Most of the owners within our league have changed their job titles from Fantasy Baseball Owner to Fantasy Football Owner by now but there are two owners still in the hunt for a title. These two have worked hard to get here and they should get a small recap to celebrate their advancement to the money round and also see what to expect as the marathon finish line comes into view over the horizon.
#1 Tenniballs to the Wall vs. #5 Piss on the Ball
Kevin Petty has drawn the ire of fellow owners before this season and he was back at it again by needling the commish and advancing to the championship game. Petty used to be an owner that looked for any advantage by constantly picking up pitchers and usually going up against the pitching start max limit each week. This year Kevin eased up on the streaming pitching plan and what we saw in the semifinal round was a complete 180 degree turn from the usual manic pitching selections of Kevin Petty. Kevin did start two pitchers on the first night, both of whom pitched very well and when he saw a lead in the ERA and WHIP categories, Petty huddled up his pitchers and told them to play in a four corner offense the rest of the matchup. It can be considered a coward's way out and the crowd was booing throughout most of the matchup but Kevin was able to win the Loss, Saves, ERA and WHIP categories while maniacally laughing the whole time. The commish wasn't pleased with this but he can't be all that upset at the end result because the way his pitchers pitched for the first week, the pitching categories likely would've played out exactly the same. The commish enjoyed dominant pitching throughout the first round but it all went to shit in a hurry with guys like Archer, Quintana, and McCarthy pitching like garbage the entire time and most of this rotation getting shelled the first seven days he plugged them in. Kevin had plenty of open roster spots due to his pitching strategy and Kevin loaded up on batting average and speed guys to win the remaining categories needed to win the tiebreaker if necessary, which it turned out to be. The commish turned it on hard in the second week and started crushing baseballs and reducing the ERA and WHIP but on the final Sunday he needed a couple stolen bases and couldn't get them. Juan Legares swiped three bags for Petty on Sunday and clinched victory for Kevin to reach his second title game. The commish will have to sit and wonder what the hell just happened and has already considered personally implementing a pitching start minimum rule without waiting for a league-wide vote.
#2 Harry Doyle vs. #3 Ninja Blacksox
Castillo made it this far based on his formidable pitching collection and he knew if he could get them to continue their dominance, he could have a chance of making it to the main event. Instead, the Blacksox pitchers looked like they were incredibly fatigued as the season came to a close and the result was a matchup that was pretty much decided after seven or eight days. Castillo will always be thankful of the effort he got from Felix Hernandez in 2014 but King Felix picked a bad time to look mortal as he only struck out five in two starts and didn't help compensate for some of the blowup games the rest of his pitchers suffered from. Castillo didn't get bad pitching performances from all pitchers but when he started slow and picked up guys like Chris Young, Shane Greene, and Henderson Alverez, they poured gasoline on the fire rather than cover it with a blanket. Castillo's team hit the ball pretty dang well and split the hitting categories so the blame lies on the pitching staff who had been a reliable source of wins but simply ran out of gas abruptly and left Yo stranded on the side of the road. This is the time of year where noncontending teams bring up minor leaguers to test them out which often leads to some really good pitching performances. This would seem like a perfect environment for both Castillo and Matty to thrive with their pitchers but that's certainly not how it played out the past two weeks.
You could argue that Matt Suer's rotation is slightly behind Castillo's in overall strength and even Matty's pitchers didn't have their usual nastiness when they rocked and fired. Harry Doyle didn't totally shit the bed like the Blacksox did but based on their overall numbers they should be somewhat relieved that this non-reliever team advanced. Arrieta, Iwakuma, and Price are three major reasons why Matty has made it this far but they seemed to do everything in their pitching power to prevent M. Suer from advancing. The difference between Harry Doyle and the Blacksox was the fact that their ace and a few others were able to right the ship before it smashed into the iceberg. Clayton Kershaw's 2014 numbers will be remembered for a long time as he's been incredible all year and while it might be a slight exaggeration to say Matt expected a 0.56 ERA and 0.81 WHIP from Kershaw during a playoff matchup, it's not far off. Alex Wood was another lefty that was imposing his will on the mound even though Matt's team was overpowered with the bats, they were able to take five of six pitching categories and pull away with an easy win.
Shocker Series Preview
#2 Harry Doyle vs. #5 Piss On The Ball
I can try to predict what might occur with these two teams with the bats in the upcoming two weeks but you can forget about me making any predictions about the pitching outcomes that we'll see in this title matchup. It's not because the pitching will be tough to gauge at a time where pitchers begin to get worn down and shut down but rather because Kevin and his keepaway strategy might turn these pitchers into spectators. It's really a shame, too because nobody wants to get to the final weeks of the season where all the hard work is supposed to be rewarded and then have to see guys like Clayton Kershaw and Zach Wheeler just sit on the bench the whole time because of managerial decisions. It will remain to be seen how Matt reacts to Petty's four corner offense as Petty has already benched pitchers and could be intent on establishing a small ERA and WHIP and then sit as many starters as possible. If Petty does stick with that format, we'll have to see how Matt moves his pieces to play this retarded game of chess. Does Matty counter by mixing and matching his favorable starters matchups? Does he bench his starters as well and roll out dominant setup and newfound closers? Or does he just move forward with business as usual and hope he can somehow still win a majority of the pitching categories? I don't know at all and I'm not sure if Matty even knows at this point.
At least the hitters won't become a 3 on 3 game for the next 10 days and if we had to forecast the winner based on hitting alone, Matt's team would have the advantage. The Bryce Harper trade was a very interesting one when it happened right before the playoffs and in a year where Matt made moves like a madman, his final trade is paying off handsomely at the right moment. Harper has found his power stroke and even though he isn't stealing any bases and is striking out a lot, the power is back. Matt does have the power and speed advantage when you look at the 2014 body of work but Matt was missing some pop and wheels the last couple of weeks while Kevin has seen an uptick in productivity. Billy Hamilton has proven that he belongs in the bigs but he's been pretty awful since the all star break and if he isn't stealing bases, he's close to being unstartable at this point. Matt will hope that Jose Reyes stays hot and makes up for Billy Boy's struggles. Jose Abreu, Albert Pujols, and Devin Mesoraco will look to continue to blast balls deep into the night and if players like Werth, Kinsler, and Carpenter can string together enough hits and runs scored, Matt might have the batting balance to win this thing regardless of the pitching tactics. Kevin found a way to advance last week and while he didn't win a majority of the hitting categories in the semifinals, his team was actually pretty good with the bats and would've won most of these under normal circumstances. Chris Carter has always had the potential to lead the AL in homers but his awful pitch recognition has prevented him from staying in the lineup and being considered a reliable fantasy hitter. Carter has made some adjustments and while he still strikes out a ton, he's also pummeling a lot of pitches to become a truly terrifying batter to track for the opponent. Petty has a lot of batting options to choose from and has a decent batting average and stolen base advantage at the moment and if Matt Holliday, Adrian Gonzalez, and Danny Santana continue to square up balls while Kevin can locates streaky hitters, Piss On The Ball might be able to pull off a couple of other batting category wins as well.
It's foolish of me to predict the buttons these managers will press and therefore any educated guess at a final score for this matchup won't be a confident one at all. The focus could be shifted to a point where we're anticipating the relief pitcher matchups each night while the starters spit sunflower seeds on the bench the entire time. even though that's not the best way to decide a champion, it's where we're at. Kevin is playing under the current rules and not doing anything outside the lines but the unwritten rules of fantasy will be broken in the most important matchup of the year. The title could hinge on a couple of relief pitcher meltdowns but if either of these teams get white hot with the wood, it could make most of the pitching strategies moot. Petty did start Scott Kazmir today and he pitched very well so lets just hope these two can pick and choose starters throughout the matchup to optimize results. I'm biased with this prediction because I'm still licking my wounds from last week's matchup but I want to think that good ol' talent overtakes micromanagement as all eyes turn to the Shocker Series. Harry Doyle is able to split the pitching categories somehow and ends up with enough hitting wins on the final days to give Matt Suer his very first and very deserved fantasy baseball championship.
Prediction Harry Doyle wins 7-5-0
Alright, I'm guessing I'll be typing to Matty and Kevin from here on out so I'll let you two guys know that I'll try to put together a Shocker Series recap even though I might not be scoreboard watching with the intensity as I have in weeks past. Good luck to you both.
#1 Tenniballs to the Wall vs. #5 Piss on the Ball
Kevin Petty has drawn the ire of fellow owners before this season and he was back at it again by needling the commish and advancing to the championship game. Petty used to be an owner that looked for any advantage by constantly picking up pitchers and usually going up against the pitching start max limit each week. This year Kevin eased up on the streaming pitching plan and what we saw in the semifinal round was a complete 180 degree turn from the usual manic pitching selections of Kevin Petty. Kevin did start two pitchers on the first night, both of whom pitched very well and when he saw a lead in the ERA and WHIP categories, Petty huddled up his pitchers and told them to play in a four corner offense the rest of the matchup. It can be considered a coward's way out and the crowd was booing throughout most of the matchup but Kevin was able to win the Loss, Saves, ERA and WHIP categories while maniacally laughing the whole time. The commish wasn't pleased with this but he can't be all that upset at the end result because the way his pitchers pitched for the first week, the pitching categories likely would've played out exactly the same. The commish enjoyed dominant pitching throughout the first round but it all went to shit in a hurry with guys like Archer, Quintana, and McCarthy pitching like garbage the entire time and most of this rotation getting shelled the first seven days he plugged them in. Kevin had plenty of open roster spots due to his pitching strategy and Kevin loaded up on batting average and speed guys to win the remaining categories needed to win the tiebreaker if necessary, which it turned out to be. The commish turned it on hard in the second week and started crushing baseballs and reducing the ERA and WHIP but on the final Sunday he needed a couple stolen bases and couldn't get them. Juan Legares swiped three bags for Petty on Sunday and clinched victory for Kevin to reach his second title game. The commish will have to sit and wonder what the hell just happened and has already considered personally implementing a pitching start minimum rule without waiting for a league-wide vote.
#2 Harry Doyle vs. #3 Ninja Blacksox
Castillo made it this far based on his formidable pitching collection and he knew if he could get them to continue their dominance, he could have a chance of making it to the main event. Instead, the Blacksox pitchers looked like they were incredibly fatigued as the season came to a close and the result was a matchup that was pretty much decided after seven or eight days. Castillo will always be thankful of the effort he got from Felix Hernandez in 2014 but King Felix picked a bad time to look mortal as he only struck out five in two starts and didn't help compensate for some of the blowup games the rest of his pitchers suffered from. Castillo didn't get bad pitching performances from all pitchers but when he started slow and picked up guys like Chris Young, Shane Greene, and Henderson Alverez, they poured gasoline on the fire rather than cover it with a blanket. Castillo's team hit the ball pretty dang well and split the hitting categories so the blame lies on the pitching staff who had been a reliable source of wins but simply ran out of gas abruptly and left Yo stranded on the side of the road. This is the time of year where noncontending teams bring up minor leaguers to test them out which often leads to some really good pitching performances. This would seem like a perfect environment for both Castillo and Matty to thrive with their pitchers but that's certainly not how it played out the past two weeks.
You could argue that Matt Suer's rotation is slightly behind Castillo's in overall strength and even Matty's pitchers didn't have their usual nastiness when they rocked and fired. Harry Doyle didn't totally shit the bed like the Blacksox did but based on their overall numbers they should be somewhat relieved that this non-reliever team advanced. Arrieta, Iwakuma, and Price are three major reasons why Matty has made it this far but they seemed to do everything in their pitching power to prevent M. Suer from advancing. The difference between Harry Doyle and the Blacksox was the fact that their ace and a few others were able to right the ship before it smashed into the iceberg. Clayton Kershaw's 2014 numbers will be remembered for a long time as he's been incredible all year and while it might be a slight exaggeration to say Matt expected a 0.56 ERA and 0.81 WHIP from Kershaw during a playoff matchup, it's not far off. Alex Wood was another lefty that was imposing his will on the mound even though Matt's team was overpowered with the bats, they were able to take five of six pitching categories and pull away with an easy win.
Shocker Series Preview
#2 Harry Doyle vs. #5 Piss On The Ball
I can try to predict what might occur with these two teams with the bats in the upcoming two weeks but you can forget about me making any predictions about the pitching outcomes that we'll see in this title matchup. It's not because the pitching will be tough to gauge at a time where pitchers begin to get worn down and shut down but rather because Kevin and his keepaway strategy might turn these pitchers into spectators. It's really a shame, too because nobody wants to get to the final weeks of the season where all the hard work is supposed to be rewarded and then have to see guys like Clayton Kershaw and Zach Wheeler just sit on the bench the whole time because of managerial decisions. It will remain to be seen how Matt reacts to Petty's four corner offense as Petty has already benched pitchers and could be intent on establishing a small ERA and WHIP and then sit as many starters as possible. If Petty does stick with that format, we'll have to see how Matt moves his pieces to play this retarded game of chess. Does Matty counter by mixing and matching his favorable starters matchups? Does he bench his starters as well and roll out dominant setup and newfound closers? Or does he just move forward with business as usual and hope he can somehow still win a majority of the pitching categories? I don't know at all and I'm not sure if Matty even knows at this point.
At least the hitters won't become a 3 on 3 game for the next 10 days and if we had to forecast the winner based on hitting alone, Matt's team would have the advantage. The Bryce Harper trade was a very interesting one when it happened right before the playoffs and in a year where Matt made moves like a madman, his final trade is paying off handsomely at the right moment. Harper has found his power stroke and even though he isn't stealing any bases and is striking out a lot, the power is back. Matt does have the power and speed advantage when you look at the 2014 body of work but Matt was missing some pop and wheels the last couple of weeks while Kevin has seen an uptick in productivity. Billy Hamilton has proven that he belongs in the bigs but he's been pretty awful since the all star break and if he isn't stealing bases, he's close to being unstartable at this point. Matt will hope that Jose Reyes stays hot and makes up for Billy Boy's struggles. Jose Abreu, Albert Pujols, and Devin Mesoraco will look to continue to blast balls deep into the night and if players like Werth, Kinsler, and Carpenter can string together enough hits and runs scored, Matt might have the batting balance to win this thing regardless of the pitching tactics. Kevin found a way to advance last week and while he didn't win a majority of the hitting categories in the semifinals, his team was actually pretty good with the bats and would've won most of these under normal circumstances. Chris Carter has always had the potential to lead the AL in homers but his awful pitch recognition has prevented him from staying in the lineup and being considered a reliable fantasy hitter. Carter has made some adjustments and while he still strikes out a ton, he's also pummeling a lot of pitches to become a truly terrifying batter to track for the opponent. Petty has a lot of batting options to choose from and has a decent batting average and stolen base advantage at the moment and if Matt Holliday, Adrian Gonzalez, and Danny Santana continue to square up balls while Kevin can locates streaky hitters, Piss On The Ball might be able to pull off a couple of other batting category wins as well.
It's foolish of me to predict the buttons these managers will press and therefore any educated guess at a final score for this matchup won't be a confident one at all. The focus could be shifted to a point where we're anticipating the relief pitcher matchups each night while the starters spit sunflower seeds on the bench the entire time. even though that's not the best way to decide a champion, it's where we're at. Kevin is playing under the current rules and not doing anything outside the lines but the unwritten rules of fantasy will be broken in the most important matchup of the year. The title could hinge on a couple of relief pitcher meltdowns but if either of these teams get white hot with the wood, it could make most of the pitching strategies moot. Petty did start Scott Kazmir today and he pitched very well so lets just hope these two can pick and choose starters throughout the matchup to optimize results. I'm biased with this prediction because I'm still licking my wounds from last week's matchup but I want to think that good ol' talent overtakes micromanagement as all eyes turn to the Shocker Series. Harry Doyle is able to split the pitching categories somehow and ends up with enough hitting wins on the final days to give Matt Suer his very first and very deserved fantasy baseball championship.
Prediction Harry Doyle wins 7-5-0
Alright, I'm guessing I'll be typing to Matty and Kevin from here on out so I'll let you two guys know that I'll try to put together a Shocker Series recap even though I might not be scoreboard watching with the intensity as I have in weeks past. Good luck to you both.