BGB Fantasy League 2013 Week Two

There were some big-name injuries in MLB this past week. Which teams have been forced to put top players on the DL and who has managed to stay injury-free in the BaseballGB fantasy league?

We begin with one of the biggest winners of the week as Beck ‘Nams defeated Batteries Essential 8-3. Despite losing Jered Weaver to the DL, JJ’s team managed to win five pitching categories, as four players picked up wins, Garcia and Cahill racked up the strikeouts and Maholm, Lee and Verlander helped take ERA and WHIP. Offensively it was hardly a vintage week, but Rizzo, CarGo (who had two steals) and Asdrubal Cabrera all went deep while Sandoval drove in five runs. Batteries Essential took runs, average and OPS thanks to Hunter, Santana, Pujols and Wright but it was a tough week for the pitching staff.

Another 8-3 score saw SWAT defeat Iron Men, with the batters taking five categories out of six. Robinson Cano had a three-homer week, while the red-hot Mauer and Everth Cabrera helped take average and OPS. The pitching staff was dealt a pair of injuries, with Greinke and Hanrahan both on the DL, but Anibal Sanchez won both his starts, striking out 16 and helping take ERA and WHIP, while Johnson, Frieri, Rivera and Hanrahan combined for six saves. Iron Men had the edge in wins as six different pitchers claimed a victory, with Scherzer, CJ Wilson and Lynn recording double-digit strikeouts. Offensively, Pagan and Altuve were the pick of the hitters.

Norwich recorded their first win of the season, handing the Riverkings an 8-4 defeat. The hitters carried most of the load, belting 12 homers in a week, including three from Phillips and two from Hamilton, Davis and Pence, while Votto and Matt Carpenter helped take average and OPS. On the mound, Beckett struck out 13 while Kimbrel and Jansen took care of saves and holds. Austin Jackson scored 10 runs for the Riverkings, who had steals from Utley, Desmond and Reynolds. Matt Harvey won both his starts, striking out 15 on the way and teaming with Hamels to take ERA and WHIP. Nathan had three saves.

Cardiff  did just enough to squeeze past the RBIs 7-5 in a well-contested matchup. The Redsox took four offensive categories thanks to a monster week from Fielder, while Machado also had a nice week, as did Cespedes before his hand injury. On the mound, four different pitchers collected wins, including Sabathia, Minor and Ogando who helped take ERA. Wilhelmsen and Papelbon combined for five saves. Brandon Moss drove home nine for the RBIs, joining Harper in going deep twice while Aoki swiped two bases. Estrada and Gio Gonzalez combined for 23 strikeouts, Casilla had a win, a save and two holds and Darvish posted stingy WHIP numbers again. The RBIs must do without Hill and Ramos, who are both on the DL.

My Isotopes did just enough to edge the Stuff 6-5. Peavy, Wainwright and Dickey all picked up wins and racked up the strikeouts, while Romo, League and Boggs combined for seven saves – some more convingly than others. McCutchen was the difference in runs, Andrus stole three bases and Rosario even swiped a pair. The Stuff had more power as Justin Upton and Adrian Gonzalez each had multi-homer weeks, with Choo and the now-injured Bourn helping take average and OPS. Latos, Cueto and Tim Hudson were the difference in ERA and WHIP, although Cueto is also now out of action.

Finally, the Chasers and Sox couldn’t be separated. Matt’s side relied on their pitchers, who took every category execept wins thanks to Kuroda, Price and the Rays/Dbacks bullpen of Rodney, McGee, Hernandez and Putz. The Chassers’ offence wasn’t helped by the injuries to Reyes and Kubel, but Gordon, Butler and Molina helped take average. De Aza and Starlin Castro, two players not exactly known for their homers, each went deep twice for the Sox. A pair of Cabreras, Miguel and Melky, also helped, with Miggy driving in and scoring seven runs and Melky swiping two bases. Buchholz, who almost threw a no-hitter, won both of his starts and struck out 19 batters.

With the number of injuries this week, it might be worth scouring the free agent pool for replacements, or even talking trade with other managers to try to fill a hole. Will any deals be made? watch this space …

And finally, with no easy way to crowbar a link to this earlier, here’s a reason why you should always take your glove to the ballpark, no matter how large it is:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=26307649&c_id=mlb&topic_id=vtp_fan_clips

Week three fixtures:

SWAT (1st) v Batteries Essential (8th)

Beck ‘Nams (2nd) v Redsox (10th)

Norwich (3rd) v Sox (9th)

Stuff (4th) v Riverkings (7th)

Isotopes (5th) v RBIs (11th)

Chasers (6th) v Iron Men (12th)