Here’s a way overdue look at how this season fits into the annals
of The Franchise:
Jeremy Scanlon – Yes the same Jeremy that has missed the
playoffs in each of his three seasons in The Franchise – has the highest
winning percentage through fourteen weeks in league history. His .654 mark beats out the previous .643
high-water mark set by Russ in 2013 and tied by John in 2014 (Russ’s 89 wins
still stands as the most wins to this point of the season though.)
John has the only other team that can claim a .600+ winning
percentage on the season; it’s the first time since 2014 that we’ve had two
teams above that mark in a single season.
Despite the hot start it barely cracks John’s top 3 starts through
fourteen weeks. The perennial title
threat is in the midst of yet another fine season, showing last year’s campaign
was a fluke.
Andy sits comfortably in third place and, like John, is
enjoying his third best start in his franchise’s history. He seems to have hit a critical milestone –
he’s made the playoffs in each of the three seasons where he’s above .500 at
this point (he’s at .579 now). In the
five seasons where he’s below .500 at this point, he misses.
Russ is the last team in the “second tier” teams, nearly
equidistant to 1st and 7th. He’s yet to play any of the top five teams
for a second time but has positioned himself well to take some hits and still
be ok. Like Andy, he’s made the playoffs
in every season he’s been over .500 at this point in the season (8/8).
After a strong start, Mark is just 32-43-5 in his last eight
weeks and 5-14-1 in his last two. He has
an intriguing match up this week against Brad which could change the fortunes of
both teams drastically, and he closes his 2017 regular season against the best
looking league member in what could be a win-and-in scenario for both teams.
The best looking league member has been dancing around .500
all season and holds a slim 1 game lead over 7th place. It’s been a predictably back and forth season
for Richie whose 8-4-2 weekly record would suggest a better W/L. He’s got a mixed bag of match ups and will
have to beat the teams he’s supposed to beat to secure a playoff appearance.
Historically, only eight of fifty-nine teams (14%) that are
sub .500 at this point in the season have made the playoffs; Pflanz holds claim
to four of those eight teams. He finds
himself in a familiar position as this is the eighth time in ten years he’s
been under .500 at the All-Star break.
It’s hard to figure, but this is just about the time where he seems to
flip a switch; he has a career .490 winning percentage pre-ASB and a .569 post. He’s one game out of a playoff spot and plays
Richie this week and Mark in week 20.
From 2008-2013, Brad averaged a .501 winning percentage at
the ASB. Since the 2014 season, that number
has fallen to .449. That unfortunately falls
right in line with this year’s efforts as his .461 winning percentage puts him
in a difficult position. We also cross a
notable barrier here as a playoff appearance from anyone here down would break
the record for worst winning percentage through 14 weeks to make the playoffs
(Mark’s .471 in 2014). Brad’s strength
of schedule the rest of the way leaves the door open but he’s got a lot of work
to do to earn his first playoff berth since 2013.
9th place Dan is really the end of the line for
playoff hopefuls as he has to make up seven games and leapfrog three teams to
make it happen. This is his worst record
at the ASB since 2012, a season where he finished in 11th
place. He closes the season with a
murder’s row of John, Andy, and Russ.
Eric never got it going this season and has been under .500
for the entire 2017 campaign. This is by
far his worst record at the ASB in his four seasons in The Franchise. His 51 wins are tied for 5th
fewest through fourteen weeks in league history.
Eddie is battling through another tough season, his second
in as many years. Unfortunately his 2017
iteration is, on paper, the worst team of his career. But of the bottom three teams, I think Eddie
has by far the most intriguing trade assets (if he ends up selling) that should
set him up nicely for 2018.
Greg’s .379 winning percentage is quite the departure from
his .604 mark just last season. It’s his
worst mark in team history as you’d expect and it checks in as the second-worst
ASB winning percentage of all time to Zack’s WTF 2012 .304 mark.
