Week 23 of the BaseballGB Fantasy League saw the first round of the playoffs take place – and only one of the top four survived. Which teams can still dream of claiming the title, and who will have to wait until next year?

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Norwich No II	36	12	41	3	.320	.968	4	4	51	0	1.76	0.73	11
Iron Men	14	3	13	2	.255	.700	2	1	35	4	4.83	1.14	1

 

We begin with the biggest winners of the week, as Norwich battered Iron Men 11-1. An offensive sweep was powered by Harper, who scored 12 runs, hit five homers, knocked in 10 and batted over .500 for the week. Abreu and Lindor each homered twice, driving in nine and eight respectively. Alex Wood picked up a win without allowing an earned run and helped take ERA and WHIP, while Iwakuma and Rodriguez each struck out nine and Miller had two saves. Iron men had two holds each from Watson and O’Day, but paid the price for not acting on injuries to Tulowitzki and Kang and leaving some good pitching on the bench.

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
NE Riverkings	32	8	23	4	.304	.852	1	6	65	0	4.24	1.32	8
Newcastle Knights	27	6	22	0	.221	.636	6	3	55	2	1.84	0.95	4

 

The Riverkings are through to the semi-finals after defeating the Knights 8-4. There was another offensive sweep, mainly powered by Kendrys Morales’s monster Sunday, as he homered four times and scored seven runs for the week. Choo batted .520 with seven runs, Rizzo knocked in seven and Khris Davis homered twice. Rosenthal and Britton had two saves each and Nola struck out 12. Six different Knights pitchers picked up wins, including Gonzalez, who struck out 12, and Tomlin, Corbin and Estrada, who did not allow an earned run between them.

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Jesmond Dennings	25	5	32	7	.270	.746	4	2	52	0	3.44	1.37	7
Batteries Essential	31	6	35	5	.264	.736	2	1	44	1	3.59	1.22	5

 

Jesmond just made it through after the top seed squeezed past Batteries Essential 7-5. Carrasco had a win and 18 strikeouts, helping take ERA in the process. Chapman had a win and two saves. Pollock hit .478 and joined McCutchen in stealing two bases. Fielder hit three homers for Batteries Essential, scoring and driving in nine runs, while Romo had a hold and Chen helped take WHIP. A tough loss to take, especially as a lot of categories were close, but fair play for pushing the top seeds right until the end.

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Mighty Slugs	21	8	24	1	.235	.738	5	1	55	4	2.58	1.26	6
Weston-Super-Sox	33	7	27	6	.281	.782	2	2	37	1	5.26	1.47	6

 

Finally, the Slugs and Sox finished 6-6, with the Slugs advancing on a tiebreak. Lester, Shields, Matz and Price all picked up wins and helped take ERA and WHIP for the Slugs, while Grimm and Smith had two holds each. Moustakas and Gattis had two homers each. For the Sox, Escobar scored and drove in seven, while Dee Gordon batted .433 with three steals. Strop and Robertson had a save each. In the regular season, the Slugs had defeated the Sox 8-1 and lost 3-9, putting them through with a combined record of 11-10.

The week 24 matchups are as follows:

CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS

Jesmond (1st) v Slugs (5th)

Norwich (6th) v Riverkings (7th)

CONSOLATION SEMI-FINALS

Knights (2nd) v Iron Men (3rd)

Sox (4th) v Batteries Essential (8th)