Week 14

The first half comes to a close and I'm still in second place. Early in the week though it looked like I might make the half way pole in 4th. A decent finish saved me from that, but it's clearly going to be a battle for second... and probably a 3 team one. I did lose ground to everyone this week as my team finished in 9th (for the week). While the overall standings look similar, things continue to tighten up. Here is a look at the top of the current standings.


1 ~ Fantasy Tools 85.0
2 ~ Antelope Crusaders 76.5
3 ~ Lynnwood Legacy 74.5
4 ~ Wheats N Raisins 69.0
5 ~ Balls Deep 65.0


Batting average, Strike-outs and Wins are the closest categories for me. The problem is I am trying to hang onto what I have there and not gain. That makes it hard because there are several teams on my heals. If I lose ground there... which is easy to do... the only place I can gain points back is in saves. About the only thing that's clear is First Place. The rest is going to be a battle.

Here is a more detailed look at the past week.


Hitting (86 for 320, .269ba, 8hr, 35rbi, 38rs, 11sb)
I guess Omar Infante (13 for 28, 1hr, 2rbi, 3r) didn't like folks... including me... mocking his all-star selection. He had himself quite a week! He doesn't offer much speed and power, but his .332 average has been a big help. He should continue to get AB too, probably even more so than he did in the first half. He is definitely earning his $1.

Some of my expensive players showed some signs of earning their pay this week too. Ryan Braun broke out of an 0-19 and the worst slump of his career on Friday night with a game winning hit... and then closed the week out by going 6 for 11 with 2hr, 3rbi, 5r, 1sb. Really hope he is back to his normal self in the second half.

Matt Kemp stole 5 bases this week, putting me back into the mix for winning that category. But he also went 5 for 28, which is frustrating. Hanley Ramirez (9 for 27) continues to run, stealing 3 bases. His new manager says he "needs more from Hanley"... and don't we all. He's on pace to hit 25hr, 100rbi with 40sb and a .300 average though... and honestly, that aint bad.

Bad is Wilson Valdez (3 for 20). It looks like Placido Polanco will be back right after the all-star break, which will force me to make a move to keep Valdez. He figures to be the Phillies starting 2B for the next 6 or so weeks (while Utley is injured)... so that offers some value. Don't want the dude to kill my batting average though, so I'll have a decision to make.

David Eckstein got all of 1 AB this week because of injury. No idea why the Padres didn't DL him. Roger Bernardino was hurt too... maybe. He only got 13 AB, so that's what I'm hoping. A factor too though is... for whatever reason... the Nationals just aren't willing to write his name into the lineup every day.

Travis Ishikawa (9 for 20, 6rbi, 3r) has been forcing his way into the everyday lineup though... well, at least against RH pitching. The Giants are talking like that isn't going to change too. They have also been talking about a trade though (for an OF, which would make A Huff their 1B). I claimed Ishikawa as a free agent hoping he'd get 10ish ABs a week and be a small-small help to my batting average... so now I'm hoping for a pretty massive bonus. Getting a .300 hitting starting 1B off the free agent wire, that would be sweet.

Overall things have gone really well with my hitting. Guys losing ABs, players having off years... even bad years... I'm still a strong bet to finish at least second in all the hitting categories, with a decent chance of winning two of them.


Pitching (69.1ip, 6.88era, 1.69ratio, 58k, 6w, 1s)
A ridiculously bad pitching week, which is pretty amazing given I had the best pitcher in baseball for week 14. Vicente Padilla (14.2ip, 0er, 9on, 15k, 2w) was lights out. He has been getting outs on a near eephus pitch... a low 50s curve ball... so I'm not sure how long his success will last. He is throwing strikes though and he's shown good velocity on non-eephus pitches, so maybe he'll be decent enough to stick in the Dodgers rotation.

Brett Myers (8ip, 1er, 5on, 5k, 1w) closed out a solid first half with an excellent outing. Matt Capps picked up a win and a save and Blake Hawksworth was decent in his first start for me (5.1ip, 2er, 10on, 2k, 1w)... with most of that damage occurring in the first inning.

It took a lot of bad pitching to overcome those good performances, and I certainly got it. To start with, both my Padres pitchers... J Garland and K Correia... were hit hard. Correia has to be close to losing his job too. Tyler Clippard pitched twice and was hammered both times (0.2ip, 4er, 6on). John Ely (5ip, 11er, 18on) got two starts during the week and did well enough to get himself shipped to the minors. Chris Narveson (3.1ip, 9er, 11on) did even worse.

I'm buried in ERA and Ratio... too far back to gain any points there... so largely take these beatings in stride. Thing is, when it gets THIS bad... guys start losing their jobs. Atilano and Ely both got sent to the minors, and Narveson has to be right behind them. Correia is surely running out of chances too. I DO need Ks and Wins, so getting bumped from the rotation has an impact. Aaron Heilman's poor pitching has likely cost him his closer role too... although that Arizona bullpen is a massive question mark at this point.

The good side is... it can't get worse than this... right? Well, not unless major league hitters all of a sudden figure out how to hit a 50mph curve ball... lol... and what are the odds of that??

Other News
There is lots of other news, mainly because I was forced to replace pitchers that had... or soon will... lose their jobs. I'll get to that later in the week though.

Right now, I am getting ready to watch the Home Run derby. I'll be pulling for Hanley Ramirez... while hoping this stupid contest doesn't cause any problems for him. The biggie will be the NL finally winning the actual all-star game. It's time! Plus, as a Braves fan... this game well might matter. The Braves would have won the 1991 World Series (vs the Twins) had they had home field that year.