Monthly Archives: July 2015

BGB Fantasy League 2015 Week Fifteen

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After an extended break for the All-Star Game, it’s time to see who has started the second half of the season with a bang, and which manager had the benefit of the third no-hitter of the season.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
45
15
42
7
.278
.814
4
9
47
3
3.21
1.23
11
37
12
37
6
.271
.758
3
7
87
1
4.79
1.46
1
The RBIs are the biggest winners of the week, defeating the Maltsters 11-1. A-Rod belted five homers, Puig drove in eight and Votto scored 11 runs to go with his three homers and .528 average in an offensive sweep. Volquez had a win and 11 strikeouts while Tolleson had four saves and Hughes helped take ERA and WHIP. The Maltsters salvaged strikeouts thanks to Scherzer, Greinke, Bauer and Santiago. Cano hit .350 with four homers, 10 runs and 11 RBIs.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
27
12
38
4
.244
.770
3
2
42
1
4.74
1.56
3
43
12
33
9
.255
.737
4
7
78
0
2.74
1.25
8
The Slugs are top after defeating Bits & Bytes 8-3. Lester and Shields each had a win and helped take ERA and WHIP, while Carson Smith had three holds. Bautista had four homers, Heyward stole four bases and Turner hit .464 with a pair of homers. For Bits & Bytes, Trout hit five homers and made the difference in RBIs and OPS, while McGee had the lone hold.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
36
10
43
5
.295
.832
6
3
53
1
3.76
1.25
3
49
16
46
5
.296
.933
4
7
63
1
3.92
1.26
7
The Newcastle bats carried the Knights to a 7-3 win against Batteries Essential, falling a steal shy of an offensive sweep. CarGo had a monster week, with five homers, nine runs and 12 RBIs while Donaldson and Pujols had three homers each. Gregerson had three holds and Salazar struck out 16. Batteries Essential put up good offensive numbers across the board and in most other weeks would have fared better. Martin, Machado, Brantley and Walkers each hit two homers, with Martin also driving in nine. MadBum and Nelson each had two wins and helped take ERA and WHIP.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
37
12
40
6
.299
.818
10
0
69
3
3.71
1.29
7
37
8
39
4
.289
.777
7
7
69
1
3.26
1.21
3
My Isotopes are showing signs of life, defeating the Riverkings 7-3. The offense took five categories as Cruz belted four homers and scored and drove in seven apiece. Ortiz’s monster Sunday saw him finish with 4 homers and 11 RBIs while Altuve score eight runs, swipe three bags and bat .378. Heaney and Gonzalez win twice while Jose Fernandez struck out 18 and Rodney had two holds. The Riverkings had four saves from Rosenthal while DeGrom, Cueto and King Felix helped take ERA and WHIP. Pederson, Pence, Choo, Dozier and Franco all scored five runs.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
32
11
34
5
.208
.634
5
9
76
3
3.81
1.27
7
32
8
29
8
.245
.725
4
3
55
7
5.98
1.41
4
Norwich caused an upset by defeating the Sox 7-4. Fiers had a win and 17 strikeouts and Iwakuma and Syndergaard helped take ERA and WHIP as the pitchers claimed five out of six categories. Miller had four saves. Seven players homered, with Schwarber and Grichuk going deep twice. For the Sox, Braun had three steals and Goldschmidt made the difference in average and OPS. Maurer had four holds.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
42
10
37
6
.276
.784
3
3
61
3
3.23
1.17
7
36
8
26
3
.246
.705
8
4
94
4
3.38
1.01
5
Jesmond got the better of Iron Men 7-5 in a battle at the top. An offensive sweep for Jesmond included four homers from Desmond, who joined Phillips in scoring eight runs, while Chris Davis homered three times and knocked in eight. Pollock had three steals. Iron Men had two wins from Tanaka, while Keuchel struck out 18 and Jim Johnson notched our saves. Heston and Cole helped take WHIP.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
40
12
32
6
.291
.848
12
0
114
6
2.87
1.10
5
55
10
50
5
.337
.886
5
3
59
1
2.37
0.95
7
Finally, the Chasers squeezed past the Lollygaggers 7-5. Seager scored 11 runs, Melky Cabrera drove in 11 and Posey knocked in nine while batting .469. K-Rod had three saves while Tillman and Carlos Martinez posted stingy ERA and WHIP stats. For the Lollyagaggers, Gonzalez, Frazier, Bruce, Byrd and Teixeira all had multi-homer weeks. The pitchers racked up 12 wins and 114 strikeouts, including 25 from Kershaw, who joined Sanchez, Lackety and Axford with two wins. But the greatest performance was the no-hitter by Cole Hamels.

HOW TRADES COULD AFFECT YOUR TEAMS

The trading deadline later this week could have a big impact on your teams. Maybe a good starter on a poor MLB team gets traded to a contender. Maybe a closer becomes a set-up guy on another team. Keep an eye on the free agent pool and be ready to pounce in case a player’s value suddenly rises quickly. Remember, you can carry out trades in this league for a little while after the MLB deadline, in case you want to start dealing.

WEEK 16 MATCH-UPS

Slugs (1st) v RBIs (7th)
Jesmond (2nd) v Sox (4th)
Iron Men (3rd) v Batteries Essential (8th)
Knights (5th) v Bits & Bytes (14th)
Lollygaggers (6th) v Riverkings (9th)
Chasers (10th) v Maltsters (13th)
Isotopes (11th) v Norwich (12th)

MLB this Week: Trade deadline approaches

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CovMLBUK2014We’ve reached the point in the season when games are played under the shadow of trade rumours as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches.

Nowhere was that more evident than at Wrigley Field on Saturday where the Philadelphia Phillies’ pitcher Cole Hamels took to the mound amid an avalanche of rumours that it could be his last start for the team. The no-hitter he pitched will be remembered for a long time – not least as the trade deadline approaches every year – as it was one of those stories that sport has a habit of creating.

There are games starting before midnight UK time on Wednesday and Thursday this week and you can be sure that the broadcasts will be talking about trades – or possible trades – as they go along.

All times are in BST.

Monday 27 July

No early games

Tuesday 28 July

No early games

Wednesday 29 July

17.10. Kansas City at Cleveland (Guthrie – Kluber) *BT Sport/ESPN
17.10. Detroit at Tampa Bay (Verlander – Archer)
18.10. Pittsburgh at Minnesota (Liriano – Santana) *MLB.com Free Game
19.20. Colorado at Chicago Cubs (Butler – Lester)
20.40. Arizona at Seattle (Corbin – Hernandez)
20.45. Milwaukee at San Francisco (Friers – Peavy) *BT Sport/ESPN

Thursday 30 July

17.10. San Diego at NY Mets (Cashner – Niese)
17.10. Washington at Miami (Scherzer – Haren) *MLB.com Free Game, *BT Sport/ESPN

Friday 31 July

No early games

All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB comes courtesy of the BT Sport and ESPN channels and these are highlighted above, as are any games that are available to view online for free via MLB.com. The above list of games just shows those starting before midnight UK time. The full schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.

MLB this Week: Post-All Star break

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CovMLBUK2014After last week’s All-Star break, we’re back into the daily diet of MLB games.

There’s a good selection of games this working week starting before midnight UK time.

We were not due to have an early game on Monday, but Sunday’s game between the Angels and Red Sox was postponed due to rain – the first such postponement in Anaheim for 20 years – and consequently the two teams are playing a double-header.

There’s another double-header on Wednesday as the Reds host the Cubs on a bumper day of early games.  On Thursday, Japanese pitchers Masahiro Tanaka and Hiashi Iwakuma will be on the mound for their respective teams, whilst the A’s Scott Kazmir is scheduled to make another pre-trading deadline audition for potential new teams.

All times are in BST.

Monday 20 July

22.05. Boston at LA Angels (Rodriguez – Santiago)

Tuesday 21 July

No early games

Wednesday 22 July

17.10. LA Dodgers at Atlanta (Bolsinger – Teheran)
17.35. NY Mets at Washington (Syndegaard – Zimmermann) *BT Sport/ESPN
17.35. Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati (Hendricks – Leake)
18.05. Tampa Bay at Philadelphia (Odorizzi – Morgan)
19.10. Cleveland at Milwaukee (Anderson – Lohse)
20.10. Texas at Colorado (Perez – De La Rosa)
20.40. San Francisco at San Diego (Cain – Shields) *BT Sport/ESPN
23.10. Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati (TBA – Cingrani)

Thursday 23 July

18.05. Baltimore at NY Yankees (Jimenez – Tanaka) *BT Sport/ESPN
18.08. Seattle at Detroit (Iwakuma – Price)
20.35. Minnesota at LA Angels (Santana – Richards) *BT Sport2
20.35. Toronto at Oakland (Hutchinson – Kazmir)

Friday 24 July

21.05. Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs (Williams – Lester) *BT Sport/ESPN

All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB comes courtesy of the BT Sport and ESPN channels and these are highlighted above, as are any games that are available to view online for free via MLB.com. The above list of games just shows those starting before midnight UK time. The full schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.

BGB Fantasy League 2015: Week Fourteen

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We have reached the All-Star Break, so our managers can relax for a few days and enjoy a game without worrying about their stats. Here’s what happened in week 14.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
23
8
25
4
.250
.730
6
2
69
3
3.56
1.19
9
20
7
17
0
.244
.668
7
2
64
1
2.67
1.22
2
After a disappointing and injury-hit first half, my Isotopes at least managed to finish on a high, defeating the Lollygaggers 9-2. Adam Jones was the star man with four homers and joined Molina in knocking in five while Moreland went deep twice and Ethier batted .556 in an offensive sweep. Sale, Heaney and Chen racked up the strikeouts and made the difference in WHIP while Jepsen had three holds. Arrieta won twice for Beck ‘Nams, while Kershaw and Lackey helped take ERA and Axford had a pair of saves.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
19
4
19
4
.238
.692
1
6
39
2
2.84
1.04
4
23
8
25
0
.254
.763
4
0
45
2
3.04
1.09
7
Iron Men finish the first half on top of the standings, defeating Norwich 7-4. The offense, powered by JD Martinez (eight runs, two homers) and Carlos Gomez (two homers, 10 RBIs) took five categories, while Keuchel had a win and led the staff with 12 strikeouts. Norwich had three steals from Wong, while Jansen had three saves and the young duo of Syndergaard and Rodon helped take ERA and WHIP.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
30
5
21
5
.253
.711
4
2
39
1
3.66
1.39
7
23
5
22
4
.195
.543
2
7
59
0
4.35
1.19
4
The Slugs, who have led for much of the first half, are in third after a 7-4 defeat to batteries Essential. The victors had seven runs from Walker, Machado homered twice and Billy Hamilton swiped three bases. Milone had a win and teamed up with Nelson to helped take ERA while Tazawa had a win and a hold. Maybin drove in five for the Slugs, while Boxberger had three saves and Lester struck out 16 and helped take WHIP.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
24
5
33
2
.254
.714
5
7
40
0
2.52
1.34
5
32
11
32
6
.274
.766
0
2
39
2
2.77
1.31
7
The Sox got the better of the Riverkings 7-5 in a very tight matchup. Cespedes was the offensive star, scoring six runs, homering three times and driving in seven, while Cain hit .417 and Dee Gordon swiped four bases before his injury. Betances had a hold while Verlander helped take WHIP. The Riverkings had the edge in RBIs thanks to 10 from Dozier while DeGrom, who struck out 10, and King Felix each had a win without allowing an earned run.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
24
6
26
2
.216
.668
3
4
33
2
3.26
1.41
4
30
4
21
1
.337
.864
3
4
60
1
2.47
0.88
6
Matt’s Chasers picked up a 6-4 win against the RBIs. Alcides Escobar scored nine runs and hit .417 for the week, while Seager hit .407 and Posey .471. Quintana struck out 17 while the All-Star duo of Gray and Martinez helped take ERA and WHIP. The RBIs had a multi-homer week from A-Rod, who joined Puig and Polanco in driving in four. Davis had a win and two holds.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
23
6
18
6
.280
.823
1
3
44
0
4.75
1.31
6
21
7
26
3
.288
.797
0
6
26
0
2.96
1.32
5
Jesmond just got the better of the Knights 6-5. McCutchen scored five times while Desmond stole three bases and Carlos Santana (!) swiped two. Lind had an OPS of 2.417. In a strange week for the pitching staffs, Samardzija collected the only win while Carrasco struck out seven and helped take WHIP by 0.01. The Knights had homers and RBIs from CarGo and Donaldson. CarGo, Blackmon and LeMahieu all hit over .400 for the week. Allen had three saves and Gio Gonzalez helped take ERA.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
32
10
34
7
.345
.985
1
0
21
2
3.63
0.94
6
23
5
21
5
.252
.691
6
6
61
2
3.58
0.90
5
Finally, Bits & Bytes used an offensive sweep to defeat the Maltsters 6-5. Trout did most of the damage with eight runs, five homers, 10 RBIs and a .478 average. Reyes stole four bases. The Maltsters had wins from six different pitchers, including Greinke, who made the difference in ERA and WHIP. Scherzer had 11 strikeouts and Holland collected three saves.
Due to the All-Star Break, the week 15 matchups will run for longer than the usual week. Stats will count up to and including Sunday, July 26, so there will be no roundup next week. The matchups are as follows:
Iron Men (1st) v Jesmond (2nd)
Slugs (3rd) v Bits & Bytes (14th)
Sox (4th) v Norwich (12th)
Newcastle (5th) v Batteries Essential (7th)
Lollygaggers (6th) v Chasers (11th)
Riverkings (8th) v Isotopes (13th)
RBIs (9th) v Maltsters (10th)

 

BGB Fantasy League 2015: Week Thirteen

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We have a new leader at the top of the BaseballGB Fantasy League standings. But which team is it?
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
27
8
27
1
.239
.737
0
3
21
2
2.30
1.35
1
32
11
33
6
.313
.896
2
1
47
2
1.99
0.90
10
Iron Men are the new league leaders after defeating the Riverkings 10-1. J.D. Martinez belted four homers, scored six times and knocked in 10 to go with his .458 average while Span batted .500 and Tulo .409. Kendrick and Harrison stole two bases each in an offensive sweep. On the mound, Kluber struck out 14 and Buchholz, Keuchel and Wacha helped the staff post a sub-2.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP. Riverkings had the edge in saves thanks to Rosenthal, Familia and Britton and will feel hard done by not to have won ERA and WHIP after posting impressive stats.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
33
10
29
4
.289
.837
5
3
53
1
5.89
1.54
9
27
5
22
0
.284
.754
3
6
42
0
1.32
0.99
3
My Isotopes finally showed some signs of life as a rare offensive sweep saw them defeat the Chasers 9-3. Moreland hit four homers and knocked in seven, Ortiz and Cruz had multi-homer weeks and Altuve scored seven times, drove in five and swiped three bases. Five different starters, including Brett Anderson and the fit-again Jose Fernandez, picked up wins while Rodney had the lone hold. The Chasers, missing the injured Stanton and Rendon, had a three-homer week from Posey and Lucroy scored nine times. Uehara and K-Rod had three saves each, while Zimmermann won twice and helped take ERA and WHIP.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
19
5
15
3
.255
.727
1
0
12
1
1.40
1.29
3
21
6
17
1
.206
.643
2
5
43
0
3.61
1.27
9
I’m afraid we have had another pitching forfeit as Bit & Bytes failed to meet the 20 inning minimum limit, leaving the RBIs to capitalise 9-3. With half of Bits & Bytes pitchers either on the DL or not active, I fear there will be more forfeits unless action is taken. Solarte was the star hitter for the RBIs, joining Crawford in hitting two homers, while Melancon and Tolleson combined for five saves.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
26
9
31
5
.259
.787
3
5
42
1
2.51
1.14
7
26
9
29
2
.222
.691
4
6
29
0
2.70
0.93
3
Norwich picked up a 7-3 win against Newcastle. Bryant hit .353, homered twice, drove in six and stole two bases, while Tomas also had two homers and drove in eight. Harper led the team with five runs and a .450 average. Eduardo Rodriguez struck out 12 and teamed with Fiers to take ERA. Newcastle saw Correa, Blackmon and Pujols each hit two homers while Donaldson drove in eight. Street, Storen and Allen each had a pair of saves, while McCullers had a win and helped the staff post an excellent WHIP of 0.93.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
17
5
15
1
.243
.696
4
1
52
0
2.05
0.95
4
31
6
27
9
.279
.789
2
7
35
0
3.22
1.34
7
An offensive sweep saw the Sox defeat the Lollygaggers 7-4. Braun led the team with six runs and six RBIs and joined Dee Gordon in swiping three bases. Pedro Alvarez hit two homers. Perkins, Robertson and Betances combined for seven saves. For the Lollygaggers, Hamels struck out 13 and teamed with Kazmir and Arrieta to take ERA and WHIP.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
28
6
19
9
.257
.723
5
1
40
1
5.40
1.52
4
22
5
30
4
.268
.702
6
3
40
3
1.53
0.64
7
A strong week for the Maltsters pitching staff saw them take five categories on the way to a 7-4 win against Batteries Essential. In fact, they fell one strikeout shy of a pitching sweep. Six different pitchers collected wins, including the rejuvenated Taijuan Walker, Greinke and Santiago, who did not allow any earned runs. Ramos had three saves and Pomeranz two holds. Offensively, Kole Calhoun homered twice and drove in 11. For Batteries Essential, Kipnis scored seven runs and Billy Hamilton swiped five bases while Machado homered twice. Nelson and CJ Wilson won both their starts.
Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
22
5
23
5
.224
.647
1
2
55
1
2.01
1.16
6
30
9
31
4
.291
.882
2
1
46
0
2.66
1.27
6
Finally, the Slugs and Jesmond, who now sit second and third in the standings, could not be separated, finishing 6-6. The Slugs had the better of the offense as Hanley Ramirez homered three times and joined Betts in scoring six times. Betts and Bautista tied for the team lead with seven RBIs. Price and han picked up wins, but Jesmond’s pitching was so strong then Slugs only took this category. Jesmond saw Shelby Miller rack up 18 strikeouts while Archer, Samardzija and Richards helped the staff post excellent ERA and WHIP stats. Offensively, Pollock had three steals.

With just 7.5 games separating the top six, the week 14 matchups are as follows:

Iron Men (1st) v Norwich (11th)
Slugs (2nd) v Batteries Essential (8th)
Jesmond (3rd) v Newcastle (6th)
Sox (4th) v Riverkings (7th)
Lollygaggers (5th) v Isotopes (13th)
RBIs (9th) v Chasers (12th)
Maltsters (10th) v Bits & Bytes (14th)

MLB this Week: Cubs rivalries and more

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CovMLBUK2014There are MLB games to enjoy live during the British evening on four days out of five this working week.

Tuesdays rarely offer day-games but we’ve got one this week and it’s a game from the classic NL Central rivalry between the Cardinals and Cubs. Chicago will also bring the working week to a close – and start off the weekend in style – by hosting their cross-town rivals at Wrigley Field.

Wednesday’s four early games are capped off by one for Belle and Sebastian fans as the spirit of ‘Piazza New York Catcher’ takes hold. “San Francisco’s calling us, the Giants and Mets will play”, as the band sang.

Thursday, partly due to my own bias, is something of an Oakland evening. Not only are the A’s getting the action started with their series finale against the Yankees, but ex-A’s Jeff Samardzija and Joe Blanton are scheduled to pitch in the other two early games.

All times are in BST

Monday 6 July

No early games

Tuesday 7 July

18.20. St Louis at Chicago Cubs (Lyons – Arrieta) *BT Sport/ESPN

Wednesday 8 July

18.10. Baltimore at Minnesota (Jimenez – Milone) *BT Sport/ESPN
19.10. Atlanta at Milwaukee (Teheran – Fiers)
20.40. Detroit at Seattle (Sanchez – Happ)
20.45. NY Mets at San Francisco (deGrom – Peavy) *BT Sport 2

Thursday 9 July

18.05. Oakland at NY Yankees (Kazmir – Tanaka) *BT Sport/ESPN
19.10. Toronto at Chicago White Sox (Dickey – Samardzija) *MLB.com Free Game
19.10. Tampa Bay at Kansas City (Karns – Blanton)

Friday 10 July

21.05. Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs (Rodon – Hendricks) *BT Sport/ESPN

All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB comes courtesy of the BT Sport and ESPN channels and these are highlighted above, as are any games that are available to view online for free via MLB.com. The above list of games just shows those starting before midnight UK time. The full schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.