Captain's (B)log: H2HWS Week 16

Ah, the All-Star "Week" - or 3 days and a bit, as it is for H2H leagues. There's been a bit of discussion about this week already, with plenty of suggestions about how to amend it - the one which would seem to make most sense is to combine it with the following week - after all, that's what Yahoo did with the overseas games played at the start of the season.

Whatever the solution, however, it is all a moot point for this season. The rules are the same for everyone, Yahoo announced the waiving of the innings limit in plenty of time, and hopefully your commish posted a note in your league as well. This week, more than any (except perhaps the playoffs), is when choosing the right pitching match-ups can make a huge difference. Do I just throw them all out there? Do I see how the first one does and then decide on a day-to-day basis? Or do I punt wins & Ks and hope for a couple of clean saves/holds from my relievers?

For me, the decision was pretty easy. Both my teams had 4 starters going, and it was pretty obvious that starting Ian Snell at Coors in a short week would be a huge gamble, so he rode the pine for that start (which was reasonable, if not spectacular). In the H2HWS, starting CC was a no-brainer, and he did the business as usual. That left me with 2 starters going on Sunday: Lowe (at Arizona) & Parra (vs the Giants). With my opponent starting Cole Hamels against Florida, it was likely that he would tie wins and go ahead in Ks, so I made the decision to start both Lowe & Parra. As you can see from the result, it went well!

Week 16 Results

• London Knights 11-1 Felixstowe Fury
• New Hampshire Goats 6-5 Barcelona Reds
• Lower Saxony Tigers 10-1 Peitudas
• North York Blues 4-8 Psydney Psychos
• LA Thrashers 5-6 Hamburger Blaufinken
• Manzen Marlins 8-4 Northampton Squirrels
• Brisbane Bikkies 6-5 Edinburgh Dukes

Standings

Significant Moves

Very quiet - understandably - in moves this week. Edinburgh made a couple of changes, dumping Varitek for Iannetta & Luke Scott for Nady, whilst Manzen picked up Mike Pelfrey, and Brisbane are taking a flier on Gio Gonzalez. And that's about it!

Waffle

You need a bit of luck in this shortened week, and I have to acknowledge that the Knights had some. After Friday's games, the Knights were ahead in most pitching categories, but lagging behind with the bats, having a grand total of 1 RBI to their name. But a 2-day batting frenzy saw 6 HR and 17 RBI over the weekend, moving them ahead of Felixstowe in every batting category except SBs - Pat Burrell & Mark Teixiera doing most of the damage. With the starters being solid and the relievers picking up 5 saves and 1 hold, the Knights swept the pitching categories, ending up with an 11-1 win for their 6th straight victory and giving them a solid hold on 2nd spot in the league. This result almost certainly sounds the final death knell for Felixstowe, who are also slipping out of contention for even the consolation playoffs.

Elsewhere, this week was bound to throw up some anomalous results, none more so than the league leaders suffering only their second defeat of the season, narrowly, 6-5 to Hamburger. It was somewhat bizarre that they won ERA & WHIP with scores of 6.85 & 1.61 - Hamburger's decision to start Brian Bannister at the WhiteSox on Sunday helped with that, although to be fair, most pitchers on both teams had outings to forget - including relievers (Lyon for LA & Bell for Hamburger being the most notable).

Very little movement in the table this week, and it would appear that some tiers are starting to develop. LA are still way out in front, followed by a 2nd-tier grouping of five teams. The Knights are second, followed by New Hampshire (narrow winners over Barcelona) and Lower Saxony, who stuffed Peitudas 10-1. Making up Tier 2 are North York (despite their 8-4 defeat to Psydney) and Manzen (8-4 winners over Northampton).

Beyond those teams are three more on the edge of the playoffs. Psydney's improvement continues with that victory over North York, although thanks to Lower Saxony's win, they are actually further behind 6th place than they were last week. Go figure! Edinburgh (narrowly beaten by Brisbane) & Northampton are clinging on by their fingertips, but it's looking more and more likely that there may be only one British representative in the end of season playoffs. All three of these teams still have a chance, but they can't let the gap get any bigger.

Moving on down, Tier 4 contains 3 teams who simply have to win every one of their last 6 match-ups to have a chance of reaching the top 6. Peitudas are one of these teams, who have gone into an incredible 2nd-half slump, suffering their 5th straight defeat this week. Just below them are Hamburger - a team who never seem to win or lose by very much. They would probably be in Tier 3, hovering around .500, had they not had such a terrible start. Also in this tier are Brisbane, who finally picked up their first win since Week 7 with that victory over Edinburgh.

And then we have the final tier, consisting of Felixstowe, who've never really got going this year, and Barcelona - still bottom despite a decent team on paper. It's far too late, of course, for them to make the playoffs, but at least they have a chance to get off the bottom, with the Fury now only 3.5 games ahead of them.

Week 17 sees us back to the 7-day schedule, and there are a number of exciting match-ups to look forward to. Still no doubt smarting from that defeat to Hamburger, the Thrashers take on the resurgent Psychos, winners of 4 straight games and looking in with a real chance of the playoffs. Above the Psychos, last week's big winners face off, as 2nd-placed London take on 4th-placed Lower Saxony. The latter won the early season encounter...London will be out for revenge! And two teams on the brink of the playoffs - Edinburgh & Northampton - have a chance to get themselves a bit closer as they take on two teams in the bottom 3, Barcelona & Brisbane. With 6 weeks to go before the playoffs, there is still a lot to look forward to...