Our children will never believe it when we tell them, but there was a time when grabbing a rolled up collection of paper, rolling off a off-red rubber band, and unraveling a newspaper the size of a LED television was once a super exciting way to consume baseball statistics. Simple AL-NL standings, daily boxscores, and league leaders were our main resource to stay on top of the game and there wasn't a much better way to start a day by sifting through these black-and-white leaderboards while pilsbury toaster strudels toasted lightly in the background.
Of course we now can get whatever stat we want whenever we want, which in my opinion is a good and a bad thing. It's great to find the boxscore from Gehrig's 2,130th consecutive game in seconds on the internet but at the same time it feels like we have too much data available at the moment. 15 years ago it seemed common for all of us to know who was leading the league in most categories while also having a pretty good idea of where each team sat in the standings. Today, for some reason it seems harder to just sit down and absorb current baseball stats than it used to be. As soon as you look at your phone to see how many games back your team is for the second wild card, a text from your friend pops up, then a work email comes through from your boss, which needs to be answered yesterday, all while a podcast is playing in the background. We're in a place where we know a little bit about everything but we don't know everything about one topic at all. We read the headlines, get distracted, and move on. Same goes for baseball stats. We might know who is having a pretty good season from twitter stats or checking our fantasy stats but I would guess that none of us right now could name the leader in more than 3 offensive categories or really know how many games ahead or back your favorite team is in the division.
I realize that this is already testing your patience by typing not one, not two, but three paragrahs before we get to the data but all I'm asking from you is to pour a cup of coffee, ignore your co-workers for a few minutes, and read the Shocker Fantasy Leaders and Standings in peace like we used to. I'm sorry I haven't had a league rundown to offer up but I thought I'd offer up a triple-A replacement for now by updating everyone on what players, owners, and teams are thriving and stumbling so far this year. Hopefully I'll carve out some time for an old school recap soon and hopefully you all will have some free time to read this and some future Shocker Fantasy Baseball words throughout the year. I'll display the stat leaders in the categories that determine wins and losses in our league and then update everyone with our roto standings. Keep in mind that the stats are current from Wednesday night and the roto standings are from the end of last week and I'll do my best to offer up a little commentary as we scroll down the list of stats and standings.
Of course we now can get whatever stat we want whenever we want, which in my opinion is a good and a bad thing. It's great to find the boxscore from Gehrig's 2,130th consecutive game in seconds on the internet but at the same time it feels like we have too much data available at the moment. 15 years ago it seemed common for all of us to know who was leading the league in most categories while also having a pretty good idea of where each team sat in the standings. Today, for some reason it seems harder to just sit down and absorb current baseball stats than it used to be. As soon as you look at your phone to see how many games back your team is for the second wild card, a text from your friend pops up, then a work email comes through from your boss, which needs to be answered yesterday, all while a podcast is playing in the background. We're in a place where we know a little bit about everything but we don't know everything about one topic at all. We read the headlines, get distracted, and move on. Same goes for baseball stats. We might know who is having a pretty good season from twitter stats or checking our fantasy stats but I would guess that none of us right now could name the leader in more than 3 offensive categories or really know how many games ahead or back your favorite team is in the division.
I realize that this is already testing your patience by typing not one, not two, but three paragrahs before we get to the data but all I'm asking from you is to pour a cup of coffee, ignore your co-workers for a few minutes, and read the Shocker Fantasy Leaders and Standings in peace like we used to. I'm sorry I haven't had a league rundown to offer up but I thought I'd offer up a triple-A replacement for now by updating everyone on what players, owners, and teams are thriving and stumbling so far this year. Hopefully I'll carve out some time for an old school recap soon and hopefully you all will have some free time to read this and some future Shocker Fantasy Baseball words throughout the year. I'll display the stat leaders in the categories that determine wins and losses in our league and then update everyone with our roto standings. Keep in mind that the stats are current from Wednesday night and the roto standings are from the end of last week and I'll do my best to offer up a little commentary as we scroll down the list of stats and standings.
Not that anyone really cares, but I initially saved our league data on Monday morning and thought that would be good enough. Then Mookie Betts went all 2004 Barry Bonds on us and hit homers nearly every time he swung a bat. Betts is the most dynamic player in the league's best offense, which means Arch is going to see Mookie walk and jog his way home plenty this season.
Todd Frazier was pretty damn terrible to start the season and I'm pretty sure Peppel benched him more than a few times and Todd tried to figure out AL pitching. Frazier is in one of his patented grooves which means he's got that smooth uppercut swing working perfectly and is helping Peppel win a lot of offensive stats each week. Castillo, Cano, and Arenado all have latin last names that end in O and Castillo is jumping around his house all night saying "OOOHHHH Baaaabbyyyyyyy!!!" like the hype man from the And-1 tour when these bombers blast off early and often.
I want to hate David Ortiz, I really do, but I've given up on that and just respect that old Shrek looking man. He shouldn't be this good this late in his career but again he's been a huge draft day value and is again crushing baseballs like he has for the last 15 years. Big ups to Mike Trout for being on this list. It says something about the man for driving in 40 runs when you see the soggy bags of grass clippings that hit in front of him.
Trevor Story was a fun, uh, story to start the season but the pitchers have now adjusted, Trevor has not, and now he's gone from a legend to a liability for Jeff Petty. He's still a pretty good fantasy shortstop but seeing him atop this list might throw some cold water on the Trevor Story all star campaign.
Adrian Beltre is a national treasure and I love that he's still good at most everything and still goofy as shit. This is the easiest stat to overlook in fantasy baseball as we never track the least amount of K's but this also shows the hidden value of guys like V-Mart, Altuve, Arenado, and Murphy, who put of stellar offensive stats and keep the K's in check.
Nobody is stealing bases in the majors anymore so if you can find a stud, it's a commodity. This is another list that Altuve is on and we'll see where that places him on the top batters list later in this post.
Pretty crazy to see OPS's over 1.000 but there are still four batters topping that mark. The most surprising name is Jackie Bradley Jr. who was in the FA pool about a month ago and since turned into one of Castillo's most valuable players since he picked him up.
We move to the pitchers and you should be ready to see the name Kershaw a whole lot the rest of the way. He's in some sort of crazy groove right now and you can't find any holes in his game besides the straggly beard he displays from time to time.
J.A. Happ had a great close to 2015 but many were skeptical he could carry it over to 2016. Happ isn't blowing batters away but he is inducing a lot of soft contact, which is why he's able to leave the game with three or less earned runs allowed 10 times so far.
For all the great stats that the really smart people have come up with, there's still a major need to figure out why some pitchers get zero run support consistently. I can't figure out why Jose Quintana is always a bad luck loser but the way he's pitched this year, there's no reason why he should have 5 losses so far. It says something that Aaron Nola is on the QS and Losses leaderboard, which tells me two things. He's a legitimately good pitcher and the Phillies offense is atrocious.
All of these guys absolutely belong on this list, except maybe Hammel, who always seems to be sneaky good. These are all NL pitchers, which is further proof that facing a pitcher every nine batters really does help your fantasy stats.
I still have no idea who Will Harris or Ryan Butcher play for but they've been the best RP at suppressing earned runs. There's always a couple outstanding RP seasons that come out of nowhere and maybe Harris or Butcher will be that this season.
It's pretty hard to have a sub-1.00 WHIP as a starting pitcher so the fact that Kershaw is so far and away the leader on this board is yet another example of how great he's been at getting batters out and avoiding unforced errors on his part.
It's hard to argue that Kenley Jansen isn't the best closer in the game if he's healthy. Facing Kershaw and then Jansen in a game sounds terrifying.
The SVHD stat is important but is a little fluky which is why Jeanmar Gomez is atop this list. He's not supposed to be good and neither are the Phillies but somehow they've surprised everyone early in the season.
And here's the aggregation of all the stats we've seen above. Altuve and Betts are smaller than most of the owners in our fantasy league but they are the best at hitting baseballs and running the bases so far. Not too many surprises on this list otherwise.
And here's the guys that have been hurt and or awful this year. I still don't know why Russell Martin is on Arch's roster but he only has three homers and has barely been able to hit a ball on the barrel most of the year. Of course his three homers come in the same week he plays me, which is of course fitting for my season. Carlos Gomez has been passed around the league and will probably be dropped for the 100th time very soon. Upton, Fielder, Choo, and Brantley are probably too good to drop but they all are impossible to keep in the starting lineup right now. Good thing is they are all injury prone so far so they'll probably be on the DL anyways.
The pitchers list is about what you would expect with the exception of Nola. Kershaw is our highest rated player no matter of the position, which was very predictable.
This list is full of surprises as a lot of owners were counting on these guys to be their #1 or #2 starter this year. Some are showing signs of breaking out while the others might need a phantom DL stint to get right.
Let's now step back and see how our fantasy teams are faring against each other if this was a roto league.
Let's now step back and see how our fantasy teams are faring against each other if this was a roto league.
Everyone including Peppel thought he had a bad draft but we were all wrong in our beer fueled analysis after the draft. Once again the Perez's are dropping bombs in our league and surprisingly, Tim and Z. Skul don't have a boring as shit offense. Yes they aren't ranked high as usual but at least the potential for the power stats are apparent.
Below is the points earned for our rotisserie standings. Remember, more points is better, don't confuse them with rankings.
Below is the points earned for our rotisserie standings. Remember, more points is better, don't confuse them with rankings.
Pulling up the rear is the commish with a lineup that has been incredibly inept so far. They've actually been hitting much better as of late which tells you just how truly terrible they were in the first month of the season. Meyer's team is full of duck farters who are pretty good at not striking out and stealing bags but pretty much need to walk in order to get on base. Again, you wouldn't think a man that selected Dustin Ackley in the 11th round would then go on to compile our best hitting lineup in the league but there the Pep's sit, atop of our list.
If you're wondering why J. Petty, Matty, and Arch are high in our W-L standings, this should help explain it. They are all near the top in hitting and pitching, which means they all have balanced, deep, and successful talent on covering their rosters. Castillo's W-L record is pretty deceptive as he has some really great players and if he can find some support with his late round picks or FA pickups, he's due for a rise in the standings.
Zach has our strongest bullpen in terms of SVHD's in the league but for some reason, they aren't helping his mediocre ERA and WHIP numbers enough. Kevin and the Runge-Luciano faction are not particularly good at anything this season and their spots at the bottom of the standings look pretty justified based on the roto data. For all the good Pep has done with the sticks, he's been our worse pitching team. Fortunately for Pep, this is a correctable issue as if he just puts a little more effort in streaming SP's and finding solid RP's, his counting stats should eventually rise.
One of the byproducts of these roto stats are trades when owners realize their strengths and weaknesses so maybe this will spark a little trade talk between the GM's to see where categorical victories could be gained. Finally, lets look at the official roto standings and compare that to where we sit in the W-L standings.
One of the byproducts of these roto stats are trades when owners realize their strengths and weaknesses so maybe this will spark a little trade talk between the GM's to see where categorical victories could be gained. Finally, lets look at the official roto standings and compare that to where we sit in the W-L standings.
There he is, our Roto Mofo, Bryan Archuleta. He's always got a team that racks up the stats and this year is no different. Eevn though he's 4th in our W-L standings, don't be surprised if he's first by the time the all star break comes around. Matt and J. Petty are also major contenders for the regular season titles and should stay in this vicinity for most of the season. If you're looking for a fraud in the group, that man might be Zach Suer who is 3rd in our standings but is doing it with mediocre stats to back it up. Castillo should feel better about his situation after reading this because he's got the players to field a good team and should start winning some categories soon. Downs/Skul and the Perez's don't touch their rosters much and they are comfortably in the middle, waiting to see how this plays out.
Whether he's winning by the thinnest of margins, getting lucky, or playing crappy teams, I'm not sure. Peppel would obviously do himself some favors by reinforcing his shaky pitching staff and Jerome, Meyer, Runge, and K. Petty need to take some hail mary shots or hope half of their roster wakes the hell up and does it soon.
I hope you all enjoyed an old school look at the players and stats that have molded our league so far. Don't be surprised if you suddenly have the urge to put a two quarters in a newpaper machine at the gas station today to remember what it was like to get the basic stats from the players and teams in the league. Then again, I don't think they have newpaper machines anywhere anymore and the last time I used a quarter was for playing heads/tails at the Monte Carlo sportsbook for 45 minutes. One old school habit that we will never break is gathering around to make one dollar bets with a bud light tall boy in each hand. Give yourself a hand and crack open a cold one for making it through another Shocker stat-heavy recap.
Whether he's winning by the thinnest of margins, getting lucky, or playing crappy teams, I'm not sure. Peppel would obviously do himself some favors by reinforcing his shaky pitching staff and Jerome, Meyer, Runge, and K. Petty need to take some hail mary shots or hope half of their roster wakes the hell up and does it soon.
I hope you all enjoyed an old school look at the players and stats that have molded our league so far. Don't be surprised if you suddenly have the urge to put a two quarters in a newpaper machine at the gas station today to remember what it was like to get the basic stats from the players and teams in the league. Then again, I don't think they have newpaper machines anywhere anymore and the last time I used a quarter was for playing heads/tails at the Monte Carlo sportsbook for 45 minutes. One old school habit that we will never break is gathering around to make one dollar bets with a bud light tall boy in each hand. Give yourself a hand and crack open a cold one for making it through another Shocker stat-heavy recap.