Welcome to another edition of the MikesPickz MLB Weekly Review. Some people may be wondering why I have the week ending on a Sunday, well the reason is simple- in the typical fantasy baseball league, a match-up ends on a Sunday. Therefore I feel it is appropriate to review the week from Monday to Sunday.
Last week had a few significant events that occurred, and here they are:
- The Yankees were the first team this season with 100 wins. They also were the first to clinch a division title (actually they did it the same day the Cardinals did it in the NL Central). The Yankees did it against the arch-rival Red Sox, they actually swept them for the second time this season. The sweep erased the 0-8 start that they had against the Red Sox. They finished the season series 9-9 and are looking sharp for the playoffs.
- The Angels were 1 game away from clinching the AL West division, and they did so on 9/28 with their win over Texas.
- Don’t count the Atlanta Braves out just yet. The have been struggling lately going 4-6 over the past 10, while the Braves are on a 7 game win streak and have pulled within 4 games of the division lead, and 2 of the wild card. San Francisco and Florida have basically been eliminated from the Wild Card (Marlins magic number is 1, and SFs magic number is 2). It is going to be an interesting stretch run as the Braves have a much easier schedule than the Rockies down the stretch.
- Billy Butler had a monster week in fantasy production he was 11 for 26 (.423 BA) with 3 HRs, 9 RBIs, 6 runs scored. The Royals actually have something to give to Fantasy baseball besides Greinke. If you were a Morneau owner, and are still looking for a replacement- he’s the guy (especially if doubles count- he has 50).
- Since I mentioned Grienke, I think I should mention that he has only allowed 2 ER in his past 42 IP. Wow, he has a chance to finish the season with an ERA under 2.00 (currently at 2.06), which would be ridiculous.
- Ryan Howard has 14 RBIs in the past 7 games and has jumped to be tied for the lead with Prince Fielder with 137 on the year.
- The previous Weekly review mentioned only two candidates for the NL CY Young- I must correct that entry by saying the clear front runner is Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals. He is 19-8 with a 2.58 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 204Ks in 227IP on a division champion.
- One of the AL CY Young front runner seems to be C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia has eerily similar numbers to Wainwright- 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 194Ks in 227IP on a division champion. Greinke will probably win it despite being on a horrible team because his numbers are filthy (see above).
- Quick Fantasy update from my two leagues- so far so good, if the championship was one week I would have 2 more first place trophies to add to my collection. Hopefully, I can maintain my lead for the final week.
That is going to do it for this week’s review- only one week left in the regular season. The two races to focus on this week will be the AL Central between the Twins and Tigers and the NL Wild Card between the Braves and Rockies.
Once the season closes, be sure to look for the MikesPickz Playoff Predictions.
I am a three time Fantasy Baseball Champion on Yahoo, with two 2nd place finishes in the total of 8 leagues I have played in since I started in 2004. Feel free to e-mail me, post a question in the MikesPickz Forum, post a question in the comment section below, or send me a tweet, as I am always happy to help.
For real Greinke is nasty