Murderer’s Row season is gradually slipping away

People have long questioned our ability to manage a fantasy baseball team. For years our lineup was full of players we wanted to draft and sign because we liked them, not because they were valuable players to win a pretend championship.

Our team has historically been made up of New York Yankees players, resulting in non-playoff appearances and bottom-of-the-standings finishes. This year was going to be different, and we were not going to draft any Bronx Bombers. So far, six weeks into the season, the results have been almost the same, as Murderer’s Row slowly make their way back to the basement. The boys had six extra opportunities to beat their new rivals, Screw the ‘Stros; however, they dropped the ball over the weekend and watched victory escape their clutches.

As mentioned in previous posts and many baseball telecasts across the country, hitting is down league-wide. At the end of this six-week matchup, the evidence is right there with some pretty pedestrian numbers.

The only categories we could hang on to were stolen bases, something new with this franchise, and our pitchers WHIP. Both teams spent some time on Sunday afternoon tied in home runs and RBIs, but Screw the ‘Stros’ guys came through for the defending league champions, giving them a convincing win. They rallied and stole strikeouts by one, and their pitchers had enough mustard on their pitches to get away with the ERA category.

Despite the final score, neither team was willing to give up wins and saves, battling to a tie in each category. Murderer’s Row came out sluggish to begin the week and rebounded quite nicely to hold a series lead from Tuesday to Thursday. Screw the ‘Stros took their second lead of the week on Friday before the score flipped again. It was too close to determine a true winner after Saturday, then our opponents exploded on Sunday to turn a 5-4-1 deficit into a 2-6-2 win.
It sucks when you lose a matchup; what sucks even more, is when you look at your bench numbers and realize the victory was probably sitting there all along.

In one of the worse managed weeks of the season, Murderer’s Row left 12 runs and RBIs on the bench, which would have given the boys a win in each category, altering the final score 4-4-2. Then when you factor in three uncounted home runs, we would take that category, winning the matchup 5-3-2. As Murderer’s Row continues a losing streak, currently at two, their overall team statistics continue to take a pounding. In regards to hitting, the boys are the second-worst team regarding runs and home runs. After that, collectively, they are the second worse team in batting average. Their RBIs totals are not any better (7th); however, they currently rank third overall in stolen bases.

The team’s saving grace is pitching, with four of the five categories all ranking within the top of the league. The save numbers continue to be the Achilles heel, with no real solution to the problem unless they sign more arms.

A handful of teams are within a game or two of each other, but the top two teams are already ready to lock up their post-season passes. As of right now, both teams sit almost double digits ahead of their nearest competition, third place, as they continue to push close to a 20 game lead over the last place.

Baseball is a long season, but fans in MLB cities like Pittsburgh, Miami, and Baltimore know that when you fall so far behind at the start of the season, it is almost near impossible to turn the tables and have a successful season. The week six transactions witnessed two catchers, both on cold streaks, depart the team. Yasmani Grandel (Chicago) was one of our drafted catchers, but with a sub 0.150 batting average, we had run out of excuses on why he was still on the team. In his place, Niko Goodrum (Detroit) joined the group who was in the midst of a hot streak, which included several stolen bases.

Yan Gomes (Washington) joined the team a couple of weeks ago before running out of fumes with the bat. We tried to employ a few players who could play catcher, especially on days Yadier Molina (St. Louis) didn’t catch. That’s when we stumbled on Kyle Farmer (Cincinnati), who not only plays behind the plate but across the infield too. He’ll be a great player to pull out of our back pocket when there’s an injury or a day off.

Weekly Move Total: 2/4

Season Move Total: 12/40