Well here I am. A humbled 30 year old who is slightly embarrassed to be addressing this group after my lack of intelligence displayed last week. But I am a stubborn son of a bitch. I am here to answer the bell even if I am unconscious on the mat. I am like Scott Sterling, if anyone has seen those YouTube videos.

This week had a ton of close matchups and there has been a shift in the playoff picture. It would also appear that Michael DiMaio can officially call himself the regular season champ.

And here we are, week 16. Let’s take a look at it.

Week Sixteen (July 24 – July 30)

One hit. Bove had a good week hitting the ball. He just fell one hit short. Christian Yelich and Mickey Moniak had seven hits each, but it was Elly De La Cruz who rebounded from his LVP week with a team-leading eight hits. Jarren Duran and Paul Goldschmidt also had five or more hits each as well. Bove had San Diego’s Ha-Seong Kim and Cleveland’s Josh Naylor each had nine hits, and Christian Walker dropped seven hits in the bucket.

The runs category was all Bove, all the time. I fell behind early in the week and never saw Bove pass me. Kyle Tucker  and Kim had a team-best six runs scored each. Matt Chapman had five runs scored, and Adley Ruschman, Christian Walker and Kyle Schwarber each scored four times. My top run scorers were Ian Happ and Elly De La Cruz who each had five runs scored.

Home runs mirrored hits, just a one swing difference. Team Stanko had 10 home runs with four players hitting two home runs; Happ, Yelich, Goldschmidt, and De La Cruz. Bove had nine home runs, with three batters hitting two runs scored: Chapman, Walker, and Kim.

I won the RBI category. Holy shit. Did not think that was necessarily possible. I was able to take this category from Bove on the last day when I collected six RBI and he only had three. My top RBI producers of the week were Yelich and Goldschmidt who each had six runs batted in. Happ had four RBIs as well in just 13 at-bats. On Bove’s side of the dugout he is patting the back of Sim, again, who led his team with five RBIs. Somehow Schwarber had four runs batted in despite only having two hits.

If Bove didn’t have power, he had speed. 10 stolen bases for Team Bove is best in the league for this week. Again, Kim led the way with three stolen bases, joined by CJ Abrams. Andres Giminez had two swipes. I only have five stolen bases with Durran stealing two bags for the Boston Red Sox.

Bove’s team won the OBP category and it is due in large part to some truly outrageous OBP stat lines. Schwarber had only two hits in 15 at-bats, but he had 11 walks. 11! He finished the week with a .481 OBP, which is second on the team only to Kim. Fucking Kim is everywhere! Triston Casas was my only player with an OBP of over .400. Yelich had more than 20 at-bats and he finished at a .370 clip.

The strikeouts category is now a sore subject for me. Almost felt like I didn’t deserve to win it this week. I was able to take it on the final day because I had four pitchers pitch; my two relievers Camilo Doval and Will Smith and two C-Rate starters Michael Kopech and Dean Kremmer. Kremmer had his start and beat the Yankees. Extra icing. In terms of standout performers, he belongs to Bove’s staff. Spencer Strider had 10 strikeouts against the Boston Red Sox and allowed just two earned runs. He is so fucking good.

Despite Strider pitching well enough to win, Bove’s only pitch staff win came from the new Texas Ranger Max Scherzer. In his final start with the Mets struck out seven in seven innings and surrendered just one run. I got two wins from my staff, and one came from my closer Doval against the Red Sox. The other was from Kevin Guasman who has been my best pitcher all year long.

Saves, not very exciting to write about. My only save came from Doval. Bove got a save from Toronto closer Jordan Romano and two from Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks. Neither of Bove’s closers allowed any runs.

Jon Gray stinks. He allowed six runs scored in five innings pitched. He simply can’t pitch against the Astros. Nobody else was really that great either. Braxton Garrett had six innings of shutout pitching for Miami, and both James Paxton and Guassman had less than 2.00 ERA. Issue is that Kopech, Kremer, Doval and Smith all had ERAs of 5.40 or higher. I already mentioned how Scherzer dealt to a 1.29 ERA, but there is also Strider and Merril Kelley who each pitched well. And you are always gonna be in better shape when your three relievers staff don’t allow a single run.

Mr. Bove’s pitching was just consistent. No starter had absolutely stellar numbers, but none had absolutely catastrophic either. The best WHIP of Bove’s staff is Bryan Bello and his effort against the Atlanta Braves. Bove had both starters in the pitchers duel that was Strider vs. Bello.  Corbin Burnes had another good start for me and had a team-best 0.67 WHIP. Reid Detmers threw to a 1.07 WHIP but was slightly outdone by Garrett’s 1.00.

While Schwarber having 11 walks is gobsmackingly good, we are heading to the West Coast for Bove’s MVP. Ha-Seong Kim of San Diego had 18 at-bats while in Bove’s lineup. During that time he had nine hits (tied for Bove’s best), six runs scored (tied for best), two home runs (tied for best), five RBI (most on team), and three stolen bases (tied for best). He had a .609 OBP, which is just bonkers. I have never heard of Ha-Seong Kim before but he earned his stripes this week.

The major grip Bove has in the pitching category is in the wins category, but tough to pin and LVP on a pitcher for their team not giving run support. I will migrate back up the Bove’s batters and the obvious selection is Lane Thomas of the Washington Nationals. Bove needed just one more hit to tie the category, but this fella decided it was time to go on a slide. It is a testament to Bove’s team that Thomas’s .200 OBP didn’t even put a dent in the category.

Christian Yelich BARELY gets this MVP nod over Paul Goldschmidt. And I mean barely. The reason I am giving it to Yelich is because he got me two RBIs on Sunday and helped me win the RBI category for just the third time this season. Sitting in last place I have to take into account the little things, and getting these small victories is just enough. Yelich finished the week going 7-for-24 with four runs scored (second best on my team), two home runs (tied for best), six RBI (tied for best), one stolen base (tied for second best) and a 0.370 OBP. Just a damn good week for a good ballplayer.

Jon Gray stinks now, but I don’t really have any other options. The Texas Rangers starter allowed six earned runs in five innings against the Houston Astros. He does not like playing his division rivals. He has allowed 11 earned runs and 14 hits in his last 11 innings against them. I lost the ERA and WHIP battle, and while I don’t think he was enough to swing the entire battle, it would have made it not a romp.

MVP TRACKER: Albies (1), Burnes (1), De La Cruz (2), Mullins (3), Goldschmidt (2), Soto (1), Steer (2), Verdugo (1), Walls (1), Yelich (2)
LVP TRACKER: Albies (1), Burnes (1), Casas (1), De La Cruz (1), Gausman (1), Goldschmidt (1), Gore (1), Gray (2), Paxton (1), Peralta (1), Soto (1), Sale (1), St. Louis Cardinals (1), Walls (1), Wisdom (1)

WEEK SIXTEEN SCOREBOARD

  • Bove comes away with a 6-5 win over me. I eked out the hits, home runs and wins category by one each. Bove dominated all the other categories, so I should count myself lucky.
  • Our first of 5-5-1 draws this week. Kenny and Vaghi duked it out. Vaghi got 13 strikeouts on the final day to take that category by two. Each team had a save on the last day, ensuring no one left with the upper hand.
  • Michaud and Huntley battled it out to a 5-5-1 draw, but Michaud may by cursing himself a bit. He had four players not in the lineup on Friday, including Taylor Ward who was carted off the field on Saturday and was placed on the 60 day IL on Sunday. I say this staring at a matchup where each tied with 55 hits. 
  • DiMaio puts a checkmark on his quest for a title by securing the number one seed. List suffers his sixth straight loss but can climb his way back in with huge matchups against Kenney and Vaghi coming up.
  • Drakeley takes the hitting, and Eric takes the pitching. That pretty much sums it up. Despite the loss Eric remains in the playoff picture. Billy could have had a shot in strikeouts; he lost the category by 16 but only started five pitchers over the course of the week.

WEEK SIXTEEN STATISTICS DEEP DIVE

PDF/GOOGLE SHEET LINK

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  • Bove led the league in during a weekly matchup in runs scored for the first time ever.
    • Kenney was at the bottom of the league in terms of runs scored for the first time ever.
  • Huntley is now tied with Eric in terms of best weeks of RBI total; each have three occurrences.
    • Kenney now holds the mark for most worst weeks in terms of RBI; he has been at the bottom five times this season.
  • Kenney and Michaud both have had four weeks with the highest OBP mark.
    • Eric, Drakeley and Huntley are all tied with four occurrences with the lowest OBP of a week.
  • Four teams this week had only one save; most ever tied for the lowest mark in that category.
  • Drakeley set a new season worst in two categories this week 8.027 ERA and 1.824 WHIP this week.
  • I won the RBI category for only the third time this season.
  • Drakeley became the second person to win the RBI category 10+ times. He joins DiMaio in that group.
    • Hell, Drakeley has this same accomplishment in the stolen base category. He joins Kenney.
  • Drakeley became the first team this year to lose the strikeout category 10+ times.
    • For reference, Jack leads the league in winning strikeout weeks with 12.
  • Eric is the first team this year to reach double-digit marks in terms of wins in the wins column.
  • Vaghi now holds the worst winning percentage in the wins category this year.
  • How about six people being tied with a 7-9 record in ERA this season; that is the worst mark of the season.
    • Eric and Vaghi each hold the best record in the ERA category at 10-6.
  • Majority of the winners this week were outstanding in the hits, runs, on base percentage, category.
    • Interesting enough, they all performed badly in strikeouts.

WEEK 17 MATCHUPS

  • Eric looks to be in good position for the playoffs, but he has only won one of his last five matchups. Believe it or not, I have won twice in the same span.
    • According to the season stats, Eric will win this matchup, 7-4-0.
    • Eric took care of business against me in week eight, 7-3-1. I had an okay hitting week, but Eric levitated to victory with a beautiful 0.848 WHIP, which was emblematic of his pitching staff that week.
  • Vaghi has Huntley this week, followed by List next week. Like Kenney, Vaghi has been treading water and slowly creeping up of late, but Hunt as a chance to trap him in the losers bracket.
    • According to the season stats, Vaghi is going to win this matchup, 7-4-0.
    • Huntley took down Vaghi the last time they matched up, 8-3-0. Andrew had 14 home runs and just bashed the entire week. Also Huntley starting only five pitchers in the week helped keep his ERA and WHIP very low.
  • Jack is looking for his first week since week 10. It won’t be easy against Kenney who is 2-1-1 in his last four matchups.
    • According to the season stats, Kenney is going to win this matchup, 8-3-0.
    • List and Kenney drew 5-5-1 in week eight. They tied in runs scored. Kenney won the majority of hitting categories and List stole most of the pitching categories. Kenney actually won the wins category with five despite having a much higher ERA and WHIP.
  • Michaud was riding high weeks 10 through 13 but has since stumbled just a smidge. Now on the outside looking in, he has statistically the easiest schedule remaining with Billy and myself left on the slate.
    • According to the season stats, Michaud is going to win this matchup, 9-2-0.
    • Michaud took down Billy in week eight, 8-3-0. Hits, strikeouts, home runs and WHIP were incredibly close in the matchup. Neither team had an OBP higher than 0.300 in the matchup.
  • DiMaio is just honing his method right now while Bove has sneakily not lost since week 13. Over the last three weeks he is 2-0-1 with wins over Huntley and myself, and a tie against Billy.
    • According to the season stats, DiMaio is going to win this contest, 8-2-1.
    • In week eight, DiMaio earned his only win during the worst skid of his season. He lost three of four from weeks seven through ten, but he did win against Bove.

OVERALL STANDINGS

  • DiMaio is now in first place by 11 games (categories, what is the proper phrasing?) so he seems to have sewn up the number one seed and endurance bragging rights.
  • Kenney leap frogs into second place ahead of Eric and the two would now be playing in a first round matchup.
  • Vaghi moved into fourth place and is now part of the postseason bracket. He has a half-game lead over Jack, and only trails Kenney and Eric by a half-game as well.
  • Jack is out of the postseason picture for the first time since week one.
  • Michaud is in sixth place and is trailing Vaghi by 1.5 games.
  • Overall, no movement at the bottom of the standings. 
CATEGORY LEADERS (Including Ties)
  • DiMaio: Hits, Runs, Runs Batted In (3)
  • Eric: Wins, Walks/Hits Per Inning (2)
  • Huntley: Earned Run Average (1)
  • Kenney: Stolen Bases, On Base Percentage (2)
  • List: Strikeouts, Saves (2)
  • Michaud: Home Runs (1)

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