Week 5 was very eventful. This week we saw Albert Pujols break into the 3,000 hits and 600 home runs club, Ichiro Suzuki transition into a front office role, Matt Harvey fall from grace and get designated for assignment, and Ken Giles literally punch himself in the face.
However, all of these things pale in comparison to the most important story of the week. For the first time since July of 2014, the Atlanta Braves are in first place in the National League East!!
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s take a look at the staff league’s top performers and closest matchups!
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. Likewise, if you’d like to read the previous weeks’ reviews, follow this link.
Legacy League
Best Performance—Smoakin’ Zieg Zags (Max Posner)
Max Posner (4-1) got back to his winning ways in Week 5, topping Andrew Todd-Smith (3-2) 8-2 for his 4th win of the season. Taking every category save for stolen bases and wins, Max’s team was impressive across the board. Led by superstars Francisco Lindor, Nolan Arenado, and Justin Verlander, Max is easily one of the best teams in the Legacy League. Set to face the 0-5 Nic Gardiner in Week 6, Max will look to continue on his impressive start to the season.
Closest Matchup—OHMYGODITSAFIRE sale (Alex Fast) vs. Nola Contendere (Kyle Bishop)
It seems like I’m writing about Alex Fast almost every week. In the latest edition of Fast and the Legacy League, Alex (3-1-1) is handed his first loss of the season: a painfully close 5-4-1 bout against Kyle Bishop (3-2). Fast’s team lost runs, homers, and strikeouts by only one each, RBI by two, and tied in wins. This may be our closest matchup of the year thus far; having four categories that close is ridiculous. When asked to comment, Fast summarized the results by saying “Kyle Bishop ekes out a brutal victory and sticks the dagger into what was a nice 30th birthday. Had I recorded one more Run, Strikeout, Win or 2 more RBI I would’ve won the week. That’s how close it was. Instead, I wasted a sub 2 ERA and sub 1 WHIP.”
Prodigy League
Best Performance—DothRockies Horde (Austin Bristow II)
I posted earlier this week in the Anything Goes thread of r/fantasybaseball bragging about my impressive pitching. They were not impressed, downvoting my comment into oblivion.
Well, I’ll show them. I’ll publish an article tooting my own horn.
In all seriousness, my team (3-1-1) had a great week, winning 8-1-1 over Troy Klauder’s squad (2-3). My pitching—led with amazing performances by Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and James Paxton—combined for a 2.42 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 71 Ks in 48.1 innings. On the hitting side, my squad one all of the categories except stolen bases. I’m starting to think that drafting Mike Trout and Andrelton Simmons was a good idea. Timely pickups of Jorge Soler and Eduardo Escobar have definitely made their impact as well. I look forward to taking on Jonathan Metzelaar (4-1) this upcoming week and hope to hand him his second loss of the season.
Closest Matchup—It’s Klubering Time (Michael Grennell) vs. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Humidor (Brandon Lundberg)
Michael Grennell fought long and hard for his first win of the season, and finally in Week 5, he just barely came out on top. His squad (1-4) topped Brandon Lundberg’s (2-3) by a final score of 5-4-1 this week, winning AVG, Ks, SV, ERA, and WHIP. The tie for the week was in stolen bases, each team earning just 2 throughout the week. Had Brandon’s team—featuring noted stealing threats Bradley Zimmer, Chris Taylor, and Eduardo Nunez—stolen just one more base, the week would have ended in a tie, denying Michael his first victory.
However, it was not to be, as Michael came out on top. The Prodigy League saw both of its winless teams taste victory this week as well as its one undefeated team fall. The universal scales have tipped towards balance.
Futures League
Best Performance—Acuña Moncada (Austin Perodeau)
For the second week in a row, the Futures League has seen a 10-0 performance. This week, Austin Perodeau (3-2) defeated Dan Wist (3-2), taking every category. Notable studs Nolan Arenado and Asdrubal Cabrera led the charge on the offensive side, while Zack Greinke and Gerrit Cole were brilliant for Austin’s team in Week 5.
When asked to comment on his impressive victory Austin responded very frankly, simply stating “I would like to just say I have the best team in the league.” The gauntlet has been thrown down. We’ll see if he can back it up in Week 6 when he faces off against Nate Vonbenken (1-3-1).
Closest Matchup—Morristown Frackers (Nate Vonbenken) vs. House Acree (Tim Acree)
Speaking of Nate, he found himself on the losing end a very close matchup in Week 5. Nate’s squad (1-3-1) fell to Tim Acree (3-2), who finds himself in the Closest Matchup two weeks in a row. Nate needed only lost runs by 4, stolen bases by 1 and tied both homers and wins. In a week that Trea Turner did not steal a single base, Nate’s squad suffered.
Meanwhile, Tim’s squad earned their third win of the season. Most impressive was his pitching this week, combing for 80 strikeouts and a 3.15 ERA. Tim’s team will be a difficult matchup if his starting staff of Chris Sale, Charlie Morton, Chris Archer, and Dallas Keuchel continue to perform to the level they did in Week 5.
Final Notes
After looking for something interesting to discuss at the end of my article, I drew a blank. I’ve got nothing. So, um, go win your matchup this week. Start Mike Trout. Go Braves.