2015 Season

Edition No. 8

May 19, 2015

     

 

 

 

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