BGB Fantasy League 2016: Week One

The 2016 BaseballGB Fantasy League is under way. Which teams are off to a flying start and which teams have been bitten by injuries already?

The biggest winners of the opening week were the Maltsters, who defeated the Bombers 11-1. So who led the Maltsters in homers? Goldschmidt? Fielder? Gomez? Murphy? No, it was Jean Segura, who hit three and also stole two bases. Goldy and Prince each knocked in seven, while Murphy joined Segura in driving in five. Segura, Murphy, Eaton and Gordon all hit over .400 for the week.Liriano was one of five pitchers with a win, striking out 13. Davis had a win and joined Gregerson with two saves. The Bombers salvaged runs thanks to Bautista, who homered twice, and Corey Seager. Iglesias had a win and 12 strikeouts.

The Riverkings are also off to a flyer, defeating Norwich 9-3. Jay Bruce was the star batter, hitting .391 with two homers and nine RBIs, while Abreu and Moustakas each had multi-homer weeks. The pitching staff racked up an incredible 70 strikeouts, including 14 from Kershaw (who helped take ERA and WHIP), 13 from Jose Fernandez and 10 from Volquez.

Kela, Giles and Watson had two holds each. Odor, Springer and Grichuk each had a steal for Norwich, while Rizzo homered twice and knocked in 10, but the team struggled to hit for average. Salazar and Maeda each had a win while Tolleson collected a pair of saves.

My Isotopes managed to defeat the Slugs 8-4 in a matchup which went back and forth all week. David Peralta scored seven runs, while Adrian Gonzalez hit .429 and knocked in six runs and Teixeira knocked in seven. Marte swiped two bases. Sale had two wins, Casilla and Britton collected two saves each and Romo racked up four holds. Archer (17), Odorizzi (14) and Bumgarner (14) racked up the strikeouts as the Slugs’ staff posted 77, while de Grom and the bullpen helped take ERA.The star player was Trevor Story, who batted .333 with seven homers and 12 RBIs – what a savvy pick-up he could prove to be.

The Chasers also picked up an 8-4 win against Iron Men. Donaldson scored eight runs, homered four times and knocked in nine, teaming with Posey to take average and OPS. Lester picked up a win and helped take ERA and WHIP while Shelby Miller struck out eight. Iron Men saw Cano homer four times and drive in seven, while Correa hit three homers and joined Ellsbury in driving in four. Jeffress had three saves and Storen three holds.

Batteries Essential started with a win, beating Jesmond Dennings 7-4.Brandon Crawford scored five runs while Span knocked in six and Castellanos and McCutchen helped take average and OPS. Cueto had a pair of wins and struck out 12, while King Felix (16) and Richards (13) also racked up the strikeouts. Dickerson hit three homers and Heyward swiped a base in an otherwise quiet offensive week for Jesmond, while Osuna had three saves and the trio of Nicasio, Joe Ross and Nola helped take ERA and WHIP.

Another matchup, another 7-4 as the RBIs defeated the Lollygaggers. Fowler scored seven runs and hit .526 while Machado hit three homers and Castro hit two homers and drove in eight. Arrieta won twice and helped take ERA and WHIP. Altuve stole four bases for the Lollygaggers, while Hamels and Nelson each had 12 strikeouts, McGee had two saves and Hernandez two holds.

Last, but by no means least, the Knights collected a 6-4 win against the Sox. Puig scored seven runs and was one of four players to steal a base for the Knights. Price had a win and 10 strikeouts, teaming with Hammel to take ERA and WHIP. The Sox had the better of the offense, as CarGo homered three times, as did Kemp, who also knocked in 10. Papelbon had three saves.

Batteries Essential suffered an early slice of bad luck after AJ Pollock was sidelined after the draft and before Opening Day and looks likely to miss most, if not all, of the regular season. The Riverkings also had to deal with Schwarber’s season-ending injury. Remember you can make trades straight away, so if you think you have a surplus in one position, have a look at other teams’ rosters and see if there’s potential for a deal. Or keep your eye on the waiver wire for the next Trevor Story…

Maltsters (1st) v Iron Men (12th)

Riverkings (2nd) v Jesmond (10th)

Isotopes (3rd) v Lollygaggers (9th)

Chasers (4th) v Norwich (13th)

Batteries Essential (5th) v Sox (8th)

RBIs (6th) v Knights (7th)

Slugs (11th) v Bombers (14th)