Week 18 MSSSMRMoW - Right Place, Right Time



Kevin and Kyler's tight match up is week 18's Mike Shaw
Subaru Super Mo Replay Matchup of the Week.

In baseball, there is always tomorrow.  Well...I mean, there is always tomorrow until its the last game of the year, then the saying has to change to "there is always next year."  As a Cubs fan, I know this saying all to well, so I didnt have much of an internal struggle yesterday when I decided to postpone The Shaw for a day so that I could give this matchup the proper respect that it so richly deserves.  I mentioned yesterday that this was one of the closest matchups that we have had so far this year, both in terms of overall outcome and in terms of the difference between the teams in each individual category.
There are so many of those "theres always tomorrow" type cliches in baseball that it actually hurts my head to try to think of them all (hint, to get a feel for it, watch Bull Durham and pay attention to what Crash tell Nuke about interviews), but there is one in partcular that describes this matchup perfectly...and Ill use another quote from Bull Durham because I can - "Do you know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? That's 25 hits...25 hits in 500 at bats is 50 points...ok. There's 6 months in a season. That's about 25 weeks, that means if you get just one extra flair a week, just one. A gork, you get a ground ball, you get a ground ball with eyes! You get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week and you're in Yankee Stadium" - its all about timing and the matchup.  I was talking to a co-worker this morning about the last month and a half of the baseball season and he (as a huge Brewer fan) informed me that the schedule is set up so that the Brewers do not play any games against teams outside of the NL Central during September.  I havent checked it, but he is up to date enough to know these things.  If teams are only playing their division for the last month, that sure does make things interesting in the Wild Card hunt.  The Mariners (currently just out of the second Wild Card spot in the AL) have to contend with the A's and Angels (and the Rangers and Astros) during the final month while the Tigers and Royals get to face the Indians (who are pretty garbage when anyone other than Corey Kluber is pitching), White Sox (ditto, except change the name to Chris Sale) and Twinkies (there is not except here...they are just pretty much garbage...sorry Twins fans, there are better days ahead...they just might not be for a while).  In the NL, the Central features 4 of the top 8 teams in the league (and then the Cubs, who are also pretty much garbage this year but should get a shot in the arm from prospect promotions in September), so the Brewers/Pirates/Reds/Cardinals are likely going to knock themselves out of playoff spots other than the division winner while San Fran and Hotlanta get to fatten their records against teams like the Padres, Rockies, Mets and Phillies (all of whom seem disinterested in winning).
The Kevin-Kyler competition highlights just how important the timing of the matchup is.  I am not going to post the scoreboard like I normally do; rather I am going to go through each one at a time...its more suspenseful...(highlighted team is the winner...they also have the better total for those of you who are bold impaired).


Runs:  Huckleberries 19  BySs 16
Out of all the spots on the diamond that could have produced a goose egg, Kyler's 1B spot is the one that does.  Remember that time that Kyler was collecting all the 1b in the league in an evil effort to create a monopoly?  Karma bitches.  There are a lot of things that I could point to as to why Kevin won the category (4 runs apeice from Robby Cano, Adam Jones, and Bryce Harper), but Matt Adams's bagel is really the biggest reason why Kyler lost.  The 19 runs that Kevin scored would have beaten only 1 other team in the league this week (MBHB, who some how managed only 10 runs for an entire week).

RBI: Huckleberries 18  BySs 21  
Kyler can thank Charlie Murphy's brother Danny for the win in this category, as Danny knocked in 8 runs.  Murphy's big week was able to overcome the 0 totals put up by Jonathon Lucroy, Yasiel Puig and Brett Gardner.  You read that right...Kyler won RBIs despite 3 of his starters combining for 0 RBI.  Kevin, on the other hand, got RBI from every hitter in the lineup, but he didnt get more than 2 from anyone players other than Victor Martinez (3) and Adrian Beltre (4).  The 21 RBIs Kyler totaled would have beaten only 2 other teams this week (KIODL and MBHB - who had their own futility death match).

SB: Huckleberries 2 BySs 2
I am going to ignore this and move one.  Just note that 2 SBs only beat Bob's 1 and Dusty's bagel amongst the rest of the league's teams.  When we tie, no one wins.

AVG/OBP/SLG:  BySs 291/330/418    Huckleberries 251/337/388
It is tough to break out the slash stats, so I am not going to do it.  Kyler's team got a pair of Escalator Club performances from Lucroy (421/476/579) and Murphy (406/429/594) which propelled the team to wins in AVG and SLG.  Adams (.208), Puig (.192) and Gardner (.241) each pulled the collective OBPs down enough for Kevin to pull the category out behind Cano (.500) and Martinez (.441).  Bryce Harper (185/290/296) and his new swing continue to plague Kevin's team and Josh Hamilton (071/103/214) might have been wearing a Backyard Superstars shersy under his uniform this week.  Cano renewed his Escalator Club membership this week with a 333/500/611 line.  His gift bag, along with Lucroy's and Murphy's are in the mail...membership has its privledges.


Wins:  Huckleberries 1  BySs 0
That is not a typo.  In a week when starters from each team combined for 13 starts, only Jason Hammel's 5 2/3 innings of shut out ball against the Twins last Tuesday in which he gave up 7 hits and 4 walks while striking out only 2 ended with a pitcher getting a W.  I feel like the odds of this happening are roughly similar to the odds of Dr. Who turning out to be a documentry.  Needless to say, the 1 victory would have lost to every other team in the league this week (except Tom, who also had only 1 victory this week).

Ks: Huckleberries 45  BySs 46
Picture this...you are watching Sunday Night baseball and you have Gio Gonzalez starting for the Nats against the Braves (you are Kevin in this dream scenario).  You trail in the K category by 8, but Gio is en fuego.  He strikes out the side in the first (around a couple walks and a hit but no runs).  He strikes out the side in order in the second.  Two innings into the game, and the gap is now only 2 strikeouts.  When gets Freddie Freeman swinging to end the third inning of a scoreless game, it looks like a forgone conclusion that you will pull ahead.  In the 4th, Gio gives up a solo HR to tie the game, but ends the inning with a K of opposing pitcher Alex Wood...and the matchup is tied.  Gio has 8Ks through 4 innings in a 1-1 ball game.  A bunt single to lead off the 5th, followed by a walk, a double play grounder, another walk and a bloop single give the Nats a 2-1 lead, and Gio is out of the game after throwing 111 pitches in 4 2/3 innings.  But at least the K category is tied. 

But wait...is that Craig Kimbrel's music in the 9th?  And Kyler has Kimbrel?  First batter up in the 9th, Bryce Harper who is also on your team, strikes out looking. God damn that Bryce Harper.  Ah yes...the 46 Ks that won this matchup would not have beaten any other team this week (though would have tied John).

ERA/WHIP:   Huckleberries 3.16/1.56  BySs 4.67/1.69
Here are the ERAs of starting pitchers Kyler used this week - 12.46, 11.25, 2.31, 4.09, 6.30.  Hmmm...who is surprised Kevin won this category?  No one.  Kevin got great starts from Hammel and Chris Archer (6K 1.50/1.00) and Rosenthal, Grilli and Melancon all did their jobs out of the pen, which was enough for Kevin to hold on in both categories.  The 3.16 ERA beat Kyler and 3 other teams this week, but the 1.56 WHIP was the second worst, only beating BySs.

QS: Huckleberries 3  BySs 2
13 starts, 5 of them between 2 teams lasted 6 or more innings with 3 or fewer earned runs allowed.  Thats not a good percentage.  But when you have starts like Sonny Gray's (4 1/3ip 6ER 14 baserunners against Tampa), Yu Darvish's (4ip 5ER 13 baserunners against the Astros) and Yovanni Gallardo's (4ip 4ER 13 baserunners against San Fran), the quality start numbers arent going to be pretty.  Oh yeah...3 quality starts would have beaten only Kyler and Tyler this week.

SV+Holds: Huckleberries 5 BySs 9
Thanks to the competent group of Kimbrel, Koji Uehara, Rafael Soriano and Fernando Rodney, BySs put up a very respectable total for the week...which is no fun.