Monthly Archives: May 2016

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2016 Week 8

Sweeps were the recurring theme of week eight in the BaseballGB Fantasy League. Read on to find out which teams were celebrating.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
24
4
27
5
.240
.700
5
2
48
3
3.21
1.18
9
23
7
20
2
.260
.775
2
1
43
2
4.08
1.21
3

The Knights are still top after defeating the Riverkings 9-3. A pitching sweep was led by Strasburg, who won twice, struck out 15 and teamed with Hammel and Garcia to take ERA and WHIP. Rondon had a save and Harris two holds. Betts scored five runs, Big Papi knocked in nine and Desmond and Kinsler had two steals each. Beltran hit three homers for the Riverkings while Khris Davis helped take average and OPS.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
22
5
18
2
.203
.614
2
3
48
1
6.06
1.52
2
38
9
36
3
.302
.901
2
3
37
0
3.86
1.21
8

An offensive sweep saw the Chasers rebound with an 8-2 win against the Lollygaggers. Bogaerts scored nine runs and joined Posey, Donaldson and Melky Cabrera in having a multi-homer week while Pedroia hit .417. Kluber and Lester made the difference in ERA and WHIP. The Lollygaggers took strikeouts and holds thanks to Nelson and David Hernandez.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
37
12
40
10
.316
.932
1
5
67
1
5.40
1.52
8
20
7
30
4
.274
.818
2
1
43
3
3.02
0.90
4

My Isotopes keep gradually climbing the standings after defeating Iron Men 8-4 thanks to an offensive sweep. Zobrist hit an even .500 for the week, leading the team with six runs and joining Trumbo in knocking in six. Trumbo, Frazier and Holliday had multi-homer weeks and Marte stole five bases. Teheran led the staff with 15 strikeouts while Jepsen had three saves. Verlander and Iwakuma picked up wins for Iron Men and helped take ERA and WHIP, while Feliz had two holds. Cano and Pujols each hit three homers.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
32
9
35
2
.274
.785
4
2
55
0
3.70
1.14
3
38
10
35
4
.319
.896
2
2
22
2
3.74
0.97
7

Bath got the better of Batteries Essential 7-3 as the hitters fell an RBI short of an offensive sweep. Hosmer knocked in nine runs, Bryant scored eight and hit two homers, while Polanco also went deep twice and hit .385 with two steals. Latos and Syndergaard’s very brief outing helped take WHIP. Batteries Essential had two wins from Cueto, who helped take ERA and Pomeranz struck out 13.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
28
8
27
0
.173
.548
3
1
69
4
2.08
0.92
5
30
9
30
1
.263
.745
2
6
40
1
4.50
1.58
7

Another matchup, another offensive sweep. This time it was the Maltsters on good hitting form, defeating the Slugs 7-5. Murphy hit .391, Valencia scored seven runs, Martin homered three times and joined Goldschmidt in knocking in six. Davis and Gregerson had three saves each. Odorizzi and Lackey each had a win and double-digit strikeouts for the Slugs, helping take ERA and WHIP too. O’Day and Herrera had two holds each.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
15
8
23
2
.245
.713
3
2
47
4
3.18
1.13
6
23
8
19
2
.225
.724
4
2
40
0
5.57
1.39
3

Norwich pitched their way to a 6-3 win against the RBIs. Walker struck out nine and helped take WHIP while Maeda picked up a win without allowing an earned run. Betances had two holds. Kang and Mazara each knocked in five while Springer batted .370. Machado scored five runs for the RBIs and made the difference in OPS while four pitchers including Arrieta picked up wins.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
28
5
20
6
.247
.722
4
4
51
0
2.98
1.08
5
36
11
27
1
.346
.975
1
1
14
0
4.29
1.00
6

Finally, the Sox edged past Jesmond 6-5 thanks to a big offensive week. Ozuna and CarGo each scored eight runs and joined Kemp and Miguel Cabrera in posting multi-homer weeks while Encarnacion knocked in six. Keuchel helped take WHIP but the pitching staff is so thin the Sox are running the risk of falling short of the 20-inning minimum limit. Jesmond Ross, Hendricks, Nola and Matz all picked up wins for Jesmond, helping take ERA while Osuna and Ramos had two saves each. Villar stole four bases.

 

The Week Nine matchups

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

MLB this Week: Memorial Day and more

CovMLBUK2014Bank Holiday Monday – Memorial Day in the States – heralds a bumper week of day-game baseball at a great time to watch live in the UK.

All of the games on Monday are being played in the day-time and whlist the Dodgers-Cubs game from 22.05 stands out, the first game of the day may be the most intriguing. It’s an interleague contest between the White Sox and Mets and Matt Harvey will be on the mound at Citi Field trying to find some answers to his poor recent form.

From there, you can take you pick from a host of good match-ups across the rest of the week, with Thursday’s games in particular catching the eye.

All times are in BST.

Monday 30 May

18.00. Chicago WS at NY Mets (Quintana – Harvey) *BT Sport1
18.10. San Francisco at Atlanta (Samardzija – Foltynewicz) *MLB.com Free Game
18.35. Boston at Baltimore (Wright – Wilson)
19.10. St Louis at Milwaukee (Martinez – Guerra)
21.00. Minnesota at Oakland (Santana – Graveman) *BT Sport/ESPN
21.10. San Diego at Seattle (Cashner – Karns)
21.10. Cincinnati at Colorado (Straily – Bettis)
21.10. Houston at Arizona (McHugh – Escobar)
22.05. LA Dodgers at Chicago Cubs (Wood – Hammel)
23.10. Texas at Cleveland (Holland – Tomlin)

Tuesday 31 May

20.40. Houston at Arizona (McCullers – Corbin)
20.40. San Diego at Seattle (Shields – Iwakuma)
23.10. Texas at Cleveland (Lewis – Kluber)

Wednesday 1 June

18.10. Chicago WS at NY Mets (Gonzalez – deGrom) *BT Sport/ESPN
18.40. St Louis at Milwaukee (Garcia – Davies)
20.35. Minnesota at Oakland (Dean – Manaea)
23.10. Texas at Cleveland (Hamels – Bauer)

Thursday 2 June

17.10. San Francisco at Atlanta (Bumgarner – Blair)
19.10. Arizona at Houston (Greinke – Keuchel)
19.20. LA Dodgers at Chicago Cubs (Maeda – Hendricks)

Friday 3 June

19.20. Arizona at Chicago Cubs (TBA – Lackey) *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 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

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2016 Week 7

We have a new leader atop the BaseballGB Fantasy League. Read on to find out who has taken over at the top.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
28
6
26
5
.250
.692
4
3
59
4
3.10
1.14
12
23
5
16
2
.246
.687
1
2
27
2
5.58
1.47
0

We start with the week’s big winners as the Slugs completed a clean sweep against the Chasers in a matchup which was closer than the score suggests. Gardner scored five runs and helped take average and OPS while Freeman homered twice and Kipnis drove in nine. Myers stole two bases. On the mound, MadBum had two wins and 17 strikeouts, helping take ERA and WHIP, while Herrera had three holds and Vizcaino had two saves. Melky Cabrera batted .455 for the Chasers and Bogaerts .400 and Donaldson had a multi-homer week.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
19
4
11
3
.202
.588
4
3
45
0
3.63
1.49
1
36
14
39
3
.288
.917
4
2
49
2
2.56
1.06
9

The Bombers picked up a welcome 9-1 win against Jesmond, falling a steal shy of an offensive sweep. Living up to their name, the Bombers whacked 14 homers, including four from Bautista, three from Bryant and two each from Hosmer and Conforto. Polanco scored seven runs and Melvin Upton and Rendon helped take average and OPS. Syndergaard had two wins, 21 strikeouts and did not allow an earned run while Doolittle had a hold. Villar swiped three bases for Jesmond while Ramos had a pair of saves.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
33
7
22
7
.293
.835
6
6
38
1
1.79
0.87
9
23
3
25
5
.271
.711
2
4
43
1
1.93
0.98
2

My Isotopes have found some form, picking up another win be defeating the Maltsters 9-2 in a very well-pitched matchup. The hitters took five categories as Trout led the team with nine runs and two homers, while he joined Lindor, who hit .438 in stealing two bases. Six different pitchers, including Sale, Teheran and Wainwright, collected wins and helped take ERA and WHIP. Casilla had three saves. Goldschmidt had six RBIs for the Maltsters and Velasquez struck out 10 for a pitching staff which would have won ERA and WHIP most other weeks.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
25
5
29
3
.281
.816
4
3
52
1
2.82
9
24
9
28
0
.234
.740
6
4
50
0
3.14
3

Iron Men picked up an impressive 9-3 win against the RBIs, taking WHIP on a tie break. Ellsbury scored six runs and joined Pujols and Cano in knocking in five runs while Jackie Bradley Junior’s hit streak saw him bat .438 for the week. Scherzer only struck out 18 this week, joining Aaron Sanchez and Roark in taking ERA and WHIP. JD Martinez hit three homers for the RBIs while Fowler and Granderson each hit two. Melancon had three saves and six pitchers including Arrieta, collected victories.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
26
4
16
6
.213
.596
3
4
84
2
3.04
1.18
4
22
8
32
0
.313
.897
3
2
47
5
1.88
0.98
7

The Riverkings defeated the Lollygaggers 7-4. Bruce homered twice while Beltran knocked in nine and teamed with Yelich to take average and OPS. Watson and Neris had two holds each while Kershaw and Feranandez made the difference in ERA and WHIP. Burns had six runs and three steals for the Lollygaggers while K Rod had three saves and Hamels (17), Greinke (14) and Wood (13) racked up the strikeouts.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
32
12
31
3
.304
.905
2
3
44
2
3.55
1.18
6
27
9
31
3
.241
.758
5
4
34
1
2.76
1.12
4

The Knights are back on top after beating Batteries Essential 6-4. Kinsler scored eight runs and joined Betts in homering three times and driving in six while helping to take average and OPS. Strasburg struck out 10 and Harris had two holds. Batteries Essential had wins from five different pitchers, including Familia (who had three saves) and King Felix, who helped take ERA and WHIP. Cruz had eight RBIs.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
15
7
22
3
.195
.583
2
1
56
7
5.87
1.37
5
21
12
26
0
.253
.820
3
1
31
0
6.81
1.49
6

Finally, the last-placed Sox defeated last week’s leaders 6-5. Miguel Cabrera was a one-man wrecking crew, leading the team with six runs, three homers, six RBIs and a .500 average. Zimmermann had two wins on a thin pitching staff. Norwich had 14 strikeouts from Salazar and three holds from Betances and took ER and WHIP despite it hardly being a vintage week for either side’s pitchers.

 

 

Take me out to the brawl-game

Now the punishments have been handed out for the Texas v Toronto brawl, many fantasy managers may have a headache or two if they have players due to miss extended periods of time – although probably not as a big a headache as the one Jose Bautista received. Canny use of bench players could really make a difference over the next few weeks as the players serve their suspensions.

The Week Eight matchups

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

MLB This Week: 14 to choose from

CovMLBUK2014We have an excellent week of early MLB games ahead with day-games every working day and some strong probable pitching match-ups among them.

The contests include two games apiece from the series between the Indians and White Sox, and Rays and Marlins. Wednesday’s game from the former match-up should involve Corey Kluber and Jose Quintana, whilst the Thursday Marlins-Rays game should see Jose Fernandez taking the mound.

The Cubs are also in early action twice this week, with Jake Arrieta currently scheduled to pitch on Wednesday against the Cardinals and Jon Lester in line to make the Friday start against the Phillies.

All times are in BST.

Monday 23 May

17.35. Colorado at Pittsburgh (Lyles – Vogelsong)
22.10. Cleveland at Chicago WS (Clevinger – Latos)

Tuesday 24 May

17.10. Tampa Bay at Miami (Odorizzi – Koehler) *BT Sport/ESPN

Wednesday 25 May

18.05. NY Mets at Washington (Matz – Roark)
18.10. Philadelphia at Detroit (Nola – Sanchez)
18.10. Kansas City at Minnesota (Gee – Duffey)
18.45. Chicago Cubs at St Louis (Arrieta – Martinez) *BT Sport/ESPN
19.05. LA Angels at Texas (Santiago – Lewis)
19.10. Cleveland at Chicago WS (Kluber – Quintana)
20.45. San Diego at San Francisco (Shields – Peavy) *MLB.com Free Game

Thursday 26 May

17.35. Arizona at Pittsburgh (Corbin – Cole) *BT Sport/ESPN
18.10. Miami at Tampa Bay (Fernandez – Smyly) *MLB.com Free Game
21.05. Toronto at NY Yankees(Sanchez – Sabathia) *BT Sport/ESPN

Friday 27 May

19.20. Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs (Morgan – 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 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

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2016 Week 6

It’s time to catch up with the latest news from the BaseballGB Fantasy League. Which manager benefited from Max Scherzer’s 20-strikeout game?

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
32
14
43
1
.287
.867
2
5
36
1
2.34
0.92
11
27
9
31
1
.274
.808
1
2
24
0
5.27
1.50
0

Iron Men were the week’s big winners, falling a steal shy of a clean sweep. Jackie Bradley Jr was the star hitter, batting .429, homering three times and driving in an incredible 15 runs. Tulowitzki also hit three homers while Correa, McCann and Pujols each hit a pair.On the mound, Scherzer’s 20 strikeouts made him the clear pitching star, joining Sanchez in picking up a win and taking ERA and WHIP. Tazawa had the lone hold and Gomez three saves. The Sox didn’t play that badly, and a fair few categories were reasonably close. But the roster hasn’t been touched for a while and pitching help in Chapman, McCullers and Santana was left to waste on the bench.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
35
9
29
6
.293
.853
4
5
40
2
3.81
1.36
8
35
8
31
5
.260
.769
2
4
36
2
4.03
1.10
2

My Isotopes are showing some form after a slow start, defeating the Chasers 8-2. Frazier belted four homers and batted .426 for the week, topped by Zobrist’s .526. Marte stole four bases. Leake on twice and led the staff in strikeouts, teaming with Sale and Teheran to take ERA while Britton had three saves. The Chasers had the edge in RBIs thanks to Cain and Bogaerts, who knocked in eight each, while Lester made the difference in WHIP.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
27
8
35
1
.271
.760
3
2
61
5
4.75
1.58
7
24
5
15
6
.260
.741
3
4
55
0
4.06
1.16
4

Norwich stay top with a 7-4 win against Jesmond. The hitters won five categories as Franco and Braun helped take average and OPS while Springer hit three homers, knocked in nine and scored six times. Chen led the staff with 12 strikeouts and Miller and Betances had two holds each. Villar had three steals for Jesmond, while Osuna and Ramos had two saves each and Cole and Nola helped take ERA and WHIP.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
37
10
31
4
.343
1.011
1
2
41
4
4.36
1.40
5
41
13
37
3
.303
.975
5
1
63
3
2.54
1.20
7

In a matchup stacked with offense, the Riverkings outslugged the Slugs 7-5. Carpenter and Beltran each belted four homers while Shaw led the team with nine runs and nine RBIs. Jose Fernandez had two wins and 22 strikeouts, joining Kershaw and the bullpen (who didn’t allow an earned run) to take ERA and WHIP. Herrera was one of four Slugs with a steal, joining Ramirez and Molina in taking average and OPS. Rosenthal had two saves and Kelvin Herrera and O’Day had two holds each.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
33
9
36
3
.273
.842
4
2
63
3
3.24
1.28
6
34
11
32
4
.299
.895
1
2
21
2
5.59
1.55
5

The Knights are in second after edging past the Bombers 6-5, as the pitchers took five categories. Strasburg had a win and led the staff with 18 strikeouts while Price and Garcia helped take ERA and WHIP as well as picking up victories. Offensively, Desmond and Betts each knocked in 10. For the Bombers Jones hit four homers, scored nine, drove in nine and hit .520, while Corey Seager also hit four homers and Rendon stole two bases.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
30
3
20
6
.335
.883
2
7
61
0
3.15
6
30
13
30
1
.267
.885
3
4
41
3
3.94
5

Becknam defeated Batteries Essential 6-5 on a WHIP tiebreak. Nelson, Wood (14 strikeouts), Santiago and Shields helped take ERA and WHIP while McGee had four saves. Offensively, the team hit a very impressive .335, led by Davis at .524 while Altuve (two steals), Parra and Hamilton all hit .400 or better. Six Batteries Essential hitters had two-homer weeks, including Russell who drove in nine and helped take OPS. King Felix picked up a win and Logan had three holds.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
25
6
32
3
.294
.774
3
1
41
1
6.46
1.61
5
28
11
20
1
.216
.690
3
6
47
0
3.95
1.38
6

Finally, the RBIs squeezed past the Maltsters , also by a 6-5 score. Arrieta led the pitchers with 11 strikeouts and joined Tillman in taking ERA and WHIP while Melancon, Madson and Rodney each had two saves. Machado scored six runs and joined Morales and Martinez in having a multi-homer week. The Maltsters had the edge in RBIs thanks to Blackmon, who also stole a base and joined Murphy and Eaton in taking average and OPS. Strickland had two wins out of the bullpen and Nuno the lone hold.

Week Seven matchups

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

MLB This Week: Mariners v Orioles and more

CovMLBUK2014We’ve got early MLB games on four days out of five this working week, albeit that Monday and Tuesday are games from the Reds-Indians series that slip into the pre-midnight bracket by only 50 minutes.

Wednesday’s day-games include a Justin Verlander start for the Tigers, a game from this week’s series between the Red Sox and Royals and a meeting between AL West rivals the Rangers and A’s.

The Cubs are in early action on Thursday on the road in Milwaukee, whilst there’s also the final game of a three-game series between two of the pleasant surprises from the early running in the AL: the Mariners and Orioles.

All times are in BST.

Monday 16 May

23.10. Cincinnati at Cleveland (Lamb – Anderson)

Tuesday 17 May

23.10. Cincinnati at Cleveland (Simon – Salazar)

Wednesday 18 May

18.05. Miami at Philadelphia (Koehler – Hellickson)
18.10. Minnesota at Detroit (Nolasco – Verlander)
19.15. Boston at Kansas City (Wright – Volquez) *BT Sport/ESPN
20.35. Texas at Oakland (Perez – Hill)

Thursday 19 May

17.35. Seattle at Baltimore (Karns – Tillman)
18.40. Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee (Hammel – Guerra)

Friday 20 May

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 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

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2016 Week 5

Week five of the BaseballGB Fantasy League saw yet more changes at the top of the standings. Read on to find out who the new leader is.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
34
11
40
4
.305
.918
3
4
45
1
4.99
1.23
10
28
8
31
2
.273
.833
2
1
22
6
4.22
1.27
2

The Riverkings dropped from top to fourth after a 10-2 loss against my Isotopes. An offensive sweep was led by a monster week for Zobrist, who scored eight runs, hit four homers and knocked in 15. Trumbo hit three homers and Trout went deep twice and drove in eight, teaming up with Lindor to help take average and OPS. Sale was the pick of the pitchers with a win and nine strikeouts while Casilla had three holds. The Riverkings barely made it over the 20 inning minimum limit, and Kershaw’s latest start was left on the bench, but they did manage to take holds and ERA thanks to Neris, Giles and Watson.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
26
5
18
3
.304
.834
2
2
61
4
3.21
1.01
9
27
8
27
2
.289
.801
1
1
38
0
5.36
1.61
3

The Maltsters are over .500 after their win against the Sox. A pitching staff sweep helped enormously, with Samardzija the star with a win and 18 strikeouts. Gregerson had two saves and Nuno two holds. Murphy and Diaz helped take average and OPS while Goldschmidt stole two bases. Encarnacion, Seager and Ozuna each had multi-homer weeks for the Sox, who will be boosted by Chapman’s return from suspension.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
41
14
37
1
.285
.887
3
4
40
1
2.77
1.33
8
29
7
28
3
.206
.640
2
5
33
1
3.92
1.04
3

Norwich picked up an 8-3 win against the Bombers, going top after taking five offensive categories. Five players had multi-homer weeks including three for Odor, while Rizzo scored 10 runs and teamed with Braun to take average and OPS. Salazar had a win, struck out nine and did not allow an earned run. The Bombers salvaged speed thanks to Rendon, Bryant and Polanco, while Cishek had three saves and Stripling helped take WHIP.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
31
5
23
3
.341
.892
8
2
36
3
1.83
1.17
7
23
11
28
3
.231
.721
4
4
49
0
3.36
1.23
4

Matt’s Chasers got the better of the RBIs 7-4. Reddick batted .542 for the week, while Belt scored five runs and teamed with Pillar to help take OPS. Quintana and Ramirez each had two wins in a monster week for the pitchers, while Lester and Kluber didn’t allow an earned run and Dyson had two holds. The RBIs had plenty of power from Phillips, who hit five homers and drove in nine. Severino struck out 13 while Melancon and Rodney had two saves each.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
31
3
14
9
.233
.600
5
2
75
1
3.39
1.26
5
29
14
32
2
.259
.846
4
7
46
2
3.83
1.16
7

The Knights are in second after defeating the Lollygaggers 7-5 in a battle of former Croydon Pirates. The Knights belted 14 homers, including four from Ortiz (who knocked in eight) and three each from Duda and Pederson. Arenado helped take average. Colome had three saves, Stroop picked up two holds and Garcia made the difference in WHIP. Altuve scored nine runs and stole four bases for the Lollygaggers, while Hamels picked up a win without allowing an earned run and Wacha led the staff with 14 strikeouts.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
27
8
29
5
.323
.902
4
3
58
2
4.50
1.32
7
24
7
30
0
.247
.802
5
2
69
0
2.50
1.14
5

Iron Men just got the better of Jesmond 7-5. Cano was the star hitter, scoring eight times, hitting four homers and batting .516 for the week. Jeffress had two saves and Henderson and Tazawa a hold each. Votto gave Jesmond the edge in RBIs, while Nola and Hendricks had a win each and helped take ERA and WHIP, while Cole led the staff with 13 strikeouts.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
32
9
23
5
.279
.816
4
2
46
0
2.06
1.08
6
31
12
40
3
.302
.917
1
3
35
1
3.64
1.19
6

The Slugs and batteries essential couldn’t be separated, ending 6-6. The Slugs had the better of the pitching as Bumgarner, Lackey and Archer helped take wins, strikeouts, ERA and WHIP while Kipnis, Herrera and Harper each scored five times. Cespedes belted four homers for Batteries essential and Lucroy hit three more while batting .417 but it was Crawford who led the team with nine RBIs. Familia had two saves and Logan the only hold.

Week six matchups

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

MLB This Week: Wednesday and Friday

CovMLBUK2014There are pre-midnight UK time MLB games on only Wednesday and Friday this working week, although what we lack in quantity we get back in quality.

Wednesday’s games include one from the White Sox-Rangers series on BT Sport/ESPN (and should involve Cole Hamels starting for Texas), hopefully a Zack Greinke start for Arizona and then two outstanding pitching match-ups in prospect from Seattle and San Francisco.

After a rare Thursday without a day-game we are back to Wrigley Field for the third Friday in a row, this time with the Pirates being the visitors.

All times are in BST.

Monday 9 May

No early games

Tuesday 10 May

No early games

Wednesday 11 May

18.10. Baltimore at Minnesota (TBA – Nolasco)
19.05. Chicago WS at Texas (Latos – Hamels) *BT Sport/ESPN
19.10. Cleveland at Houston (Salazar – Fister)
20.10. Arizona at Colorado (Greinke – Betts)
20.40. Tampa Bay at Seattle (Archer – Walker)
20.45. Toronto at San Francisco (Stroman – Bumgarner)

Thursday 12 May

No early games

Friday 13 May

19.20. Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs (Locke – Hammel)

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 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

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Colon, Miller and a Windy City World Series

WHGB11Many of us in the UK have been treated to a weekend of glorious weather, so this week’s column will be short and to the point on three stories that caught my eye from Saturday’s games.

Bartolo Colon hit a home run

The pro-DH/anti-DH arguments are well known and many are firmly set in their position. For some people, the many wasted plate appearances of pitchers without much of a clue or hope with a bat in their hands just add up to too much to make the occasional bright spot worthwhile.

Not for me. Let’s be honest, there are a significant minority of position players in the Majors right now who aren’t much to write about with the bat so creating an extra 15 batting positions (i.e. all 15 NL teams adding an extra hitter to replace the pitcher) every day won’t lead to 15 more stars being created.

I am quite happy to live with aimless at-bats when it leads to occasional moments like this …

Shelby Miller won a game

I’ve cursed this man’s name many times over the past month having ignored my gut feeling and drafted him on my BGB Fantasy League team. Miller hasn’t just been disappointing considering what the D-Backs gave up in the trade to acquire him, he has been terrible on any measure.

The Yahoo fantasy competition had regularly been publishing notes of ‘x’ number of managers having dropped Miller, but I felt like if I was going to drop him after a few bad games, I should never have drafted him. That’s not to claim this is disciplined fantasy management in action – quite the opposite, I’ve been blindly hoping he will come good out of a combination of stubbornness and desperation – yet I had chosen my path and I was going to keep going down the road until I really had no choice but to call it a dead end.

Miller’s scheduled start on Saturday against the Atlanta Braves, his former team, was the moment of truth. If he couldn’t look vaguely useful against this current Braves batting lineup then I’d be left with little choice. Maybe it was the pressure of potentially being dropped from my Cheddar Chasers that inspired him, maybe not; either way his 6 innings pitched with 4 hits and 2 runs allowed meant he finally contributed something positive.

The 2 walks to 1 strike-out don’t bode so well for this continuing, but he’s earned another week on my team at least.

A Windy City World Series?

That the Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals again to move to 23-6 wasn’t much of a surprise as Joe Maddon’s men are playing exceptionally well.

It’s the way that the White Sox are continuing to confound predictions that is really standing out. Chris Sale moved to 7-0 by mowing down Minnesota in a 7-2 victory on Saturday, leading his team to a 21-10 record.

Few people saw the White Sox’s emergence coming and the doubts around them may prove to be valid; however for now it’s fun to imagine a World Series between the two Chicago teams.

BaseballGB Fantasy League 2016 Week 4

There were a bunch of closely contested matchups during week four of the BaseballGB Fantasy League. Read on to find out which teams managed to grind out a result.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
24
4
26
2
.295
.783
1
4
49
3
3.66
0.92
7
24
7
22
2
.246
.740
2
4
28
0
5.45
1.70
2

The Riverkings were the big winners this week, defeating the RBIs 7-2. Piscotty and Abreu each drove in six and helped take average and OPS. Kershaw struck out 14 and helped take ERA and WHIP and Neris had two holds and a save. A Rod homered twice for the RBIs, while Arrieta and Madson had a win each.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
28
6
28
8
.292
.840
2
5
60
2
2.98
1.27
7
33
7
20
2
.300
.879
0
3
43
2
6.05
1.73
4

The Lollygaggers keep on rolling with a 7-4 win against the Bombers. The pitchers fell a hold shy of a sweep, with Kennedy picking up a win, Wood and Wacha each striking out nine, Shields and Nelson helping take ERA ans WHIP and K-Rod collecting three saves. Parra knocked in six while Hamilton and Burns swiped three bases each. Polanco, Conforton and Hosmer helped The Bombers take runs, homers, average and OPS.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
33
7
23
6
.291
.847
1
0
41
1
4.63
1.57
5
28
12
32
1
.278
.896
4
1
29
0
2.34
1.10
7

The Sox defeated the Chasers 7-5. Miguel Cabrera led the team with three homers while Kemp, Ozuna, Seager and Walker, who knocked in seven, each homered twice. Zimmermann had two wins and Papelbon a save on a depleted pitching staff, with Hellickson helping to take ERA and WHIP. Bogaerts gave the Chasers the edge in runs, steals and average. Lester and Quintana each struck out 10 and Dyson had the only hold.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
23
7
31
4
.264
.769
5
1
63
3
1.93
1.10
6
33
9
29
4
.270
.814
4
4
54
1
4.73
1.36
5

The Slugs edged past the Knights 6-5 as the pitchers took five categories. Bumgarner led the staff with two wins and 16 strikeouts, while Lackey, Archer, Odorizzi and deGrom helped take ERA and WHIP. Kipnis led the team with seven RBIs. The Knights had two saves from Colome, while Desmond scored seven runs and Arenado homered four times, drove in eight and joined Ortiz in taking average and OPS.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
23
5
22
4
.269
.773
4
2
40
1
4.57
1.26
5
27
10
30
2
.241
.736
2
3
40
0
2.08
0.95
6

Another matchup, another 6-5 as Jesmond squeezed past the Maltsters. Realmuto, Dozier and Upton each scored five runs while Stanton mashed four homers and knocked in nine. Ramos had three saves while Nola, Joe Ross and Hendricks helped take ERA and WHIP. For the Maltsters, Eaton had two steals while Hazelbaker and Drury helped take average and OPS. Velasquez had two wins and Strickland the lone hold.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
19
7
32
3
.218
.667
8
3
59
0
2.55
0.92
5
19
7
27
2
.244
.752
5
3
46
1
0.85
1.04
4

My Isotopes edged past batteries Essential 5-4 in a well-pitched matchup. Sales and Jepsen had two wins each, while Teheran struck out 17 and joined Holland, Leake and Stroman in taking WHIP. Offensively, Frazier knocked in eight, Trout drove home seven and Marte swiped two bases. Castellanos and Lucroy gave batteries Essential the edge in average and OPS, Logan had the lone hold and Cueto, Porcello and King Felix did not allow an earned run as the staff posted a 0.85 ERA in more than 50 innings, which is ridiculously impressive.

Team
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
23
11
39
2
.255
.809
3
2
41
4
4.50
1.36
6
20
1
15
3
.236
.625
4
4
55
1
4.32
1.15
6

Finally, Iron Men and Norwich could not be separated, finishing 6-6. Iron Men had the better of the offense as Pujols homered three times and scored five runs while Cano and Pence each drove in 10 runs and helping take average and OPS. Henderson and Feliz had two holds each. Rizzo, Suarez and Braun each had a steal for Norwich, while Chen won twice and Taijuan Walker led the staff with 15 strikeouts and helped take ERA and WHIP. Tolleson had two saves.

The Week Five matchups

Riverkings (1st) v Isotopes (9th)
Knights (2nd) v Lollygaggers (5th)

Batteries Essential (3rd) v Slugs (7th)
Norwich (4th) v Bombers (12th)
Chasers (6th) v RBIs (11th)
Maltsters (8th) v Sox (13th)
Iron Men (10th) v Jesmond (14th)