MLB CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Playoff Matchups
Championship Game
Wait ‘Til Next Year (2) vs Sporty Strauss (5)
3rd-Place Game
Win’s Up Doc (1) vs $traight Cash Homie (3)
Consolation Championship Game
The Pullies (7th) vs The BamO’s (8th)
9th-Place Game
Las Cabras (9th) vs MN Moose Knuckles (10th)
Season-Long Standings (Min/Max)
Sporty Strauss (CLINCHED FIRST PLACE)
Win’s Up Doc
Minimum of 27 points
Maximum of 28 points
Wait ‘Til Next Year
Minimum of 25 points
Maximum of 28 points
Las Cabras
Minimum of 21 points
Maximum of 22 points
Ornery Otters
21 POINTS (FINALIZED)
The BamO’s
Minimum of 18 points
Maximum of 19 points
MN Moose Knuckles
Minimum of 17 points
Maximum of 18 points
DTC Porkchop Express
16 POINTS (FINALIZED)
Cooper Troopers
15 POINTS (FINALIZED)
The Pullies
Minimum of 15 points
Maximum of 16 points
SG Choppers
15 POINTS (FINALIZED)
$traight Cash Homie (CLINCHED LAST PLACE)
ROUND 2 RECAP
PLAYOFFS
Win’s Up Doc (1st) - 524
Sporty Strauss (5th) - 507
Notes: 17 measly points this week separates a likely $4000. 17 points. Now, Sporty Strauss is victorious. It’s heartbreak for Win’s Up Doc, who put chips in the table for this season, and it’s elation and relief for Sporty Strauss. Both of these squads are trending downwards next season, so they should revel in a cash out now.
However, Win’s Up Doc is not out of the woods of this season’s League of Leagues. Not at all. Instead of the $4000 for first place, he’s now looking to simply hold onto a tie of 2nd right now. Sporty Strauss has 1st clinched and can add another $400 and Champion’s Club tickets next week by winning the MLB Championship game. Win’s Up Doc is fighting for 3rd place MLB and another $100 in his budget for the year.
The MVP of this game for Sporty Strauss is Alex Bregman and his 23.5 point single game performance. Bregman scored 38 points total on the week – a mammoth number that will be hard to replicate in the championship. So he’ll have to find other players to step up.
In general, there is a lot to glean from Sporty Strauss’ (and Win’s Up Doc’s) roster construction. First, both of these teams’ hitting was remarkable similar. Despite that performance from Bregman, Sporty Strauss only scored 10 more points in the lineup than Doc. Second, neither of these teams had many awful hitting performances outside of Carlos Correa on Doc. However, Sporty Strauss had more high-powered hitting weeks like he got from his big 3. Mookie and Machado also performed very well. Another takeaway is that Strauss had big games from some trade acquisitions. Justin Turner, Alejandro Kirk and Charlie Blackmon were all solid, each of whom made the difference between winning and losing if someone else had scored zero in his stead.
Elsewhere, Sporty Strauss was actually outscored in the rotation. His starting pitchers were serviceable, but Doc’s were still better (even though the Alex Wood start (-2 points) will haunt Win’s Up Doc for the rest of his life. However, when it’s all said and done, this game was lost by Oat in relief. Sporty Strauss scored 55 points from his relief pitchers whilst Win’s Up Doc only scored about 40. That near 15-point difference is remarkably close to the 17-point spread between a winner and loser.
On that note, the LVP of this matchup is clearly Rafael Montero, a pitcher for the Houston Astros. Montero came in to replace an Astros starter in the middle of the 8th inning on Monday with 2 outs with a 2-0 lead against the White Sox. Montero proceeded to give up two straight doubles that tied the game. Then he walked two more batters to load the bases before Yoan Moncada hit a single to give Chicago the lead. Montero never even got an out. It was a -13-point game. If he had just gotten an out and gotten the hold, Win’s Up Doc would be in the playoffs right now. That performance set the tone for the week, and sent Oat reeling.
So relief pitching just decided the League of Leagues. There were other bad breaks for Win’s Up Doc, for sure. Oat sat Jose Berrios who scored almost 34 points in place of Alex Wood. That would have flipped the matchup as well. Even starting one of Alex Cobb’s two starts would have swung the matchup.
But what happened to Rafael Montero and Alex Cobb will live on in Oat’s heart forever. He will never forget about one random relief appearance in the middle of the dog days of MLB August, and that is the power of fantasy.
Wait ‘Til Next Year (2nd) - 537 points
$traight Cash Homie (3rd) - 443 points
Notes: This result is a perfect example of why Wait ‘Til Next Year will ALWAYS have an advantage in the League of Leagues. Nobody is going to put in comparable research into MLB. Nobody else knows or cares about Major League Baseball. Wait ‘Til Next Year’s team is banged up and his lineup is quite bereft, yet he still beat a very good team by triple digits just by finding spot starters in all three phases of the fantasy game..
In the relief pitching category, Wait ‘Til Next Year absurdly scored 50 more points than $traight Cash Homie. That means the smallest scoring category in baseball accounted for about half of Kyle’s win. It’s where Kyle put his research to the test. He found multiple relievers who started multiple innings, including Ryan Yarbrough who got a win after coming in for an opener and Taylor Hearn who earned a 3-inning save. If Wait ‘Til Next Year continues to do this in future weeks and future years, the rest of the league stands little chance of competing with him without a super team. And even if they had a super team like Strauss or Doc do right now, the odds of winning are still up in the air. Kyle would have beaten Oat this week and JUST barely lost to Strauss.
In the hitting category, Win’s Up Doc won by about 60 points, despite having a vastly inferior hitting lineup. This was due to research as well. He put Jake Fraley into his lineup the last couple of days and ended up with 26 points from a nobody. He got 25 points from Jose Miranda. He pulled the strings for spot starts like throwing in Michael Massey for a game that got 7 points. Basically, he watched pitching matchups and played splits, and this shows you why MLB is an inherently unbalanced League of Leagues sport. In both NFL and NBA, one player makes all the difference. In MLB, it doesn’t matter much. No matter if you have stars or average guys, there will always be a player on the waiver wire to pick up and improve your odds, even if you are benching a good player. Kyle has the best MLB team going forward, but he also will know the value of spot starts more than anyone else as well. With so many teams tanking every year and tanking rules become more lax next season, it’s going to be so easy for good teams to just pick up players and compete on a weekly basis in baseball.
In the rotation, this edge belonged to $traight Cash Homie, but not by much. Jack had stellar pitching matchups and should have dominated this category. But he made too many bad decisions this week. Starting Frankie Montas (3 points) was one of them. On the bench, he left 30 points from Jose Urquidy, 25 points from Dane Dunning and 54 points from Patrick Sandoval. On top of that, he mismanaged his hitters. He ignored 30 combined points on from Austin Hays and Anthony Santander, his Orioles duo.
If had managed his team better and did the research that Wait ‘Til Next Year did, there was a lineup he could have set this week that got him a win. Instead, he CLINCHED last place in the League of Leagues. Jack doesn’t deserve it based on the effort he did put in during the MLB season despite being the clear contender to get last place, but now has to go to a restaurant all day without his phone.
At this point, however, Jack might be content to do so. Winning could have meant slipping down to the 5th or even the 8th Strauss selection, and Jack NEEDS NBA help more than any other team. Now he gets to choose between Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero (or field some trade offers). It’s a tough beat, but it’s the best result for the Homies. No pain. No gain. And there is much gain to be had for Jack next season.
LAST PLACE GAME
SG Choppers (11) - 355 points
DTC Porkchop Express (12) - 300 points
Craig did it! He sucked so hard that it’s honestly impressive. He barely cleared 300 points on the week. He became the second most inept team in the history of the League of Leagues, following shortly after $traight Cash Homies’ NBA squad.
His hitting was disastrous, 30 points worse than the Choppers. He had a couple of okay starts and then some absolute stinkers. Pablo Lopez is his MVP/LVP with -2. Detmers. Cole Irvin. Zach Thompson. Keegan Thompson. All of those pitchers sucked massive cheeks.
For Dye at least this means he avoided last place, but now he’s on a dead-on tie with the Cooper Troopers and potentially The Pullies for 9th place. They are all tied for the rights to the 2nd overall Strauss selection. By winning this game, he might have just blown his chance on Chet or Paolo, but setting for Jabari or Ivey will be just fine.
5TH-PLACE GAME
Cooper Troopers (4) - 500 points
Ornery Otters (6) - 540 points
CONSOLATION PLAYOFFS
The Pullies (7) - 395 points
MN Moose Knuckles (10) - 335 points
The BamO’s (8) - 535 points
Las Cabras (9) - 390 points
The rest of this is just Strauss Seeding and missed opportunities. And speaking of those missed opportunities, The BamO’s (8) should be feeling sick about not making the playoffs now. They would have scored the high score of the week had they hit 10 SP plays. The Ornery Otters (6) came in second. Had Korey snuck past round one, he’d be in the championship game. He’d be in the exact same scenario as Wait ‘Til Next Year. He should have made more moves to bolster his first-round pitching staff, but he’s probably content to potentially stay in front of Las Cabras (9) for Strauss picks.
The MN Moose Knuckles basically completed their meaningless tank. Hall was almost always destined for the 6th and 7th Strauss Picks from the time that the DTC Porkchop Express become a shell of team. Hall will have to wait and see how it unfolds with both he and The BamO’s’ picks in the middle of the Strauss draft.
Elsewhere, the Cooper Troopers and The Pullies are just breathing a huge sigh of relief after not taking last place. Now The Pullies await whether or not they are tied with the Choppers and Cooper Troopers for the 2nd Strauss Pick or tied with DTC Porkchop Express for 4th.
There are still mysteries to unearth in the final week of the playoffs.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Wait ‘Til Next Year (2) vs Sporty Strauss (5)
Wait ‘Til Next Year: Projected… 500 points
Sporty Strauss: Projected … 515 points
GAME LINE: Wait ‘Til Next Year +15 vs Sporty Strauss
Wait ‘Til Next Year Lineup:
C – Willson Contreras (3.2 ppg)
1B – CJ Cron (3ppg)
2B – Jean Segura (2.8ppg)
3B – Jose Miranda (2.6ppg)
SS – Jake Cronenworth (2.8ppg)
CF – Brandon Nimmo (2.8ppg)
CO – Juan Soto (3.4ppg)
CO – Kyle Schwarber (3.1ppg)
DH – Christian Yelich (2.9ppg)
UTIL – Jake Fraley (2.9ppg)
UTIL – Harold Ramirez (2.4ppg)
UTIL – Evan Longorio (2.4ppg)
UTIL – Alek Thomas (2ppg)
SP1 – Shane McClanahan (LAA) – 31 proj. points
SP2 – Gerrit Cole (@OAK) – 28 proj. points
SP3 – Jacob deGrom (@NYY) – 22.5 proj. points
SP4 – Kyle Wright (@PIT) – 28 proj. points
SP5 – Dakota Hudson (@CHC) – 16.5 proj. points
SP6 – Domingo German (@OAK) – 16 proj. points
SP7 – Marco Gonzales ©E) – 14.5 proj. points
SP8 – Eduardo Rodriguez (@TEX) – 14 proj. points
SP9 – Jeffrey Springs (LAA) – 18 proj. points
SP10 – Jeffrey Springs (@BOS) – 13 proj. points
RP1 – Devin Williams (5.5ppg)
RP2 – Pete Fairbanks (5.8ppg)
RP3 – Taylor Hearn (5ppg)
RP4 – Garrett Whitlock (5ppg)
RP5 – AJ Minter (4.8ppg)
RP6 – Andres Munoz (4.7ppg)
Sporty Strauss Lineup:
C – Alejandro Kirk (2.7ppg)
1B – Alex Bregman (3.3ppg)
2B – Jon Berti (2.9ppg)
3B – Manny Machado (3.5ppg)
SS – Amed Rosario (2.8ppg)
CF – Mike Trout (3.3ppg)
CO – Mookie Betts (4ppg)
CO – Charlie Blackmon (2.9ppg)
DH – Andrew McCutcheon (2.8ppg)
UTIL – Taylor Ward (2.8 ppg)
UTIL – Justin Turner (2.7ppg)
UTIL – JP Crawford (2.4ppg)
UTIL – Nick Castellanos (2.3ppg)
UTIL – Nolan Gorman (2.3ppg)
SP1 – Justin Verlander (MIN) – 28 proj. points
SP2 – Dylan Cease (@BAL) – 27 proj. points
SP3 – Adam Wainwright (@CHC) – 25.5 proj. points
SP4 – Brandon Woodruff (CHC) – 25 proj. points
SP4 – Edward Cabrera (@OAK) – 24 proj. points
SP5 – Tony Gonsolin (MIL) – 23 proj. points
SP6 – Dylan Cease (ARI) – 22 proj. points
SP7 – Chris Bassitt (COL) – 21.5 proj. points
SP8 – Josiah Gray ©N) – 21.5 proj. points
SP9 – Lance Lynn (@BAL) – 20 proj. points
SP10 – Nick Lodolo (@WAS) – 18.5 proj. points
RP1 – Ryan Helsley (7ppg)
RP2 – Kenley Jansen (6ppg)
RP3 – David Robertson (5.1ppg)
RP4 – Alexis Diaz (5ppg)
RP5 – Evan Phillips (4.7ppg)
RP6 – Craig Kimbrel (4ppg)
Notes: This is as even as you get for a championship matchup, and it will be fascinating. Wait ‘Til Next Year (2) has EVERYTHING to play for, because he could jump up to 2nd place with a WIN and a Win’s Up Doc LOSS. If both win, they tie for 2nd and share a $1500 cut. If Kyle loses, he takes 3rd place.
Both championship lineups are a little bit of a mess towards the back-end of the would-be-starters, but that’s because both sold out to find pitching last week. Sporty Strauss (5) definitely has a better lineup, and it should only be improved if Mike Trout can reclaim his pre-injury form and Bregman can stay hot, continuing his pursuit of a League of Leagues MVP trophy.
But the Wait ‘Til Next Year research factor is real. He’s finding players all over the board to supplement his core, and Sporty Strauss should do some research of his own to play some defense, though he might not be as motivated to do so without a LoL title on the line.
In the rotation, Sporty Strauss has a CLEAR edge with a really spectacular pitching projection this week. It’s far better than last week. His top-9 pitchers are all no-brainer plays with no bad matchups between them. He gets a two-start weeks from Cease as well as a possibly Verlander game against the Orioles if the Astros move him up a day. Wainwright and Cabrera could pitch twice as well. Pitching will give Sporty a solid baseline for the week.
On the other side, Wait ‘Til Next Year only has 4 bonafide starters, but they all have EXCELLENT matchups. So this isn’t going to be a runaway victory for Strauss. Kyle has already picked up an array of 5 or 6 other starters with great matchups to spot into his lineup in the championship. It’s all about matchups, and Kyle is being smart about his rotation. He never traded for any help, because he knew he could out-research folks to win an MLB Championship.
3RD-PLACE GAME
Win’s Up Doc (1) vs $traight Cash Homie (3)
Win’s Up Doc: Projected… 530 points
$traight Cash Homie: Projected … 480 points
GAME LINE: Win’s Up Doc -50 vs $traight Cash Homie
Win’s Up Doc Lineup:
C – William Contreras (2.7)
1B – Freddie Freeman (3.7ppg)
2B – Jose Altuve (3.4ppg)
3B – Nolan Arenado (3.7ppg)
SS – Xander Bogaerts (2.8ppg)
CF – Jarren Duran (2.3ppg)
CO – Kyle Tucker (3.4ppg)
CO – Luis Arraez (3ppg)
DH – Josh Bell (3ppg)
UTIL – Jose Abreu (3ppg)
UTIL – Wilmer Flores (2.8ppg)
UTIL – Hunter Renfroe (2.8ppg)
UTIL – Carlos Correa (2.6ppg)
UTIL – Jeremy Pena (2.4ppg)
SP1 – Yu Darvish (WAS) – 29 proj. points
SP2 – Tyler Anderson (MIA) – 26.5 proj. points
SP3 – Michael Wacha (@BAL) – 24.5 proj. points
SP4 – Max Scherzer (@ATL) – 23 proj. points
SP5 – Carlos Rodon (ARI) – 22.5 proj. points
SP6 – Jose Berrios (BAL [or @NYY]) – 21 proj. points
SP7 – Merrill Kelly (@SF) – 21 proj. points
SP8 – Merrill Kelly (STL) – 21 proj. points
SP9 – Alex Cobb (ARI) – 15 proj. points
SP10 – Kevin Gausman (@NYY) – 15 proj. points
RP1 – Edwin Diaz (6.5ppg)
RP2 – Emmanuel Clase (5.4ppg)
RP3 – Paul Sewald (4.8ppg)
RP4 – Rafael Montero (4.5ppg)
RP5 – Chris Martin (3.6ppg)
RP6 – ???
$traight Cash Homie Lineup:
C – Keibert Ruiz (2.1ppg)
1B – Vladimir Guerrero (3.3ppg)
2B – Brendan Rodgers (2.8ppg)
3B – Austin Riley (3.4ppg)
SS – Andres Gimenez (2.9ppg)
CF – Aaron Judge (4.5ppg)
CO – Yordan Alvarez (3.9ppg)
CO – Anthony Santander (2.9ppg)
DH – Christian Walker (2.9ppg)
UTIL – Christopher Morel (2.6ppg)
UTIL – Austin Hays (2.6ppg)
UTIL – Gleyber Torres (2.4ppg)
UTIL – Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (2.4ppg)
UTIL – Oneil Cruz (2.1ppg)
SP1 – Zac Gallen (@KC) – 27 proj. points
SP2 – Jose Urquidy (BAL) – 25 proj. points
SP3 – Sean Manaea (@KC) – 25 proj. points
SP4 – Luis Castillo (CLE) – 22.5 proj. points
SP5 – Nick Pivetta (TB) – 17.5 proj. points
SP6 – Martin Perez (@COL) – 17 proj. points
SP7 – Patrick Sandoval (@TB) – 16.5 proj. points
SP8 – Andrew Heaney (MIL) – 16 proj. points
SP9 – Frankie Montas (NYM) – 11 proj. points
SP10 – Dane Dunning (@COL) – 9.5 proj. points
RP1 – Daniel Bard (5.3ppg)
RP2 – Wil Crowe (4.4ppg)
RP3 – Anthony Bass (4.2ppg)
RP4 – Camilo Doval (4.2ppg)
RP5 – Ian Kennedy (3.4ppg)
RP6 – Aroldis Chapman (2.9ppg)
Notes: Similar to the first-place game, one team has nothing to play for and the other is fighting for money. $traight Cash Homie is the former. He clinched last place in the League of Leagues, but he can still get the $100 3rd place prize this week… all of which would probably pay for his drink bill at whichever restaurant Sporty Strauss picks for the last-place punishment.
In this matchup itself, Win’s Up Doc should be favored by a country mile. He’s still the best team in the league, and his pitching matchups are far better than Jack’s. Last week was a missed opportunity for $traight Cash Homie – his best pitching slate all season was lost. Now, after a plethora of two-start SPs in Round 2, all of his pitchers only play once and he won’t be able to pick and choose.
Jack is probably a bit depressed after last week’s game and won’t be as motivated to set his lineup as Oat is, so all-in-all, one should expect Win’s Up Doc to rebound in a big way after his own tough loss and his relinquishing of the League of Leagues to his bitter rival.
CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP
The Pullies (7) vs The BamO’s (8)
The Pullies: Projected … 450 points
The BamO’s: Projected… 465 points
GAME LINE: The Pullies +15 against The BamO’s
Notes: After The BamO’s crushed last week, they stand better odds of beating The Pullies than not. Lineups aren’t listed for these games, but Sam and Ez have SMASH pitching matchups. Both these teams would probably prefer to lose this matchup, but The Pullies would prefer to lose more than The BamO’s.
With a LOSS, Pete and Eric can TIE the Choppers and the Cooper Troopers for 9th place in the League of Leagues, which means that the 2nd overall Strauss Pick would be up to drawing cards. The Pullies could move up a little bit in the Strauss Draft and take Paolo/Chet if they wanted to or use that asset to trade down in the Strauss Draft for more assets in any sports.
Now that The Pullies don’t have to worry about last, it’s time to actually commit to a tank. They are still required to set their best lineup, but this is what they should have done all along. It’s a perfect landing spot for The Pullies after a disappointing season.
9th-Place Game
Las Cabras (9) vs MN Moose Knuckles (10)
Las Cabras: Projected… 445 points
MN Moose Knuckles: Projected… 480 points
GAME LINE: Las Cabras +35 against MN Moose Knuckles
Notes: These teams have tried their darndest to suck in the playoffs, and they finally suck-ceded last week. There’s not much at stake for the MN Moose Knuckles now who are locked in at 6th or 7th place with The BamO’s whose first round picks Hall owns. Las Cabras are still “trying to” fend off the Ornery Otters for 4th place in the League of Leagues and would do so with a win. But those quotation marks are there because Las Cabras probably would just prefer to lose and try to get a higher Strauss selection in the tiebreaking procedures.
$500 is meaningless in the League of Leagues, but an elite asset in the Strauss Draft could mean everything next season.
PROJECTED STRAUSS DRAFT
$traight Cash Homie (clinched)
(tie for 2nd) SG Choppers
(tie for 2nd) Cooper Troopers
(tie for 2nd) The Pullies
DTC Porkchop Express
MN Moose Knuckles
MN Moose Knuckles (from the BamO’s)
(tie for 8th) Las Cabras
(tie for 8th) Ornery Otters
Wait ‘Til Next Year
Win’s Up Doc
Sporty Strauss (clinched)