A lot has happened since the last matchup commenced. Bryce Harper electrified Nationals Park by hitting 9 homers in 47 seconds to tie Kyle Schwarber before going on to win in bonus time. Mike Trout was mic’d up on a national stage, and used his platform to talk about the weather. Manny Machado was traded to the Dodgers and received a trade package waaayy better than they would have if they traded him last season or this off-season. Brand Hand and Adam Cimber are now Indians, and Matt Carpenter had the most dominant four games I’ve ever seen from a hitter.
There’s a lot more I could get into, but let’s 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: This One Time at Band Kemp (Dave Cherman)
Earlier in the season, Dave and Alex Fast got into a debate about the future of Matt Carpenter. Fast thought it was a small sample size of positive performance that wouldn’t hold up because of how often Carp was rendered ineffective by the shift. Dave on the other hand, kept defending Matt’s potential, claiming the underlying power would prevail. His patience proved fruitful, as MagiCarp evolved into the raging Gyarados, destroyer of baseballs and the city of Chicago. The city’s defenses were no match for this powerful beast, as he destroyed one ball after another after another after…well, you get the point.
Closest Matchup: This One Time at Band Kemp (Dave Cherman) vs. The Bear & The Maiden Faria (Nick Pollack)
The Bear was powerful this week, but ’twas not enough to overcome the ferocity of Dave’s Gyarados. However, Sir Nicholas, King of Ham, and Lord Keuchel of Dallas WHIP’d the rest of Maiden Faria’s troops into shape, emerging victorious thrice between them. Master Wade Davis was a true hero, saving the day thrice as well. The final result of the fortnight: A Draw!
Prodigy League
Best Performance: Syndergaarden Cop (Jonathan Metzelaar)
Looking at the power and speed numbers for Metzelaar’s squad, two words come to mind: WOMBO COMBO! Seriously, how can you stop a team that steals 12 bases while hitting 29 home runs in a matchup? Starling Marte and Jose Ramirez were the engines powering this offense, driving in 11 and 13 runs with 5 and 6 homers respectively. Both Javy Baez and Marte nabbed three bags a piece. To give you an idea of just how astounding this power/speed combination is, here are some numbers: Syndergaarden Cop has 363 HR+SB on the season. The Cleveland Indians lead the MLB in HR+SB with 214. Killer B’s has the second most HR+SB with 282.
Closest Matchup: DothRockies Horde (Austin Bristow II) vs. Killer B’s (KV Boparai)
In a battle for first place, it looked all but lost for the Horde on the evening of July 15th. The Killer B’s held a commanding 9-1 lead, and in every other week of the regular season would walked away victorious. With three days and one game to go, it would’ve taken a miracle for the Horde to maintain their lead atop the league.
Enter Matthew Martin Lee Carpenter
Refusing to go down without a fight, CarpDrogo led the DothRockies into the brink, single-handedly reclaiming home runs and runs from the B’s. Inspired by the valor of their leader, Mad Max and Kingham struck down batter after batter, earning another two victories for the Hode. However, it was “Pickles” Gray, the most unlikely of heroes, that was most vital in this late surge, as he did not get smacked around like he has time and time again in the Bronx this year. Because of his 1.13 WHIP performance, the Horde defeated the B’s 1.452 to 1.455 and rides on!
Futures League
Best Performance: Acuna Moncada (Austin Perodeau)
The Whit Paul Martin’s team doesn’t know must be the problem free philosophy of Acuna Moncada. For ten days, ___ was pillaged by Captain Marte, First Mate Polanco and Ruffian Odor who combined for 10 homers, 6 stolen bases, and 38 R+RBI. On the pitching front, the rage of the winless Clevinger was chaotic, as the flamethrower struck out 26 batters, but the blowback caused some self-inflicted damage by way of ERA and WHIP. Thankfully, Dr. Greinkenstein had the antidote for these wounds.
Closest Matchup: The Hans Molemen (Ben Chang) vs. House Acree (Tim Acree)
At first glance, of this matchup, you’d think that Ben and the Molemen would have won this matchup. Four of five hitting categories won, so all that needed to be done to avoid a loss was take one of the pitching categories form House Acree. Chris2 had other plans. On Sunday afternoon, Sale and Archer combined for 22 strikeouts and a win. Two points for House Acree! Unsung hero of the matchup: Willson Contreras. His fourth stolen base of the season and fourth of the week for House Acree was the difference maker in the matchup. Tough loss for the Molemen, who by pythagorean wins had the second best week in the Futures League.
