Week 5 MLB Power Rankings

Week 5 Power Rankings

      Tier 1
1- Win’s Up Doc (4-0) [-]
2- Wait ‘ Til Next Year (4-0) [-]
3- Sporty Strauss (3-1) [-]

       Tier 2
4- The Pullies (2-2) [-]
5- $traight Cash Homie (3-1) [+1]

          Tier 3
6- DTC Porkchop Express (1-2) [+3]
7- The BamO’s (1-3) [-]
8- Minnesota Moose Knuckles (1-3) [-]
9- Cooper Troopers (2-2) [-4]
10- Ornery Otters (0-4) [+1]
11- Las Cabras (1-3) [+1]
12- Shepherd Goods Choppers (1-3) [-2]

(Tier 1) A messy week is leading to a league shake-up. The only thing we know for certain right now is who the top-3 teams are. The #Big3. Last week, Win’s Up Doc (1) took the lead in points for. He’s supported by a pretty insane top-4 pitching staff – Gausman, Scherzer, Rodon and Darvish – each of whom average over 20 fantasy points per game. The relief staff is rock solid, and the hitting lineup is deep with some surprise contributors in the middle of the infield. But there’s still room for improvement on this roster, and Oat will be aggressive in pursuing leads.

Sporty Strauss (3) is coming on strong lately and has to have Doc a little bit worried. Strauss’ calling card is the depth of the offensive lineup. He’s rarely ever playing a weak player out there, and his best 4 hitters – Machado, Betts, Trout and Bregman, have all performed as advertised so far this season.

Wait ‘Til Next Year (2), however, has the best lineup of them all. He’s also getting terrific production from not one but two (!!!) free agent pitchers, Kyle Wright and Taylor Megill, available to anybody before the season started. Without those players, Wait ‘Til Next Year would have maybe slipped down into Tier 2 until he gets some excellent arms back from the IL.

(Tier 2) Speaking of that Tier, only two teams belong in Tier 2 – The Pullies (4) and $traight Cash Homie (5). And they should both feel comfortable in their playoff chances right now. However, there is a CLEAR difference between the #Big3 and these two mid squads. The fun part about this race is that these teams will be circling each other for a division win throughout the season, and winning Fhima’s Division means that they will avoid playing Sporty Strauss or Win’s Up Doc (whoever doesn’t win Nolo’s Division) in the first round of the playoffs. Instead, they’d draw what, right now, looks like an absolutely PITIFUL 6-seed and would be favored in that matchup.

Both The Pullies and $traight Cash Homie should be looking to make some moves if they want to truly contend for this division.

(Tier 3) There are now SEVEN teams in Tier 3, and each has a different reason for being here. Unfortunately, one of them has to make the playoffs. DTC Porkchop Express (6) is (somehow) 2-2, but doesn’t look particularly impressive. He has a few good starters, but don’t expect him to keep this up, though he could still slide into that weak 6-seed.

The BamO’s (7) are a better team, but anytime someone goes on a 3-game losing streak they shouldn’t be feeling great about their odds. Luckily for him, rookie George Kirby had a great first outing and should get removed from his minor leagues ASAP to give him a boost the next 5 weeks as Sam’s schedule softens.

The MN Moose Knuckles (8) are top-6 in points, but simply cannot string together any wins, even against other mid-tier teams. But some of this is due to unsustainable poor performances from good players, and the Knuckles should improve over time. Right now, they should feel lucky that nobody is running away with the 5 and 6 seeds right now. They are very much still in contention.

The Cooper Troopers (9) are the most inconsistent team in the league, and he’s having far too many off weeks to be taken seriously. The Ornery Otters (10) are the only remaining winless team, but aren’t even in the bottom-4 teams for points right now. They’ll sneak out some of these lucky wins that teams like Las Cabras (11) and the SG Choppers (12) have managed to at some point this season.

But for now, there are only 3 teams who have a chance of winning League of Leagues baseball.

Week 4 High Score

• Sporty Strauss (Strauss)

• 491.5 points

Notes: Here he comes. Here comes Sporty Strauss. Fresh off a real-life engagement, he engaged The Pullies in a bitter duel, coming out on top. Sporty Strauss is easily one of the 3 best teams in the League of Leagues – the #Big3 – and he will be searching for any opportunity to take advantage of an Oatslip all season long. This team is good.

Week 4 Low Score

• Cooper Troopers (Coop)

• 305.5 points

Notes: The Cooper Troopers are a streaky team. One week they look hot, the next they are a travesty. This week was the latter, and the Cooper Troopers are now in SERIOUS danger of being the last-place team. Coop is just outside the playoffs as of now, but weeks like this and being the LITERAL lowest-scoring team in the League of Leagues doesn’t bode well for his chances.

Week 4 MVP

• Pablo Lopez (DTC Porkchop Express)

• 43.5 points

Notes: DTC Porkchop Express is getting excellent production out of his starting rotation right now. The lineup is leaving a little bit to be desired, but he was low on plays last week. Pablo Lopez made up for that. 43.5 points in two starts is excellent, and DTC Porkchop Express is suddenly the favorite for the 6-seed in MLB, which would probably net him 3rd or 4th place in the League of Leagues depending on playoff finish.

Week 4 LVP

• Shane Bieber (MN Moose Knuckles)

• -10.5 points

Notes: A game this bad from someone so highly drafted is brutal. The MN Moose Knuckles’ calling card was supposed to be a dominant rotation, but Shane Bieber killed him this week. A murder of potentially season-ending proportions. DTC Porkchop Express, Hall’s opponent, isn’t a disaster of a team or anything, but it’s a team that bubble playoff teams need to beat every time. Now, the MN Moose Knuckles are staring down the barrel of a 1-3 start and have all but ceded that division to Wait ‘Til Next Year.

Week 5 Matchups

• Win’s Up Doc (1) vs Shepherd Goods Choppers (12)

• Wait ’Til Next Year (2) vs Sporty Strauss (3)

• The Pullies (4) vs Ornery Otters (10)

• $traight Cash Homie (5) vs MN Moose Knuckles (8)

• DTC Porkchop Express (6) vs Las Cabras (11)

• The BamO’s (7) vs Cooper Troopers (9)

Week 5 MATCHUP of the WEEK

• MN Moose Knuckles (8) vs $traight Cash Homie (5)

Notes: A critical matchup for the MN Moose Knuckles. He can’t lose 3 straight. This is a matchup he needs to have, but it’s also a critical game for $traight Cash Homie, who could secure an important H2H victory over a playoff contender.

Based on starting rotation strength, this matchup should be easily won by the MN Moose Knuckles. Jack doesn’t have a 10th starter on the roster right now, and only Montas is pitching twice.

Lineups (80 Hitter plays, 10 SP Plays)

C - Daulton Varsho vs Keibert Ruiz
1B - Eric Hosmer vs Vladimir Guerrero
2B - Trae Turner vs Tony Kemp
3B - Max Muncy vs Austin Riley
SS - Willy Adames vs Andres Gimenez

CF - Ben Gamel vs Aaron Judge
CO - JD Martinez vs Yordan Alvarez
CO - Yadiel Hernandez vs Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
DH - Nelson Cruz vs Anthony Santander

UTIL - Tommy Pham vs Jorge Soler
UTIL - Matt Chapman vs Ahmed Rosario
UTIL - Marcus Semien vs Gleyber Torres
UTIL - Robbie Grossman vs Adam Duvall

SP1 - Lucas Giolito (x2) vs Frankie Montas (x2)
SP2 - MacKenzie Gore (x2) vs Zac Gallen (x1)
SP3 - Ranger Suarez (x1) vs Sean Manaea (x1)
SP4 - Chris Bassitt (x1) vs Trevor Rogers (x1)
SP5 - Chad Kuhl (x1) vs Dane Dunning (x1)
SP6 - Luis Garcia (x1) vs Jose Urquidy (x1)
SP7 - Shane Bieber (x1) vs Martin Perez (x1)
SP8 - Jose Berrios (x1) vs Nick Pivetta (x1)
SP9 - n/a vs ???

MN Moose Knuckles: Advantage at 16/23 positions
$traight Cash Homie: Advantage at 7/23 positions