Week Four Wrap-Up....

Little Falls Polaks beat White Bear Bears 2-1 (6-1, 3-4, 4-2-1)

Little Falls pulled off an early season upset by taking two of three from the defending champion White Bear Bears.  The Polaks got home runs from seven of their nine players, and had sixteen more hits than the Bears. Future hall of famers Erick Aybar (.480), James Loney (.385) and Omar Infante (8 RBI) helped key the offensive victory. Little Falls also managed to take the mixed category with big advantages in at-bats, strikeouts and walks. The mixed win came despite the Bears insane 10.8 K/9 over 42.2 innings, which is even more amazing when you consider the same pitching staff had a 5.91 ERA. In fact the only pitcher on the whole staff that didn’t manage a K/9 of at least 9.0 was Michael Pineda who might have joined them if he hadn’t slathered his entire body in pine tar. Strikeouts along with a slight WHIP advantage (1.406-1.413) gave White Bear a slight pitching advantage, narrowly allowing them to avoid a sweep. Both teams had fairly horrible pitching weeks, but Danny Salazar did stand out for the Bears (14 K in 11.1 IP, 3.97 ERA). The underdog Polaks have moved to one game out of the playoffs while the Bears are now two games out of first place.

MVP: Erick Aybar (12/25, .480, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 SB)

LVP: Carlos Santana (1/20, .050, 0 RBI, 5 K)

Township Tomahawks beat Roesville Raiders 2-1 (3-4, 4-2-1, 4-2-1)

Not only is this the latest into the season that the Matt Hugger-run Township Tomahawks have played a meaningful game; thanks to a 2-1 upset of Roesville they find themselves in first place of the whole division. Despite taking six losses, the Tomahawks managed 59 Ks in 56 IP and a 1.089 WHIP. Early season breakout candidate Garrett Richards (13 K in 13 IP, 2.08 ERA, 0.77 WHIP) starred for Township, while the Raiders obscene 6.75 ERA didn’t hurt. Current and past Twins Kyle Gibson (21.00 ERA) and Grant Balfour (16.88 ERA) did little to help the cause. On the offensive side Roesville continued to use their league-leading speed to pick up victories. The Raiders got 8 SB (Gardner 4 and Crisp 3) and 34 runs to help beat Township despite the Tomahawks’ 6-0 HR advantage (Albert Pujols reanimated corpse continues to impress with 3 HR). The pitching advantage help Township take the weekly matchup as it again took advantage of its superiror pitching with a 9.48 K/9 and a .204 opponent batting average. Township has taken both the week and first place from the Raiders, who are now one game out.

MVP: Garrett Richards (13 K in 13 IP, 2.08 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, .093 BAA)

LVP: Clay Buchholz (1-1, 9 ER and 4 K in 9.1 IP, 8.68 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, .317 BAA)

Dinkytown Wildcats beat Hugo Hurt Locker 2-1 (5-2, 1-4-2, 3-3-1)

After recently being denied their third NCAA hockey title, the oversexed pissant would-be rioters turned their attention to fantasy baseball, where they helped the Wildcats use their homefield advantage to secure a very close victory. Dinkytown had a huge hitting week with 9 HR and 39 RBI, thanks in large part to Nelson Cruz (4 HR, 13 RBI) finding better, less-traceable roids and recent signee Chris Colabello (2 HR, 7 RBI). Hugo managed to take pitching 4-1-2 with a win in every category except wins. Rarely does a team get five pitching wins and lose all of the other categories but that’s exactly what happened to the Wildcats. Ex-Wildcat (and two time league runner-up) Jared Weaver made his old team pay with a solid six-inning start and John Lackey put down his fried chicken long enough to strike out 11 guys and only allowed one run in 8 IP. Somehow despite getting dominated in the pitching category, Dinkytown took victories in K/9 and BAA to tie the mixed category at home for a surprising 2-1 victory. The two teams stayed in the same place in the standings with the Wildcats two games out of the playoffs and Hugo one game back.

MVP: Nelson Cruz (8/27, .296, 4 HR, 13 RBI)

LVP: Mike Zunino (1/15, .067, 7 K)

Twin City Brewers beat Midway Mets 3-0 (5-2, 5-2, 5-2)

The Twin City Brewers used a dominating sweep over the struggling Midway squad to take over first place of the division. The Mets actually had a solid power week with 9 HR and 34 RBI thanks in large part to the contributions of Brett Lawrie (.333, 3 HR, 8 RBI). But those were the only two offensive categories they managed to win with Twin City having a consistent .295 average and 8 HRs of their own. James Shields (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 15 K in 13 IP) and R.A. Dickey (1-0, 2.92 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 12 K in 12.1 IP) helped the Brewers take a closer-than-it-looks 5-2 pitching win. Almost all of the categories were close, so Shields’ and Dickey’s two starts each were just as important as their masterful performances. The Mets only got eleven more at-bats from Suzuki and Choo than they did from Tanka, which led to 35 less ABs, and Twin City had a 9.89 K/9 helping them take mixed to finish the sweep. Twin City now has a two-game lead in the division, while the Mets need to start winning soon if they don’t want 2014 to be another lost season.

MVP: James Shields (2-0, 2.08 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 15 K in 13 IP)

LVP: Mark Buehrle (0-1, 10.13 ERA, 2.81 WHIP, 12 H and 6 ER in 5.1 IP)

Week Three Wrap-Up...

Had some managerial changes at Huberts so I've been working constantly. Should quiet down now so I should be able to get this out every week. I've said that before and been wrong.

Township Tomahawks beat Dinkytown Wildcats 3-0 (5-1, 3-2-2, 4-2-1)

The Tomahawks moved into a tie for first place with a complete thrashing of the suddenly reeling Wildcats. Dinkytown had two offensive players go down to injury early in the week but when you are relying on the likes of Macier Izturis and Adam Lind you probably won’t get much sympathy. Township dominated offensively with huge advantages in HRs (7-1), RBIs (29-15) and Runs (29-14). The Tomahawks got huge weeks from two guys at opposite ends of their careers: Albert Pujols (9-25, 3 HR, 7 RBI) and Will Myers (2 HR and 7 RBI). Pitching was a little closer with Dinkytown taking ERA and WHIP, but getting beat mainly because Township got more innings. Jake Peavy didn’t get a win in his two starts, but his 13 Ks and 11.2 IP might have been the difference in the matchup. Mixed was another blowout with the Tomahawks capitalizing on being on the field more for both at-bats and pitching appearances. A comical 9.14-5.50 K/9 win definitely helped as well. It’s a little early to make too much out of it, but these two rivals appear to be going in much different directions.

MVP: Albert Pujols (3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, .360)

LVP: Salvador Perez (3-26, 5 K, 1 E)

White Bear Bears beat Twin City Brewers 2-1 (1-6, 4-3, 6-1)

The defending champions got a razor thin victory over the Brewers putting the two teams in a tie for first place. The closest matchup was definitely pitching with White Bear taking it despite losing the all-important ERA and WHIP totals. Greg Holland’s three saves and four pitchers with over 10 K/9 ended up being the difference. Most of the categories were reasonably close in offense, but when team gets 15 extra hits that’s usually going to lead to more counting stats. Twin City didn’t have any huge hitting weeks but Leonys Martin (.400), Alex Rios (.367) and Josh Donaldson (.370) all helped them gain their one win. Donaldson’s four errors did just as much damage the other way, with White Bear taking all but one of the mixed categories. It didn’t take White Bear long to find themselves in their familiar perch atop their division.

MVP: Greg Holland (3 saves in 3 apperances, 6 K in 3 IP)

LVP: Mike Napoli (4/18, 1 RBI, 7 K)

Roesville Raiders beat Hugo Hurt Locker 3-0 (4-3, 6-1, 5-1-1)

Roesville moved into first place with a dominant performance against a struggling Hugo squad. You aren’t going to win many games with an 8.53 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. A lot of the blame for this can be put on the shoulders of one Jarred Cosart who gave up 7 earned runs and managed to record a single out for a 189.00 ERA. If he could have just managed to allow four less runs and record 17 more outs he would have had a quality start. It likely wouldn’t have mattered either way but the Raiders had a solid pitching week with a 2.56 ERA and 1.19 ERA thanks in large part to thirteen shutout innings from Justin Verlander and Kyle Gibson. Offensively Roesville only hit .246 but nine steals and a one run advantage allowed them to eke out a victory. Former double play combo Ian Kinsler (.350, 7 RBI) and Elvis Andrus (.292, 5 SB) led the way to the surprising victory. Mixed was another blowout with Roesville managing 27 extra at bats but still managed more walks and less strikeouts. The Raiders will try to break the first place tie with a big game against the Township Tomahawks in week four.

MVP: Weak race but I’ll go with Kyle Gibson (1-0, 0 ER in 8 IP)

LVP: Jarred Cosart (7 ER in 0.1 IP, 180.00 ERA, 21.00 WHIP)

Little Falls beat Midway Mets 3-0 (5-2, 4-2-1, 5-2)

Little Falls took the third sweep of the week with a good performance against the last place Midway Mets. The Polaks had a fantastic pitching week with a 1.86 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. Hector Santiago (0.71 ERA, 1.03 WHIP in 12.2 IP) and Max Scherzer (1-0, 9 K in 7 IP, 1.29 ERA, 0.71 WHIP) helped secure the pitching victory. Midway took HR and RBI but still managed to lose the hitting side. Jose Altuve’s four steals, three Polaks hitting over .340 (Longoria, Aoki and Loney), and three Mets hitting below .200 (Gomes, Carter and Lawrie). Little Falls had four more at-bats, one more walk and five less strikeouts to take the mixed matchup. Little Falls finds itself in third place, while Midway is already four games out of a playoff spot.

MVP: Hector Santiago (1 ER in 12.2 IP, 10 K, 0.71 ERA, 1.03 WHIP)

LVP: Chris Carter (1/17, 8 Ks, .059)

Welcome Back WBLFBL

You can find a number of updates on the site.

• 2014 Draft Day
• 2014 Minor League Draft Order
• Keepers 2014

Hopefully they will assist you in draft preparation.

The Draft will be on Saturday, March 22nd at 10 AM.
 
If you have any comments or concerns please let me know via text or email.

Thanks,
Matt