis Granderson reaches on an infield single.
*	Juan Lagares singles to right center, Granderson to third.
*	Garza looks pleadingly into the dugout for relief, is rebuffed by Brewers’ manager Terry Collins.
*	Lucas Duda walks, Juan Lagares to second.
*	Michael Cuddyer doubles to left, scoring Granderson and Lagares.
*	Garza’s smoldering ashes are hauled off of the pitching mound, but not before giving up 11 earned runs in fewer than four innings.

If you are keeping score at home, that nifty little outing by Garza resulted in a whopping 23 point moonwalk for the Senators. Ouch. Flanaganesque.

And so it goes in the life of a Hot Stove Leaguer. Garza is now safely off of the Senators’ roster, and things can only look up for the rest of the campaign.

And that’s it for this issue of From the Bullpen. Looking forward to next week’s Jiggernaut!

Skipper



2015 Season	Edition No. 8	May 19, 2015