Week 22's installment of the
DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The
Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)
Last week –Ben solidifies his hold
on the regular season title, Adrian wins again to put himself on the
brink of the playoffs,and Richie and Drew fight for first pick. Alex
and TJ officially qualify for the playoffs, and heading into the last
week of the regular season we have 4 teams (separated by just 5
games) battle for the final two playoff spots in a fantastic race to
the finish.
Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the
Week" – Richie (10th)
vs Ben (1st)
It can't get more lopsided than this as
last battles first in a mostly meaningless match-up. Barring a 10-0
loss, Ben will grab the regular season title and one of two coveted
bye weeks. As everyone knows, anything can happen in head to head,
so the less exposure in the playoffs the better. Ben was only one of
two top-5 teams to win last week which gave him some breathing room
on the bye. This does have some implications for the 2014 draft as
Richie has a half game lead over Drew for last god damn place. After
winning most of the week against Alex, Travers fell back to a 5-5 tie
– not the worst outcome for a no lottery league.
(season series Ben 11-5)
Dell's® "Dull Duel"
–James (2nd)
vs Drew (9th)
Slightly less lopsided, James takes on
Drew in another probable bloodbath. James has less of a hold on the
second bye, with just a 3.5 game lead over Alex and a 5 game lead
over TJ. A 6-4 win should guarantee an off week next week for
Maimonis. Drew, like Richie, has a good shot at first pick next year
as he is totally over matched in this one. He managed a 6-3 win over
Kurt, hurting his chances for that first pick next year but keeping
the integrity of the 2013 season in check (though he did much to ruin
that integrity for basically the entire first half of the year).
It's another match up that effects two races at once.
(season series James 14-4)
The Average Match of the Week
presented by Not Your Average Joe's – Alex
(3rd)
vs Adrian (7th)
Shifting the focus completely to the
2013 finale, the last three match ups this week will go a long way in
shaping the playoff picture. The first look is at Alex and Adrian,
two teams that have come on very strong in the past month and are
fighting for spots that seemed an impossibility just a month ago.
Most impressive (for me) is Adrian's rise to the playoff discussion
after dropping out of the top 6 over two months ago. He's 16-4 in
the last fortnight and now sits just two games out of the playoffs!
I all but wrote him off a few weeks ago after a 9-1 loss to Colin in
week 19, but he has come storming back. He'll have a tough go of it
this week though, as his opponent is proving to be one of the best
teams in the league. Alex hasn't lost in 7 weeks, posting a 4-0-3
record over that span (albeit with a Kurt-like dominance). In his
last lap through the league he's 5-1-3. The good play puts him 3.5
games behind James for the second bye but with Adrian playing so well
(and James playing Drew) it's hard to imagine Alex being able to
leapfrog James for second place. Adrian only needs Kurt or Colin to
slip up to open the door for an improbable backdoor playoff spot,
though that season series record against Alex does not bode well for
the Marathon Man.
(season series Alex 16-2)
The Post-It® "Noteworthy
Match-up" – Kurt (5th)
vs TJ (4th)
TJ can't finish worse than 4th,
and might slide up to 3rd with a good week. Either way,
he's probably the most boring team this week (sorry bro). Kurt's
season has been one of the strangest in recent memory. After getting
burned by some seemingly bad luck early on, he ripped off a 10-week
unbeaten streak and looked like one of the better teams in the
league. Since then, he's just 2-5 with losses to Richie AND Drew
(last week). Looking back on the aforementioned streak, he never
posted more than 6 wins – in fact, he's only won 7 or more once all
season. He still remains a threat with his consistent ability to
take 6 categories, but his recent struggles have put his playoff spot
in jeopardy.
(season series TJ 10-9)
Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches®
"Match-Up of the Week" – Colin
(6th)
vs Jarrett (8th)
I didn't expect Adrian to push his way
into the discussion and he might steal the spotlight here but this is
the marquee match up of the week, and probably the season. With
everything on the line in week 22, Colin and Jarrett square off in a
win-or-go-home (sort of ) battle. Jarrett has gone win-loss-win-loss
for 8 weeks in a row now...but he's due for a win after a loss last
week! And after two huge wins over Richie and Adrian, Colin has
dropped two in a row but retained the 6th spot. Jarrett
starts this match up 2 games back and is the only non-playoff team
that controls his own destiny (what more could you ask for, Jarrett!)
And look at the previous two meetings between these two; a 9-0 win
by Jarrett in week 4 and an 8-2 win by Colin in week 13. Apparently
it's go big or go home with these two, which is exactly how it should
be. Another great finish to another solid Diamond Dynasty regular
season awaits! Playoff breakdown next week!
(season series Jarrett 11-8)
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