Lolhamburger H2H Playoff Thread

[Grey]

1. Thanks for the nudge. Tejada is out. Bartlett slides to SS. Velez goes into Bartlett's vacated MI spot.

Cool.

2. I am not trusting Mi. Cabrera to play today, so I dropped Motte (who was on the bench for today anyway) for Maybin (hoping for even more steals). Braun slides into Mi. Cabrera's 3B spot. Longoria goes into Braun's CI spot. Maybin goes into Longoria's UT spot. As an aside, I am not sure whether this is nutty or if I am the only person to do this - whenever I have two players, the better player gets to go into the "real" spot, so for example Mi. Cabrera has occupied 3B all year. Braun and Longoria, being youngsters, have had to sit in the CI and UT spots, respectively.

Ha! I do the same thing. I thought I was the only crazy person to do that. Sometimes when they have off days and I have to take them out, I'll make sure they go right back in their "real" slot.

3. Fuentes is now benched and F. Francisco is in.

I think that's for the best.

[Lolhamburger]

1. Ok, so the arms race really is on. I am still trying to figure out how my opponent beat me to all of the adds today, but he did. And it was incredibly fast. My best guess is that he must have had multiple browsers open and hit the confirm add/drop for each of them immediately upon the roster locking for today.

Anyway, he now has Scherzer, Kershaw, Wolf and J. Sanchez for tomorrow. I got the leftovers, meaning Blackburn (CWS at home), E. Jackson (at Baltimore) and R. Ramirez (at Houston). I also picked up Devine, which was part of the original plan. It feels like a let-down that I was not able to grab Wolf or Kershaw today. Kershaw especially.

The remaining options are Byrd, Hughes, Maholm, Bannister, L. Hernandez, Suppan, Redding, Robertson, Jo-Jo, Harrison, Estes and Liz. This is not really a bunch that I want to have anything to do with.

2. I have Lincecum, Billingsley, Baker, Olsen and Wandy going tonight. If I am in very good shape after tonight, I might drop Jackson and Ramirez for Kazmir and Maddux tomorrow to get a jump start on Friday. I have closers on the bench at the moment, and it would not kill me to get more of them on active.

3. The Cubs have decided that Soto will not play until Friday at the earliest. I dropped him before 5:05 today for J. Baker. Also looked at Teagarden. Note to self - never use Teagarden against a lefty pitcher.

[Grey]

1. Ok, so the arms race really is on. I am still trying to figure out how my opponent beat me to all of the adds today, but he did. And it was incredibly fast. My best guess is that he must have had multiple browsers open and hit the confirm add/drop for each of them immediately upon the roster locking for today.

That's cool that you have competition like that. Lot better than teams ignoring their leagues.

Anyway, he now has Scherzer, Kershaw, Wolf and J. Sanchez for tomorrow. I got the leftovers, meaning Blackburn (CWS at home), E. Jackson (at Baltimore) and R. Ramirez (at Houston). I also picked up Devine, which was part of the original plan. It feels like a let-down that I was not able to grab Wolf or Kershaw today. Kershaw especially.

The remaining options are Byrd, Hughes, Maholm, Bannister, L. Hernandez, Suppan, Redding, Robertson, Jo-Jo, Harrison, Estes and Liz. This is not really a bunch that I want to have anything to do with.

I agree with your assessment, but I wouldn't be so down on the guys you got "stuck" with. They're not awful.

2. I have Lincecum, Billingsley, Baker, Olsen and Wandy going tonight. If I am in very good shape after tonight, I might drop Jackson and Ramirez for Kazmir and Maddux tomorrow to get a jump start on Friday. I have closers on the bench at the moment, and it would not kill me to get more of them on active.

To get closers in your lineup, I could understand it. But I wouldn't be so down on Jackson/Ramirez and so up on Maddux and Kazmir.

3. The Cubs have decided that Soto will not play until Friday at the earliest. I dropped him before 5:05 today for J. Baker. Also looked at Teagarden. Note to self - never use Teagarden against a lefty pitcher.

Makes sense on your part and the Cubs part.

[Steve]

My best guess is that he must have had multiple browsers open and hit the confirm add/drop for each of them immediately upon the roster locking for today.

If you use Firefox (or Camino on a Mac), you have have multiple tabs open and it's even quicker

[Lolhamburger]

Update for Tuesday, September 24. There are still three games being played, but I want to post before it gets too late because I need to get up early in the morning.

Score at this moment is 5-5! It may very well be 4-6 again by the end of tonight depending on how Teixeira and Velez finish for me and how Ibanez finishes for my opponent, though.

Here is the breakdown:

Runs 71-61 (losing)
HRs 18-17 (losing by only 1 now)
RBIs 63-68 (winning)
SBs 6-3 (no progress today)
AVG .287-.290 (winning)

Ks 94-132 (winning)
Wins 5-8 (winning and should get another win once Billingsley's game is done)
Saves 3-7 (winning)
ERA 3.71-4.05 (losing but gap is closing)
WHIP 1.27-1.44 (probably lost)

1. Thanks Grey for suggesting that I replace Fuentes with F. Francisco. Got an extra save.

2. Thanks Steve re: advice on browsers. I am going to try multi-session IE tomorrow. If I get beat, then installing Firefox.

3. Maybin did not play today, which is unfortunate. I used J. Baker instead of Napoli, who hit a HR tonight, which is also unfortunate. These things happen in H2H.

4. Neither Motte nor C. Perez got the save tonight in St. Louis. Both should probably be dropped.

5. For tomorrow, I am thinking of dropping Maybin for Shealy or Teahen. First, Maybin's batting average is illusory. He hit .277 in the minors this year. His fast start after the call up is probably not sustainable. Second, with Velez and Bartlett on my team at the moment, I feel that I should add another "big" bat. Shealy definitely has more power, but his batting average has been poor lately. Teahan has been batting better, but his upside is less. Should I try to go for HRs (which would argue for using Shealy) or should I try to preserve my batting average (which would argue for using Teahen)? At the moment, I am leaning Shealy. With Dunn on my team, and with Braun in all honesty not playing well right now, batting average is too much of a crap shoot. Shealy seems to give me a better shot at HRs and possibly could allow me to stretch my lead in RBIs more than Teahan can. Makes sense?

6. I would go with Blalock over Shealy or Teahan but he is taken. Actually he has been taken by a (poor managed) team that has carried him all year, so it is hard to begrudge his unavailability.

7. Dunn is a weight on my batting average, but I am not going to drop him. I stubbornly refuse to believe that Dunn will end the season with less than exactly 40 HRs, which means that there are two more coming this week.

8. Back to my point in 5 above, I would feel differently perhaps if I did not have a 3 steal deficit. Steals are hard to predict, and my sense is that a comeback is not happening for me in that category.

[Lolhamburger]

Note that Nyjer Morgan and Jeff Francouer have both played well in the past 7 days. But better options likely still exist.

[Steve]

For tomorrow, I am thinking of dropping Maybin for Shealy or Teahen. First, Maybin's batting average is illusory. He hit .277 in the minors this year. His fast start after the call up is probably not sustainable. Second, with Velez and Bartlett on my team at the moment, I feel that I should add another "big" bat. Shealy definitely has more power, but his batting average has been poor lately. Teahan has been batting better, but his upside is less. Should I try to go for HRs (which would argue for using Shealy) or should I try to preserve my batting average (which would argue for using Teahen)? At the moment, I am leaning Shealy. With Dunn on my team, and with Braun in all honesty not playing well right now, batting average is too much of a crap shoot. Shealy seems to give me a better shot at HRs and possibly could allow me to stretch my lead in RBIs more than Teahan can. Makes sense?

I have just dropped Teahen as I'm chasing Steals and it just seems as though he is cooling off a little bit. Which should, of course, ensure that he gets red hot again tomorrow so go pick him up!

[Grey]

Score at this moment is 5-5!

Awesome!

5. For tomorrow, I am thinking of dropping Maybin for Shealy or Teahen. First, Maybin's batting average is illusory. He hit .277 in the minors this year. His fast start after the call up is probably not sustainable. Second, with Velez and Bartlett on my team at the moment, I feel that I should add another "big" bat. Shealy definitely has more power, but his batting average has been poor lately. Teahan has been batting better, but his upside is less. Should I try to go for HRs (which would argue for using Shealy) or should I try to preserve my batting average (which would argue for using Teahen)? At the moment, I am leaning Shealy. With Dunn on my team, and with Braun in all honesty not playing well right now, batting average is too much of a crap shoot. Shealy seems to give me a better shot at HRs and possibly could allow me to stretch my lead in RBIs more than Teahan can. Makes sense?

Yes, go for Shealy.

7. Dunn is a weight on my batting average, but I am not going to drop him. I stubbornly refuse to believe that Dunn will end the season with less than exactly 40 HRs, which means that there are two more coming this week.

Ha, that's awesome stubbornness.

8. Back to my point in 5 above, I would feel differently perhaps if I did not have a 3 steal deficit. Steals are hard to predict, and my sense is that a comeback is not happening for me in that category.

Steals are very fluky, but you could get 3 in one day.

[Lolhamburger]

Looking ahead to Thursday, I will have 1 OF and 1 UT spot available. I wish that I knew whether Mi. Cabrera is coming back. His absence is a big blow to my lineup. Anyway, Cameron and Hart are available and will be facing Dukes at home, and I am still reluctant to add them. Oh, how they have sucked in the past 7 days.

[Grey]

Looking ahead to Thursday, I will have 1 OF and 1 UT spot available. I wish that I knew whether Mi. Cabrera is coming back. His absence is a big blow to my lineup. Anyway, Cameron and Hart are available and will be facing Dukes at home, and I am still reluctant to add them. Oh, how they have sucked in the past 7 days.

Yuck. Yeah, they have both been awful.