Weekly Matchups - Week 4

Week 4's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – The slow starters continue to take their lumps as the early leaders start to stretch their legs

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" – Drew (9^th) vs James (6^th)

Drew enters week 4 still searching for his first win. It would have been tough to hang with Kurt's offensive last week anyway, but yikes, Drew. In what had to have been an historically bad week offensively, Drew hit just .206 with 4 homers, 13 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. He had 6 players hit .200 or worse, and a handful of others in the low-.200's. On the season, he is last in SB and RBI, and tied for last in runs. Luckily the pitching stepped up, posting 77 K's and a sub-1 WHIP. His season ERA stands at 4.06; we knew the team would again be built on pitching, but he really needs to dominate to have a shot at the playoffs. He goes up against last weeks Biggest Loser, Mr. Maimonis, who is also looking for his first win on the young season. Mams actually suffered his first and only loss thus far last week, 7-3 against Colin who now sits in second place. James was able to take two offensive categories, thanks in part to Troy Tulowitzki's 5/3/6/0/.222 line. His pitching was ugly, showing only 3 wins and a bloated 5.77/1.43 ERA and WHIP. Shout out to Bud Norris and his 81.00 ERA. I'm expecting James to take most if not all of the offensive categories, but Drew to do the same on the pitching end. We could be looking at yet another win-less week for both of these guys.

(season series 0-0)

Dell's® "Dull Duel” - Richie (10^th) vs Ben (3^rd)

Richie struggled again at the plate, putting up single digit home runs for the fourth consecutive week and falling to Alex 6-3. He lost all 5 offensive categories, and on the season is now last or second to last in 4 of 5 offensive categories. Adam Dunn was especially putrid, hitting .048 (but he did go deep). Mike Napoli was one of the few bright spots, hitting .345 and driving in 10 RBI and his staff was excellent, posting a 1.78 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. It doesn't get any easier this week as he takes on Ben, who disposed of Jarrett 6-3 last week. A resurgent Jacoby Ellsbury delivered 8 runs, 3 SB's, and a .355 BA to help take 3 offensive categories. On the bump, Max Scherzer and the Holland brothers (Derek and Greg) (kind of sounds like a band name...Max and the Hollands? Something like that) combined for 2 wins, 3 saves, 26 K's, and ERA's and WHIP's of under 1. Ben is off to a hot start offensively, second place in HR's and SB's, tied for first in RBI's. Richie remains confident that his bats will wake up, but Ben has to be considered the heavy favorite here.

(season series 0-0)

The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's – Colin (2^nd) vs Jarrett (8^th)

Colin is coming off of the most dominant performance last week, beating James 7-3 and jumping up to second in the process. He's now 14-4 over the last fortnight and could be starting a nice little run. Mike Trout is starting to mash again, posting a 4/1/9/2/.391 line last week. His pitching stats were ugly, getting just 4 wins and throwing up 4.25/1.26 ratios but it was enough to beat James who had an even worse week in those areas. Colin's offense has not been good this year - he's last in homers and RBI - but he leads the league in Wins and K's thanks to Yu Darvish and Paul Maholm who are two of the top four pitchers thus far, ranked 8th and 12th respectively. Let's shift the focus to Jarrett, who is yet another team searching for the first win of the year. Jarrett is 0-2-1 but has not given up more than 6 categories in any week. He suffered his worst loss of the year last week, a 6-3 edging at the hands of young Benjamin. Jarrett was able to hang on to homers 9-8, but could only manage 25 runs, 3 stolen bases, and a .242 team average. His Staaf was average to below average, posting a 1-3-1 record in the pitching categories (1-2-1 discounting saves with his no-closer strategy). He'll have his hands full this week.

(season series 0-0)

The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" – Alex (7^th) vs Adrian (4^th)

Alex was the only one who currently sits in the bottom half of the league that managed a win last week, beating Richie 6-3 behind a solid offensive week from his peeps (he won all 5 categories). It was a nice bounce back week from his 10-0 shutout loss last week to Ben. Anthony Rizzo had a very nice 4/3/5/0/.316 to pace the squad. He was able to hold off the opposition and take tightly contested categories in runs and RBI's. On the mound, he posted 81 K's which I think was the high number for the week. A late save on Sunday game him the tie in saves and expanded his margin of victory. He's looking for his first winning streak of the season but he'll have to beat the current fourth-place man to do so. Adrian has yet to lose a week this year, winning or tying tight match ups each week thus far. Last week he went up against TJ and battled the first place team to a tie, 5-5. The speed was on display as he had 4 guys with 3+ SB's which (I would assume) netted him a few extra runs (he ended up winning that category by 4). He pitched decently well but was no match for TJ's dominant week, dropping 4 of the 5 categories. I expect this to be a tightly contested battle as Adrian is playing well and Alex is better than his record (he can thank Ben for that!)

(season series 0-0)

Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" – TJ (1^st) vs Kurt (5^th)

TJ kept his 2013 unbeaten streak alive last week, tying Adrian 5-5. It was the only tie from last week. Pretty crappy overall team output offensively, putting up just 24 RBI, 2 SB, and a .241 team average. On the other side of the ball, it was another good week for his staff, posting a 1.88 ERA and 0.96 WHIP, though he only got 2 wins to show for it. TJ got a nice week from Homer Bailey who went for 0/18/1.29/0.86. He'll try to keep the train rolling this week against the Commish, who got back to his winning ways last week. He rode a 4 HR week from Longoria and a .321 team average to a 6-3 victory over Drew, taking all 5 offensive categories in the process and narrowly missing some pitching categories as well. At this point, Kurt boasts the most productive outfield in the league with Carlos Gonzalez (2nd), Bryce Harper (6th), and Shin-Soo Choo Choo Train (14th) all crushing it. This should be a great match-up as both these teams are playing great.

(season series 0-0)

Week 2 Power Rankings

A lot of moving around this week, as to be expected this early. Here's how everyone stands after two weeks:

1. TJ - 76.  (+3)
2. Ben - 64.5   (+22.5)
3. Jarrett - 63.5 (-1.5)
4. Alex - 59. (-18.5)
5. Colin - 56.  (+16.5)
6. Adrian - 55.  (+1.5)
7.  Kurt - 51.  (+3)
8.  James - 46.   (-7)
9.  Drew - 39.5.  (-11)
10. Richie - 39.5. (-8.5)

Notes:
-Ben needed just one week to go from (second to) last to (second to) first.
-Drew hilariously has the worst ERA and WHIP in the league. That probably won't last but it can't be pointed out enough.
-Justin Upton, errr.. I mean, TJ's team is looking very strong offensively. His all closer strategy looks good so far, but the inevitable mass spot-starts should level out the pitching numbers. That said, looks like the all around best team going forward.
-Colin's team gets out of last place, but the panic trade of Trout and Cabrera should catapult him to the top spot. He is currently fielding offers for the two packaged in exchange for a good-but-not-great MI.

Weekly Matchups - Week 3

Hey boys, I was gonna get this up yesterday but got distracted...hope everyone, and everyone you know, is alright.

Week 3's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – Blowouts abound with the league's first shutout of the year and two other teams putting up only one win.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" – Alex (10^th) vs Richie (9^th)

Yikes, what a start. These two schmucks accounted for the two biggest blowouts last week and are bringing up the rear to start the season. Richie fell last week to TJ, 1-8-1 behind another poor offensive week. He only managed 6 homeruns, 1 stolen base, and a .231 average despite Prince Fielders big week (2 HR, 11 RBI, .632 Avg). His pitching was equally inept, posting 4 wins, a 4.73 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Richie was able to throw up 10 saves but still lost the category to TJ's 12! (record check?) He's suffering from slow starts from everyone but Fielder, who is the only drafted offensive player on his roster to crack the top 122. And now we shift to the ever humble Alex Gentilli, who posted this smack talk in his match up with Ben:

April 8, 10:18pm: Before this matchup is over, my teams dick will penetrate your teams ass

Nailed it.

Ben turned the tables on Nostradamus in a big way, posting the first shutout win of the season. Alex only had one .300 hitter (Wilin Rosario) and no multi-HR guys. He posted a .213 team average. His pitching was even worse, with 2 wins, 3 saves, and a whopping 5.91/1.53 ERA and WHIP. A 10-0 loss, especially this early in the season, will obviously skew the numbers wildly (He was ranked #1 in the Power Rankings following week 1, so these numbers early on have to be taken with a grain of salt.) I don't expect Alex to spend too much time in the basement.

(season series 0-0)

Dell's® "Dull Duel" – Kurt (8^th) vs Drew (7^th)

Drew was a hard luck loser last week, getting edged out in a number of categories en route to a 2-6 loss. He came up short by 4 runs, 3 RBI's and 2 SB's. But Drew's team is built on pitching and those arms did not show up last week. He was able to win K's but put up only 2 wins, 4 saves, and very pedestrian ERA/WHIP numbers. He looks to rebound this week against Kurt, who was another victim of the head-to-head scoring process. I counted 6 categories that could have gone either way, and Kurt went 1-4-1 in those areas. But, horseshoes and hand grenades my friends. He got good production across the board but it wasn't enough to prevent a 7-1 loss against Colin. Interesting that neither of these guys tried to pick up a cheap closer to steal the saves category as they both settled for the 0-0 tie.

(season series 0-0)

The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's – Ben (2^nd) vs Jarrett (6^th)

What a difference a week makes. Ben faltered in week 1, losing 7-2-1 to TJ and had the dubious honor of the first team to be in last place. But now, after a dominating 10-0 victory over Alex he finds himself launched into second place! Robbie Cano blasted 3 taters and delivered as many hits as outs (.500 avg) during the week. On the pitching side, Ben got double digit strikeouts from 5 starters, and posted a team 2.23 ERA and microscopic 0.97 WHIP. He'll look to keep it rolling this week against Jarrett, who finds himself in the middle of the pack thus far. Last week Jarrett tied James 5-5. Jarrett was able to hold on to some tight offensive categories thanks to level contributions from his entire roster, but lost three categories due to some tricky managing from James. About that....

(season series 0-0)

The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" – James (5^th) vs Colin (3^rd)

As I was looking at last week's results, I finally get to James-Jarrett and see that James puts up a 0.68 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Um...what? Then it starts to sink in...2 wins, 10 k's, 1 save...Mams is a tricky bitch. With Jarrett's all-starter pitching staff, Mams got his one save with Tom Wilhelmsen, hit the innings limit with Alexi Ogando and Clay Buchholz, and then benched all his guys for the rest of the week. With his ERA, WHIP, and saves locked up, he let K's and W's go (he didn't have a shot anyway) and tried to grab as many offensive categories as he could. He ended up only winning 2 offensive categories so it didn't totally work, but I'm kind of interested in what the league thinks about this move – I think I remember my brother's fantasy football league running into this and there was some grumbling. For the record, I have no issues with this and think it's actually pretty smart – if you think it gives you the best chance to win, why wouldn't you do it? Anyway, James tied Jarrett 5-5 and now has to face Colin, who had a great week last week against Kurt and won 7-1. The win jumps him up to the top 3 in the early season. Paul Konerko, Miguel Cabrera, and Hunter Pence all had good weeks offensively and Paul Maholm posted two good starts to pace the staff.

(season series 0-0)

Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" – TJ (1^st) vs Adrian (4^th)

Adrian put up a very average effort last week but still managed to beat Drew 6-2. He rode big weeks from Brandon Phillips (4/3/9/.318), Austin Jackson (10/1/5/.394), and Torii Hunter (7/1/6/.423). He's one of two teams to go 2-0 on the year thus far. The other? That would be his opponent and leader of the pack, Mr. TJ Geers. I fear I have unleashed a monster on the league with my last-place prediction a couple weeks ago. Two big wins have him comfortably pacing the DD thus far. Richie was the latest victim, falling 8-1-1. Justin Upton hits a homer every time I turn on Sportscenter and is 2^nd ranked in Yahoo! TJ also has the number one ranked player in Matt Harvey, who's now 3-0 with a sub-1 ERA. He's carrying 4 closers and spot starting to make up for the K's and W's. He's getting great production right now and there doesn't seem to be any reason why it won't continue.

(season series 0-0)

Week 1 Power Rankings

1. Alex (77.5)
2. TJ (73)
3. Jarrett (65)
4. Adrian (53.5)
5. James (53)
6. Drew (50.5)
7. Kurt (48)
7. Richie (48)
9. Ben (42)
10. Colin (39.5)

Weekly Matchups - Week 2

Week 2's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – After a long, snowy winter the first week is in the books.  Tightly contested battles all around (only one team with 7 wins!) as no one wanted to start off on the wrong foot.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" - James (T-4th) vs Jarrett (9th)

It's early in the season and none of these games really count as snoozers but we can't afford to pass up the sponsor funding.  Last week, Mams battled the 2 time defending champ to a tie behind great performances from Michael Morse (5 HR's) and Troy Tulowitzki (.421 avg).  It's doubtful Morse will be able to repeat his big week so he'll need someone else to step up to Jarrett's potent outfield.   Jarrett had a tough offensive week last week, losing all 5 categories to Alex (and none were all that close).  He did however get the all-pitching-category-no-closer-shutout which netted him 4 wins.  Kershaw and Bumgarner were magnificient, posting 3 wins and a 0.00 ERA.  His team ERA was a paltry 1.30 and his WHIP was under 1.  

(season series 0-0)

Dell's® "Dull Duel" - Drew (T-4th) vs Adrian (3rd)

This is one of two matchups that features two .500-or-better squads.  Adrian took care of business last week against Colin, beating him 5-4 behind Todd Frazier (3/9/.480) and first overall pick Cliff Lee (W, 8 K's, 0.00 ERA).  Fun fact - my girlfriend's mom's coworker is Todd Frazier's aunt!  Drew went up against Richie last week and tied him 5-5 thanks to 7 HR's and 16 RBI's on Sunday.  Leading the charge was Will Middlebrooks (3 bombs on Sunday, 4 on the week) who has quickly become this writers' least-favorite-yet-still-favorite Red Sox prospect.  Surprisingly, Drew's staff got knocked around this week to the tune of a 4.82 ERA and 1.52 WHIP, but the strikeouts were still there (94).

(season series 0-0)

The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's - Ben (10th) vs Alex (2nd)

Alex was one of the few teams last week to post a win as he took out Jarrett 6-4 and taking all 5 batting categories.  The unlikely hero was Jed Lowrie, who teed off for 3 dingers and a .500 average.  He got expected production from his staff but Jarrett was too much to handle on the pitching end.  Gentilli will be squaring off again Ben, who could not keep up with TJ's strong offensive week despite Chris Davis's monster week (4/17/.455).  Dexter Fowler also had 4 home runs.  Ben's staff had some issues, with 3 players posting double-digit ERA's.  Ben certainly doesn't want to fall behind in the standings early but he's got a tough matchup this week as Alex is my early pick to hoist the trophy in September.

(season series 0-0)

The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up" - Richie (T-4th) vs TJ (1st)

TJ boasts the number one offense coming out of week one.  Justin Upton lead the way with 5 homers and 7 runs scored, but he got at least one round-tripper out of every one in his lineup except Jay Bruce and Ryan Howard (go figure).  Overall, his pitching wasn't record breaking (3 wins and 49 K's) but his ratio's were excellent (1.66 ERA and 0.85 WHIP).  He draws Richie this week, who is one of the four teams with a 5-5 mark.  Travers's squad struggled at the dish, hitting just .217 with 7 homers.  His pitching was slightly better, posting a mid 3 ERA and a WHIP just over 1.  If TJ puts up another week like last week, this matchup could be over by Friday.

(season series 0-0)

Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" - Kurt (T-4th) vs Colin (8th)

The back-to-back champion is once again in the spotlight as he takes on Colin's loaded squad.  Kurt squared off against James last week and played him to a 5-5 tie despite 8 home runs from his outfielders and 22 strikeouts from Jeff Samardzija.  Colin struggled against Adrian last week, dropping the matchup 4-5-1.  Mr. Lancey had the worst offensive week in the league, getting up on 5 homers, 18 RBI's, and a .199 team average.  Is it time to panic-trade Trout and Cabrera to Richie for Emilio Bonifacio? Yes, yes it is Colin.  Chris Davis almost did that by himself! 2 wins, 20 K's, and a near-perfect game from Yu Darvish helped to snag some of the pitching categories and even out the score.  Trade me Trout and Cabrera for Emilio Bonifacio.

(season series 0-0)

Pre-Season Power Rankings

The Diamond Dynasty Writer's Association of America (DDWAA) have pooled together their thoughts in order to provide you all with the Pre-season Ranking of Power Based on the Projections of the People Drafting With You.  The findings were as follows:

1. Colin-  Really solid offense led by Cabrera and Trout, the top two players according to every ranking everywhere. Seven players hit .290 or better in 2012. Above average speed and Trout could go for 60+. Nice top three with Hamels, Darvish, and Medlen, good mid-level guys in Wilson and Lohse, and contributing players on the back end. If Medlen takes the leap everyone is projecting and Hyun-Jin Ryu does well this could be an excellent staff.  Colin is one of three teams with no closers, and drafted/kept player well enough to take the spot start over...

2. Kurt- The two-time defending champion.  Offense is strong once again. "Tough to see Posey duplicating that monster year" says one bitter writer. Getting Votto and Longoria for a full year is a trade off anyone would take. The rest of the infield on the whole is good. The outfield could feature three 20/20 guys in CarGo, Choo, and Harper. No true number 1 pitching options but still a deep staff filled with 2's and 3's where everyone will need to contribute. If Alex Cobb and A.J. Griffin make a leap, this pitching staff can be very solid but never elite.  Most of the pitcher's on his roster will probably be spot started by mid-April, rendering this analysis relatively useless.

3. Power across the board including some elite options mixed in, with six players hitting 28 or more HR's in 2012. Only one elite speed option in Desmond Jennings. Couple of red flag players with Jeter, Hart (regression) and Utley/Ortiz/Granderson (injuries and old age).  Alex is giving a lot of his past players second chances, which isn't necessarily a bad idea.  His team last year was the second consecutive contender to fall to the power of Evan Longoria's Last Day Dick Swings.  Alex could be set with keepers for a long, long, loooooong time with McCutchen, Stanton, and Rizzo. Another solid 1-2 punch with Sale and Greinke (seems like a trend in the league) and he backs that up with Matt Moore, James Shields, and (gulp) Josh Johnson, who has been tearing up spring training. 4 closers will have him competing for saves week in and week out. If Julio Teheran can break out this year. "I can definitely see this team making a deep playoff run." Says one contributor. 
"This team will lose to me again" Says the other contributor.

4. Jarrett – Extremely thin on infield power but will burn up the basepaths with double digit SB's at almost every position, infield and outfield (and just for good measure, has Billy Hamilton stashed on the bench). Same exact outfield as last year, and for good reason (Braun, Hamilton, Cespedes, even Milky is back!) If things break right, which seems very likely, he might have the best staff in the league. Kershaw, Bumgarner, and Latos will be great. "Fucking asshole who I needed last year Lester is a prime bounce back candidate." - says one of our experts. 
According to one expert: "I fucked over Richie with Lester, then I fucked over Jarrett with Lincecum. Now Jarrett has both and I hope they're good, just to piss off Richie"  
Brett Anderson and Shelby Miller are good mid-tier options. And if Lincecum could ever figure it out, yikes. But he has Lackey so he automatically has the worst staff in the league. No closers.
 

5. Ben – Might have the best infield in the league, power and speed well represented. Outfield might be a little suspect but if Ellsbury can return to top-10 form, watch out. Matt Cain leads a pitching staff that has potential but definitely has some question marks. Wainwright and Scherzer (2 and 3 for Ben) were much improved after the all-star break last year but will they start slow again? Might be hard for Kuroda to duplicate last year's numbers with an improved AL East. Beckett might be the wild card, had a good early spring.  "Ben's team is pretty uninteresting.  It will be good, not great, and make the playoffs probably" -ESPN's Matthew Berry.

"Matthew Berry sucks.  I think Ben's team is interesting." -Kurt

 

6. Richie – Richie comes in on the list pretty low because he put Kurt at #3 in his power rankings.  Two time defending champ listed third in the preseason rankings?!  Anyways...

Could get 20+ HR's from every position – including the CI/MI/UTIL spots (once Hanley gets back) and should be at least competitive with SB's. Might lose AVG every week this season. "Pitching staff is extremely top-heavy with Felix and Strasburg, huge drop off after that. Relying on bizarro Roy Halladay, Tommy Hansen, and James McDonald hasn't won anyone a championship." says one contributor, which basically translates to "He has two good pitchers" Lots of saves opportunities.

7. Drew – Kid has the same team every year. Infield definitely has some potential but overall, too many question marks to give good grades here. He'll need big years from Middlebrooks, Asdrubal Cabrera, Eric Hosmer and Jurickson Profar, who's starting the year in AAA. The outfield is a little bit better but this will ultimately be one of the weakest hitting teams in the league. Pitching is once again the backbone with Verlander, CC, and David Price. Gallardo is a 4th option despite being a 2nd option on pretty much everyone else's roster. Back end of the staff is not ideal (Hughes, Dempster, Burnett, Kennedy) but there's enough there to all but guarantee the best pitching staff in the DD this year. Mixes in 3 to 4 closers depending on the decision with Chapman.

8. James – One of the few team that can call the MI positions a strength (Tulo, Reyes, Kipnis) but overall, below average team speed. Should get close to 30+ HR's from Trumbo, Holliday, and Alvarez, and might get a couple others to chip in with low 20's. If Adam Jones comes crashing back down to earth this is an average offense at best.. One anonymous writer said "Pitching staff features three 20 game winners from 2012 in Gio, Weaver, and Dickey, but I have to be honest – I think Dickey's going to have issues in the American League."  Vogelson and Ogando are good depth pieces. Only two closers with limited save opportunities, they won't be too much help.  However, with only 7 teams having closers, the two will get him a victory every third week. Lastly, a scout for the Cleveland Indians says "James has two many Mariners.  The only way you can win with four members of your favorite team is if your favorite team is Kurt's team from last year." 

 

9. TJ-  A few elite power hitters (Bruce, Pujols, Bautista) but it's mediocre after that. Might be tough to carry the HR/RBI categories. Average to below average speed. He'll need a resurgent year from Ryan Howard and career years from Justin Upton and Freddie Freeman to compete consistently on offense. To be honest, I don't really know the people on his pitching staff very well. No true ace of the staff (top 2012 win totals are 13, 13, 11, 10) and no one with more than 168 K's. If Craig Kimbrel can throw 300 innings, TJ should be fine.

10. Adrian – Healthier, slower Kemp leads the way with newly acquired Beltre, but this team won't lead the league in homers. Headley is missing at least the first month of the season and is due to regress on top of that. Needs breakout seasons from Wieters, Ike Davis, and Yasiel Puig to really be a threat on offense. Solid 1-2 punch with Cueto and Lee, but is only average after that. 3 very good to excellent closers should net him a good 5-10 saves a week.  When asked why he ranked Adrian so low, one contributor said "My iPad was running out of battery and I just threw the last part together."  Sorry Adrian.

Weekly Matchups are back!

Week 1's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Last week – Richie hits 5 home runs in beer baseball in one of the most impressive showings of all time and is truly a legend, Alex laments drafting Josh Johnson, and Jarrett's beard wins the draft.

Sleepy's® "Snoozer of the Week" - Richie vs Drew

Drew goes pitching heavy again in 2013 as Richie starts another season without a ring.

(season series 0-0)

Dell's® "Dull Duel of the Week" - Colin vs Adrian

A jaded Colin who narrowly missed out on a spot in the 2012 finals features two of the best keepers in the game against Adrian who is happy to put last season behind him.

(season series 0-0)

The Average Match of the Week presented by Not Your Average Joe's - Alex vs Jarrett

Alex starts the long road to get back to the finals after falling short to Kurt in 2012. Jarrett prays Ryan Braun doesn't get suspended.

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The Post-It® "Noteworthy Match-up of the Week" - Ben vs TJ

In a rematch of the 2012 5^th place game, Ben squares off against TJ who predictably showed everyone his penis at the draft.

(season series 0-0)

Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches® "Match-Up of the Week" - Kurt vs James 

James squares off against the two-time defending champion and commissioner extraordinaire Kurt in the Sunday Night Baseball match-up of the week.

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