Week 15: The Playoff Push

Arthur and his dad had some sweet seats for the All Star game last week. Anyone rocking the new Marlins blue jersey classes up any activity.

Year to Date Power Ranks
TOTAL			HITTING			PITCHING
1	Dave	4.14	1	Dave	2.88	1	Michael	3.67
2	Dean	4.14	2	Dean	3.00	2	Paul	4.17
3	Michael	4.64	3	Max	3.75	3	Arthur	4.33
4	Max	4.71	4	Matt	5.13	4	Brian/Josh	4.83
5	Paul	5.14	5	Michael	5.38	5	Cory	5.17
6	Arthur	5.57	6	Paul	5.88	6	Dean	5.67
7	Matt	5.64	7	Keith	6.00	7	Dave	5.83
8	Brian/Josh	6.07	8	Arthur	6.50	8	Max	6.00
9	Cory	6.79	9	Brian/Josh	7.00	9	Matt	6.33
10	Keith	7.00	10	Cory	8.00	10	Keith	8.33

Dave made a jump to tie for first in the power ranks which is great at face value, but up against Michael this week he slid out of a playoff position. That would be an unprecedented event in league history, no team ranked in the top 2 in the power ranks has ever missed the playoffs. Dave has faced tough competition this year, maybe one day I’ll get a chance to run the strength of schedule data and see just how tough it has been. Arthur and Max were the other big power rankings movers on the week. Max jumped up en route to his routing win over team BJ while Arthur got it handed to him by Dean leading to some team name theatrics that were quite on-brand by both parties. Way to keep it classy.

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There are 7 matchup weeks left in the fantasy regular season, the keeper trading deadline has passed and the standard trade deadline is August 11th. The Yahoo standings have stratified enough for us to talk about them and a clear race has developed. Michael and Dean have pulled away from the pack and are in the driver’s seat for playoff spots. Cory and Keith have fallen equally far back from the 4th playoff spot and are probably looking ahead to the Bourbon Street Championship. This leaves us with the middle tier of the standings: Max has a bit of an edge on the field in third place, Paul, Arthur, and Dave are basically deadlocked 9 games back of Max, while Matt and Brian/Josh are 2 to 3 games behind Paul, Arthur and Dave. Let’s break it down from a team talent standpoint because it is too early to compare end-of-season schedules.

Dave has a team-talent edge on the field and the managerial pedigree that most of the league doesn’t have. As a three time league champion, Dave has proven that he has the knowledge to play the in-week matchup that has felled so many in the playoffs in years past. This year, it’s been Dave’s offense carrying him while he has mostly streamed his way to staying close in the pitching categories. Dave ‘hit’ on a number of his hitter draft pick selections and keepers leading to a strong and reliable base throughout the year. He’ll be relying on this down the stretch as he tries to work his way into the playoffs.

Max has been the feel-good story of the league this year. Perennial, ‘Aw, Honey’ team in Floored, Max has made quite the statement this year. On paper he had the best or second best set of keepers entering the year, and he has not only lived up to the hype but has built upon it. Max has the third best offense in the league and has even overcome a pitching strategy proven to be a bad idea (holding 5 relief pitchers) per the week 13 blog. A simple restructuring of his team could make him even more dangerous. He is a team being chased right now and there are some good teams behind him. Watch out.

Paul has been the comeback story of the year. Sitting in last place in the power ranks in week 5, Paul has made the run all the way up to 5th place here in week 15. Riding the Josh Bell, Mookie Betts, and Mike Soroka wave has carried Paul into playoff contention.  Paul’s pitching outperforms his hitting, relative to the rest of the league; he has made a number of great pickups on that front. Paul’s standing the rest of the way will likely come down to those three names and his other picked up pitchers. If they continue their run, he will be tough to keep out of the playoffs.

Arthur is the next in the power rankings among the middle tier teams. He has been the most volatile team in league this year, making large moves in the power ranks regularly, as well as being prone to a flurry of moves or team-name-profanity. Arthur and his stable of starting pitchers lead the league in quality starts and are second in the league in wins and pitching Ks. This pitching volume has boosted up an offense that trails most of the league despite having one of the biggest breakout hitters of the year in Rafael Devers. Arthur will need to shore up his hitting with a trade or another good player or two to make a playoff push.

Matt sits in 7th in the power ranks in what is quickly turning into a disappointing year. Off to scorching start, Matt led the power ranks 4 weeks into the year with his keepers Cody Bellinger, Javy Baez, and Trevor Story leading the way. A couple of injuries dampened his run…but that is an malady that we all have dealt with this year. Matt’s story is that of inattention. His season is far from over but he will need to give his team some TLC to make a run and beat the teams that are deperate for the win.

Finally we have team BJ. For a team whose first-drafted starting pitcher (in round 6), in a league catered towards starting pitching, hasn’t thrown a pitch in the league this year, this year hasn’t been terrible. Living near the bottom of the power ranks for the first time through the league, BJ has found their footing since week 9 and are making a steady rise up the ranks. Jose Ramirez has been (mostly) back to his old self and Ramon Laureano has been having the breakout month that many predictied his whole season would be. Their pitching still leaves much to be desired, but they are playing the matchups day in and day out to try to piece it together. They are playing it the right way. I would call them the darkhorse for the final playoff spot. They want it as much as anyone and would love to deliver some payback to Michael for knocking them out of the playoffs on a tiebreaker last year.

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That’ll do it. In the coming weeks we’ll continue to keep an eye on the playoff races and maybe talk about some rule changes for next year. Michael had 120 innings pitched last week and it’s kinda ridiculous and maybe we want to spice up the trading deadline next year. We’ll talk about it.