BGB Fantasy League 2015: Week Twelve

A monster week of offense saw a handful of players have double-digit RBI weeks. And the standings have really tightened up , with just eight games separating the top seven teams.

We begin with the week’s big winners as the Chasers hit double digits with a 10-2 win against Bits & Bytes. Posey was the offensive star, knocking in 12 runs to go with his six runs and .375 average, while Headley and the now injured Stanton homered twice. Carlos Martinez won both of his starts, while K-Rod and Uehara each had a pair of saves and Herrera notched two holds. Reyes had the lone steal for Bits & Bytes, while Strasburg and McHugh each won twice and helped take WHIP. But with Pedroia now hurt, a very thin roster looks even thinner with the DL and bench players not being utilised.

A very well played matchup for both teams here, but Jesmond ran out 9-3 winners against the Maltsters to cut the gap to top to just one game. Arenado had an outstanding week, launching seven homers, scoring 10 runs and driving in 14 to lead an offensive sweep. Six different pitchers notched wins while Shelby Miller helped the staff post a WHIP of 0.88 and Giles had a hold. The Maltsters will look at their stats and feel hard done by, as most other weeks they would have expected a strong win, especially with such great pitching stats joining a very solid offensive week. Holland had three saves, Greinke struck out 11 and some guy named Scherzer pitched pretty well again.

The Slugs stay top, but only just, after their 7-3 win against Norwich. Turner, Heyward and Gattis helped the offensive take five categories in a modest week with the bats, while Price was one of four pitchers with a win and struck out 12 for good measure. Jansen and Kimbrel had two saves each for Norwich, while Alex Wood and Syndergaard helped the staff post great ERA and WHIP numbers. It was a case of close but no cigar for all of the offensive categories.

A good week for the bullpen helped the RBIs defeat Batteries Essential 7-4. Zeigler had two saves, Melancon a win and a save and Davis a save and two holds. Hughes and Fister helped take ERA and WHIP. Valbuena went deep twice, as did McCann, who also drove in six runs. Billy Hamilton ran wild for Batteries Essential while Fielder, Yelich and Andrus also had great weeks with the bats, as the .330 team average shows. Bumgarner racked up 22 strikeouts and Hutchison won twice.

The Sox slugged their way to a 7-4 win against my struggling Isotopes, falling a homer shy of an offensive sweep. Gardner batted .500, scored nine times, homered twice and joined Cespedes and Alvarez in knocking in six. Betances had two saves and Ubaldo Jimenez, who won twice, teamed up with Burnett to make the difference in ERA. My Isoptopes salvaged wins, strikeouts and WHIP tahnks to Brett Anderon and Jepsen had the lone hold. Not much to mention offensively, apart from a good week from Altuve (seven runs, four steals, .333 average) going to waste.

Iron Men closed the gap on Becknam after their 7-5 win. Tulo scored six runs and joined Marte, who stole two bases, in helping to take average. Five different pitchers collected wins, including Keuchel, who did not allow an earned run. Matz was among the winners, but his offensive stats (three hits in his debut) don’t count. Frazier homered twice (as did Norris) and knocked in five (as did Mercer) for the Lollygaggers, while Kershaw struck out 18 and teamed with the Cub duo of Hammel and Arrieta to take WHIP.

Finally, the Knights edged past the Riverkings 6-5, thanks to an offensive sweep. Encarnacion, Correa, Pujols and Blackmon were the star hitters, while Street and Chase Anderson each picked up a win. The Riverkings fell short by one RBI, but Maikel Franco had a monster week, homering three times and driving in 13. Britton, Familia and Rosenthal combined for seven saves while King Felix struck out 13 and de Grom, Gallardo and Cueto made the difference in ERA and WHIP.

Slugs (1st) v Jesmond (2nd)

Lollygaggers (3rd) v Sox (5th)

Iron Men (4th) v Riverkings (7th)

Newcastle (6th) v Norwich (12th)

Batteries Essential (8th) v Maltsters (11th)

Chasers (9th) v Isotopes (14th)

RBIs (10th) v Bits & Bytes (13th)