Week 12 MSSSMRMoW



For no good reason whatsoever, the ZAttack and Huckleberries is the
Mike Shaw Subaru Super Mo Replay Matchup of the Week 12.

Sometimes things have intrinsic interesting qualities that are worth exploring simply because they exist.  This is one such matchup.  In addition to it being one of the closest matchups of the week, there are a number of plot lines - Zach is currently in 5th place but is only 3 games ahead of John who is currently in 7th and out of the playoffs; Kevin is trying to turn around a team that had been abandoned and has them up to 8th place overall, only 7.5 games out of a playoff spot.  Take those things, plus some of the outrageous stats put up during the matchup and you have our Mike Shaw Subaru Super Mo Replay Matchup of the Week.

Team	R	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	W	K	ERA	WHIP	QS	SV+H	Score
TBD	31	33	1	0.317	0.374	0.497	3	53	5.29	1.37	3	5	6
ZAttack	22	28	4	0.309	0.354	0.482	3	47	2.23	1.08	4	6	5

Let play a game I just made up called "High 5, Low 5" in which I spell out the top 5 and worst 5 performances from the Super Mo.  Turns out I love top 5 lists.

High 5s

5) C Kurt Suzuki (476/455/619 2 R 2 RBI) - Huckleberries
An amazing week for Suzuki in his first as the Huck's starting catcher.  Suzuki has a modest 9 game hit streak going which included a pair of 3 hit games in the weekend series against the Pale Hose.  The only thing keeping him from being higher on the list is his meager counting stats.  For someone who had 10 hits last week, I would have expected more in terms of RBI and runs scored.

4) 2b Robby Cano (348/483/565 4 R 6 RBI) - Huckleberries
Cano's lofty line fell over the last 2 days of the week as he went 0 for 7 with a walk, but he still managed to impact this matchup and help Kevin take 5 of the offensive categories.  Cano had hits in the first 5 games of the week including a pair of multi hit games. 

3) SS Hanley Ramirez (400/458/600 7 R 5 RBI 1 SB) - Huckleberries
HanRam also has a 9 game hit streak going for him and he terrorized Colorado and San Diego pitching (but really, who hasnt terrorized Rockie pitching lately?).  His big week bring his season slash line (270/355/468) much closer to what we were expecting at the beginning of the season and his 10 stolen bases on the year are as many as he had all of last season  He has raised his OPS by .023 points over his last 10 games; he is definitely trending in the right direction.

Both of these men are standing.

2) 2b Jose Altuve (542/593/625 3 R 3 RBI 2 SB) - ZAttack
What a week for How Many Altuves.  He had hits in all 6 games and multiple hits in 4 of the 6 with 4 coming in last Tuesday's 6-5 loss to the Nats.  He didnt homer, cuz he's 5'3," but he did swipe 2 more bags bringing his total to 26 (out of 29 attempts) and single handedly swung that category to Zach. As Houston's lineup continues to improve, the runs scored should only pile up higher for someone who gets on base and can run as well as Altuve does.  He would be #1 if there hadnt been:

1) SP Clayton Kershaw (1W 15K 0.00 ERA 0.00 WHIP 1 QS) - ZAttack
This is why Clayton Kershaw was the most expensive pitcher in the league this year.  His 107 pitch no hitter/near perfect game was one of the greatest pitching performances in the history of Major League baseball by any measurement.  The only better ones that I can think of off the top of my head would have been Roy Halladay's playoff no hitter (because...playoffs) and Kerry Wood's 20K game against the Astros back in his rookie season (because...Cubs fan and he struck out 20!!!).  I am sure there are others that are comparable, Kershaw himself brings up Don Larsen's World Series Perfecto because of the circumstances, but when you can remember the game off the top of your head, it is in rare company.  Anyone who saw Kershaw's gem is not going to forget those curveballs and sliders any time soon.  I am sure the Rockies hitters are still having nightmares about them.


On the Flipside

Dual Earflaps for Life!

5) OF Shin Soo Choo (160/192/280 2 R 5RBI) - ZAttack
Choo was supposed to bust out big time in Tejas this year, but so far he has just busted at everything but walking.  His .377 OBP is solid, but he is only hitting .248 and only slugging .386 while hitting in one of the best hitter's environments in the League.  As a replacement for Nelson Cruz, he's been very underwhelming.   After this year, the soon to be 32 year old has only 6 years and $116 million left on his contract.  Something tells me he might not live up to the $21 million a year for 2019 and 2020.

4) OF Nelson Cruz (167/231/417 3 R 4 RBI) - ZAttack
This is what we call a blip on the radar.  Cruz hit his 22nd and 23rd HRs of the season this week, but he didnt hit much else.  When you are hitting 293/363/594, you can be forgiven a slow week here and there.  Cruz remains the best Free Agent bargain in both real life MLB and in the Tater Tot fantasy league thus far into the season.

3) RP Janesto Frirrili (8.31 ERA 2.08 WHIP 2 K 2 Closer Jobs Lost) - Huckleberries
Both Ernesto Frieri and Jason Grilli lost their closer jobs this week.  For Frieri, this is about the 32nd time he has lost the grip on the job and this time looks like it might stick.  Managers are creatures of habit, but when a relief pitcher continuously gives up either walks or bombs, managers lose patience fast.  And Frieri has given up 8 bombs in 29 1/3 innings (2.46 HR per 9 innings...YIKES).  Grilli, on the other hand, has hit a bit of a rough patch since coming back from injury and is giving up both walks (5.21 bb/9) and bombs (1.89 HR/9).  But Grilli's numbers scream small sample size and rebound from injury.  There is a decent chance that he is back in the catbird seat shortly after the all star break, unless Mark Melancon takes the closer's job and runs with it.

2) SP Tim Hudson (4 2/3 ip 13.50 ERA 2.79 WHIP 0 K) - ZAttack
The outing that has been on the horizon finally came for Hudson in the form of the Chicago White Sox.  Hudson has been dominant this season, with a spot on both the ERA and WHIP leader boards, but he has been doing it with a lot of smoke and mirrors and groundballs.  For those of you scoring at home, that is exactly how he has done it for the entirety of his MLB career.  All of his ratios (K rate, GB/FB rate, HR Rate, Ground Out to Air Out rate) are nearly identical to his career lines except one, his BB rate (3.7%) which is roughly half of his career average (7.1%).  As long as Hudson continues to limit the walks, the rest of his numbers suggest that he could pitch seemingly forever.  Chalk this outing up as a hicup.

1) SP/RP Drew Pomeranz (3 2/3 ip 17.18 ERA 2.73 WHIP 4 K 1 Broken Right Hand) - Huckleberries
Pomeranz would be #1 on this list for his pitching efforts alone, but the icing on the cake is his mistaking a chair for a pinata and using his fist like a stick.  It is too bad too, because he was quietly turning into one of the best unknown pitchers in the league, having given up only 10 runs in the 7 games proceeding his blowup.  While he will at least get to throw while on the DL, so a rehab assignment likely wont be needed, he still comes off looking like a huge d-bag.