Mid-Season Review

*Written Across a few Days so numbers and ranks could be slightly off**

Having just passed week 11, are officially half way through the regular season. So let’s step back and evaluate in the form of some midseason awards:

Best Hitter (Non-Keeper): Todd Frazier (Eddie)

Honorable Mention: Justin Upton (Eric), Jason Kipnis (Russ), Prince Fielder (Greg)

Perk grabbed Frazier with pick 32 of the draft, and he’s been great all season. Amongst drafted players, he has been the most valuable hitter in anyone’s lineup, he’s 3rd in the majors in home Runs and is no slouch in any of the 5 categories. He’s a huge reason why Perk is in second place. Justin Upton was the second overall pick so it’s no shock to see him on the list. Kipnis was the 49th overall pick, and is serving as a delightful Cano replacement thank you very much. Fielder was the 29th and wasn’t actually drafted by Greg, but the room. You’re welcome Greg.

Best Pitcher (Non-Keeper): Chris Archer (Pflanz)

Honorable Mention: Gerrit Cole (Richie), Sonny Gray (Eric), Jason DeGrom (Pflanz)

The 96th pick of the draft has been excellent through 11 weeks. With 10 Quality starts and some crazy impressive ratios, Archer is the #2 pitcher in the game right now, great steal by Pflanz. He’s one of only a handful of starters with a WHIP under 1 and a K/9 in the double digits. 44 picks earlier, Pflanz landed DeGrom. As usual, Pflanz shows some great drafting skills, that’s why he’s 26-16 in the pitching categories (not counting NSV). Richie’s 27th pick also shows up here, which maybe justifies his preseason dealing of King Felix. Sonny gray was the 20th pick, and is outperforming even his lofty expectations for Eric’s team.

Best Keeper (Hitter): Paul Goldschmidt (Russ)

Honorable Mention: Bryce Harper (Greg), Miguel Cabrera (Eddie), Anthony Rizzo (Andy)

Goldschmidt remains the #1 ranked player in fantasy. Two years after Pujols was removed from playing the anchor first base role on Russ’ squad, Goldschmidt has filled the void and more. He’s in the top 5 in the majors at every category except net steals, where his 8 still separates him from the other power hitting first basemen. With Cabrera and Rizzo also having great seasons, It’s no coincidence the top 3 teams in the standings are all represented here.

Best Keeper (Pitcher): Max Scherzer (Brad)

Honorable Mention: Chris Sale (Richie), Zack Greinke (Andy), Clayton Kershaw (Brad)

In our football league, Brad owns two of the premier talents in the game as keepers, and still came in last. Here he is again, with the #1 ranked pitcher in fantasy, and the 4th best pitching keeper to boot, and yet he’s towards the bottom of the standings. He’s 16-37 in pitching categories. I don’t understand how that happens. But you can’t knock Scherzer, 11 quality starts, two 1-hitters, an ERA of 1.76 to go along with a k/9 of almost 11 and he’s leading all qualified starters in WHIP. The other names here are no real surprise, especially Sale. Good on Andy for sticking with and keeping Greinke, who most sources had ranked outside of the top 10 starters this season.

Worst Keeper (Minimum 50 games played) (Hitter): Robinson Cano (Mark)

Honorable Mention: Ian Desmond (Scanlon), Christian Yelich (Brad), Adrian Beltre (Richie)

It’s splendidly coincidental that Cano ends up here, as the worst keeper, just 10 months removed from the trade that sent him to Mark in exchange for the best keeper. Just the Commish staying a move ahead, as usual (I can be cocky about this ok?!?! I beat Mark at this aspect of fantasy baseball!!!). Sucks that Richie now owns two of these underperforming studs, both through trades, but we’re only halfway through. And for Brad, the Yelich keeper was a gamble, and so far he owes the house.

Worst Keeper (Minimum 10 games played) (Pitcher): Stephen Strasburg (Richie)

Honorable Mention: Jeff Samardzija (Scanlon), Julio Teheran (Pflanz)

Of the 14 kept pitchers, 10 of them are doing really really well, 1 of them is injured (Darvish), and 3 of them have sucked. Yes, Strasburg missed three weeks with an injury and returned strong yesterday, but he’s still struggled massively this season and Richie has to be questioning his decision to deal Felix and hang on to Strasburg. We’ll see if he turns it around. I mentioned how great Pflanz drafted on the pitching side. Good thing, because Teheran, one of the two pitchers he kept, has really been awful this season. Pflanz just bought low on Samarzija, who does has 9 quality starts, but he still makes this list, which speaks to how inconsistent he’s been.

Best Keepers (Unit): Andy

Honorable Mention (Unit): Russ, Eddie, Brad

There’s a trend here. If your keepers are good, your team is good. Well, except Brad here, but still. Andy’s top 3 hitters are all keepers (Rizzo, Bautista, Donaldson), and so is his top pitcher (Greinke). And he’s in first place. that’s impressive. For Russ, Goldschmidt carries a lot of the weight here, but Harvey has been solid all year and Longoria and Cargo have been coming on lately. Eddie’s strategy of keeping 4 offensive players has worked out great, as Miggy and Cruz have carried, and although Kinsler and Gomez are underperforming, they’re still representing on an offense that’s setting the pace for the league. Brad’s situation is tough to explain. Kershaw and Scherzer are awesome, Adrian Gonzalez has been great, and yet he’s in the basement. Go figure.

Worst Keepers (Unit):Scanlon

Honorable Mention (Unit): Richie, Mark, Dan

More of the same trend here. George Springer is the lone bright spot amongst Scanlon’s keepers, even King Felix has had an off year (by his standards). Richie is killed by Strasburg and Beltre, but outside of that Sale and McCutchen have been quite good. Mark hasn’t had anyone step up, his top keeper has probably been Ryan Braun. And it’s easy to throw Dan in here, mostly due to injuries. Although Stanton is having a good season, it’s not like Ellsbury is having a career year.

Most Impactful Injury: Yu Darvish (Greg)

Honorable Mention Yasiel Puig (Dan), Adam Wainwright (Eddie), Anthony Rendon (Dan)

Puig only beats out Wainwright here because Eddie is still doing fine without Wainwright, his first round pick who had a stellar start to the season but got hurt 4 games in. Darvish meanwhile has not thrown a pitch this season and Greg’s pitching has been below average, so that takes the cake. It was unfortunate that we didn’t receive a definitive answer on draft day, and it hurt Greg in the long run. Dan’s guys kind of cancel each other out if your talking about impact, plus he’s in 5th place. Wait, two of his keepers have missed a combined 90 games and he’s in 5th place?? And Dan has made the championship matchup in every odd year since 2011? *checks calendar*...anyone else terrified?

Best Draft Steal Drafted Rounds 5-10 (Hitter): Brett Gardner (Richie)

Honorable Mention: Matt Carpenter (John), Mookie Betts (Pflanz), Kolten Wong (Richie)

Gardner has been a surprise 5 category performer for Richie’s offense with 12 net steals and 9 home runs to go along with above average runs, RBI, and OBP, not bad for the 112th pick of the draft! John’s second pick of the draft happened in the 6th round, with pick 61, but Carpenter has been performing like a second round pick for the whole season. Betts has struggled at times, but he’s currently one of the hottest hitters in baseball, and Kolten Wong has been a steady presence in Richie’s lineup, kudos to him for some solid middle round drafting.

Best Draft Steal Drafted Rounds 5-10 (Pitcher): Chris Archer (Pflanz)

Honorable Mention: Michael Wacha (John), Koji Uehara (Russ), Garrett Richards (Dan)

I already talked about Pflanz’s 8th round steal above, but these really weren’t great rounds for starting pitchers. Wacha has been great and it’s a testament to John’s drafting that he had so few picks this year and still sees his name appear on a few of these award ballots. Koji was an unexciting pick but one that has been pretty steady for me all season. Garrett Richards is here because, well, like I said, these weren’t great rounds for pitchers.

Best Draft Steal Drafted Rounds 10+ (Hitter): Joc Pederson (Scanlon)

Honorable Mention: A.J. Pollock (Eddie), Charlie Blackmon (Eric), J. D. Martinez (Richie)

Clearly no one expected Pederson to make such a big impact this early. But with 18 homers and a .390 OBP he’s been invaluable, especially when you consider his draft position; he was the 142nd player off the board, just at the end of round 12. Great pick. As for the others, Martinez went 150th, Blackmon went 158th, and A.J. Pollock went 174th. Very Impressive.

Best Draft Steal Drafted Rounds 10+ (Pitcher): Francisco Liriano (Andy)

Honorable Mention: Andrew Miller (Scanlon), Dallas Keuchel (Scanlon), Shelby Miller (Eric)

Maybe Andy wasn’t hungover at the draft at all. Maybe it was a long con. The kid is having his best Franchise season ever in a year where it looked like he might not survive draft day. Liriano was the 127th overall pick and has turned into a stud #2 on his team and brace yourself as you scroll down to find out that his formidable #3 and #4 weren’t even drafted). scanlon shows up here a couple of times. Once for a starter, Keuchel was picked 147th, and once for a reliever, Miller was pick 123. His pitching has kept him from losing the reigns on this season, picks like these are why. Finally Eric grabbed Shelby Miller with pick 155. Eric’s pitching coming out of draft did not look good, but Miller helped to bolster the back end of what is now one of the league’s strongest starting rotations.

Worst Draft Bust Drafted Rounds 1-4 (Hitter): Kris Bryant (Richie)

(Kidding)

Worst Draft Bust Drafted Rounds 1-4 (Hitter): Corey Dickerson (Pflanz)

Honorable Mention: Matt Kemp (Russ), Jose Reyes (Andy), Jonathan Lucroy (Andy)

The number 4 overall pick has played just 40 games for Pflanz and hasn’t played very well. Big disappointment for a really high pick. Kemp hasn’t been consistent despite staying healthy. He was picked 24th overall by the Commish. Lucroy and Reyes both missed significant time due to injury, but they cost Andy his 8th and 46th pick respectively, so that has to hurt...but not so much when you’re in first place.  

Worst Draft Bust Drafted Rounds 1-4 (Pitcher):  Jordan Zimmerman (Mark)

Honorable Mention: Gio Gonzalez (Scanlon), Tyson Ross (John), Injured pitchers (Russ/Perk)

With 12 quality starts, you may think Zimmerman is doing fine as Mark’s #2. But his ratios are all worse than average, and for the #7 overall pick, Mark should be getting near elite production. Just like Scanlon had some nice pitching pick-ups in the later rounds, Gio screwed him over with the 35th overall pick of the draft. John only had 1 pick in the first four rounds, Tyson Ross at number 36, but it was a bust. I lumped Wainwright, Cobb, Fernandez (kinda), and Bailey into one group for russ and Perk. But as they remain near the top of the standings, they aren’t hurting too badly.

By the way...Jose Fernandez Watch...7 days….

Best Pick-Up (Hitter): Stephen Vogt (Mark)

Honorable Mention: Mark Teixeira (John), A-Rod (Mark), Russell Martin (Brad)

Mark Grabbed Stephen Vogt on April 21st. Mark Picked up A-Rod the day before that, in a two day stretch he picked up his 2 top hitters through the first half of the year. Off of free agency! No wonder he’s still in the playoff picture despite catching some rough breaks with keepers. Teixeira was a sweet April pick-up for the defending champ, and Russell Martin was the first move Brad made this season.

Best Pick-Up (Pitcher): Jason Hammel (Andy)

Honorable Mention: Jeurys Familia (Mark), Will Harris (Russ), A.J. Burnett (Andy)

Andy grabbed Hammel on May 1st, and he’s been great this year with 9 quality starts, a mid 2’s ERA and a WHIP under 1. Andy grabbed A.J. Burnett 2 weeks before that, and he’s been a top 25 pitcher in this league. He’s a big reason why Andy’s got one of the best pitching staffs in the league (34-19), and is king of the hill right now. Mark grabbed Familia on April 8th, and he’s had 9 net saves and great ratios this season. And the last choice is set up reliever, Will Harris, whom Russ picked up on May 8th. Harris has miniscule ratios and gets the ball a lot for the first place Astros. With more emphasis on ratios this year, the relievers getting it done definitely deserve some spotlight.

First Half Best Manager Award: Andy

Honorable Mention: Eddie, Russ, Pflanz

No questions here, Andy’s name has shown up repeatedly in the major draft and waiver categories. Eddie, Russ, and Pflanz have also enjoyed great seasons that show in the standings (well, except Pflanz).

First Half Unsung Manager Award: Dan

Honorable Mention: Eric, John, Mark

Dan is getting it done despite injuries, and is firmly in the playoff hunt. Eric has hung tough without any overpowering studs on his roster. John is somehow very much in it despite his lack of assets entering the season, and Mark has had to deal with a draft busts and disappointing keepers, but remains in 4th place.

First Half Entertainment Award: Richie

Honorable Mention: Scanlon, Russ, Pflanz

Trades, content, highlights, and more, richie has had his fingerprints all over this season of The Franchise, too bad it isn’t translating to wins. Scanlon has also been very involved in the trash talking and trading aspects, despite also failing to make any noise in the standings. Russ and Pflanz are staples of this category, Russ for the content, Pflanz for the trades and waiver activity, no surprise they’re back.

First Half Worst Manager Award: Brad

Honorable Mention: Scanlon, Greg, Richie

Brad’s got all the tools, but hasn’t put it together, must be the manager right? Fans are certainly grumbling. I mentioned Scanlon and Richie, they showed up in the wrong categories too many times for me to put them anywhere else. Draft busts, bad keepers, injuries, it’s hit both of these teams like a ton of bricks, and now they have to try and recover for the playoff push. Greg has had a tough season, but that’s kind of the standard at this point until he proves us wrong.

Weekly Category Leaders

Runs: 43, John - Week 4

Home Runs: 15, Eddie - Week 4, John - Week 9

Runs Batted In: 44, Greg - Week 2, John - Week 9

On-Base Percentage: .421, Dan - Week 10

Net Stolen Bases: 9, Planz - Week 11

Earned Run Average: 0.60, Scanlon - Week 3

Walks & Hits per Innings Pitched: 0.75, Pflanz - Week 9

Strikeouts per 9 Innings: 12.85, Pflanz - Week 5

Quality Starts: 7, John/Dan/ Pflanz/Andy

Net Saves:9, Mark - Week 9

Season Category Leaders

Runs: 334, Russ

Home Runs: 98, Eddie

Runs Batted In: 338, Eddie

On-Base Percentage: .365, Russ

Net Stolen Bases: 44, Eric

Earned Run Average: 2.86, Andy

Walks & Hits per Innings Pitched: 1.10, Andy/Eric

Strikeouts per 9 Innings: 9.55 Pflanz

Quality Starts: 55, Andy

Net Saves: 51, Andy

Revisiting Predictions

Let’s see how this writer/analyst/therapist did with his preseason predictions:

Offense
Manager	By Record	By Roto	Russ' Prediction
Russ	3	1	1
Dan	7	7	2
Eddie	2	2	3
Eric	10	9	4
Andy	1	5	5
Mark	5	10	6
John	6	3	7
Pflanz	9	4	8
Greg	8	6	9
Scanlon	12	12	10
Richie	11	7	11
Brad	4	11	12

Green = within 2 spots of average record/roto rank

A whole lot of green there! I think I did pretty well despite lots of criticism from the peanut gallery. I only really screwed up on Dan (2 major injuries to offensive keepers), Eric (Gave him too much credit), John (didn’t give him enough credit), and Brad (but his anomaly of an offensive record really screws things up. (Actually I’m counting that as a good prediction, he’s in 11th place).

Pitching
Manager	By Record	By Roto	Russ' Prediction
Brad	12	11	1
Richie	8	4	2
Mark	6	9	3
Russ	3	10	4
Pflanz	5	2	5
Eddie	2	8	6
Dan	4	5	7
Andy	1	1	8
John	10	5	9
Jeremy	9	4	10
Greg	11	12	11
Eric	7	3	12

Yeah this one isn’t so good. Pitching is always harder to predict because there’s more strategy involved. Also, I feel like we’ve had way more pitchers come out of no where in recent years to have great seasons. Brad’s team continues to be a mystery. I’m questioning (again!) his decision to put Kershaw on the block. Pitching is where he’s struggling, and no one is ever going to give you an equal haul for him. Maybe at the deadline if you’re a seller, but still that’s hard for me to swallow.

Making New Predictions

Now you’ll get the good predictions, here’s how I see the rest of the season playing out.

Final Regular Season Standings

1. Andy
2. Russ
3. Dan
4. Eddie
5. Pflanz
6. Eric
7. John
8. Richie
9. Mark
10. Scanlon
11. Brad
12. Greg

Dan beats Eric in round 1

Eddie beats Pflanz in round 1

Russ beats Dan in round 2 (on a tiebreaker)

Eddie upsets Andy in round 2

Russ beats Eddie, 7-3 for the title

Let the Playoff Race Begin!