Week 2 is complete and the weather is still cold. It seems like half the games were canceled this past week while the Midwest has wallowed in the dregs of winter. On a personal note, I attended the Braves and Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Saturday and I definitely have a cold.
Nonetheless, there were actually baseball games played this week. Let’s run down the best performances, closest matchups, and a spicy trade that went down in the Prodigy League.
As always, feel free to take a closer look at our rosters, transactions, and matchups by following these links: Legacy League, Prodigy League, Futures League
Legacy League
Best Performance—Ian’s Pornogriffey (Ian Post)
Ian Post’s team was absolutely dominant this week, besting Steven Honovich’s squad 9-0-1. Led this week by Kyle Seager, Hanley Ramirez, and Sean Manaea, Ian’s team won every category aside from a tie in wins and has improved to a 2-0 record. Ian’s Pornogriffey will take on last week’s standout Alex Fast next week.
Closest Matchup—OHMYGODITSAFIRE sale (Alex Fast) vs. Choooo that Snell (Rick Graham)
Speaking of Fast, he and Rick Graham had a spectacular matchup this week that ended in a tie! Alex led the week in all hitting categories save for tates (read: home runs) while Rick took all of the pitching categories besides strikeouts. The two each had their fair share of standouts—Chris Sale, Blake Snell, DJ LeMahieu, and Tommy Pham to name a few. When pressed for a comment, Alex Fast said this, “It was a real back and forth matchup between rick and I. Coming into the last day we were tied in HR, which gave me the lead 5-4-1. Then LeMahieu hit his like 9,000th hr of the week and gave the category to rick. I had Bregman and Marwin Gonzalez going that night but big sexy was just too sexy.”
Prodigy League
Best Performance—The Gregorious D.I.Di. (Jeff Davis)
For the second week in a row, Jeff Davis’s team, now sporting a fancy new team name and logo, is the best in the Prodigy League. His victory this week, an 8-2 rout over Jake Bridges, solidifies him as one of the top teams in the mid-tier league. Khris Davis put up a fantastic week, hitting .391 with 4 homers, while Justin Verlander gave up only 1 earned run in his two starts, striking out 20 along the way. Jeff’s squad will face Myles Nelson’s (1-1) in week 3.
Closest Matchup—good Kris, m.A.A.d. Robbie (Jason Dunbar) vs. Max Bauer (Andrew Gould)
Jason Dunbar finds himself in the Prodigy League’s closest matchup for the second week in a row. This week, however, he has come out on top, winning a 6-4 victory over Andrew Gould. The strength of Jason’s squad became apparent this week after he won all five pitching categories along with stolen bases. Jason’s victory was secured after a win from Ivan Nova on Sunday, who was obviously the expected standout on a pitching staff that also had Chris Sale starting Sunday.
Notable Transactions—Week 2 did see a big trade in the Prodigy League as Michael Grennell sent Max Scherzer to my team in exchange for Gerrit Cole. When asked about his feelings and motivations behind the deal, Michael said this, “In retrospect, I probably overpaid for Cole. I knew I was going to have to pay a bit of a premium for Cole after his first two starts, and I wanted to make sure I was able to acquire him. I’ve been very high on Cole ever since the trade to Houston, and I think he might have similar numbers to Scherzer by the end of the year. It boiled down to I wanted Cole no matter the cost, and I felt I could afford to trade a star pitcher for him rather than a star position player.”
As for my feelings, I’m ecstatic. I drafted Cole with the first pick of the 8th round, hoping the Houston Astros data-driven coaching would help him to unlock his potential. I was obviously very excited to get his first three starts for my squad, but when I was offered Scherzer, the 10th overall pick in our league, I jumped at the offer. I am very excited to add Scherzer to a pitching staff that already features Stephen Strasburg and James Paxton. This trio, along with a Mike Trout led offense, has the potential to lead my team to a championship.
Futures League
Best Performance—Team Gorman (Brennen Gorman)
Leading the Futures League this week was Brennen Gorman, whose squad defeated Henry Still 7-2-1. Brennen took every offensive category along with wins and ERA en route to his second win of the season. Strong performances from Seattle Mariners Kyle Seager and Dee Gordon highlighted Brennen’s team this week. It is noteworthy that Henry managed to win ERA (2.55) this week despite a 27.00 mark posted by Jose Martinez; the impressive turnaround was largely due to fantastic 2-start performances by Justin Verlander and Carlos Martinez, each allowing only 1 earned run in their two starts.
Closest Matchup—Morristown Frackers (Nate Vonbenken) vs. Team Zaccheo (Rob Zaccheo)
Week 2 saw not one, but two ties in the Pitcher List staff leagues! Nate Vonbenken and Rob Zaccheo finished their matchup with a 4-4-2 tie, neither contestant besting the other in RBI or stolen bases. While Rob took the three remaining hitting categories and ERA, Nate swept up all of the pitching categories withstanding ERA. At the end of the week, neither man came out on top and they’ll each have to stare at an infuriating record that includes a tie for the remainder of the season.
Final Notes—I’ll take this section to note some fun tidbits from the week.
- Jon Metzelaar’s team put up 21 home runs this week.
- Ben Palmer avoided a tie against Dave Cherman and won his matchup due to a home run on Sunday from renowned slugger Billy Hamilton. Palmer as quoted after the matchup saying, “Obviously when your team has big-time sluggers like Billy Hamilton, it’s going to be hard to keep up in the power department, and that proved to be Dave’s bane this week.”
- Jake Bridges seems to be having a good time. The Prodigy League manager was quoted saying, “7.05 era this week. Now 0-2…checks out.”