It only took seven weeks, but BD4 won its first matchup of the season! The road we started down at the beginning was bumpy, which forced us to reevaluate on the fly, and those decisions finally secured us a win.
Our final numbers, overall (20-48-2) and matchup record (1-6), will be the only thing people look back on. We will be judged on those numbers and the fact we came in the last place yet again; however, we want to look towards the future, and this win will be the building block we need. Having a diverse roster really helped us to succeed in the final showdown.
The matchup was close throughout most of the week; we were just fortunate enough to come out on top in several categories.
We won seven matchups. DODGE this! won only two, and we split the stolen bases (3-3). Their wins came in batting average (0.306-0.275) and saves (2-1). We snuck in a few extra points to secure the runs (37-34), home runs (11-10), and wins (5-3). There was more breathing room with RBIs (38-29), strikeouts (65-32), ERA (2.63-3.18), and WHIP (1.06-1.18).
For the first time this season, we were leading in a matchup for more than one day. Those five days were our best stretch all season. The matchup win ended a six-game losing streak.
As you probably read earlier in the recap, we won both the runs and RBI categories, so those three points wouldn’t affect the outcome in any way. Also, their combined 0.266 batting average would have only lowered our final numbers by five total points.
Just like the experts at Yahoo predicted, BD4 finished in the tenth seed. Our record was the complete opposite of Screw the ‘Stros, the top team. The team’s 0.300 winning percentage landed us 27 games out of the top spot and 19.5 out of fourth place, the last playoff spot. Because of the short baseball season, there was no consolidation bracket this season, so we had no chance to give those guys a run for fifth place.
It is pretty impressive what one win can do. After week six, we were almost the worse team in every single statistical category; one week later, and we found ourselves in the middle of the pack when it was all said and done.
Our best category finishes were in home runs, RBIs, and saves, which landed us in the middle of the pack, 5th overall. Next up was runs, batting average, and wins, all good for sixth overall. Strikeouts were the only category we finished in seventh before our ERA totals landed us in the eighth spot. We were second to last in WHIP and stolen bases. The last category was quite a surprise, considering it was the only category we didn’t win a single matchup all season.
Luke Voit claimed his second player of the week award, which gave him the most on the season. His twenty points bested his nineteen points in week four. Max Scherzer meanwhile secured his fourth-best pitcher award, one that he won every other week. His 18 strikeouts were the second-best total he had on the season.
Justin Upton won his first worse hitter of the week award, becoming the seventh different player to earn the honours. On the mound, newly acquired pitcher Dylan Cease had the worse week, only collecting two strikeouts in his outing.
Addition/Subtraction – September 7, 2020, 2:18 pm – Signed Victor Reyes (DET) / Released Gary Sanchez (NYY)
Despite opportunities daily, Sanchez just couldn’t get the job done. To secure points for the matchup, we signed Reyes, who was riding a bit of a hot streak at the plate.
Addition/Subtraction – September 7, 2020, 2:26 pm – Signed Justin Upton (LAA) / Released Giancarlo Stanton (NYY).
Stanton finds himself in the same boat as Sanchez, endless opportunities with little to show for his efforts. Since he returned from the IL, he wasn’t doing much, so we needed someone else to collect us points.
Addition/Subtraction – September 13, 2020, 12:01 pm – Signed Jared Walsh (LAA) / Released Mark Canha (OAK).
Initially, we signed Canha because he was great out of the gate and stayed consistent enough to warrant being on a roster. Slumps caught up to every the best of players Canha had run out of gas. We just wanted to score a few extra points at the end of our matchup.
Weekly Move Total: 3/4
Season Move Total: 21/40
Stay tuned for next season’s recap of the BD4 2020 Fantasy Baseball season.
Keeping the Stats 