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Pioneer Press Week 9:
It’s Kylolan Renado’s World; We’re All Just Living in it
Depth beating star-power, players coming off the DL just to head back the next day, and unlikely heroes carried an eventful week 9
Week 9 Recap:
Hoz Solo 269.25pts @ Sea Barraclough 314.75pts
Hoz Solo has had a ‘bad feeling’ throughout most of this season and that feeling persisted in week 9 while Sea Barraclough cruised to a decisive victory. Hoz Solo stumbled through the gates this week, posting a negative Tuesday score thanks in part to M. Fulmer (-14pts), J. Samardzija (-8pts), and M. Estrada (-8pts) lasting a combined 8 innings and giving up 11 earned runs. There was a positive to be had this week however for Trent’s squad as Ben Zobrist must have thought it was the 2016 World Series again and decided to hit to the tune of 27.50 fantasy points. Sea Barraclough never seemingly ran away with this matchup, however Max Scherzer (38pts) and Brian Dozier (33.50pts) were enough to keep Hoz Solo at an arm’s length. This was a needed bounce back effort to assert his dominance amidst the league’s elite after Casey previously fell to previously winless, Willie Mays Hayes in week 8.
SeBella 352.75pts @ Darth Maulina 292pts
While Darth Maul may be trending upwards in the news lately, Darth Maulina met an unfortunate end this week against SeBellba in a Phantom of the Menace showdown. J-Ram and Lindor (66pts combined) performed per usual, however Ryan got a big week out of a well-discussed free agent newcomer, to really separate his team from Logan’s this week. Brandon Nimmo’s (34pts) strong week amazingly did not start another group chat about his MLB trade value, yet one would have to assume the big money in Vegas is being placed on that happening within the next few days. Darth Maulina, on the other hand, drops 3 games below .500 with this week’s defeat. While much could be made of Giancarlo Stanton’s (9pts) lackadaisical performance, it wasn’t all bad news as the Michael Wacha (54pts) comeback tour kept marching to the beat this week.
Attack of the Clones 286.75pts @ Willie Mays Hayes 221.50pts
Willie Mays Hayes couldn’t keep the good times rolling as Brendan’s Attack of the Clones proved too much to handle. While getting a victory always feels good, Brendan no doubt has to be disappointed in his team’s effort this week, especially up the middle of the infield. The backbone of Brendan’s team, Jose Altuve (12pts) and Carlos Correa (8.75pts) were merely average this week, a trend that likely won’t last long. Brendan’s bullpen is to thank for the victory, as Craig Kimbrel and Kelvin Herrera combined for 45pts. Willie Mays Hayes will be looking for Paul Goldschmidt to build on this week’s 18pt effort after a very disappointing opening 2-months.
Kylolan Renado 471.25pts @ I GOT WOOD 327.75pts
Scenario time: Team A has the two top scoring players this week. That team should likely win, right? Wrong. Kylolan Renado has to be the most dominant team in the galaxy over the course of the past three weeks and I GOT WOOD could do little to thwart Jason’s run of dominance. The current league leader in points scored, Kylolan Renado, used the depth of his team this week to come away victorious, as only 2 players negatively affected Jason’s total. Jacob Degrom’s 21K’s and Nolan Arenado’s 7RBI led the way. I GOT WOOD, despite suffering the loss, has much to be happy about looking forward. The April rumors of Encarnacion’s demise have proven to be untrue as Eddie mashed 5HR’s on his way to 47 fantasy points and Marco Gonzales cracked the Top 100 player rater after a 43-point week.
Lambdo Salerissian 264pts @ Sea Gon DickerJinn 327.25pts
A week after Cody’s “weak ass team” got called out in this press, he responded with a gutty victory, fending off Eddie Rosario’s (47.50pts) mammoth weekend. This won’t be the end of this rivalry, either, as Cody went to the media shortly after clinching his victory to declare that his team just beat, Johnny’s, “soft as cat shit” team. In a similar strategy to how Kylolan Renado won this week, Sea Gon DickerJinn didn’t have any of the highest scoring individuals yet used their depth to steadily rack up points over the course of the week. Strong performances from role players such as Kyle Gibson (39pts), Ian Desmond (20.50pts) and many more were enough to outlast Lambdo Salerissian’s two-headed monster: the aforementioned Rosario and Blake Snell (53pts).
The Emperial Judge 228.50pts @ The EmpTurner 314.25pts
The EmpTurner did the sentencing to The Emperial Judge this week, handing down a L, dropping Aaron’s team back under .500 in what is proving to be a tumultuous season of inconsistency for the former group of Young Stallions. The EmpTurner’s Marcell Ozuna launched a giant home run on Saturday and launched a large crooked number onto Eric’s scoreboard as well, coming in at 27pts on the week. On the other side, Matt Kemp (31pts) must have thought that playing for the former Young Stallions meant he had to play like his younger self. In the end, The EmpTurner proved too powerful this week thanks in large part to strong pitching performances across the board.
Rhys’ Pieces 251.25pts @ ErvinDomDenisSantana 367pts
ErvinDomDenisSantana had Rhys’ Pieces in a state of confusion, like everyone after trying to figure out where Tony gets his team names from, handedly taking this week 9 matchup of former .500 teams. The Santana-family-tree-team-name-squad leaned on dazzling pitching performances from Jon Lester (41pts) and Jose Quintana (24pts) to best Verlander’s 38-point week. Rhys’ Pieces demise unfortunately came in part to the Indians bullpen woes, as Cody Allen scuffled and produced a net neutral performance this week. As an aside, the Santana namesake group Tony established put up 5 points this week, combined. For the winning ways to continue, he will look for more performance from them in the coming weeks.
Looking Ahead to Week 10:
SeBellba (-46.5) @ Lambdo Salerissian
SeBellba comes into week 10 favored to knock off Lambdo Salerissian. Lambdo Salerissian has had just one week scoring over 220 points in the past 4 tries, while SeBellba has scored under 300 just once in the past 4 tries. While it should be mentioned that the one-week Johnny’s team scored over 220, he put up 342.50, however the lack of consistency in scoring has me safely taking SeBellba and giving the points.
Kylolan Renado (-51.5) @ ErvinDomDenisSantana
In a battle of Fairfield housemates, Kylolan Renado comes in as the hottest team in the league, posting scores north of 425 in two of the past three weeks. ErvinDomDenisSantana is by far the most consistent team in the league, scoring between 302 and 357 points in every week after week 3. While Tony likely will put up a strong score once again in spite of Lucas Giolito, there is no stopping the steam engine that is Kylolan Renado right now. I’m taking Jason on the money line, but Tony with the points.
I GOT WOOD @ Attack of the Clones (-64.25)
Don’t let the records fool you, Brendan and Mike’s teams are more closely matched up than one may think. Over the past 3 weeks Brendan has scored a mere 21 more total points than Mike. I’m taking the upset this week, Mike wins this matchup.
The Emperial Judge @ Rhys’ Pieces (-10.25)
Another matchup where the records are not always telling of a team’s ability. Both teams possess a 4-5 record, yet Aaron has broken the 200-point mark just once over the past 3 weeks, while Mike has broken the same plateau all three times; even breaking the 300-point mark once. I’m taking Rhys’ Pieces this week and giving the points.
Hoz Solo (-19.5) @ Willie Mays Hayes
How many times can Trent get close to winning but just not close enough? Well, this week that ends. The schedule makers finally let up a bit after three straight weeks against top 4 teams. Hoz Solo gets Madison Bumgarner back this week and that should be enough to give him the win. I’m taking Trent and giving the points.
Darth Maulina @ Sea Gon DickerJinn (-6.25)
In what appears to be a matchup of even teams, Sea Gon DickerJinn has the slight edge in week 10. He’ll take a two-start Corey Kluber into this matchup which should be enough to get the job done. While Darth Maulina has a greater number of two-start pitchers, my faith in them doesn’t near rival my faith in the Klubot. I’m taking Sea Gon DickerJinn and giving the points.
Sea Barraclough @ The EmpTurner (-25.75)
In the matchup of the week, Casey takes on Eric. Should this matchup have been in week 9, it would have been decided by less than a point. While it’s tough to pick against Eric given his track record in this league and dominance this year, it’s equally difficult to pick against a two-start Max Scherzer, especially when one of those starts comes against Tampa Bay. Additionally, neither team has been particularly dominating of late on the scoreboard. I’m taking Max Scherzer and Casey this week with a particularly low vote of confidence.
Top Scorers of Week 9:
M. Wacha 54pts
B. Snell 53pts
E. Rosario 47.50pts
E. Encarnacion 47pts
M. Gonzales 43pts / M. Foltynewicz 43pts
Fantasy Heros:
The aforementioned Brandon Nimmo racked up 3 Doubles, 3HR’s and 7RBI to go along with 2SB this week.
Mike Foltynewicz pitched a complete game, 2-hit shutout against a daunting Nationals lineup, while posting 11K’s.
Nathan Eovaldi tossed 6 no-hit innings in his season debut for the Rays before being taken off the bump.
Clay Buchholz also recently returned to the major leagues and posted his third straight quality start, 7 innings of 1 run baseball while punching out 9 Marlins.
One of the best names in the MLB, Seranthony Dominguez (PHI) has quietly raced out to a 0.15WHIIP so far this season and is quickly gaining more high-leverage opportunities out of Gabe Kapler’s ‘pen.
Lucas Giolito’s star has fallen mightily over the course of two years. Despite Tony’s pleas to take it easy on him because “he’s just a little kid,” the Indians offense showed little mercy in getting to him for 5 runs over 6 innings.
Daniel Mengden kept surprising opposing batters this week, evidenced by 8 strong innings of 3 run baseball. He’s quietly pitched to a sub 1.00WHIP and sub 3.00ERA.
Eddie Rosario clobbered 3 home runs on Sunday en route to a 4 homer weekend.
Welcome back to the Show!
Trevor Cahill picked up right where he left off, tossing 8 shutout innings against the Rays in his return. However, when facing a (Kinda) non-Triple A team in the Royals, he surrendered 4 runs in 4.2 innings.
Alex Reyes threw the ball well in his return to the mound, however he promptly went back to the disabled list after the game and will reportedly miss a “significant” amount of time.
The same was true for Eric’s long-time ace, Clayton Kershaw, who will reportedly miss “at least a month” of action.
Dustin Pedroia was a popular waiver add in many leagues this week, including ours. He re-payed owners by promptly going 1-11 and then heading back to the DL.
In what seemed to be the trend of the week, Zach Davies returned (albeit last week) and headed right back to the DL (this week), but not before giving up 9ER’s in 9IP.
Dee Gordon was one of the few players not to return and head right back to the DL, however his impact on this week’s matchup was non-existent. He’ll look to get back to his usual self in the upcoming matchup.
While he technically returned at the end of week 8, Greg Bird, the league whore as he is affectionally referred to in groupme, returned and will attempt to stay healthy for a considerable amount of time before making an inevitable trip back to the DL at some point this season.
Rasial Iglesias returned to show the state of Ohio what a competent bullpen pitcher looks like this week, by picking up a 4 out save in his first appearance back.
Miguel Cabrera moved back into the middle of the Tigers order this week and will look to maintain his stellar .320BA throughout the rest of the season for Eric’s squad.
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