The Races. CAQ continues to run away from the rest of the field in the Aaron Division, playing at a .639 clip, with CRP and LIT eight games back and just four games over .500. A bigger battle looms in the Ruth Division, with five teams separated by only four games, TEX having re-entered the race by going 16-8 over the last block.
The success of most of those teams isn't hard to figure; almost all of them rank high in offense, pitching, or both. The exception is VBO, which ranks 9th in runs and 11th in pitching. The big reason for their success? An 18-6 record in 1-run games.
End of the Steroid Era. That's come with a bang. From the league's founding in 2004 through the 2010 season, league ERA averaged 4.28. Last year it was 3.84, and so far this year it's 3.77... One era that hasn't ended is the Strat bias against left-handed pitchers. Only two teams (BOW at 6-13 and MMM at 6-12 have losing records against them; LIT's record is 14-5.
Factoids. Yeah, the talent can get pretty thin after the first five or six rounds of the draft, but every now and then you come up with a nugget. RAZ picked up Corey Hart in the 10th round of the 2010 draft. He had a .762 OPS that season (real life 2009: .753), but had a .949 last year (v. .865 in real play), and this season leads the league in hitting (.359) and OBP (.429), with 13 HR's and a .996 OPS... TEX has a 1.126 OPS with the bases loaded; WES has a .461... Albert Pujols is hitting .361 or better against five of the eleven clubs he's played, but only .118 against MMM... MAR is leading the league in BA, but is only 6th in runs scored; the problem is the underperformance of their two big guns, Miguel Cabrera (.885 OPS v. 1.034 expected) and Troy Tulowitzki (.787 v. .916)... Last year's champion, CRP, scored 10 or more runs in a game 12 times last season. Through 72 games this year, they've done it only once... WAC's pitchers are hitting .226 for the season. Both of WES's catchers are hitting .184. There's a message here somewhere.
Studs. CAQ's top three starters: Cole Hamels (8-3, 1.60 ERA), Ryan Vogelsong (8-1, 2.17), and Johnny Cueto (7-4, 2.19); LIT's Aramis Ramirez (.336/.414./.549); MAR's Ryan Theriot (.376 BA); MON's Zach Greinke (8-5, 2.26); TEX's Madison Bumgarner (8-3, 2.28); VBO's Rickey Nolasco (7-1, 2.88); WAC's Matt Cain (7-2, 1.86); WES's Mike Leake (6-2, 2.17) and J.J. Putz (2-0, 1.93, with a league-leading 24 saves in 24 chances)... and Duds. CRP's Brian McCann (.225 BA); MON's Gaby Sanchez (.233/.323/.336); RAZ's Dan Hudson (2-9, 5.40); TEX's Prince Fielder (.239 BA, .777 OPS); VBO's Jimmy Rollins (.215/.309/.312); WAC's Jay Bruce (.212/.300/.355).
The success of most of those teams isn't hard to figure; almost all of them rank high in offense, pitching, or both. The exception is VBO, which ranks 9th in runs and 11th in pitching. The big reason for their success? An 18-6 record in 1-run games.
End of the Steroid Era. That's come with a bang. From the league's founding in 2004 through the 2010 season, league ERA averaged 4.28. Last year it was 3.84, and so far this year it's 3.77... One era that hasn't ended is the Strat bias against left-handed pitchers. Only two teams (BOW at 6-13 and MMM at 6-12 have losing records against them; LIT's record is 14-5.
Factoids. Yeah, the talent can get pretty thin after the first five or six rounds of the draft, but every now and then you come up with a nugget. RAZ picked up Corey Hart in the 10th round of the 2010 draft. He had a .762 OPS that season (real life 2009: .753), but had a .949 last year (v. .865 in real play), and this season leads the league in hitting (.359) and OBP (.429), with 13 HR's and a .996 OPS... TEX has a 1.126 OPS with the bases loaded; WES has a .461... Albert Pujols is hitting .361 or better against five of the eleven clubs he's played, but only .118 against MMM... MAR is leading the league in BA, but is only 6th in runs scored; the problem is the underperformance of their two big guns, Miguel Cabrera (.885 OPS v. 1.034 expected) and Troy Tulowitzki (.787 v. .916)... Last year's champion, CRP, scored 10 or more runs in a game 12 times last season. Through 72 games this year, they've done it only once... WAC's pitchers are hitting .226 for the season. Both of WES's catchers are hitting .184. There's a message here somewhere.
Studs. CAQ's top three starters: Cole Hamels (8-3, 1.60 ERA), Ryan Vogelsong (8-1, 2.17), and Johnny Cueto (7-4, 2.19); LIT's Aramis Ramirez (.336/.414./.549); MAR's Ryan Theriot (.376 BA); MON's Zach Greinke (8-5, 2.26); TEX's Madison Bumgarner (8-3, 2.28); VBO's Rickey Nolasco (7-1, 2.88); WAC's Matt Cain (7-2, 1.86); WES's Mike Leake (6-2, 2.17) and J.J. Putz (2-0, 1.93, with a league-leading 24 saves in 24 chances)... and Duds. CRP's Brian McCann (.225 BA); MON's Gaby Sanchez (.233/.323/.336); RAZ's Dan Hudson (2-9, 5.40); TEX's Prince Fielder (.239 BA, .777 OPS); VBO's Jimmy Rollins (.215/.309/.312); WAC's Jay Bruce (.212/.300/.355).
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