Week 7, 2018 Newsletter

The Pioneer League of Fantasy Baseball

Week 7 Results & Week 8 Predictions

By Brendan Davis

Another eventful week for the Pioneer league as we near the 1/3 mark of the regular season. 12 out of 14 teams are all within 1 game of a playoff spot, and a few of last week’s matchups show that the mighty can fall on any given week. Look for trade and waiver wire activity to continue to surge as we enter June and a number of teams attempt to hit their stride and separate from the pack. Without further ado, here’s last week’s review and predictions for the upcoming week.

Week 7 Highlights

Big shakeup for the league this week as incumbent #1 Release the Kraken fell to #9 Darth Maulina and #13 Hoz Solo gave #2 The EmpTurner a scare in the Matchup of the week.

Matchup of the Week: (#13) Hoz Solo 299.50 – (#2) The Empturner 306.00

Rookie Trenton Pickett put on quite the show for the rest of league, as he competed with perennial league powerhouse Eric Hannmann in a matchup that went down until the last game. As can be expected by the name, Eric Hosmer lead the charge for Hoz Solo with 28.25pts, and Yankees disappointment Sonny Gray nearly became the unlikeliest of Sunday heroes with a 27pt start. Blake Treinen led the charge for the EmpTurner with 35pts, and Ozzie Albies, Kris Bryant, and Matt Carpenter all led the charge for the Offense with 20+ points. Lookout for Trent to make a run in the latter 2/3 of the season now that he showed he can play with the best. As for Eric, I expect a tear the next few weeks after the Rook put a scare in him.

Upset of the Week: (#1) Release the Kraken 243.25 – (#9) Darth Maulina 381.00.

Logan destroyed first place Brendan by 135+ points. It may be tempting to dub this as “shock the world” territory, but that wouldn’t be doing justice to how well Logan’s team has been through 7 weeks – definitely outperforming a 3-4 record. To add insult to injury, Logan was sending 2am trade offers to Brendan while up ~150, a testament to the no mercy attitude he took this week. Logan received several key performances, but perhaps most notably, the trio of Brandon Belt, Andrew Heaney, and Xander Bogaerts combined for 101.5pts just one week after Brendan traded them to Logan. Yikes. Brendan’s team was led by Daniel Mengden’s 41pts and Kenta Maeda’s 35pt gem. Look for Logan to build on this huge momentum, and Brendan to make some changes (including his team name) to avoid a repeat in the coming weeks.

Highest Score: (#6) AndersonsGotTickets? 302.50 – (#5) Kylolan Renado 444.75.

Jason’s team flexed his muscle this week with a huge performance. Don’t let the 4-3 record fool you, this team is dangerous and is a surefire title contender. This week’s effort included 6 (!!) players with 30+ pt performances: Mookie Betts (40.5), Noah Syndergaard (40.0), Andrew Benintendi (39.00), Jean Segura (37.5), Nick Pivetta (32.0), and Jacob DeGrom (31.0)

Full Week 7 Results

Darth Maulina (3-4) vs. Release The Kraken (6-1) 381.00 – 243.25

Kylolan Renado (4-3) – AndersonsGotTickets? (4-3) 444.75 – 302.50

I GOT WOOD (3-4) – Sea Pom DickerJinn (3-4) 299.50 – 295.00

SeBellba (5-2) – Emperial Judge (3-4) 179.75 – 172.75

The EmpTurner (6-1) – Hoz Solo (1-6) 306.00 – 299.50

Rhys’ Pieces (3-4) – Willie Mays Hayes (0-7) 297.00 – 253.75

Acuna Matata (6-1) – Lambdo SaleRissian (4-3) 268.25 – 195.50

Stars of the Week

Batting

1. Brandon Belt – 41.00 (Darth Maulina)

2. Mookie Betts – 40.50 (Kylolan Renado)

3. Andrew Benintendi –39.00 (Kylolan Renado)

4. JD Martinez – 38.25 (I GOT WOOD)

5. Jean Segura – 37.50 (Kylolan Renado)

Pitching

1. Jack Flaherty – 48.00 (Rhys’ Pieces)

2. Andrew Heaney – 44.00 (Darth Maulina)

3. Daniel Mengden –41.00 (Release The Kraken)

4. Lance McCuellers – 40.00 (Acuna Matata)

5. Noah Syndergaard – 40.00 (Kylolan Renado)

Week 8: Matchups to Watch

Kylolan Renado (4-3) – Darth Maulina (3-4)

Arguably the two hottest teams in the league square off in what should be the matchup of the week. Jason will hope his tandem of Red Sox hitters continue to streak and complement his duo of Met’s aces. Logan will strive for his players acquired from Brendan to continue to mash, and harness some Bartolo magic with 2 starts from Big Sexy. The winner should have some serious momentum going into June. I think Jason’s big stars will continue to shine and readily hand Logan the L this week.

Release The Kraken (6-1) – AndersonsGotTickets? (4-3)

In surprisingly the only matchup of the week between teams with winning records, Brendan takes on Tony. Both teams fell victim from Monster performances from the above teams in the previous weeks and look to bounce back. Tony will roll out Mike Trout and his Legion of SPs in the hopes to outslug Brendan’s slumping but star studded offense. Volatile Japanese arms Tanaka and Maeda each have 2 starts this week and will be the key to a potential victory. Unhittable Gerrit Cole will pitch twice for Tony this week and can tip the balance of any close matchup. Brendan will mount a comfortable lead during the week, but barely hold on for the W on Sunday after Tony mounts a furious weekend comeback lead by Gerrit Cole and Jordan Lyles.

Additional Week 8 Matchups

I GOT WOOD (3-4) – Lambdo Salerissian (2-5) Johnny has been bit by the injury bug more than any team. He could very well contend for the title later in the year, but will have to whether the storm in the meantime. Look for the defending champ to continue to gain momentum and grab a fairly stress free W here, led by a scorching Manny Machado and JD Martinez.

The Emperial Judge (3-4) – Sea Pom DickerJinn (3-4) Cody lost a heartbreaker to the defending champ last week, but the rookie continues to emerge as a dark horse contender and prove his team’s ability each week. One start each from his big guns Kluber and Severino should be enough of a complement to some timely hitting from Seager, Crawford, and Good ‘ol Bryce Harper to get the W. Look for Aaron to bounce back from the sub 200pt performance, but fall just short of the rookie.

Hoz Solo (1-6) – SeBellba (5-2) Trent showed the entire league what he was made of last week after a tumultuous first 6 weeks for the rookie. Unfortunately his schedule continues to be unforgiving as he’s matched up against another perennial powerhouse, Ryan Florentine. Despite key injuries to Pollock and Carlos Martinez, look for Ryan to bounce back from an abysmal week (where he escaped with a W) and go back to putting up formidable point totals, led by Lindor, newcomer Justin Turner, and a resurgence from Sean Manaea. Trent may not have my pick, but I think he has everyone’s heart after last week.

Rhys’ Pieces (3-4) – The EmpTurner (6-1) Look for Eric to bounce back in a big way after last week’s scare. Look for young studs Ozzie Albies, Trea Turner, and Gleyber Torres to lead the charge, as pitching god Clayton Kershaw comes of the DL next weekend to put the dagger in this matchup. Verlander and Berrios may be the two highest scorers in this matchup, but their efforts won’t be enough to overcome a big week from Eric

Acuna Matata (6-1) – Willie Mays Hayes (0-7) Ryan Cutino returns from his Mexican vacation at the end of last week only to check fantasy for the first time in 10 days and exclaim “Hey I almost won one!”. Can He pull off an upset this week against a top 3 team for his first W? I don’t know about that, but I heard the opening points spread is Casey (-125). Ryan’s solid roster and performance much better than his record may give Casey an early scare, but ultimately surprising stars Haniger and Semien continue to rake, and Scherzer and McCuellers continue to cruise leading Casey to a decisive victory.