This week in baseball, the Detroit Tigers saw their best performance of the year from a goose. That goose, now perfectly healthy and released into the wilds of downtown Detroit, has now been deemed the rally goose and has his inspired the Tigers clubhouse to start worshipping a goose idol. Since the appearance of the goose, the Motor City Kitties have gone 4-1. When asked for a comment on his impact at the big league level, the goose was quoted as saying, “Honk! Honk HONK!” Truly inspiring stuff from the goose.
Now, on to the Staff Leagues.
Before we get into this week’s best performances and closest matchups, 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—The Bear and the Maiden Faria (Nick Pollack)
For the first time this season, our fearless leader Nick Pollack has finished as the best team in a week. Nick’s squad (5-4) went up against Andrew Todd-Smith’s (4-4-1) and defeated him 7-3. Nick’s offense came alive this week. Led by Nelson Cruz, Manny Machado, and Matt Olson Nick’s team took every batting category save for steals. On the pitching side, Nick’s team put up a 2.97 ERA with 61 strikeouts, thanks in part to Jacob deGrom’s two-start, 21 strikeout performance. Now over .500 for the first time this season, Nick Pollack will face Nic Gardiner (3-5-1) in Week 10’s Battle of the Nic(k)s.
Closest Matchup—This One Time at Band Kemp (Dave Cherman) vs. Choooo that Snell (Rick Graham)
Dave Cherman’s squad (4-2-3) was set to face Rick Graham’s (6-2-1), the first place team in the Legacy League. After a week of back-and-forth, Dave was able to walk away with the 5-4-1 win, his first since May 6th. Dave’s pitching was the highlight of the week, as his staff posted 7 saves along with a 2.66 ERA and 0.99 WHIP to win the three categories. Tying in wins and taking stolen bases by only 1, the matchup could easily have turned into Dave’s fourth draw in a row, however, at the end of the week, he was finally able to get back in the win column.
Prodigy League
Best Performance—The Gregorius D.I.Di.
For the third time this year, Jeff Davis’s squad (7-2) is featured as the best performance in the Prodigy League. This week he topped Michael Grennell (1-8) by a score of 9-0-1. Jeff won every offensive category behind fantastic weeks from Reds sluggers Scooter Gennett and Eugenio Suarez. Jeff’s pitchers took four out of five categories, tying in wins. Jacob deGrom and Justin Verlander made for a beautiful one-two combo, but Michael Wacha and Kyle Gibson were nearly as good this week. Jeff will be taking on Jason Dunbar (4-5) in Week 10.
Closest Matchup—DothRockies Horde (Austin Bristow II) vs. good Kris, M.A.A.d. Robbie (Jason Dunbar)
Speaking of Mr. Dunbar, he and I (7-1-1) were the two combatants in this week’s closest Prodigy League matchup! After being behind or tied all week, I came back to beat Jason 6-4 at the very last moment. I took the lead batting average today after my team hit .289 to Jason’s .157 on Sunday. In the end, the final marks were .276 for the Horde and .275 for Good Kris, m.A.A.d. Robbie. After the dust had settled, Jason was quoted saying: “Man, I almost pulled it off with a pitching staff slapped together with scotch tape and streamers, too. Completely punted ERA and WHIP from day one.” His team utilized 15 different pitchers and totaled 88.1 IP and 13 starts. Despite the fantastic effort, my team, The DothRockies Horde, has now improved to 7-1-1, the best record in any of the three Pitcher List staff leagues.
Futures League
Best Performance—Intensive Care Unit (Grayson Blazek)
The top performance of the Futures League belongs to Grayson Blazek (4-4-1) after he defeated Paul Martin (3-4-2) by a 7-2-1 final score. Grayson took all five pitching categories this week, posting an impressive 2.89 ERA with 5 wins and 55 strikeouts. Michael Wacha’s fantastic two-start performance was easily the standout for Grayson’s staff. His offense was also solid, batting .321 for the week. Looking to break .500 next week, Grayson will face off against Austin Perodeau (3-6).
Closest Matchup—Mike’s Cereal Shack (Dan Wist) vs. Lindor Truffles (Rob Zaccheo)
It seems like almost every week I’m writing about a tie in the Futures League. In fact, 9 of the 12 teams have at least one draw on their record after nine weeks of the season. This week, Dan Wist (4-4-1) was added to that list, as Rob Zaccheo (3-3-3) took his third draw of the season! The pair had a classic offense and pitching 5-5 split, as Rob took all five batting categories and Dan took all five on the pitching side. Standouts from the two sides include Nicholas Castellanos and Francisco Lindor for Rob and Luis Severino and Marco Gonzales for Dan.
