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Post Gameday Points IX
Great
set of games played this weekend, despite some scheduling problems. Of
the six games played, three ended with walk-off homeruns, which off the
top of my head is some kind of record. On top of that, the team with the
worst record coming into the day went 3-0, the team with the best record
coming into the day went 0-3, with the teams in the middle going 1-2 and
2-1, respectively. Just more proof that this league is more competitive
than ever and at any time, any team can beat any other team.
The
Road Warriors were fortunate enough to start the season 19-4, so they're
pretty much just going to cruise into the playoffs as the likely #1 seed,
unless they suffer a huge breakdown. Dave Cain's regular season is over,
but he'll be ready to go 100% for the playoffs, and chances are, his arm
will be fresh. His ERA was miniscule in the beginning of the season thanks
to combination of pitcher-friendly weather and arm strength. Then his
hardball season began, and the weather got warmer, and his ERA promptly
started to rise. Still, he finished the season with an ERA of 2.90, which
complimented his .371 batting average and 24 homeruns nicely. He won't
lead the league in homeruns, but he left with the lead, which can be considered
consolation enough. The important thing for him (and you can ask him)
is the playoffs, which is why he remains enthusiastic about the season
despite the fact that he's done for nearly a month. His baseball season
will be over, which means he can go full bore on the mound against whoever
his team faces in the finals. Yes, I'm assuming they'll get the bye.
And
from great seasons, we move on to great gamedays. I follow that sentence
with the name Matt Plummer, who had one of the best individual gamedays
in recent memory this past Sunday for Wiffolution. Sure, some guys have
put up better overall numbers in an individual day (Scott Carmichael many
times, for instance), but none have done it for a team that so desperately
needed it, and none did it after not being able to play for nearly two
months. Wiffolution had its back against the wall. No one respected them,
and they were an afterthought in the playoff race. Aside from their own
team, who threw out bold predictions like "We're going at worst 10-2
from here on out and we're making the playoffs." Yeah right. Sunday,
they began the final third of the season by going 3-0. Why? Because Matt
Plummer finally showed up, two months after breaking his hand no less,
and he showed up to play.
Wiffolution's
main problem has been lack of a consistent power threat. Casey is one,
but he's not out consistently, and it's tough for Evans/Morrison to come
up with the offensive spark to overcome the amount of runs they give up.
Pitching-wise, Sunday was no day in the park. Dean tossed three solid,
but combine his numbers with Morrison's and you get 11 earned runs in
seven IP. The main difference is the seven IP, which is down from what
would have been 12 if Plummer didn't show up. Instead, Plummer tosses
two innings each game, gives up only three hits and one unimportant run,
and most notably, gives Jeff and Dean time to rest. Dean, who had been
absolutely hammered his last two outings (arm fatigue? the kid has never
thrown this much in a season), walks only two batter in three innings
and only gives up two hits while striking out seven.
And
when Matt Plummer hits six bombs in only 22 ABs, you can see the spark
hit the rest of the squad. As a team, Wiffolution was, as Evans put it,
on fire Sunday. They hit .403 on the day (25-62) with 14 HRs. Those are
freaking Bill Rozak numbers. They also scored 24 runs. Coming into Sunday,
they had scored 46 runs ALL SEASON. All because Matt Plummer showed up
and took over. He took every pitcher he faced deep. Of the 18 outs he
picked up from the mound, 13 were by strikeout. And with what? Nothing
more than an overpowering fastball. Pure and simple, he brought Wiffolution
back to the basics. During a day when every batter went deep at least
once and the league ERA was 5.24, Matt was an exception. And because of
him, we now have a very interesting race for the final two playoff spots.
With
three gamedays left, the league is officially 80% done with its regular
season. The Horsemen, Playerz, and Warriors all have byes at one point
in the near future, so I'm going to jump into a little forecasting and
see if I can determine who will join the Road Warriors in the playoffs.
Road
Warriors (20-9)
The Warriors face a tough day this Saturday, as it will only be Darnell
Uhland and rookie Pat Plummer playing. Pat opened some eyes with an exceptional
rookie game, but before then, had only hit .094 (5-53) with one measly
homerun. And how will his pitching fare against the Playerz' bats? Still,
he played in that rookie game against two members of the Playerz, and
his pitching held its own. Darnell's bat has been huge, his arm less so.
He'll team up with Curtis (and hopefully Pat) on the league's final day
against Wiffolution and then the Horsemen.
Games left: 6 -- Wiffolution
(3), Playerz (2), Horsemen (1)
Final Record/Seed: 23-12 (1)
Holy
Whites (12-12)
This is a tough one. Mike Walsh's regular season attendance is in question
after it was learned he had yet another arm injury. He says he'll be back,
but at what level? This team doesn't have nearly the AB and IP totals
of the other teams in the league, and you have to wonder if that will
affect them in the stretch run. Or will it help them? If nothing else,
their arms will be fresh(er). But where is Tavis Beynon? I was thinking
that once the guy hit the 50 AB mark, he'd become a major player, but
the league hasn't seen him since May. August will be a huge test for this
team as they face their main rivals, the Horsemen, in two separate doubleheaders,
including one on the final gameday. Mark your calendars.
Game left:
9 -- Horsemen (4), Wiffolution (3), Playerz (2)
Final Record/Seed: 17-16 (2)
Horsemen
(14-16)
By August 30th, these guys will be sick of the Holy Whites. Four of their
last six games are against their main rivals, and it seems fitting that
a playoff spot could be on the line. It will be Byrd against his former
team, Deatrick against his former team, and the always fun Creighton/Carmichael
showdown. The Horsemen's chances rest on how well Byrd and Yoder can hit
and how much trouble Christensen can avoid. Yoder's arm has been like
a beacon for the team, unrelenting and merciful to no one. They'll rely
on that for the rest of the month, count on that. They also get the Road
Warriors and Wiffolution one more time.
Games left: 6 -- Holy Whites
(4), Wiffolution (1), Road Warriors (1)
Final Record/Seed: 17-19 (3)
Playerz
(12-16)
By adding Bill Rozak, this team has become about three times better. They've
beaten the Road Warriors three times in a row, and they hope that trend
continues as they get two more against the first-place team before it's
all said and done. We'll also get our first Rozak/Carmichael showdown
(as well as a better look at just who will take the homerun crown this
year), as well as the Playerz shot to get back at Wiffolution for handing
them the big loss this past Sunday.
Games left: 6 -- Road Warriors
(2), Holy Whites (2), Wiffolution (2)
Final Record/Seed: 14-20 (5)
Wiffolution
(11-16)
Sitting with an 11-16 record usually doesn't look too good, but when you
look the way this team did a few days ago, anything's possible. Getting
Plummer to show up makes it infinitely easier on Morrison and Evans' arms,
but they need to him to play WELL too. And having Casey show up with his
1.23 ERA couldn't hurt either. Plummer's a big, tough kid, but tossing
6 IP every gameday from here on out would be taxing on anybody's arm.
With this team though, once one guy gets it going, it seems all the rest
fall into place. And with at least one game against every team, their
chances lie in their own hands, which is most likely the way they want
it.
Games left: 9 -- Road Warriors (3), Holy Whites (3), Playerz (2),
Horsemen (1)
Final Record/Seed: 16-20 (4)
So
the Horsemen and Holy Whites will continue playing each other into the
playoffs for the chance to face the Warriors in the Series at the Sac.
Of course, these numbers could change drastically if little things such
as forfeits occur (I predict none, perhaps naively) or if certain "star"
players miss. For example, if Morrison or Evans are ever on their own,
I don't see their team going 5-4 their final nine games. This is just
me having fun. Unless it ends up working out this way...then it's just
me being a very astute observer. In any event, if the worst team in the
league is 14-20...that's a good thing.
| Current
Rookie Standings |
| Name |
Brnk |
Prnk |
Ornk |
| 1.
Curtis Henning |
5 |
5 |
1 |
| 2.
Matt Plummer |
11 |
4 |
2 |
| 3.
Bill Rozak |
1 |
16 |
3 |
| 4.
Matt Smith |
13 |
9 |
4 |
| 5.
Pat Plummer |
21 |
7 |
5 |
| 6.
John Robins |
17 |
17 |
6 |
| 7.
Tavis Beynon |
19 |
18 |
7 |
Brnk
= Batting Rank (overall)
Prnk = Pitching Rank (overall)
ORnk = Overall Rank (rookies)
Ornk determined by summing both Brnk and Prnk. In the event
of a tie, player with more ABs is given priority. |
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Curtis
still sits atop the Rookie Standings. Bill Rozak doesn't technically qualify,
but will assuming he makes it to the rest of the gamedays. Matt Plummer,
despite his huge day Sunday, is still only the 11th-ranked hitter. It's
his pitching numbers that jumped bumped him up the most. On a day when
everyone's rating but his and Dean's went down, he was able to climb the
ladder much easier and is now the top-ranked rookie pitcher (although
he's only less than a point ahead of Henning). Smith is holding steady,
along with Plummer, Robins, and Beynon...mainly because those three haven't
played in awhile.
If
Plummer does start picking up some hits though, he could start climbing
up that hitting ladder. It's going to be tough to keep his ERA down where
it is.
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