Diamond Dynasty: The month that was…
MAY
News
With a third of the season in the books, we had enough of a
sample size to get a feel on the new roster regulations. While there are some lingering issues on the
table, the adjustments have seemed to go off without a hitch. Also, Kurt really hates closers.
May also saw the first trade of the season as Richie shipped off then-Mets-closer du-jour Kyle Farnsworth to James for his 2015 22nd round pick. A week later, Farnsworth was cut from the roster. For James, it looked like just another sign that his 2014 campaign may be doomed. Richie was able to nab a pick while clearing space for Doug Fister, who was coming off the DL. Click here for more in-depth analysis on the trade.
Finally, the DD has started the ball rolling on a baseball trip later in the summer. Potential targets are Baltimore, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and either of the New York teams. Richie is happy to host any and all who wish to attend. Richie’s girlfriend is probably less happy, but still willing, to host any and all who wish to attend.
Standings
Analysis
As expected, there was more consistency to the standings in
the second month of the season. Richie’s
had pole position for 4 of the last 5 weeks (woo hoo!) thanks to a 7 week winning
streak. Richie, Alex, Ben, and Colin
have musical-chaired the top four spots since week 4 and have a comfortable 7-game
lead on the next tier of competitors.
James, TJ, and Adrian have been fighting over the middle positions
nearly all season and May was no different as the 3 men of questionable
sexuality are separated by only 1.5 games.
Jarrett and (am I really typing this?) Kurt sit 3 games behind them and
are in 8th and 9th respectively, and Drew occupies 10th
for the second week in a row.
Shutout Watch
In week 5, Ben narrowly missed cashing in against Drew in a
9-1 drubbing, but fell short by 10 strikeouts.
It was the second time this season Ben posted a 9-1 score (the first was
in week 2), and the second week in a row that Drew was almost shut out (1-17-2
record in weeks 4 & 5). We also had
a really funky 4-2 game between Adrian (winner) and Colin. I’m assuming that ties/sets a record for ties
in a week?
Week 6 had one kind-of-sort-of-close shutout bid and one genuinely close shutout bid. Richie beat Ben 7-3 (in a battle between 1st and 2nd) and most of the categories were close across the board. In the end, Richie fell short of the shutout by 2 saves, less than half a run in ERA, and .19 points in batting average. Not terribly close, but in the honorable mentions (though I suspect the writer of this article might be a bit biased). The Gilette ® close shave of the week came from Alex’s 9-1 beat down of TJ. Despite logging 96.2 innings, Alex could only muster 2 wins from his Staaf and lost the category 3-2.
In week 7, Richie posted a 9-1, wire to wire victory over Kurt. Richie trailed by just one stolen base entering Sunday, but could not close the deal and lost by 2. The 9 categories set a season-high for Richie, but the third time he’s lost 1 category or less in just 7 weeks. He’s totally peaking too early.
Week 8 had two close calls. The first Colin’s 7-3 win over Drew – Colin fell short by 3 runs, 6 RBI’s, and 2 SB. Alex went to work on Adrian and fell 2 RBI’s and 3 SB short of of the 10-0 victory. With no cashouts in April or May, the pool continues to grow and would reach triple digits by June.
Battle
for the Belt
It looks like all
James needed was something to play for!
After starting the year on a three-week losing streak, he had the Belt
going into May. He successfully defended
it in week 5 against TJ, but could not stave off defeat for long. Colin bettered him by .002 in average to take
the 6-4 victory and made DD history by being the first person to regain
possession of the WWE Belt after losing it earlier in the season. Colin had it for a whole 7 days before Alex
took it away with a 7-3 win. Alex
dominated Adrian last week and will hold the belt when the calendar turns to
June. He has James, Jarrett, Drew, and
Richie in the next 4 weeks. Belt owners
are now just 3-5 in belt defenses this season.
2 Team
Spotlight
This week: Don't Judge A Team By Their Draft Picks
TJ – The Tank…is Half-Full
TJ – The Tank…is Half-Full
TJ had lots of keeper decisions to make for 2014 following
his second-place finish last year, none more difficult than Matt Harvey. But TJ made the difficult decision and went
with the injured New York fireballer while passing on some 2014 standouts like
Josh Donaldson, Ian Kinsler, and Albert Pujols.
TJ then shocked the league by trading away his first and second round
picks to Drew, effectively raising the white flag on the season before first
pitch. But despite his attempts at
tanking, TJ has managed to field a competitive roster thus far. I denounced the trade when it happened and I’m
sticking to it. Imagine if he had those
first two rounds back? He’d probably be
challenging for a top-3 position. I
still think it’s silly to give up on an entire year and $200 just because one
keeper is out for the year, but obviously TJ has been able to make it
work.
With 5 of the top 21 home run hitters, TJ has built his team around the long ball. His 102 team HRs lead the league by a wide margin and is responsible for almost 15 % of the league’s dingers thus far. Unsurprisingly, he leads the league in RBIs too. The rest of the offense is downright ugly (last in runs and stolen bases, 9th in average) which puts him 6th overall in roto offensively. His keepers have been excellent – Freedie Freeman, Justin Upton, and Jose Bautista are all top-40 players. Michael Morse has been damn solid in the CI spot and Nelson Cruz – the 189th player taken in the draft – is leading the league in home runs. He’s had his share of injuries; Mark Trumbo, Jay Bruce, an Curtis Granderson have missed roughly 40% of the season.
The pitching staff is above average, 3rd in wins and 5th in ERA and K’s. His 6th place roto ranking is skewed due to his lack of closers and thus, lack of saves. Mark Buehrle, Lester, Jesse Chavez, Garrett Richards, Wily Peralta are all ranked in the top 100. Jon Lester and Michael Pineda could be keys to a second-half surge. And if Matt Harvey is allowed to make 4 or 5 starts as the end of the year as he hopes, it could be just enough to spark a run to the playoffs. On the whole, TJ’s team has its flaws but there should be enough in the tank to get to the playoffs.
Drew – What
Difference does a Year Make?
He’s in last place despite holding 5 of the first 21 draft
picks. He’s made one FA pick-up since
March 31st. He has the least
moves in the league. He left Wilin
Rosario in his starting lineup for his entire 15 day DL stint. He left two healthy contributors in DL spots -
Casey Janssen and RYAN BRAUN – for over a week.
He has Josh Johnson (Tommy John) occupying a DL spot. And forget about managing his starters (As I
type this, I’m watching Hyun-jin Ryu no-hit the Reds thruough7 and he’s on Drew’s
bench). Good job, good effort.
Roto
Power Rankings
Offense
1. Colin (40)
2. Alex (38)
3. Richie (35)
4. James (33)
5. Jarrett (30)
6. Drew (24)
6. TJ (24)
8. Ben (20)
9. Adrian (18)
10. Kurt (13)
Defense
1. Richie (49)
2. Alex (41)
3. Ben (36)
4. Colin (32)
5. Drew (27)
6. TJ (24)
7. Adrian (19)
8. Kurt (18)
9. James (15)
10. Jarrett (14)
Overall
1. Richie (84)
2. Alex (79)
3. Colin (72)
4. Ben (56)
5. Drew (51)
6. TJ (48)
6. James (48)
8. Jarrett (44)
9. Adrian (37)
10. Kurt (31)
May’s
All-Stars (as of Monday 5/26)
C – Y. Gomes (FA)
1B – E. Encarnacion (Ben)
2B – J. Altuve (Colin)
3B – M. Cabrera (Colin)
SS – T. Tulowitzki (James)
CI – V. Martinez (Alex)
MI – D. Gordon (James)
OF – Y. Puig (Alex)
OF – G. Stanton (Alex)
OF – B. Moss (Colin)
OF – N. Cruz (TJ)
UTIL – M. Brantley (Ben)
SP – A. Wainwright (Drew)
SP – D. Keuchel (Kurt)
SP – P. Hughes (TJ)
SP – J. Cueto (Adrian)
SP – R. Vogelsong (James)
RP – S. Romo (Richie)
RP – S. Cishek (Adrian)
P – J. Weaver (Kurt)
P – J. Teheran (Jarrett)
P – M. Tanaka (Richie)
