The fourth week of our season is in the books and, suffice it to say, it didn't really deliver on some of the excitement I was looking for. Sure, several teams showed up and posted scores of 300+. Unfortunately, they were matched up against teams were lucky to top 250 points and, in some cases, not even 200. It was a lop-sided week of matchups, to say the least.
But like I mentioned, some teams showed up this week - four for sure - and together they produced one of the highest scoring weeks in our young season.
Not including the first week of the season, we've seen four teams reach the 300-point threshold through the first three weeks. The fact that we saw four teams do it this week alone - nearly five - should give you an indication of the dominance displayed by some.
Will week 4 go down as the week where we began to see the cream rise to the top?
One of the contests I was eager to see was Myrtle Beach Mermen at Tallahassee Tator Tots. Last week I shared my opinion about these teams being among the hottest in the league and I certainly thought the Mermen would have their hands full heading into a series at Ore-Ida Field. This game looked like a prime-time matchup.
And it was...until the 3rd inning.
After two innings, the Tots were looking good, sitting on a 6-run lead. But the wheels quickly came off in the third inning and that would set the course for the outcome of the game.
In the top of the 3rd, Paul Goldschmidt unleashed an 18-point day with a 4 H, 2 HR performance to pair with Hunter Brown's 35 points and Yusei Kikuchi's 27 points. By the time the inning was over, the Mermen tallied 110 points - 36 points more than the next best inning by any team this week.
The Tator Tots were cooked. They had no answer, scoring only 47 points in that inning, they watched in anguish as the Mermen jumped out to a 57-run lead through three that would prove to be more than enough, defeating the Tots 357-260.
That 357-point week for the Mermen gave them an important victory in keeping pace with Akes and Pain for the divisional lead in the Sagebrush standings as well as the highest single week score so far this season.
Since we're on the topic of Akes and Pain, it's not surprising to see them bounce back from a terrible week 3 with a convincing win over the lowly Poke Bananas. It's still early in the season, but this team appears well equipped to make a legitimate run at the Championship.
Another team that topped the 300-point mark this week was the Springfield Isotopes who, for all intents and purposes, had the week off in being paired up against the Green Monstahs. Jeremy Pena and Nathaniel Lowe led among the 'Topes hitters this week, racking up an impressive 28 points each.
But the real success for the Isotopes in week 4 was on the mound. Sonny Gray threw a pair of outstanding games, striking out 15 and allowing only 1 run in his two appearances this week. Add that to Charlie Morton's best game of the season - 34 points - and you can see how it was that they laid waste to the Monstahs.
The final 300-point team this week was the Los Perros Locos who seem to have crawled out from under their awful opening week performance. For the third straight week, the Perros find themselves among the top scoring teams in the league, earning bonus wins in each. And with that, they've taken over as the team to beat in the Pacific Coast League - er, I mean Cactus division.
Whether or not the Perros belong in the same conversation with the other teams that scored over 300 this week remains to be seen. Their hitters have been on par with those other teams but they seem to lack the consistently stellar pitching rotation that could vault them into that category.
Saturday's game between the Padres and Giants in Mexico City was a boost for a number of fantasy players, but probably none more so than Manny Machado.
The most well-known secret in fantasy baseball this season is that Machado has not produced anything near the level required to justify his high draft price - $46 in our league. However, Machado had quite the time south of the border last week, nearly doubling his total season output after scoring 24 points on Saturday.
It would be normal to assume Machado led You're Killing Me Smalls in hitting this week. What, with that tremendous Saturday and all. But, the real hero for Smalls this week was Isaac Paredes who showed up and brought along 36 points to help Smalls to victory.
Paredes is another one of those rising players that went undrafted. Claimed off the waiver wire for the bargain price of $0, his recent offensive production is certainly a welcome sign at the Sandlot.
He didn't get off to an amazing start this season, but over the past week he owned the White Sox pitching staff - who hasn't - and it'll be interesting to see how long his hot bat will last.
So what does week 5 have in store for us? Will the second round of inter-league games bring us more excitement than last week?
On paper, the Matchup of the Week might be when the Los Perros Locos travel to Fibromyalgia Field to take on Akes and Pain. But games aren't played on paper.
The sad reality is that I don't expect a close contest at all. The dog's batters should do well and they'll get two starts from SP Luis Garcia. On the other hand, Pain should get two starts from all five of their SPs - yes, ALL five - so even if their hitters can't deliver, their rotation should have no problem shutting down the Perros lineup. It's not going to be pretty, folks.
Call me crazy, but I honestly believe one of the better matchups this week might be the game between You're Killing Me Smalls and Poke Bananas at Cavendish Park.
Yes, I know the Bananas are the only team yet to win a contest, but hear me out.
This week the Bananas will send three of their SPs to the mound twice to go along with the benefit of being able to slot a sixth SP, Vince Velasquez, in their RP role. Combine that with the success of their true RP, Jordan Romano, and it looks like they're ripe to get much more out of their staff than the 91 pts/gm average this crew normally delivers at home.
To make matters worse for themselves, Smalls is not known to travel well. In their only road game this season, in week 2, Smalls totaled only 228 points...their lowest of the season. The fact that they nearly reached 300 points last week suggests they're playing better, but we'll see if they have enough left in the tank this week to smash the Bananas.
If, for some reason, that matchup doesn't excite you, maybe the game between Team Prepas and Green Monstahs will do the trick.
"The Monstahs?!? Prepas?!? Really, Commish?"
Yes. If for no other reason than Prepas tends to live a little too dangerously for my taste.
Look, the Monstahs are terrible...I get it. But, in a league where you're allowed a pitching staff of seven, Prepas will again roll out a five-man squad. That's a lot to ask for from those arms and a little too risky, even against a team like the Monstahs who are surely looking to bounce back from a horrible 176-point outing last week.
What was that? Oh...no, 176 points wasn't the worst week of any team this season.
That honor belongs to Team Prepas who scored just 169 points...last week.
So, yes...I do believe the Monstahs have a great opportunity this week to rise to the occasion against a team who's manager appears to be asleep at the wheel.
Good luck in week 5!
-- Commish
POWER RANKINGS
If it's a new week, it means we have a new #1. Akes and Pain reclaimed the top spot from the Tallahassee Tator Tots. But they need to tread carefully. Quite possibly the hottest team in the league right now, the Myrtle Beach Mermen, jumped four spots to #2 and seem laser-locked onto their target: the #1 spot.
I should also give a tip of the hat to You're Killing Me Smalls who put together their best week of the season and moved up four spots in the rankings to #6.
The biggest drop this week was Team Prepas who fell to #9 from #5. I'm afraid that if their manager doesn't add a couple of arms to their lineup each week, they could be looking at a free-fall to the bottom of the rankings in no time.
ALL-STAR LINEUP CHALLENGE
I'm beginning to feel like a broken record. In yet another contest, Akes and Pain and Myrtle Beach Mermen are trading blows for the top spot. This week, Pain got the better of the Mermen and claimed the lead position. We'll see if they trade places again next week.
WAIVER WIRE PROCESSING CHANGE
The people have spoken. I want to thank all of you that voted and provided feedback regarding the proposed change to the waiver system. Though you're probably unsure if I really care what you think or not, you still took the time to share your thoughts and I appreciate that.
The bottom line is that the proposal passed and I have adjusted the league settings. Waiver claims will now process on Saturday and Sunday nights at 8:00 PM PT (11:00 PM ET).
Below is a snap-shot of the results and the feedback. I especially enjoyed the deep, profound thought found in the responses to the additional questions.
To address the concern about "...not be[ing] able to fill an IL spot", I would suggest you place multiple waiver claims if you're concerned about filling a particular position.
For example, let's say you need a C because yours is injured. If you have room on your bench, it's simple - just place a waiver claim for your first choice and a separate claim for your second choice.
But, with only three spots available on your bench, it's likely you'll need to drop someone. For this example, let's say you can part ways with a SP and you only want to drop a specific SP but still place multiple claims.
In that case, you would place a waiver claim for your first choice of C and choose the SP you want to drop - Gerrit Cole, for example. Next, you would place another waiver claim for your second choice of C and select Gerrit Cole to be dropped on that claim too.
If your first choice of C is awarded, the waiver claim for your second choice will not process because Gerrit Cole was already dropped. If you don't receive your first choice, there's a good chance you'll receive your second choice and Gerrit Cole will be dropped.
In both scenarios, you've successfully dropped Cole and received the C you had your sights set on. And, if you're asking, the answer is yes, I think you should consider dropping Cole if you have him. I mean, really...how much longer can he keep this up?!? He's sure to decline soon, right?
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