(5) Stroke My Shaft vs. (8) Ninja Blacksox
The playoff lights burn brighter in September than any other month of the fantasy season and sometimes that heat can cause mangers to sweat through their fitted caps like a hungover David Wells pitching a day game. Both Mike Castillo and Zach Suer were given a clear path to the finals and both found a way to make this path needlessly too treacherous on themselves. The end result was hectic and fantastic but all because the Sunday morning managerial decisions were questionable and regretful.
Thanks to the nonstop homerun hitting of CarGo, A-Rod, and Longo, Zach was able to establish a comfortable batting lead and basically turn all of his focus to pitching in order to get a couple of categorical wins and a trip to the finals. Castillo realized that his only hope would be on the mound and when he saw his team fall behind 4-7-1 on a Saturday, it sure looked like the book was about to close on this Cinderella story. Sunday morning found Suer ahead in the crucial K, QS, Losses, and SVHD stats and even though his lead was very small in all four categories, he had the clear upper hand. Suer could afford to lose the Loss category if he simply maintained his K and QS leads by sending out a bunch of pitchers and when Zach should’ve gone all-in, he instead checked the bet and exposed himself. Suer picked up Mike Leake and Mike Leake only, which meant he had one starting pitcher against Castillo’s four starters on Sunday, where lineups are depleted and the K's and QS's flow faster than any other day of the week. Zach’s lead in K’s was one and so was Zach’s QS and Loss lead, which makes me think Suer was more afraid of losing the Loss category than going for the K and QS win. This questionable decision was even more odd considering that QS was a critical tiebreaker for this matchup.
Castillo must’ve been surprised and stoked that Suer limped in on Sunday and when it was just as obvious that he needed to do whatever it took to rack up the counting stats for K's and QS's, Castillo went ahead and BENCHED A STARTING PITCHER FOR SOME STUPID REASON!?!?!?! The dueling managerial mistakes setup a memorable finish that was fitting for the choke jobs we saw from both managers. With Castillo predictably taking over the K and QS categories on Sunday afternoon, all he needed was Mike Fiers to get some run support, avoid a Loss, and advance. Instead, Fiers got zero run support and when the Astros came to hit in the top of the 9th against Huston Street, they needed to push across two runs to tie the game and allow Yo to pull off a late game upset. The Astros couldn’t hit a thing all day but were able to plate five runs thanks to a Huston Street implosion, which kept Castillo on 9 for the Loss category, which was enough to take the tiebreaker and advance.
I know both of these managers are solid fantasy managers who know how to run a ballclub but they both should’ve set aside all Sunday distractions, pulled out a TI-82, and simply done the math on what it took to advance. They both had fantasy football lineups to set and Suer was likely three beers deep in the Mile High parking lot when baseball started on Sunday so I think we can chalk this one up to either being too preoccupied, too mathematically challenged, or too chickenshit to realize that holding nothing back was the smart play. Both of these guys are fully capable but I can’t help but think of Jimmy Dugan’s managerial style that both of these employed on Sunday morning when they basically did everything they could to pass out and piss this one away.
The playoff lights burn brighter in September than any other month of the fantasy season and sometimes that heat can cause mangers to sweat through their fitted caps like a hungover David Wells pitching a day game. Both Mike Castillo and Zach Suer were given a clear path to the finals and both found a way to make this path needlessly too treacherous on themselves. The end result was hectic and fantastic but all because the Sunday morning managerial decisions were questionable and regretful.
Thanks to the nonstop homerun hitting of CarGo, A-Rod, and Longo, Zach was able to establish a comfortable batting lead and basically turn all of his focus to pitching in order to get a couple of categorical wins and a trip to the finals. Castillo realized that his only hope would be on the mound and when he saw his team fall behind 4-7-1 on a Saturday, it sure looked like the book was about to close on this Cinderella story. Sunday morning found Suer ahead in the crucial K, QS, Losses, and SVHD stats and even though his lead was very small in all four categories, he had the clear upper hand. Suer could afford to lose the Loss category if he simply maintained his K and QS leads by sending out a bunch of pitchers and when Zach should’ve gone all-in, he instead checked the bet and exposed himself. Suer picked up Mike Leake and Mike Leake only, which meant he had one starting pitcher against Castillo’s four starters on Sunday, where lineups are depleted and the K's and QS's flow faster than any other day of the week. Zach’s lead in K’s was one and so was Zach’s QS and Loss lead, which makes me think Suer was more afraid of losing the Loss category than going for the K and QS win. This questionable decision was even more odd considering that QS was a critical tiebreaker for this matchup.
Castillo must’ve been surprised and stoked that Suer limped in on Sunday and when it was just as obvious that he needed to do whatever it took to rack up the counting stats for K's and QS's, Castillo went ahead and BENCHED A STARTING PITCHER FOR SOME STUPID REASON!?!?!?! The dueling managerial mistakes setup a memorable finish that was fitting for the choke jobs we saw from both managers. With Castillo predictably taking over the K and QS categories on Sunday afternoon, all he needed was Mike Fiers to get some run support, avoid a Loss, and advance. Instead, Fiers got zero run support and when the Astros came to hit in the top of the 9th against Huston Street, they needed to push across two runs to tie the game and allow Yo to pull off a late game upset. The Astros couldn’t hit a thing all day but were able to plate five runs thanks to a Huston Street implosion, which kept Castillo on 9 for the Loss category, which was enough to take the tiebreaker and advance.
I know both of these managers are solid fantasy managers who know how to run a ballclub but they both should’ve set aside all Sunday distractions, pulled out a TI-82, and simply done the math on what it took to advance. They both had fantasy football lineups to set and Suer was likely three beers deep in the Mile High parking lot when baseball started on Sunday so I think we can chalk this one up to either being too preoccupied, too mathematically challenged, or too chickenshit to realize that holding nothing back was the smart play. Both of these guys are fully capable but I can’t help but think of Jimmy Dugan’s managerial style that both of these employed on Sunday morning when they basically did everything they could to pass out and piss this one away.
(2) Arvada Astros vs. (3) Harry Doyle
This matchup was also looking like a potential classic when it began but it too featured a managerial blunder than will not be looked upon kindly on Laser's fantasy manager resume. There was no question that Matt Suer's team was peaking at the right time and they were probably the slight favorite coming into this matchup but Lance's Astros were also a consistently strong team with the bats and arms, which meant Matty would need to stay hot in order to advance.
The carousel music continued to play for Harry Doyle's lineup as they again were running circles around the competition in round 2 with the bats. Yoenis Cespedes is helping make the Mets the most feared baseball team in New York and he's put the Mets and Harry Doyle on his back and carried them in September. Cespedes cranked 8 homers, 18 RBI, and a 1.308 OPS during this series and helped Matty nail down 5 out of the 6 batting categories. Laser needed to respond with the same dominating pitching he's enjoyed all year but his pitchers instead responded with a lot of early exits and ugly stats. Wacha, Harvey, Volquez, Perkins, and Street were flat out awful this round and the normally reliable pitching on this team went awry at the wrong time to the tune of a 5.11 ERA and 1.53 WHIP. With Lance being a parent of four kids, I have to imagine that he is constantly exhausted and Laser admittedly fell asleep at the wheel when he failed to start Strasburg, Lester, and Ubaldo on a day where they all dominated. It would've made things a little more interesting down the stretch but it surely wouldn't have changed the outcome of this matchup as Matty's team chugged along while Lance's team sputtered to a halt. A very good season will end with a sour taste for Laser who at least was able to shake off another bottom 3 finish but will still end up winning the same amount of money at the end of the season; zero dollars.
This matchup was also looking like a potential classic when it began but it too featured a managerial blunder than will not be looked upon kindly on Laser's fantasy manager resume. There was no question that Matt Suer's team was peaking at the right time and they were probably the slight favorite coming into this matchup but Lance's Astros were also a consistently strong team with the bats and arms, which meant Matty would need to stay hot in order to advance.
The carousel music continued to play for Harry Doyle's lineup as they again were running circles around the competition in round 2 with the bats. Yoenis Cespedes is helping make the Mets the most feared baseball team in New York and he's put the Mets and Harry Doyle on his back and carried them in September. Cespedes cranked 8 homers, 18 RBI, and a 1.308 OPS during this series and helped Matty nail down 5 out of the 6 batting categories. Laser needed to respond with the same dominating pitching he's enjoyed all year but his pitchers instead responded with a lot of early exits and ugly stats. Wacha, Harvey, Volquez, Perkins, and Street were flat out awful this round and the normally reliable pitching on this team went awry at the wrong time to the tune of a 5.11 ERA and 1.53 WHIP. With Lance being a parent of four kids, I have to imagine that he is constantly exhausted and Laser admittedly fell asleep at the wheel when he failed to start Strasburg, Lester, and Ubaldo on a day where they all dominated. It would've made things a little more interesting down the stretch but it surely wouldn't have changed the outcome of this matchup as Matty's team chugged along while Lance's team sputtered to a halt. A very good season will end with a sour taste for Laser who at least was able to shake off another bottom 3 finish but will still end up winning the same amount of money at the end of the season; zero dollars.
Shocker Series Preview
(3) Harry Doyle vs. (8) Ninja Blacksox
We've never seen a back-to-back champion in this league but baring some unforeseen cold streak from Harry Doyle, it sure looks like that team is destined to repeat. It certainly looks like Harry Doyle has the distinct advantage with the bats as I could easily see him take five out of six categories, much like he did in rounds one and two. To Castillo's credit, he's made a few moves to mix up his lineup but I think Harry Doyle will continue to take their Louisvlle Sluggers and beat in the skull of their opponent for the third week in a row. Castillo might be able to win the batting K's and stolen base categories but that's the best case scenario for a lineup that's been pretty bad all year and is clearly overmatched coming into the Shocker Series. Castillo only won a single batting category last round and was able to advance so it's possible that his starting pitchers will continue to do just enough to complete this incredible upset journey but it's a tall task for this 8 seed.
If Castillo is to defeat the second Suer in a row and win the championship, he absolutely has to have Tanaka, Price, and Richards continue to cross them out and put a K (Englewooooooood!!!) for him to throw up a W. Castillo is starting some guy named Logan Verrett to lead off this matchup so maybe he realizes he just needs to priortize quantity over quality and see where that takes him. The strikeout potential of this team is really good but it can be difficult to pick up a new starter every day in order to rack up the K's and QS's and also keep the Losses, ERA and WHIP low enough to win those battles. Castillo does have a dinstinctive advantage in the bullpen as his four horsemen are far less volatile than Harry Doyle's. The first week could really determine how Castillo wants to attack with the bats and if he can somehow keep it close in the hitting categories in the first week, it's going to setup a lot of intrigue for the second half of this series.
For Matty, he can pretty much sit back, see how the first 4-5 days go, and then react. He's got the better team, no question, but all it takes is a few closer meltdowns, an injury, or a cold streak for everything to go down the tubes. Outside of Lucroy's injury and Votto's potential suspension, this lineup is loaded and on fire, which means Matty will probably need to win three pitching categories at most in order to win it all. Strange roster moves happen in September where starts will be skipped out of nowhere, players will remain injured but off the DL, and studs will be rested so even though Matt's team is better on paper, we're getting to the point in the MLB season where MLB managers can bend over fantasy managers. Unless Don Mattingly loses his mind, Matty should get three starts from Clayton Kershaw and considering that Kershaw has a sub 1.00 ERA over his last 15 starts, three matchup starts is huge for M. Suer. One thing that could potentially sink this squad is the flammability of the bullpen, as Matty has witnessed on the first night already. Brad Boxburger has had more than a few meltdowns this season and he had an epic one Monday night to help get Matty off on the wrong foot. The other RP's don't exactly provide stability so if they too implode, it could run up Matty's Losses, ERA, and WHIP and could open the door for Castillo to pull off yet another upset.
Prediction: I would really like to go out on a limb and predict an upset but I think Matty's team is too strong. I think it'll be close most of the way but I also think Harry Doyle is playing too good of baseball right now and that will continue for the next couple of weeks. In the end, Castillo keeps it close but Matty pulls away late to overtake Yo and win 7-5-0. I purchased a championship trophy that I intended to give to Matty about 5 months ago but the move to a new house and inability to customize this trophy has delayed the trophy handoff. I believe this trophy will still end up in Matt's hands when it's all over and I'll hopefully have this trophy available and ready shorty after whoever earns it.
This will be a stressful two weeks for Matt and Castillo who are undoubtedly excited and nervous for what is to come. These two are on their feet, ready to cheer, while the rest of our league is reacting to this enthusiasm much like this anti-wave fan is to the crowd.
We've never seen a back-to-back champion in this league but baring some unforeseen cold streak from Harry Doyle, it sure looks like that team is destined to repeat. It certainly looks like Harry Doyle has the distinct advantage with the bats as I could easily see him take five out of six categories, much like he did in rounds one and two. To Castillo's credit, he's made a few moves to mix up his lineup but I think Harry Doyle will continue to take their Louisvlle Sluggers and beat in the skull of their opponent for the third week in a row. Castillo might be able to win the batting K's and stolen base categories but that's the best case scenario for a lineup that's been pretty bad all year and is clearly overmatched coming into the Shocker Series. Castillo only won a single batting category last round and was able to advance so it's possible that his starting pitchers will continue to do just enough to complete this incredible upset journey but it's a tall task for this 8 seed.
If Castillo is to defeat the second Suer in a row and win the championship, he absolutely has to have Tanaka, Price, and Richards continue to cross them out and put a K (Englewooooooood!!!) for him to throw up a W. Castillo is starting some guy named Logan Verrett to lead off this matchup so maybe he realizes he just needs to priortize quantity over quality and see where that takes him. The strikeout potential of this team is really good but it can be difficult to pick up a new starter every day in order to rack up the K's and QS's and also keep the Losses, ERA and WHIP low enough to win those battles. Castillo does have a dinstinctive advantage in the bullpen as his four horsemen are far less volatile than Harry Doyle's. The first week could really determine how Castillo wants to attack with the bats and if he can somehow keep it close in the hitting categories in the first week, it's going to setup a lot of intrigue for the second half of this series.
For Matty, he can pretty much sit back, see how the first 4-5 days go, and then react. He's got the better team, no question, but all it takes is a few closer meltdowns, an injury, or a cold streak for everything to go down the tubes. Outside of Lucroy's injury and Votto's potential suspension, this lineup is loaded and on fire, which means Matty will probably need to win three pitching categories at most in order to win it all. Strange roster moves happen in September where starts will be skipped out of nowhere, players will remain injured but off the DL, and studs will be rested so even though Matt's team is better on paper, we're getting to the point in the MLB season where MLB managers can bend over fantasy managers. Unless Don Mattingly loses his mind, Matty should get three starts from Clayton Kershaw and considering that Kershaw has a sub 1.00 ERA over his last 15 starts, three matchup starts is huge for M. Suer. One thing that could potentially sink this squad is the flammability of the bullpen, as Matty has witnessed on the first night already. Brad Boxburger has had more than a few meltdowns this season and he had an epic one Monday night to help get Matty off on the wrong foot. The other RP's don't exactly provide stability so if they too implode, it could run up Matty's Losses, ERA, and WHIP and could open the door for Castillo to pull off yet another upset.
Prediction: I would really like to go out on a limb and predict an upset but I think Matty's team is too strong. I think it'll be close most of the way but I also think Harry Doyle is playing too good of baseball right now and that will continue for the next couple of weeks. In the end, Castillo keeps it close but Matty pulls away late to overtake Yo and win 7-5-0. I purchased a championship trophy that I intended to give to Matty about 5 months ago but the move to a new house and inability to customize this trophy has delayed the trophy handoff. I believe this trophy will still end up in Matt's hands when it's all over and I'll hopefully have this trophy available and ready shorty after whoever earns it.
This will be a stressful two weeks for Matt and Castillo who are undoubtedly excited and nervous for what is to come. These two are on their feet, ready to cheer, while the rest of our league is reacting to this enthusiasm much like this anti-wave fan is to the crowd.