| Lafayette Park | The Drey | The Drey | |||||||||
| 7/1 * | 7/2 | 7/2 | 7/2 | 7/3 * | 7/3 * | ||||||
| BW | 3|3|12 | WD | 15|0 | WD | 13|14 | WW | 0 | BW | 4|11|3|3 | AK | 1|5 |
| CC | 1|2| 0 | FS | 1|4 | WW | 1| 0 | FS | 3 | JM | 0| 0|0|0 | BW | 0|6 |
| BW w 3 | Split 1-1 | WD w 2 | FS w 1 | BW w 4 | Split 1-1 | ||||||
| Marquee Match-up: |
| July 2nd | 3 PM | The Drey |
| Warriors & Squirrels vs. Wiffling DeLoppes |
But Darrel, that's not one match-up. It's three! I know, and while true, just take a step back and look at what the results from Saturday's games at the Drey could mean. The DeLoppes will play 4 games: 2 vs. Squirrels and 2 vs. Warriors. The Squirrels and Warriors will both play 3: 2 vs. the DeLoppes and 1 against each other. With that info in hand let's take a look at where the teams could possibly be after Saturday.
The Warriors can get away with a record as high as 15-7 or as low as 12-10. The Squirrels can settle anywhere from 13-11 to 10-14. While the DeLoppes can jump to 20-4 or fall to 16-8. You can pretty much take the 1 game between the Warriors and Squirrels and call it a push, because what matters here is what the teams do in their combined 4 games against the DeLoppes. That is why the Marquee is written as "Warriors & Squirrels vs. DeLoppes."
The Warriors roster has been showing up and showing up well. So, say that they win their 2 games again the DeLoppes and the 1 against the Squirrels: 15-7. The Squirrels lost their games against the DeLoppes at Frenchtown 2-0 and 2-1. So, maybe they can get their shit together and take 1 game from them on Saturday: a 1-3 record on the day for the DeLoppes resulting in 17-7 overall. Warriors: 15-7, DeLoppes 17-7. Now, you're looking at a real race for second place in WSEM, separated by only 1 game!
Contrarily, if the Squirrels manage to get some run support for their pitching, have a great day ending up 13-11, and the Warriors split with the DeLoppes to end up 13-9, then we'll have a single game separation in the race for third place! The bottom line is if the Warriors and Squirrels can combine for a winning record against the DeLoppes Saturday, then things can get interesting toward the top of the standings going into the final weeks of the season. Hell, if the two teams sweep the DeLoppes and Westside beats the Squirrels, then Westside and the DeLoppes will be tied for 2nd place at 15-7 and 16-8, respectively. Most people had written that off and focused on the race for 4th, 5th, or 6th. Sure, there will likely be shake ups in those ranks as well, but the fact is: the top is not safe!
On-field breakdown:
Pitching: the rotations of the DeLoppes and Squirrels are the top 4 league leaders in WHIP, while the Warriors come in second to last in that category. This can be accounted for nearly completely by BBs. In 87.1 innings pitched the Squirrels have walked only 44 batters, the DeLoppes in 95 innings have walked just 50, while in 71.1 innings the Warriors have a staggering 135 walks. The Warriors begin to make up for the BB, though, by allowing only 59 hits to the DeLoppes 62 and Squirrels 99. The DeLoppes take the clear advantage in team ERA with a 1.68, more than 2 points better than the Squirrels 3.84 and further the Warriors 5.33. Numbers do not tell the full story, though, as the Warriors have been getting better in recent weeks on the mound with Maclin Malloy finding his groove, and the Squirrels will be missing new star Mike Merlo on Saturday. Nevertheless, those two factors do not play a role in deciding which team brings the best pitching staff into play:
Advantage - Wiffling DeLoppes
Batting:
The DeLoppes and Warriors rank 2nd and 3rd, respectively, as a team in all of the major offensive categories: AVG, SLG, and OBP! The two even place the same way in HR; although, HRs will be a fairly moot factor this Saturday at the Drey. What will come into play on the vast open plain of an outfield are 2Bs, 3Bs, and all around aggressive baserunning. The Warriors are second in the league with 16 2Bs, the Squirrels 3rd with 11, and those teams both have a single 3B to their credit. The DeLoppes, however, trump all with 28 2Bs and 4 3Bs, due in large part to DeLano's 11 2Bs and 3 3Bs. I will heed again that the numbers aren't the whole story. The Warriors by far have been playing their best ball of the season lately, and Matt Whelan has been absolutely raking: getting on base and lighting up the AVG column. Teammates Shane Myers and Alex Share are right there with Whelan, as well. Offensive advantage is tough to call, I'm tempted to call it a "push" between the DeLoppes and Warriors. The DeLoppes top to bottom have a lineup that can get on base and hit for power. The Warriors are all speed demons, aggressive baserunners and with the expansive territory at the Drey that could strongly favor them; DeLano is the only DeLoppe that challenges the extra-base aggression of the Warriors. With the long ball taken out of the equation and a large field to cover:
Advantage - Westside Warriors
The Warriors can get away with a record as high as 15-7 or as low as 12-10. The Squirrels can settle anywhere from 13-11 to 10-14. While the DeLoppes can jump to 20-4 or fall to 16-8. You can pretty much take the 1 game between the Warriors and Squirrels and call it a push, because what matters here is what the teams do in their combined 4 games against the DeLoppes. That is why the Marquee is written as "Warriors & Squirrels vs. DeLoppes."
The Warriors roster has been showing up and showing up well. So, say that they win their 2 games again the DeLoppes and the 1 against the Squirrels: 15-7. The Squirrels lost their games against the DeLoppes at Frenchtown 2-0 and 2-1. So, maybe they can get their shit together and take 1 game from them on Saturday: a 1-3 record on the day for the DeLoppes resulting in 17-7 overall. Warriors: 15-7, DeLoppes 17-7. Now, you're looking at a real race for second place in WSEM, separated by only 1 game!
Contrarily, if the Squirrels manage to get some run support for their pitching, have a great day ending up 13-11, and the Warriors split with the DeLoppes to end up 13-9, then we'll have a single game separation in the race for third place! The bottom line is if the Warriors and Squirrels can combine for a winning record against the DeLoppes Saturday, then things can get interesting toward the top of the standings going into the final weeks of the season. Hell, if the two teams sweep the DeLoppes and Westside beats the Squirrels, then Westside and the DeLoppes will be tied for 2nd place at 15-7 and 16-8, respectively. Most people had written that off and focused on the race for 4th, 5th, or 6th. Sure, there will likely be shake ups in those ranks as well, but the fact is: the top is not safe!
On-field breakdown:
Pitching: the rotations of the DeLoppes and Squirrels are the top 4 league leaders in WHIP, while the Warriors come in second to last in that category. This can be accounted for nearly completely by BBs. In 87.1 innings pitched the Squirrels have walked only 44 batters, the DeLoppes in 95 innings have walked just 50, while in 71.1 innings the Warriors have a staggering 135 walks. The Warriors begin to make up for the BB, though, by allowing only 59 hits to the DeLoppes 62 and Squirrels 99. The DeLoppes take the clear advantage in team ERA with a 1.68, more than 2 points better than the Squirrels 3.84 and further the Warriors 5.33. Numbers do not tell the full story, though, as the Warriors have been getting better in recent weeks on the mound with Maclin Malloy finding his groove, and the Squirrels will be missing new star Mike Merlo on Saturday. Nevertheless, those two factors do not play a role in deciding which team brings the best pitching staff into play:
Advantage - Wiffling DeLoppes
Batting:
The DeLoppes and Warriors rank 2nd and 3rd, respectively, as a team in all of the major offensive categories: AVG, SLG, and OBP! The two even place the same way in HR; although, HRs will be a fairly moot factor this Saturday at the Drey. What will come into play on the vast open plain of an outfield are 2Bs, 3Bs, and all around aggressive baserunning. The Warriors are second in the league with 16 2Bs, the Squirrels 3rd with 11, and those teams both have a single 3B to their credit. The DeLoppes, however, trump all with 28 2Bs and 4 3Bs, due in large part to DeLano's 11 2Bs and 3 3Bs. I will heed again that the numbers aren't the whole story. The Warriors by far have been playing their best ball of the season lately, and Matt Whelan has been absolutely raking: getting on base and lighting up the AVG column. Teammates Shane Myers and Alex Share are right there with Whelan, as well. Offensive advantage is tough to call, I'm tempted to call it a "push" between the DeLoppes and Warriors. The DeLoppes top to bottom have a lineup that can get on base and hit for power. The Warriors are all speed demons, aggressive baserunners and with the expansive territory at the Drey that could strongly favor them; DeLano is the only DeLoppe that challenges the extra-base aggression of the Warriors. With the long ball taken out of the equation and a large field to cover:
Advantage - Westside Warriors
