BGB Fantasy League Week Fifteen

As the All-Star Break arrives, which teams are well set for a successful second half to the season in the BaseballGB Fantasy League?

SWAT continued their excellent season with a dominant 11-0 victory over Cardiff Red Sox. Stolen bases by Yoenis Cespedes, Desmond Jennings, Carlos Gomez and Chase Headley allowed Cardiff to rescue a draw in one of the categories, but the rest all went SWAT’s way. Adrian Beltre and Adam Jones both hit three home runs on the week, whilst Zack Greinke led the pitching staff with two pitching wins and 16 strike-outs.

The NE Riverkings gained a more-than-useful 8-2 victory over Richie’s RBI’s, although the RBI’s ran them close on several of the categories. Cole Hamels and Clayton Kershaw combined for 21 K’s on the Riverkings’ pitching staff, whilst Richie’s RBI’s picked up 13 K’s from Josh Johnson and Joel Peralta collected three holds. On the batting side, Shin-Soo Choo led the Riverkings with nine runs scored and Giancarlo Stanton continued his strong return from injury with two homers and five RBI on the week.

The third and fourth placed teams met in the next match-up and it was the Iron Men who came out on top. The gained five of the pitching categories, with Hisahi Iwakuma and the AL All-Star starter Max Scherzer combining for 23 strike-outs, Trevor Rosenthal collecting three holds and Koji Uehara adding three saves. The Super-Sox’s efforts were led by their offence. Miguel Cabrera had his typically impressive week and two players based in Chicago, Starlin Castro and Alejandro De Aza, both added a couple of homers apiece.

My Cheddar Chasers edged their way past Batteries Essential 6-4. Kyle Seager and Billy Butler went deep twice over the week, with Alex Rios continuing to be a decent source of some stolen bases for the team. Phil Hughes picked up 12 K’s and Derek Holland added 14 more alongside two pitching wins. However, Batteries Essential benefited from the most dramatic pitching performance on the week courtesy of Tim Lincecum’s no-hitter.  Jay Bruce chipped in seven RBI whilst Torii Hunter added seven runs scored.

The final two match-ups were both decided by a single point. Norwich No II just got the better of the Wright Stuff as Rex Brothers’ four holds, winning that category on his own, proved to be decisive. Chris Davis ended his blistering first half with a flourish, with Norwich No II also enjoying 10 RBI from Brandon Phillips and eight more from Matt Carpenter. The Wright Stuff’s young pitchers continued to impress as Tony Cingrani (15K), Partick Corbin (10K) and Gerrit Cole (9K) added handsomely to the strike-out total with veterans Grant Balfour (three saves) and Rafael Betancourt (two) helping out in the saves column.

The other close match-up went the way of Beck’Nams. Neither team’s offence really sprang into life over the course of the week and that allowed Beck’Nams to take four of the offensive categories despite no real stand-out individual showings. The Isotopes had three pitchers that got into double digits in the strike-out column. One of those was Matt Garza and he also added two pitching wins, something that he may find easier to replicate in future weeks if he does get traded by the Cubs to a contender before the deadline. Chris Perez provided four saves for the Isotopes, whilst Tyler Clippard’s two holds made all the difference in that category for the Beck’Nams.

Week 16 match-ups

Orpington Isotopes (5th) SWAT* (1st)

Iron Men (3rd) Norwich No II (2nd)

Weston-Super-Sox (4th) Batteries Essential (6th)

NE Riverkings (12th) Beck ‘Nams (7th)

The Wright Stuff (8th) Richie’s RBI’s (9th)

The Cheddar Chasers (11th) v Cardiff Redsox (10th)