The only thing more boring than listening to someone talk about their fantasy team is to read a post writing about their hordes of teams.
So feel free to stop reading if you came here for advice vs. updates on our teams. We only ask that if you do read, keep reading after the first couple.
We gambled on pitching in this league (first 5 picks offense and the SP/RP wildcard Aroldis with our 6th pick). While we did a good job stitching together a pitching staff (~50 points) thanks to 7th round pick Latos, late round pick Shelby Miller, reserve pick Paul Maholm, and first week FAAB pickup Justin Masterson, the offense has been hurt by the combo of Jason Heyward and BJ Upton. If those two can turn it around and the pitching holds up, we maybe have a shot at least making it interesting.
LABR – 15 Team Mixed (Snake)
Our Place
10th (64 pts)
1st place
Fred Zinkie of MLB.com (129.5 pts)
Last place
Clay Davenport (44.5 pts)
Summary
So cruel. We have the 5th best offense so far (55 pts) and are in the top 1/3 in all 5 offensive categories despite our OF getting ravaged by injuries (we had 3/5th of our starting OF on the DL for May – A-Jax, Reddick, and Bourjos). Unlike last year, we’re getting production from our early picks – notably 1st round pick Justin Upton and 2nd round pick Paul Goldschmidt. But our pitching staff has been crushed by disappointments and injuries. We only have 9 pitching points and are in last in 3 of the 5 categories. How does that happen? We purposely drafted a deep pitching staff only to have Greinke and Garza miss a ton of time and reserve picks Wily Peralta and Felix Doubront struggle in their place. Our two drafted closers (Axford and Rondon) failed to record one save. Other pitching disappointments include Beckett, Estrada, and Niese. I would expect us to gain some points along the way in pitching now that the staff is generally healthy but I can’t imagine this team competing.
This is the 2nd straight year that I (Rudy) was the primary drafter for this league and screwed the pooch. The offense might’ve been average to above average if it hadn’t been torpedoed by BJ Upton and Ike Davis. The pitching staff is the bigger disappointment, though. 2nd round pick Justin Verlander has only been himself in K’s only (3.70/1.36) and Yovani Gallardo + Ian Kennedy have been awful. Later picks Lance Lynn and Derek Holland have helped. Like with LABR, our bullpen evaporated almost immediately with Axford and Hanrahan. We’ve picked up Heath Bell but that’s not nearly enough. Starting to think we’re snake bit in this league.
Yahoo! Hero Sandwich – 14 Team Mixed (Auction)
Our Place
2nd (100 pts)
1st place
Pete – Yahoo! Commenter? (104.5 pts)
Last place
Jason – Yahoo! Commenter (44 pts)
Summary
This is a Pro-Am league that Yahoo’s Scott Pianowski runs. Our team’s offense has been incredible with 68 of a possible 70 points driven mainly by offensive depth. Paul Goldschmidt and Jean Segura are two notable value picks. The pitching has had its challenges due to injuries but we have been below IP pace so there are Wins/K points to be had. I imagine we’ll be either trading some offense for pitching or doing a lot of streaming going forward.
CBS Sports – 12 team AL-only (Auction)
Our Place
8th (53.5 pts)
1st place
Tie – Mike Gianella – BaseballProspectus and Greg Morgan/Todd Zola – Mastersball (88.5 pts)
Last place
Tie – FanDuel.com and Fantasy Sports Empires (46 pts)
Summary
This was a league we won last year but just swung and missed at the draft. Josh Reddick, Jesus Montero, and Brett Wallace were washouts and there just isn’t anything available in free agency. That nets to a below-average offense including last in HRs. The pitching hasn’t been much better though it has helped so far that Matt Moore is our #1 pitcher.
CBS Sports – 12 team NL-only (Auction)
Our Place
4th (75 pts)
1st place
Tie – Christopher Kreush/Todd Zola – Mastersball (87 pts)
Last place
FanDuel.com
Summary
This team’s offense has been killing it (57 out of a possible 60 pts) led by Jean Segura, A-Gonz, Anthony Rizzo, and Hunter Pence. The pitching is the only thing keeping us from first place with 18 pts including 12 in Saves. One significant reason for that is Aroldis Chapman was the guy we drafted as our top starter. Our ERA/WHIP will be tough to improve upon but Wins/K’s can always be improved just by throwing a lot of GS.
FantasyPros911 – 11 team AL-only (Auction) – Rudy-only
Our Place
2nd (80 pts)
1st place
Jason Mastrodonato of MLB.com (81 pts)
Last place
Ryan Dodson of KFFL (25.5 pts)
Summary
This team had been in first place for most of the season until the last couple of days. The offense (37 pts) and pitching (43 pts) are both solid as I’ve been lucky enough to avoid major injuries. The biggest strength of this team has been starting pitching as I’ve been able to throw 7-8 starters a week that include Derek Holland, Justin Masterson, Jake Peavy, and Anibal Sanchez. I have 38 wins – the next team has 31 wins. I have 502 K’s – only 3 other teams have over 400 Ks. Barring major injuries, this team should finish in the top 3.
NFBC – 15 team Mixed (Snake) – Rudy-only
Our Place
5th (94 pts)
1st place
Joseph Palazzo (112 pts)
Last place
Jeffrey Barachy (31 pts)
Summary
This is my first foray into NFBC. It’s a format where you draft 50 players and then cannot make any trades or free agent pickups throughout the year. My team has bounced between 3rd and 7th for most of May. My offense has been very good (52.5 pts) – particularly when you consider that I’ve gotten nothing out of my 1st round pick (Stanton). I luckily missed Ike Davis when drafting 1Bs in the 7th/8th round (Rizzo, Trumbo) and my punt MI strategy turned out pretty well (Murphy, Kendrick, Yunel and a flier on Nick Franklin). Starlin Marte has helped to compensate for Desmond Jennings’ shortcomings. I drafted a ton of starting pitching (I estimated that I was #1 in projected IP) and have needed it as I currently have 5 starters on the DL (Baker, Beckett, Billingsley, Vogelsong, and Westbrook). My team started poorly in ratios thanks to Beckett and Vogelsong (and a less than ace Sabathia) but made up some significant ground this week based on a ridiculous 46 IP, 6 W, 4 SV, 1.37 ERA, 0.848 WHIP, 45 K line). Hoping this team can stay healthy and make a run for 1st place.
Rudy – 2nd place (88 pts), Grey – 5th place (73.5 pts)
1st place
Mike Podhorzer of FanGraphs/RotoGraphs (90.5 pts)
Last place
Scott Pianowski of Yahoo! (38 pts)
Summary
We saved this one for last since Vin does such a great job at covering this league in his weekly posts. Much like last year, Rudy’s team has been solid on offense (35.5 pts) and stellar in pitching (52.5 pts). It’s in the top 2 for Wins and K’s despite being last in the league in GS – thanks to a 5-some of Lee/F-Her/Lynn/Holland/Masterson. If only Ike Davis hadn’t sucked so bad and Josh Rutledge didn’t get demoted. Grey’s team has had a ridiculous May for offense – led by Domonic Brown and Paul Goldschmidt. Unfortunately, his pitching hasn’t followed as Greinke/Gallardo have been a rough 1-2 and David Price got hurt right after Grey traded Machado/Perkins for him. Grey is also below league average in GS so has a number of possible W/K points to pick up as the season goes on.
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