July, 2016

Chapter Four Recap

Players of the Chapter

Last chapter, the Flagstaff Outlaws made a seemingly minor trade with the Granite State Lightning in which they added Four-A slugger Chris Colabello. That deal has paid massive dividends for the wild-card-chasing Outlaws so far. Starting nearly every game for Flagstaff in Chapter Four, Colabello hit a whopping .449/.494/.744 on the chapter, with a team-leading 28.9 runs created. He, however, is not our OL Hitter of the Chapter.

Los Altos MVP candidate Anthony Rizzo has come a long way since he was acquired from the Salem Cowtippers in exchange for .220-hitting-slacker Ian Desmond. In Chapter Four, he hit .387/.495/.813, with a league-leading 28 RBI's, and 36.1 runs created. Despite that performance, he is not the OL Hitter of the Chapter, either. In fact, he wasn't even the best hitter on his team last chapter.

That honor goes to none-other-than Michael Brantley. Brantley, who was signed this off-season to a $10.5 million salary, was enjoying an excellent season (.312/.390/.467) prior to last chapter. On most teams, he would likely be the team's best hitter. On this Los Altos team, however, he seemed to be lost in the shuffle. Not anymore. In Chapter Four, Brantley hit out of his F'ing mind. He hit .489/.535/.793, leading the league in average, on-base, runs scored, hits, doubles, extra base hits, runs created, and total bases. In doing so, he boosted his overall numbers to an MVP-caliber .356/.425/.549. He is our OL Hitter of the Chapter.

On December 6th, the Great Lakes Sphinx announced a blockbuster five-player trade in with the Flagstaff Outlaws in which they acquired Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss in exchange for Collin McHugh, George Springer, and Jung-Ho Kang. With Great Lakes trailing in their division by three games, and Flagstaff trailing in the wild card race by the same margin, it seems that was a win-win deal for both sides. In Chapter Four, Great Lakes got the better end of the bargain. Donaldson slugged .388/.430/.888 on the chapter, and led the Eck League in hits, runs scored, RBI's, home runs, extra base hits, total bases, and runs created. He is our EL Hitter of the Chapter.

With a salary of $18 million, he shares the prestigious honor of having the highest salary in the league along with Cleveland's Zack Greinke. In Chapter Four, Jake Arrieta posted a perfect 6-0 record, with a 1.19 ERA, and a league-leading .130/.183/.247 triple-slash line. Greinke went 4-1, with a 2.45 ERA, and a .201/.236/.328 line. As they say, you get what you pay for. In Chapter Four, Arrieta produced a little more than Greinke, so he is awarded the honor of EL Pitcher of the Chapter.

With the sixth overall pick of the 2014 farm draft, Ravenswood GM Brian Potrafka selected lefty pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. Over the following two seasons, Potrafka managed to avoid the temptation to use his young pitcher as trade bait. That self-discipline paid dividends in Chapter Four, as Rodriguez (4-0, 1.69 ERA, .141/.192/.196) is our OL Pitcher of the Chapter.

Top Stories of the Chapter

Story #1: Chicago Inches Closer

At the end of two chapters of play, the Chicago Black Sox trailed the Cleveland Rocks in the Hrbek Division by eight games. While the Rocks owned a .661 winning percentage and outscored their opponents by more runs than every other EL team except one, Chicago was barely a .500 team (29-27), and had outscored their opponents by just nine runs. What a difference a couple of chapters makes.

In the two chapters since then, Chicago has played better than .700 baseball, and have outscored their opponents by an even 100 runs. They made up seven games in the standings, and now trail Cleveland by just one game. What has changed about this team from the first two chapters to the last two?

As you can see, Chicago's pitching has actually been worse over the most recent two chapters. The improvement is all on the offensive side of the ball. A closer examination shows where all of that improvement was made:

Simmons, Harper, and Bour all improved dramatically, but it was the addition of Bryant at the Chapter Three deadline that has made a world of difference. The at-bat numbers are within 31 between the two sides of the chart, but the distribution has changed. Primarily, Longoria and Bour have seen increased playing time, and Simmons, Kinsler, and especially Pagan have seen a drop in at-bats. Simmons' decline is explained by the acquisition of Marwin Gonzalez (.294/.385/.412 for Chicago) last chapter. Bryant's defensive versatility has allowed him to play at four different positions, taking the place of the departed Alex Rodriguez as Bour's platoon partner, and sending Pagan to the bench when Harper is shifted to center field to make room for Bryant.

Bryant didn't hit much during his first two chapters with the Cowtippers (.218/.341/.346, 6 HR, 28.2 RC), but has been on fire since coming to Chicago. The way that John Gill has deployed him has strengthened the entire Chicago lineup, allowing the best possible lineup to take the field in every game.

Story #2: An Historic Season in Los Altos, Updated

It seems as though I write about the Undertakers' historic season every month, but given its historic nature, that seems appropriate. Since my last update, all the Undertakers have done is log yet another 20-win chapter and outscore their opponents by another 85 runs. They went 20-4 last chapter, which pushes their overall record to 83-21 (.798). They're now on pace to win 128 games this season, which would shatter the all-time record.

They allowed only 72 runs last chapter, and have allowed just 303 runs this entire season. Their 2.67 team ERA is a little higher than the all-time record of 2.62...which was set last season by the Undertakers. Needless to say, no team in BDBL history has ever recorded a sub-3.00 ERA in back-to-back seasons. Los Altos currently leads the entire BDBL in ERA, wins, fewest runs allowed, fewest hits allowed, slugging percentage, runs scored, and home runs.

They have already outscored their opponents by 294 runs, which puts the all-time record for runs differential (433) in jeopardy (for the second year in a row), as they are on pace for 452 runs.

Story #3: An Historic Season in Southern Cal, Updated

Southern Cal's pathetic march to the #1 farm pick continued in Chapter Four, as the team trailed the league once again with a record of 4-20. The Slyme are now 23-81 (.221) this season, which puts them on pace for a 125-loss season.

That's all I really have to say about that.

Story #4: A New All-Time Wins Leader

It's official. The Salem Cowtippers are no longer the all-time winningest team in BDBL history. That distinction now belongs to the Los Altos Undertakers, who richly deserve that honor. Way back in 2003, the Cowtippers trailed the Zoots on the all-time wins list by just one game. The Zoots won 115 games that season, and the 'Tippers won just 87. It took two more years for Salem to surpass Stamford, and once they did, they held that record for ten straight years.

All good things must come to an end.