Went down to see my Dad this weekend who still lives in that cosmopolitan hotspot of Effingham County Georgia. Nice place if you like trees, sand gnats (actually, the sand gnat is the name used by the Savannah minor league team, at least for a little while longer as I just learned the team is moving to Columbia SC who promised them a new stadium), and no wireless service (two things my Dad will never do…fly in an airplane or have internet service). My Dad just turned 83 this July (nice guy…played second base on his Clyo High School baseball team) and we watched a lot of baseball. Followed Hamels no-hitter, Shelby Millers great start (lost 1-0 of course), the trade of Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson, and Glen Perkins meltdown the old-fashioned way (reading the scroll at the bottom of the screen). Anyway, by the time I got back to beautiful Duluth Georgia, I was ready to get caught up. While reading in, had a baseball ESPN recap program on and I had a gut shot nearly as bad as learning we would have a second President Obama administration. They showed about a dozen times from several angles Mike Trout rolling his wrist yesterday. You know the scene…the glove pops off…the grimace…the shaking the wrist…the trainer trot. For a moment, it felt like the Hindenburg was going off behind my eyes.
Fortunately the damage appears less permanent than the debacle in November 2012 as Trout went on to not only stay in the game, but hit his second homer of the day. My league has tightened up to the point that there are five teams still in the hunt to win it at the league level. Losing Trout would be a disaster of epic proportions (ranked on the list just behind the advent of the Desecrated Hitter and artificial turf).
The Week - As it is, I had a real good week which I needed just to hold onto second place. I retook the lead in HR, R and RBI. A tenuous lead at best as I am a whopping total of five ahead combined for all three (1 ahead each in HR and R and three in RBI). Even an average week could cost me four points here. It is great when a plan works as Jarrod Dyson tossed in five SB. That helped my team to get ten total SB for the week on 298 AB, 43 Runs, 45 RBI’s, and 14 HR to go with a .2987 BA. A few more of these would be nice and needed to hold onto my HR/R/RBI leads as well as make up points in BA and SB.
Given I only had eight starts last week, I ended up with good stats in pitching too. A 3.394 ERA and 1.183 WHIP is nice and close to what my overall targets in those two categores, but given my current mediocre 3.636 and 1.235, I need those weekly numbers to be better. The difference truly was the Perkins blow up. And that has been the constant refrain for this team. The wicked blow-up has happened every week.
No, not that kind of wicked blow-up. You know what I mean…
Anyway, I also got 63 K’s and four saves this week. The K’s give me a nice 65 K lead over second place. So I hit all of my pitching targets as well…save one. Wins. I got two, one of the no-hitter and Sale’s great start Saturday. I truly could have won seven of the eight starts. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
The FA Pool – For the second period running, I did not even place a bid. Of the players who mildly interested me (Conforto, Piscotty, and Nola), I just could not see having even intermediate term value. I do not know if the Mets will make a splash for a big-name outfielder, but if they do,Conforto will be back down for a little more seasoning. I tried not to get all googly eyed over his good weekend.
He and Piscotty (who I do not think will stay at 1B as the Cardinals will trade for a Reynolds-upgrade qualify) at OF for me with Dyson (on my team for SB), Aoki (due back today), Trout, Marte, and Holliday, OF is not my need. And I have Trumbo (HUGE disappointment), Kris Davis (could be full time if the Brewer fire sale continues) and De Aza (What will the BoSox do?). Aaron Nola would be a nice target, but with so many Braves and Brewer pitchers on my team, I did not need another good pitcher on a bad team. That is the story on wins. Good pitchers, bad teams. I had, to a certain extent, thought my W% would less than stellar, but a 29.9%? C’MON! And I still do not even have one win out of a reliever.
Anyway, I now have the FA money lead so if anything pops that could help my team, I am well placed to buy some help.
Plans – So, who has the balls to sit Hamels after his no-hitter? It is really in my mind. If he is still with the Phillies he gets Atlanta, which sad to say, doesn’t scare me that much. He is a bit primed for a let down. The person I would consider replacing him with (don’t laugh now) is David Phelps.
I said DON’T LAUGH! Seriously, Phelps, whom I started last week with two road starts, gets the Padres at home. Phelps home/road splits favors home (32 K in 40 IP with 10 BB and only 1 HR). I chanced him last week with two road starts and he gave me one good and one mediocre start. It would take cajones the size of watermelons to sit Hamels. I will weigh them when I get a quiet moment, but if I start Hamels, I will have to decide between Phelps and Nelson as my seventh starter.
I will be also watching what happens with the closer-go-round this week. My big gamble flopped when Cishek was traded to the Cardinals. Given my K lead, I could go with an extra closer for a few weeks and hopefully pick up some points in Saves.
I will also be looking for an upgrade on Pedro Alvarez, if one pops up, as I am guessing the Pirates are about to turn him into a bench bat. Also, if I can upgrade Galvis/Asdrubal or Scooter/Gyorko I can do that. Stat wise, a little BA help would be nice.
So my max point strategy is to maintain, as much as possible, my advantage in HR, RBI, R, and SP (currently 60.0 points, so I got nowhere there to go but down). I feel I can generate some more points out of SB (currently with 8.0 points, but only 3 SB behind the 11.0 point player) and Saves (currently at 9.0 points and 6 saves behind the guy with 12.0 points though one of the teams ahead of me already is using three closers). The average stats have about 8.0 points worth of potential points, so there is some opportunity there, too.
For our league, Andy Robinson is in the lead and has a great, balanced team with a great chance to crack the top 10 if not make a run for the top. The shame is I will not be challenging for the overall. Points lost in Wins has cost me too much. BUT…you never know…
Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer
