Wednesday, March 17, 2004
MBSBL Near the All Star Break
Just a quick update on the Mariners Blogosphere Simulated Baseball League...
My last predicted standings came after Round 16:
1. SanShin
2. SodoOhNo
3. Fire Bavasi
4. Cracking The Safe
5. 116ers.
6. Mariner Optimist
7. What The Hell Happened?
8. Mariner Musings.
9. Mariners Weekly.
10. The Safe.
Of course, my plan was to post predictions after Round 25 which would have had the Mariner Optimist in first, and probably not much else changing. Best laid plans and all that.
As we are at 70+ games and rapidly approaching the All-Star Break, lets see how the picks are shaping up.
1(predicted in 3rd). Sodo Oh No (44-27). Has won with pitching as the Wilson Alvarez signing was a coup. Currently way outperforming their Pythagorean record and are 17-8 in one-run games.
2(6th). Onesixteeners (45-30). Top pitching in the league with Hernandez and Batista leading the way.
3(1st). Mariner Optimist (41-30). Overcame very slow start to win or tie every series since April ended. Sounds like the 2001 M's. Offense has been stellar with the exception of shortstop platoon and Carlos Beltran.
4(2nd). San Shin (37-38). Best offense and the worst luck in the league, they are 4-15 in one run games and are still a force to be reckoned with.
5(3rd). Fire Bavasi (36-37). I'm 7-0 against these guys, so I hope they make the playoffs - mediocre offense and pitching.
6(8th). Mariner Musings (36-38). The little ball masters are getting on and stealing bases, but are lacking in pop. Look for them to pass Fire Bavasi soon.
7(4th). Cracking the Safe (34-40). Light hitting team that could not overcome terrible pitching (3/5 of rotation with 6.00 ERA or worse). They are searching for more pitching.
8(9th). Mariners Weekly (33-43). Pedro Martinez with a 5.24 ERA, Roy Oswalt(4.76), Carlos Zambrano(5.74) and Vicente Padilla(8.46) have killed this team. You'd think this pitching staff would be able to turn things around.
9(10th). The Safe (30-41). Starter ERA's between 4.96 (Kevin Brown) and 6.40 (Jamie Moyer) are hard to believe.
10 (7th). What the Hell Happened (31-43). Team name says it all - better offense than half the teams and better pitching than half the teams, this team just can't seem to score.
The moral of the story seems to be that good hitting does beat good pitching. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the second half.
My last predicted standings came after Round 16:
1. SanShin
2. SodoOhNo
3. Fire Bavasi
4. Cracking The Safe
5. 116ers.
6. Mariner Optimist
7. What The Hell Happened?
8. Mariner Musings.
9. Mariners Weekly.
10. The Safe.
Of course, my plan was to post predictions after Round 25 which would have had the Mariner Optimist in first, and probably not much else changing. Best laid plans and all that.
As we are at 70+ games and rapidly approaching the All-Star Break, lets see how the picks are shaping up.
1(predicted in 3rd). Sodo Oh No (44-27). Has won with pitching as the Wilson Alvarez signing was a coup. Currently way outperforming their Pythagorean record and are 17-8 in one-run games.
2(6th). Onesixteeners (45-30). Top pitching in the league with Hernandez and Batista leading the way.
3(1st). Mariner Optimist (41-30). Overcame very slow start to win or tie every series since April ended. Sounds like the 2001 M's. Offense has been stellar with the exception of shortstop platoon and Carlos Beltran.
4(2nd). San Shin (37-38). Best offense and the worst luck in the league, they are 4-15 in one run games and are still a force to be reckoned with.
5(3rd). Fire Bavasi (36-37). I'm 7-0 against these guys, so I hope they make the playoffs - mediocre offense and pitching.
6(8th). Mariner Musings (36-38). The little ball masters are getting on and stealing bases, but are lacking in pop. Look for them to pass Fire Bavasi soon.
7(4th). Cracking the Safe (34-40). Light hitting team that could not overcome terrible pitching (3/5 of rotation with 6.00 ERA or worse). They are searching for more pitching.
8(9th). Mariners Weekly (33-43). Pedro Martinez with a 5.24 ERA, Roy Oswalt(4.76), Carlos Zambrano(5.74) and Vicente Padilla(8.46) have killed this team. You'd think this pitching staff would be able to turn things around.
9(10th). The Safe (30-41). Starter ERA's between 4.96 (Kevin Brown) and 6.40 (Jamie Moyer) are hard to believe.
10 (7th). What the Hell Happened (31-43). Team name says it all - better offense than half the teams and better pitching than half the teams, this team just can't seem to score.
The moral of the story seems to be that good hitting does beat good pitching. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds in the second half.
