August 31, 2018

August 30, 2018

August 29, 2018

August 28, 2018

August 27, 2018

Our final August email update looks a lot like the one before it, with Brian Wells leading a slew of runners-up in the HBP column. However, Brian is now 3 beans ahead of his nearest competition after Charlie Morton nearly blew an eight-run lead in Seattle last Wednesday (5+ IP, 6 ER, 2HB). Can Brian win back-to-back pool titles and end our streak of thirteen consecutive contests featuring a new winner in the process?

August 26, 2018

August 25, 2018

August 24, 2018

August 23, 2018

August 22, 2018

August 21, 2018

August 20, 2018

August 19, 2018

Two major changes since our last full update on August 10:

• Dee Gordon taking over a share of the AL SB lead in an extremely competitive race in which four players are within one steal of the top spot, and two more are only three steals down. 
• Kenley Jansen's heart problem drops him out of the NL saves lead (for good?), as Wade Davis now leads by two. 

These changes, however, aren't as big as expected, as most of our leaders picked both Gordon and Jansen in these categories. The biggest beneficiaries of Jansen's health issues would probably be Jim Kushner and Harvey Hawkins, the latter of whom has Davis in the NL saves category.

Both Kushner and Hawkins have HBP issues, though, trailing Jud Ehrbar and Dan McCloskey (tied for second place) by 7 and 14 HBPs respectively.

The most significant pool development, however, would appear to be Brian Wells moving from one behind McCloskey in HBP to one ahead, with perhaps Jose Urena's controversial beaning of Ronald Acuna providing the difference.

August 18, 2018

August 17, 2018

August 16, 2018

August 15, 2018

August 14, 2018

August 13, 2018

August 12, 2018

We have a tie for first! (and 9th, and 11th, and 16th...)

August 11, 2018

August 10, 2018

Dan McCloskey makes a somewhat unexpected appearance in first in our second email update this month. Shake-ups in the NL HR and AL W categories tell part of the story, but the AL IP stat once again steals the show. Justin Verlander’s nightmare outing against the Mariners last night (2IP, 6ER, ejection) coupled with Corey Kluber’s 7-inning start leave Dan atop an extremely tight leaderboard.

It was reported today that Dodger closer Kenley Jansen was hospitalized last night in Denver with an irregular heartbeat, and will miss about a month of play. Jansen is currently leading the NL saves category along with Wade Davis.

Shout out to Steve DelVecchio for being the only entrant to pick Luis Severino for AL wins! Severino has led or co-led the category virtually every day since our first update, despite posting ERAs of 6.58 and 4.97 in July and August, respectively.

August 9, 2018

August 8, 2018

August 7, 2018

August 6, 2018

August 5, 2018

August 4, 2018

August 3, 2018

Jim Kushner is building a strong case as this year’s pool favorite with less than two months remaining in the regular season. As we mentioned in our last email update, the AL IP category seems crucial... Justin Verlander is now seesawing with Trevor Bauer instead of Corey Kluber, which leaves Jim’s closest challengers without a source of income in the category. Kluber’s innings are down over 20% from April/May to June/July.

What happens if one of your picks was just traded? We’ll quote our entry sheet:

If a player switches leagues during the season, his stats for the old league are closed out, and stats for the new league are reset to zero, making it possible to lead the majors in a category without leading either league (e.g. CC Sabathia IP in 2008). No points are awarded to the major league leader, only the respective league leaders. The only exception here is the tiebreaker: HBP totals will continue to accumulate even if the player switches leagues.

So Cole Hamels will continue adding to his pool-high total of 13 hit batsmen as a Cub, but current Pirate Chris Archer will only receive pool credit for stats compiled as a member of the Rays.

Have a great weekend!

August 2, 2018

August 1, 2018