This week, I want to bring up a topic before it blows up my comment section as it seems to every season. This is something veteran RCLers will recall (and likely will be utilizing) and you’ll also be familiar with this concept if you play in Yahoo Pro Leagues or something similar. The idea is that you can maximize your pitching counting stats by manipulating the day you go over your 1400 IP. In the ESPN days, this was manipulating the day you went over the 180 GS limit by getting to 179 GS and then loading up 9 starters and hitting 188 GS. The same thing applies here with the IP limit (and also in Yahoo leagues) in that on the day you go over the 1400 IP limit all of your pitching stats count for that day. So, let’s say you work it so you get to 1398 IP, then you load up 9 starters the next day. If all 9 starters last 5 IP, you’d hit 1443 IP and thus gain an extra 43 IP of strikeouts and possibly earn an extra win or two along the way. The risk is obvious. I have a hard enough time pulling one streamer out of the free-agent pool that won’t obliterate my ratios, never mind nine! Unless you are holding a slim lead in the ratios that you don’t want getting ruined, there’s not much to lose in maxing out your stats though. So far we’ve had one manager take a semi-shot. We’ll take a look at how they made out and more from the week that was, week 24 below:
Our lone manager so far is to take a whack at maximizing their IP is Jeremy Gibbs in RCL #1. Gibbs tossed out six starters on Wednesday. They tried for seven, but Mike Minor landed on the IL. They had landed with a perfect 1399.2 IP before that too, which is ideal, but very risky. They ended up with 33.1 IP on their final day of pitching, netting 38 strikeouts, but only one win. A 4.59 ERA and 1.200 WHIP seem about average for days like this. A mid 4 ERA is standard, in the threes is great and under three, you’re a streaming deity of your choice. So, was it worth it for Gibbs? I think so. They had a team in front of them that was capped at a reachable amount of strikeouts. It was worth a shot to try and catch them and gain a permanent point on the team ahead of them. How they only came away with one win is mystifying. Oh yes, because wins are stupid. I’ll be keeping an eye out for other teams that go all-in and will be curious what the best pitching line achieved is. If you go for it, let me know. I’ll likely be attempting it in a few leagues in the final week.
Each week we’ll peek in at our resident ‘perts to see who is laying claim to best “expert” RCLer in the land. We’ll take notes, check the standings and generally stalk them. The heading is also hyperlink, so feel free to follow along as we go.
Laura takes the lead! Someone caught Son! Son lost 1.5 points this week and Laura gained another 3.5, bringing her to 22 points gained in eight weeks. What a run! Laura’s 3.5 point gain was tied with my team for the biggest gain of the week. In another example of wins being dumb, I led the league in IP with 90.1 as I stream my buns off down the stretch. However, Laura led the league in wins, again, with 7 wins in 58.2 IP, one more than me. Unreal.
B_Don led the league in every offensive category this week except batting average and gained exactly zero points for the effort. That was a surprise to me. In other bad news, Grey was our biggest loser this week, dropping five points thanks to a 5.70 ERA on the week.
Each week we’ll also take a look at the top ten overall standings in our other Razzball sponsored league, the RazzSlam. This is our NFBC Best Ball league with managers from all across the industry, from content providers to fans and readers just like you.
That’s a wrap, folks! Joseph Asher brings home to gold in RazzSlam 2021! Congratulations to Joseph and the rest of our top ten for a heck of a season. Asher edges out Paul Sporer and Nicholas Mariano for the top spot. I feel for Nicholas, who led the regular season by a healthy margin, but top three is still pretty great. Nice work everyone!
TOP 10
For those too lazy to check the MASTER STANDINGS, I present to you, the current top 10
| RK | TEAM | LEAGUE | RCL PTS | LG PTS | LG INDEX | MASTER PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fat Fuckin Babies | Cougs R Us | 116.2 | 112 | 108 | 107.1 |
| 2 | Milo The Cat | Night of the Living Zombinos | 114 | 108 | 107 | 109 |
| 3 | Dunphys Joint Venture | RCL 2021 (#23) | 108.8 | 105.5 | 105 | 105 |
| 4 | Stl Squat Cobblers | ECFBL | 108.5 | 108 | 103 | 103.6 |
| 5 | Laura Holt | PERTS LEAGUE | 106.2 | 103.5 | 103 | 104.4 |
| 6 | Orlando Calrissians | RCL 2021 (#32) | 106.1 | 107 | 100 | 105 |
| 7 | Athletically Unathletic | RCL 2021 (#29) | 105.8 | 105 | 99 | 108.1 |
| 8 | Bad River | RCL 2021 (#33) | 104.2 | 107 | 99 | 102.5 |
| 9 | Team Bartilotta | RCL 2021 (#22) | 103.8 | 104 | 103 | 99.6 |
| 10 | Team Truss | RCL 2021 (#35) | 103.4 | 105 | 104 | 95.4 |
Our top two teams remain unchanged and it’s not looking like anyone is catching them. FFB and Milo The Cat each gained a small bit and continue their battle at the top.
Orlando Calrissians fell from third to sixth this week allowing Dunphys Joint Venture and Stl Squat Cobblers to each move up one place. Laura’s ‘Perts League team made a big jump from 11th to fifth, also passing the Calrissians.
Athletically Unathletic moved up two places to seventh while Bad River fell two places to eighth.
Team Bartilotta makes their top ten debut this week after hanging around in the top twenty since week sixteen!
I round things out, holding on desperately to a top ten spot.
WEEKLY LEADERS
The best of the best from the week that was.
R – 65 – Diamond Archers (RCL 2021 (#22)) & Virginia Patriots (RCL 2021 (#28))
HR –22 – New AL KOHOLIC (Original Recipe) & Creative Chaos (Night of the Living Zombinos)
RBIs – 69 – New AL KOHOLIC (Original Recipe)
SB – 11 – 5 Teams Tied
AVG – .341 – Diamond Archers (RCL 2021 (#22))
K – 118 – DFresh (RCL 2021 (#35))
W – 9 – MattTruss223 (DFSers Anonymous)
SV – 10 – Trussell Shuffle (RCL 2021 (#25))
ERA (Min. 40 IP) – 1.48 – Team TimothysTeam (RCL 2021 (#17)) (in 42.2 IP)
WHIP (Min. 40 IP) – 0.708 – Endangered Species (Original Recipe) (in 53.2 IP)
Offense seems to be going bonkers the past few weeks and I’m not sure why. I’m fine with it as long as they stay away from my streamers. Some of us have 200 IP to make up in two weeks!
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Our weekly shout out to the team that killed it the previous week.
Team: Diamond Archers
League: RCL 2021 (#22)
Stats: AVG: .341, R: 65, HR: 15, RBI: 55, SB: 5
IP: 74, ERA: 2.68, WHIP: 0.919, K: 89, W: 4, SV: 1
Summary: The Diamond Archers put on a show this week, leading the RCLs in batting average and co-leading in runs while pitching an absolute gem of a week. Example number three this week for why wins are dumb, how does a team pitch to a sub 1.00 WHIP, have a 10.8 K/9 in 74 IP, and only come away with four wins? That seems like robbery. The Archers are chasing down Team Bartilotta in RCL #22 and they brought it within 10 with this effort, while moving into second place in the league. It’ll take another week like this to have a shot at winning the league, but the Archers are finishing strong!
Want to be Matt’s Twitter pal? That’s kinda creepy, but you can follow him here: @MattTruss
