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The slate for Week 8 has thinned out with the series between the second, third, and fourth seeds in the Ringler Division scratched off the schedule. What remains is a Fri-meet at The New Drey including King Friday, the Mattseals, and the Flying Squirrels. These will be the final meetings between each of these teams for the season. Friday and the Seals will conclude their rivalry series, which began two weeks ago with the Mattseals taking both games, 6-0 and 11-0. Friday and the Squirrels will also play their final two games of the 2012 season; when they met in Week 2 the Squirrels took both games, 3-0 and 9-0. The Seals and Squirrels will have their only meeting of the regular season.
If the season ended today the Squirrels (11-3, #22) would be the second seed, Friday (5-7) would be number seven, and the Mattseals (5-11) would be the odds-on favorite to have the first selection in the John Hill for the Thrill Postseason Extravaganza. None of those were the expectation before the season began, and alas, we are only halfway through the season with a lot of shuffling yet to occur. Despite the five in the win column, it has been a rough season for King Friday. As a team they are batting .096, have scored four runs (not coming by forfeit), gotten two extra-base hits, and allowed sixty-six runs. The bright spots for Friday have been Tristan Birotte and Arvie Coffman, who are both batting at the Mendoza line, and Joe Markos who has been a spark, supplying power and patience at the plate. On the mound, the two Friday pitchers who have thrown enough innings to be considered for league leaders (Birotte and Brandon Mushinski) have put up respectable numbers for rookies; even if that may be like learning to swim in the shark tank. Birotte has been talked-up as their ace, having struck out 18 in 13 IP while only walking 8, despite a 6.91 ERA and 2.23 WHIP. Mushinski has flown under the radar and shown even better with a 4.37 ERA and 2.19 WHIP, although he has not shown the command of Birotte: 22 K, 16 BB in 16 IP. The Kings have a few good pieces, they just need a chance to put them all together for thirty-five minutes. If they can handle the large grounds at The Drey defensively, their offense may be able to take advantage of the expansive open space.
The Mattseals have started to put it together recently: five wins in their past six games, including one against the Thunder Ducks (7-5, #46). They have actually been right there all season, suffering walk-off or one-run losses to the Donkeys, Aces, DeLoppes, and Punchouts. Carl mentioned in his Week 2 Power Rankings article that "those poor Mattseals" had taken on a totally new connotation, and it seems that phrase may finally be fading from use altogether. Their most consistent player has been Chris Paquin: batting for a .250 AVG, .391 SLG%, and .324 OBP in addition to delivering a 2.07 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 39 K to 13 BB in 29 IP. The rest of the Seals rotation has also been impressive this season: In 20 IP Jason Hewlett has a 1.75 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 26 K and only 9 BB; Adam Cosby in 14.2 IP has a 2.39 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 25 K and 10 BB. For a long-time the Seals problem was scoring runs, but they have added 32 runs in the past two weeks to their 3 scored prior to that. The biggest player in that offensive surge is Mike Myers; even if not supplying home run power, he is hitting .323 with a .553 OBP and has scored 8 runs.
As unlikely as the Squirrels 11-3 division lead sounds, it looks even more improbable. The Squeaks are batting .202, tied for fourth in the league, and their 1.01 team ERA is good enough for fifth in the league. A 1.17 team WHIP bumps them back up into fourth position, one point behind Belgian's pitching, but in no category are they blowing away the competition. They are just winning. I suppose you can cite "Money-Squirrel"; their .363 team OBP is just four points shy of the Punchouts (with whom they split a two-game series) and thirteen points above the Donkeys (whom they swept in a two-game series). Whatever recipe being used, the result is apparent in the run differential: +30, which only trail the Aces at +37. The pitching of Mike Constanti has been a key component of that recipe, giving up only 2 runs in 25 IP (0.40 ERA), striking out 48 while walking just 9 batters (0.84 WHIP). The Squirrels number-two pitcher has been a nice "pinch" to "two-parts Mike", as well. Brandon Corbett has a 1.56 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 49 K to 17 BB. "Money-Squirrel" was teased earlier, and it is fitting: they get on base. The team has taken 62 BB, all of their regular players have OBP above .300 and three players have double digit walks, led by Carl Coffee with 18. Two games (Punchouts and Belgian) have, in fact, been won via the walk. The biggest benefit from "Money-Squirrel" has been reaped by by Corbett, who has 18 of the teams 44 RBI on 15 hits, 3 doubles, and 4 HR. Although, the biggest moment brought by "Money-Squirrel" is likely the grand slam hit by Carlos Flores to defeat division rival the Ducks in week two.
Fun Fact: Halfway through the inter-division season Ringler has a commanding 18-10 lead over Garcia with twenty-eight games between the divisions remaining. So, what is at stake this week outside of four inter-division games? King Friday is still gunning for their first legitimate win on the field. The Mattseals want to club the Squirrels and make hats out of them. The Squirrels want to prove that moneyball works (apparently), or more measurably, match their win total from last season (14). There may be blood; sliding is always dangerous. There will be sweat; "small ball fury in death valley". However, there will not be any tears, unless they are tears of laughter; that is just how it works at the New Drey.
If the season ended today the Squirrels (11-3, #22) would be the second seed, Friday (5-7) would be number seven, and the Mattseals (5-11) would be the odds-on favorite to have the first selection in the John Hill for the Thrill Postseason Extravaganza. None of those were the expectation before the season began, and alas, we are only halfway through the season with a lot of shuffling yet to occur. Despite the five in the win column, it has been a rough season for King Friday. As a team they are batting .096, have scored four runs (not coming by forfeit), gotten two extra-base hits, and allowed sixty-six runs. The bright spots for Friday have been Tristan Birotte and Arvie Coffman, who are both batting at the Mendoza line, and Joe Markos who has been a spark, supplying power and patience at the plate. On the mound, the two Friday pitchers who have thrown enough innings to be considered for league leaders (Birotte and Brandon Mushinski) have put up respectable numbers for rookies; even if that may be like learning to swim in the shark tank. Birotte has been talked-up as their ace, having struck out 18 in 13 IP while only walking 8, despite a 6.91 ERA and 2.23 WHIP. Mushinski has flown under the radar and shown even better with a 4.37 ERA and 2.19 WHIP, although he has not shown the command of Birotte: 22 K, 16 BB in 16 IP. The Kings have a few good pieces, they just need a chance to put them all together for thirty-five minutes. If they can handle the large grounds at The Drey defensively, their offense may be able to take advantage of the expansive open space.The Mattseals have started to put it together recently: five wins in their past six games, including one against the Thunder Ducks (7-5, #46). They have actually been right there all season, suffering walk-off or one-run losses to the Donkeys, Aces, DeLoppes, and Punchouts. Carl mentioned in his Week 2 Power Rankings article that "those poor Mattseals" had taken on a totally new connotation, and it seems that phrase may finally be fading from use altogether. Their most consistent player has been Chris Paquin: batting for a .250 AVG, .391 SLG%, and .324 OBP in addition to delivering a 2.07 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 39 K to 13 BB in 29 IP. The rest of the Seals rotation has also been impressive this season: In 20 IP Jason Hewlett has a 1.75 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 26 K and only 9 BB; Adam Cosby in 14.2 IP has a 2.39 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 25 K and 10 BB. For a long-time the Seals problem was scoring runs, but they have added 32 runs in the past two weeks to their 3 scored prior to that. The biggest player in that offensive surge is Mike Myers; even if not supplying home run power, he is hitting .323 with a .553 OBP and has scored 8 runs.As unlikely as the Squirrels 11-3 division lead sounds, it looks even more improbable. The Squeaks are batting .202, tied for fourth in the league, and their 1.01 team ERA is good enough for fifth in the league. A 1.17 team WHIP bumps them back up into fourth position, one point behind Belgian's pitching, but in no category are they blowing away the competition. They are just winning. I suppose you can cite "Money-Squirrel"; their .363 team OBP is just four points shy of the Punchouts (with whom they split a two-game series) and thirteen points above the Donkeys (whom they swept in a two-game series). Whatever recipe being used, the result is apparent in the run differential: +30, which only trail the Aces at +37. The pitching of Mike Constanti has been a key component of that recipe, giving up only 2 runs in 25 IP (0.40 ERA), striking out 48 while walking just 9 batters (0.84 WHIP). The Squirrels number-two pitcher has been a nice "pinch" to "two-parts Mike", as well. Brandon Corbett has a 1.56 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 49 K to 17 BB. "Money-Squirrel" was teased earlier, and it is fitting: they get on base. The team has taken 62 BB, all of their regular players have OBP above .300 and three players have double digit walks, led by Carl Coffee with 18. Two games (Punchouts and Belgian) have, in fact, been won via the walk. The biggest benefit from "Money-Squirrel" has been reaped by by Corbett, who has 18 of the teams 44 RBI on 15 hits, 3 doubles, and 4 HR. Although, the biggest moment brought by "Money-Squirrel" is likely the grand slam hit by Carlos Flores to defeat division rival the Ducks in week two.Fun Fact: Halfway through the inter-division season Ringler has a commanding 18-10 lead over Garcia with twenty-eight games between the divisions remaining. So, what is at stake this week outside of four inter-division games? King Friday is still gunning for their first legitimate win on the field. The Mattseals want to club the Squirrels and make hats out of them. The Squirrels want to prove that moneyball works (apparently), or more measurably, match their win total from last season (14). There may be blood; sliding is always dangerous. There will be sweat; "small ball fury in death valley". However, there will not be any tears, unless they are tears of laughter; that is just how it works at the New Drey.
Unavailable Pitchers:
1 Game: Castle (BW)*, Linebrink (CC)*, Malloy (DK)*, Corbett (FS), Paquin (JM), Sizemore (KF), Bortmas (MP)*, N. Braden (TD)*, Kincaide (SM)*
2 Games: Crozier (WA)*
* Team not active this week. Will carry over to next games.
