Baseball Recap 4/07/08

Welcome to the first ever VUFSA Baseball recap. Hopefully, this starts a summer full of blog activity, as anyone and everyone is invited to pitch in an article here and there. (for instance, if we have 4 people sign up to write recaps, that's one a month for everyone!) Drew is going to debut a column later this week, and all other ideas welcome.

For the +/- stat, we'll assume everyone started at 50 this season.


1. Uncle Phil (77.5, +27.5)

I never had the pleasure of a Phil Potempa class, so this team name is probably lost on me. Instead, the top of the standings makes me think of James Avery. Viano's killer start can be credited to an excellent performance by the pitching staff. Ben Sheets and Felix Hernandez haven't allowed an earned run in 15+ innings each. A suprise outing from Brian Bannister helped Andy to 10s in ERA and WHIP. An eight run lead in runs has been opened up thanks to Chase Utley and Chris Young. Utley's great week included 8 runs, 3 homers and 6 RBI- with an OBA of over .500.

2. Fukkake (74.5, +24.5)
Strong on-base skills and speed on the bases conspire with a a decent pitching line to put Schillinger within striking distance of the top spot. The lead story here has to be the emergence of MLB's next superstar, Kosuke Fukudome, got on base at a .542 clip, with 5 runs, 5 RBI and a monster homer on opening day. He also stole a base. I get 2 trade proposals from Dave per day. Despite four different relievers getting lit up at various points, the WHIP stayed low and the ERA is under control. Daisuke Matsuzaka (2.31/0.77) is off to a great start, with a win and 15 strikeouts through two starts.

3. Bob Loblaw (70.5, +20.5)

The biggest surprise of the week may be just two steals from team Gieryna. Jose Reyes has neither of them. Despite the 1.5 in steals (which is sure to rise) the pitching is fixed after last year's terrible start to the season, and the power numbers are really good. 6 RBI each from Ryan Braun and Pat Burrell (who hit two more homers today) contribute to one of the team's 10s. George Sherrill leads the league in saves, and so does Eli, thanks in addition to Bobby Jenks. Rich Harden has a 0.82 ERA in 2 non-elbow shredding starts, with 15 Ks in 11 innings.

4. HEY GUYS I'M DERR (67, +17)

This name makes less sense to me than Viano's. I'm sure that Milwaukee's second favorite inbred, Derrick Turnbow, is involved. If Derrek Lee is this good all season (and he has sustained this excellence in the past) we could all be in trouble. Three homers already for the Cubs first baseman, leading JR to the top in that category. Jake Peavy has two wins already, with a matching ERA and WHIP at 0.56. 70% of Jonathon Papelbon's out this year have been strikeouts.

5. Bondo and the Asians (60, +10)
The supposedly weak pitching staff has performed exceedingly well through the season's first week. Wang, Kuroda, Harang and Phil Hughes are all off to a nice start. The strikeout category is the only major problem. Undrafted Rick Ankiel is carrying the offense right now, with 3 homers and 6 RBI. Carlos Pena is on his way to proving that last year was no fluke, while the Justin Upton has 3 runs, 3 RBI and 3 home runs. Tomke's best player through a week remains Joe Borowski, who is 2-2 in the save department, with a K/9 of 9.00.

6. The M.B.A.s (53.5, +3.5)

Victor Martinez's early season injury has slowed Drew's offense so far, but the pitching is out of the blocks very well. A 10 in wins and a 9 in Ks have been spearheaded by Brandon Webb and Brad Penny. Jason Isringhausen has balanced out the presence of Eric Gagne to this point. Hanley Ramirez is really off to a sensational start, though a quiet one. Ryan Zimmerman has been very good, with 5 runs scored and 2 homers.

7. Hank White (52, +2)

A good offensive start, but a mediocre pitching performace. Vernon Wells has been great, 6 runs, 2 homers, 5 RBI and a .400 OBA. Adam Dunn is off to a slow start, and Shane Victorino has been invisible, meaning there's upside here. As far as the staff goes, they've pitched pretty well altogether, but wins are hard to come by. Biggest victim being Derek Lowe, who has 10 Ks and a 2.25 ERA and no wins to show for it. Half of the team's wins have come from the bullpen. Saves have been just as hard to find. Jermaine Dye is having a stellar start, piling up 7 runs with 2 homers and a .481 OBA.

T-8. Slick (34.5, -15.5)

Excepting Jered Weaver, the pitching staff has been god-awful. A cumulative ERA of 4.86 has been caused by just about everyone else. Trevor Hoffman has racked up 2 saves despite an ERA of 12.27 and WHIP near 2.00. Joe Nathan, on the other hand, has been awesome. A 9 in stolen bases comes from Brian Roberts and Lance Berkman (?). The power's a little shallow so far, and will stay that way until Michael Cuddyer comes off the DL, because he'll probably be in the starting lineup until then.

T-8. Harangutans (34.5. -15.5)

Three 1s (league high) hold back Baron's charges, and two are directly related. Saves are hard to find with only two current closers on the roster, but excellent middle reliever Rafael Betancourt has a WHIP of 3.43, hurting Brendel there. First-rounder Roy Oswalt has had a really rough start, coupled with injuries to John Lackey and Yovani Gallardo, the pitching staff has a rough road ahead. A solo home run is the only run production that Sexy Matt Holliday has to show for the season's first week. As a result, only 18 points come from the offensive side.

10. Dr. Jerry (26, -24)

Everyone has been below average except for Yunel Escobar. Yeah. Has two 4s and those are the high marks for Champ's club. I'm not going to dive into the particulars because Champ's team is better than this and we don't want this week to be preserved for future generations to read about.