There were some big wins in week eight of the BaseballGB Fantasy League as, with more than a third of the season gone, the race to get into the top eight heats up.

The Knights were the biggest winners in week eight, defeating the A&E Dept 9-1. Alex Gordon hit .389 for the week and Jose Ramirez scored five runs, knocked in six and stole a base. Arrieta picked up a win without allowing an earned run, Gausman struck out 11 and Jeffress had the lone hold. Carpenter, Arenado and Schwarber helped Beckenham win OPS but it was a rough week for the rotation with several starters getting knocked around.

Norwich defeated Batteries Essential 9-3 as Springer had a nice week across the board. He scored eight, homered twice, knocked in six and stole two bases while Harper launched three homers. Tanaka won both of his starts while Buehler struck out 14 and helped take ERA and WHIP and Ottavino and Hader had two holds each. Batteries Essential, with just five active hitters, took average thanks to a .529 week from Ramos. Davis and Herrera had two saves each.

The Riverkings keep rolling with an 8-2 win against the Sox which included an offensive sweep. Gleyber Torres led the team with five runs, five homers and nine RBIs while Mesoraco led the team with a .375 average. Bregman and Betts stole two bases each. Paxton continued his impressive form with a win and 11 strikeouts. The Sox salvaged ERA and WHIP thanks to deGrom. The offense had a rough week but reinforcements are ready with Lamb, Odor and Justin Turner able to be activated from the DL.

The Isotopes pitched their way to an 8-4 win against the RBIs. Maeda and Strasburg did not allow any earned runs and helped take WHIP while Greinke led the staff with 14 strikeouts. Colome, who will now be a set-up man in Seattle, had two saves and Devenski picked up the lone hold. Offensively, Kemp hit .409 and Altuve’s 10 straight hits this weekend saw him bat .429 for the week to go with his three steals. The RBIs flexed their muscles again, launching 18 homers including three-homer, 10 RBI weeks for Gennett and Shaw. Judge and Salvy Perez also launched three dingers.

The Maltsters just got the better of the Slugs 6-5. Cheshunt struggled to hit for average but Votto scored four runs, Zunino homered twice and Happ stole the only base of the contest. Bauer picked up a win and struck out 19 while Bundy posted an impressive 0.33 WHIP. Simmons knocked in six for the Slugs and joined Adams and Donaldson in taking average and OPS. Lester, Ross and Heaney posted stingy ERAs and Robertson collected a trio of holds.

Finally, the Bombers and Chasers ended all square at 6-6. In a matchup of two halves, Bath swept the offensive categories as Trout led the team with seven runs, three homers, six RBIs and two steals. CarGo batted .500 for the week. The Chasers swept the pitching categories as Scherzer and Lynn (who did not allow and earned run and posted a sub-1.00 WHIP) picked up wins and Taillon struck out 14. Greene had three saves and Stammen the lone hold.

The standings now look like this

Week Nine match-ups

Orpington Isotopes (3rd) v The Bath Bombers (9th)

Batteries Essential (12th) v Richie’s RBI’s (5th)

Beckenham A&E Dept (7th) v Norwich No II (2nd)

Cheshunt Maltsters (6th) v Newcastle Knights (4th)

Durham Riverkings (1st) v Mighty Slugs (8th)

The Cheddar Chasers (10th) v Weston-Super-Sox (11th)

Week seven of the BaseballGB Fantasy League saw the first trade of the season. And which manager would suffer from Robinson Cano’s suspension?

Norwich suffered a rare defeat as the Isotopes picked up an 8-2 win. Aguilar, a waiver wire pick-up, scored six runs, had six RBIs and hit four homers while Puig found his power stroke at long last with three dingers. Yelich scored five and knocked in five.

Colome had four saves, Devenski notched a pair of holds and Maeda, Morton and Greinke helped to take ERA and WHIP. Davis, Castillo and Castellanos gave Norwich the edge in average, while Corbin struck out 14, one ahead of Flaherty.

The RBIs continued their strong start to the season by defeating the Chasers 8-4. There wasn’t much offense, but Villar hit .391 with a homer and Gallo knocked in five. Odorizzi led the staff with 17 strikeouts while Darvish picked up his first win and teamed with Price, Freeland and Newcomb to take ERA and WHIP in a strong week for the pitchers.

Posey scored five runs for the Chasers and Cain swiped two bases. In a monster week for the bullpen, Treinen collected four saves and Stammen notched two holds.

The A&E Dept keep on rolling with a 7-3 win against the Slugs. The Beckenham offense had three batters hit above .400 in Carpenter, Arenado and Belt, who also hit five homers, scored eight times and drove in 11. Porcello led the staff with 14 strikeouts and Diaz added two more saves. Jankowski stole two bases for the Slugs and the Angels trio of Richards, Heaney and Skaggs teamed with Lester to take ERA and WHIP.

The injury-riddled Batteries Essential (now also missing the suspended Cano) managed to cause an upset, defeating the Knights 6-4. Benintendi hit .444 and joined Blackmon in scoring five runs and stealing a base. Abreu also touched home plate five times. Verlander and Godley helped take ERA and WHIP. Olson and Grandal each hit two homers and drove in four for the Knights, while Quintana struck out 13 and Hand had three saves.

The Bombers edged past the Sox 6-5 in a tight matchup. Bogaerts led the team with six RBIs and joined Sanchez and Trout in hitting two homers. Trout and Albies scored five runs each. McCullers and Syndergaard had 14 strikeouts each while Green and Red picked up a hold each. For the Sox, Bryant batted .393 and joined Bour in posting an OPS north of 1.000 and Kinsler swiped two bases. Happ made the difference in WHIP and Vizcaino and the now traded Familia (more on that later) had a save each.

Finally, the Maltsters and Riverkings finished in a 6-6 tie. Pham scored seven runs, as did J.D. Martinez, who also launched five homers. Happ led the team with a 1.707 OPS. Bauer struck out 10, Jansen and Kimbrel had two saves and Gsellman had a save and a hold. The Riverkings had a trio of .400 hitters – Jose Martinez (who drove in eight), Merrifield and Markakis. Betts swiped four bases. On the mound, Archer picked up a win without allowing an earned run and teamed with Paxton and Kluber to take WHIP.

The standings now look like this:

Trade

We have had our first trade of the season as Norwich sent Jed Lowrie to the Sox in exchange for Familia. The return of Schoop from injury as the suspension of Osuna meant Norwich had depth at 2B and a need at RP so a deal was struck. The Sox are gambling that Vizcaino and Soria will provide enough saves and Lowrie provides an upgrade on the struggling Kinsler, although they still lack a SS with Andrus hurt.

The week 8 matchups are as follows:

Riverkings (1st) v Sox (11th)

Norwich (2nd) v Batteries Essential (12th)

RBIs (3rd) v Isotopes (5th)

A&E Dept (4th) v Knights (7th)

Maltsters (6th) v Slugs (8th)

Bombers (9th) v Chasers (10th)

There were some incredible individual performances in week six of the BaseballGB Fantasy League as a bunch of hitters put up ridiculous numbers.

And which manager would benefit from the third no-hitter of the year, which was pitched by James Paxton?

The Slugs were the biggest winners of the week, falling a hold shy of a clean sweep against an injury-ravaged Batteries Essential. Healy led the team with eight runs while Contreras had a big series against the White Sox, which saw him lead the team with a .478 average, three homers and 12 RBIs and he also stole a base. Stanton also hit three dingers.

On the mound, Keuchel posted sub-1.00 ERA and WHIP stats to go with his two wins, Tyson Ross struck out 13 and Doolittle had three saves. There wasn’t much to write home about for Batteries Essential. The average and OPS stats were good but the roster currently has just seven hitters and no bench pitchers.

The Riverkings are top of the standings after their 9-3 win against the A&E Dept. An offensive sweep included Merrifield batting .405 for the week, while Mancini scored eight runs, hit three homers and knocked in six. Inciarte also drove in six and joined Betts in stealing four bases. Iglesias and Chapman had two saves each and when one of your starters pitches a no-hitter, you stand a good chance of winning ERA and WHIP, so take a bow James Paxton. The A&E Dept had a win and 14 strikeouts from Carrasco while Bradley had the lone hold.

The RBIs put on a hitting display, taking five categories on the way to an 8-3 win against the Bombers. The team slugged an impressive 17 homers and knocked in 50 runs. Gennett had a monster week (mainly against Dodger pitching) as he hit .591 for the week, which may well be a BaseballGB Fantasy League record. He also scored seven runs, hit four homers and knocked in 10.

Perez also drove in 10 but Judge led the team with 12 RBIs. Newcomb won twice without allowing an earned run and Severino struck out 18. Albies and Trout stole two bases each for the Bombers and Santana had a four-homer, 14 RBI week. Green had two holds.

The Knights got the better of the Isotopes 6-5 in a very tight matchup. Machado hit four homers and joined Trea Turner in scoring eight runs while Jose Ramirez swiped three bases. Gray had a win and 18 strikeouts while four different relievers picked up saves, including two each for Morrow and Hand. Upton knocked in 10 for the Isotopes while Lindor was red-hot at the plate, batting .600 (sorry Scooter, your record has already been broken!) and helping to take OPS. Roark, Greinke and Morton posted identical ERA (1.29) and WHIP (0.57) stats.

Norwich and the Chasers ended all-square at 6-6. Norwich had the better of the offense as Rosario scored seven runs and Story hit three homers and drove in 11. Spring hit .643 for the week (sorry Lindor, your record is already broken!). Ottavino had the lone hold. Baez stole two bases for the Chasers, who bossed the pitching categories. Nola had two wins and 16 strikeouts while Weaver and Taillon did not allow any earned runs. Greene had two saves.

Finally, there was another tie as the matchup between the Maltsters and Sox ended 5-5. The Maltsters had multi-homer weeks from four hitters, including Happ and JD Martinez, who each knocked in six. Castillo won twice and struck out 15 with a 0.69 WHIP. Madson had a win, a save and a hold. Bryant scored seven runs for the Sox and joined Polanco in hitting .500 for the week. Ohtani and Cole made the difference in ERA and Vizcaino had three saves.

Which means the standings look like this:

Week 7 match-ups

Isotopes (7^th) vs Norwich No II (2^nd)

Batteries (12^th) vs Knights (4^th)

A&E Dept (5^th) vs Slugs (8^th)

Maltsters (6^th) vs Riverkings (1^st)

RBI’s (3^rd) vs Chasers (9^th)

Bombers (10^th) vs Super-Sox (11^th)

Good luck for week seven.

Week five saw a combined no-hitter, some injuries to some big names and host of impressive rookies continuing bright starts to their MLB careers. How would the BaseballGB Fantasy League look afterwards?

Norwich are top of the standings after an 11-1 win against the Bombers. Norwich belted 16 homers including four from Harper and four from Rosario, who also scored eight times, knocked in 12 and stole two bases while batting .433. Junis had a win and 13 strikeouts, closely followed by Hader thanks to his eight-strikeout save. Corbin helped take ERA and WHIP. Tough week for the Bombers but Reed salvaged saves and Trout (.545) had a big week.

The Isotopes are above .500 after defeating the Slugs 11-1. Kemp hit .450 but the offensive star was Lindor, who hit .425 with 11 runs, four homers and 10 RBIs. Greinke struck out 15 and teamed with Morton to take ERA and WHIP while Rodney and Devenski took care of saves and holds. Richards helped take wins for the Slugs and Rizzo had a three-homer week, the batters had a team-wide slump.

An offensive sweep helped the RBIs defeat the Sox 8-2. Neither team hit for average but Gallo (five runs) and Mazara (11 RBIs) each belted four homers and Villar stole two bases. Giles and Strickland had a save each and Clevinger racked up 17 strikeouts. The Sox, now hit by injuries to Kershaw and deGrom, took ERA and WHIP thanks to another very impressive week from Cole.

The Riverkings used a balanced attack against Batteries Essential, taking four hitting and four pitching categories in an 8-3 win. Despite Corey Seager being ruled out for the rest of the season, Torres stepped in at SS and had a great week with two homers and nine RBIs, while Betts scored seven runs, hit five homers, knocked in eight and hit .400. Paxton and Archer helped take ERA while Kluber picked up a win and Chapman had three saves.

Santana and Ramos helped Batteries Essential take average and OPS, but with only six batters playing in this matchup and a bunch of players wasted on the bench it is no surprise to see them struggle offensively. On the mound, Verlander (22) and Sale (18) racked up the strikeouts and Davis collected a trio of saves.

The Knights used an offensive sweep to defeat the Chasers 8-3. Pollock led the team with four homers, two steals  and a .423 average while the Cleveland duo of Encarnacion (10 RBIs) and Ramirez (nine runs) also had big weeks. Gray and Gausman helped take WHIP while Hand had three saves. The Chasers enjoyed another huge week from Scherzer, who picked up a win to go with 23 strikeouts and he also helped take ERA and WHIP.

Finally, the Maltsters handed the A&E Dept a rare loss, taking this matchup 7-3. Five Cheshunt batters had multi-homer weeks, led by three from JD Martinez while Hosmer drove in seven and Pham swiped two bases. Bauer led the staff with 19 strikeouts and teamed with Faria to take ERA and WHIP while Kimbrel and Jansen had two saves each. McCutchen (.474) and Hamilton (.400) helped Beckenham take average and OPS while Mikolas was one of four pitchers with a win and Bradley notched four holds.

After week five, the standings are as follows:

The week six matchups are:

Norwich v Chasers

Riverkings v A&E Dept

RBIs v Bombers

Knights v Isotopes

Maltsters v Sox

Slugs v Batteries Essential

Reminder: 20-inning minimum limit

Just a friendly reminder to make sure you hit the 20-inning minimum limit to avoid forfeiting all of the pitching categories. So far we have avoided this happening but the rash of pitching injuries may mean teams run the risk of dropping under the limit. One to keep an eye on if you don’t have a deep staff.

Week four of the BaseballGB Fantasy League saw a number of young players make an impact with Torres and Acuna getting a taste of life in MLB. But which managers would benefit from their efforts?

The Riverkings are top of the standings after a convincing 9-2 win against the Isotopes. Moncada scored seven runs and hit .371 for the week, while Inciarte batted .364 with seven runs and six steals. The infield was also boosted with the arrival of Yankees prospect Torres, who hit .348.

Snell and Kluber each had a win and helped take ERA, with Corey striking out 10. Chapman had three saves. Cespedes drove in seven for the Isotopes, while Realmuto hit three homers in his first full week back from injury and Altuve discovered his home run stroke. Not much to write home about on the pitching side, apart from two holds for Devenski.

The RBIs also enjoyed a big week, defeating Norwich 9-2. Gregorius belted four homers, knocking in 10, while batting .357 for the week. Gennett scored seven and knocked in seven with a .393 average. Darvish helped take ERA and WHIP and tied for the team lead with eight strikeouts while Strickland had four saves. Tanaka won twice for Norwich and Ottavino had a pair of holds. Springer (.375) and Freeman (.355) had great averages but the team fell .001 shy of a tie in that category.

The Maltsters slugged their way to an 8-2 win against Batteries Essential, belting 16 homers on the way. Votto hit four of them while the Seattle duo of Hangier (seven runs) and Zunino hit three each. Marwin Gonzalez, JD Martinez and Pham all hit above .400 for the week. Gio Gonzalez struck out 12, Fulmer did not allow an earned run and Miller had the lone hold before his injury. Benintendi had two steals for Batteries Essential and Verlander helped take WHIP. The roster has a lot of injuries and moves need to be made to avoid being a cellar dweller.

The A&E Dept’s good run of form continued with a 7-3 win against the Sox. There wasn’t much offense, but Schwarber belted three homers and Arenado was one of three players to score four runs. Chatwood won twice, fellow Cub Hendricks helped take WHIP and Porcello struck out 15. Diaz, one of the closers of the season so far, had three more saves. Andujar hit above .400 for the Sox and Marte had a steal but the injury list grows with Andrus out and no SS on the bench. DeGrom and Happ helped take ERA while Soria and Vizcaino had two saves each.

The Bombers got the better of the Knights 7-3 in a matchup featuring a number of close categories. Sanchez (10 runs, four homers, 11 RBIs) and Albies (eight runs, three homers, eight RBIs) were the offensive stars while Ray struck out 13, McCullers did not allow an earned run and Reed had a pair of holds. Trea Turner stole four bases and batted .385 for the Knights while Braun hit an even .400. Gray and Quintana picked up wins while Morrow had three saves.

Finally, the Slugs and Chasers finished all square at 6-6. Kela had three saves and Robertson picked up a pair of holds for the Slugs, while Gausman and Ryu made the difference in ERA and WHIP. Miggy Cabrera hit .421 and the decision to draft Acuna Jr is paying off as the Atlanta phenom hit .400 in his first week in the big leagues. Schebler led the Chasers with six runs, two homers and nine RBIs while Goldschmidt, Baez, Cain and Duvall stole two bases each. Scherzer picked up a win and tied with Weaver for the team lead with 10 strikeouts.

The standings look like this:

The Week Five match-ups

Isotopes (10th) v Mighty Slugs (9th)

Batteries Essential (12th) v Durham Riverkings (1st)

Beckenham A&E Dept (2nd) v Cheshunt Maltsters (6th)

Newcastle Knights (7th) v The Cheddar Chasers (8th)

Norwich No II (3rd) v The Bath Bombers (4th)

Richie’s RBI’s (5th) v Super-Sox (11th)