Murderer’s Row Fail to Advance in Consolation Tournament

Murderer’s Row advanced to the consolation bracket of the One Less Curse playoffs for just the second time in their five-year history. As the sixth seed (a second-best record) in their respective bracket, the Row drew The Dick Pounds in the opening round.

This week 23 matchup was the third season these two teams met up, with the Row holding a 2-0 series lead thanks to a combined 14-5-1 record. The last time the teams played against one another was in week 17, with the Row eeking out a 6-4 victory. The Pounds entered the playoff matchup with a 96-109-15 record while the Row finished the regular season at 99-105-16.

Matchup Recap

In the Row’s last matchup against Chod’s Team, the pitching secured all the team’s points while the hitters failed to contribute on the scoresheet. The exact opposite happened in week 23, as the hitters showed up to collect three of the four points, while the hurlers had a very unusual week, winning only the strikeouts category.

21fbbmatchup23 The two teams tied the wins category with two points apiece, while The Pounds managed to collect one more save than the Row’s closers. The strikeouts were separated by 11 points, while the ERA and WHIP total significantly differed in numbers.

The Row managed an extra 46 at-bats, which led to 17 more hits, but despite the advantages, the team failed to put any distance between their numbers and their opponents. 21fbbdaily23 Four hitting categories were separated by less than five points, with a 30 point difference in batting average. With no stolen bases in their first playoff contest in years, the vast goose egg in that column marked the first time the team failed to swipe a bag this season.
The matchup opened with The Pounds grabbing an early lead, one they never relinquished for the entire week. The score was pretty close for two days before they busted it wide open with an 8-2 lead on Wednesday. After that, the Row countered and secured a 4-4 tie headed into the final day of the matchup on Sunday.

Bench Players

It has been a long time since the bench player’s had their weekly statistics analyzed in the recap. The week 23 numbers were worth a deeper look since the points left off the scoresheet would have altered the final score of the matchup.The Row lost the home run category 6-4, but with three dingers sitting on the bench, the final category score could have been 7-6. That single category win would have altered the score 5-5 and forced Yahoo Fantasy to step in and issue the tie-breaker, which could have gone in the Row’s favor.

Playoff Matchups

It was no surprise that the top two teams in the league advanced to play for gold in the championship bracket. Bad News Bears remained the team to beat with an 8-2 thumping of ItsNotRyanItsRyne, while HOMERsexuals were no match for SHABB’s Team, who bowed out of the tournament after a 7-3 loss.
Murderer’s Row dropped the ball in the consolation bracket when it came time to advance, losing to The Dick Pounds 5-4. Meanwhile, for at least another week, Screw the ‘Stros took their playoff frustrations out on Colegio Andes with the most lopsided win of the week, 8-1.

The final week of fantasy baseball features a handful of great matchups, which means the season will come to a close with a bang.

Roster Moves

The Row’s management sensed that the season was on the line and didn’t hold back when making transactions. In an attempt to flip the score on their opponents, the Row made several roster adjustments in hopes of sparking the offense and pitching staff to victory. Unfortunately, none of it worked.

After a roster move in week 22, there was an opening spot in the lineup, and that’s when Lane Thomas (Washington) signed on. Jesus Sanchez (Miami) came abroad after Ty France (Seattle) stopped producing and found himself on the waiver wire. Francisco Lindor (New York) was in the middle of a mini hot streak, one and off the field, so he found a spot in the infield when the cooled-off C.J. Cron (Colorado) had to find a new home.

Finally, Carlos Hernandez (Kansas City) appeared in one game for the Row and blew his opportunity by having one of the worse games of the season, so management signed Luis Gill (New York), who had a spot start of his own.

Weekly Move Total: 4/4

Season Move Total: 34/40