Standings

Team	Points
Fleurs du Mal	91.5
Oprahsmash	88
Homestarmy	83
Robomark Pavelcops	77
Midget Mafia	73
Ginger Thunder	71.5
Catch 22	69.5
Chicks Dig the Long Ball	62.5
The Ale and Quail Club	48
Try not to Suck	45
Silly Nannies	37
Jolly Rogers	34

Transactions

FAAB

FAAB posts will come midweek if I have time.

Trades

None

Team Reports

Catch 22

Category	Points
R	2.5
HR	7.5
RBI	6
SB	2
AVG	10
K	10
W	8.5
SV	2
ERA	9
WHIP	12
TOTAL	69.5

The stars do be starrin and the scrubs do be scrubbin so far. Arenado chose violence to begin the season; he’s batting .433/.514/1.000 and hasn’t really shown signs of slowing down. Add 9R, 4HR, and 12RBI to that and you got a stew going bucko. Freeman, DJLM, Arenado, Canha, and dynamo FA pickup Jeremy Pena have kept the average high and tight, all batting over .300. The counting stats are lagging behind some thanks in part to weak showings from Sano, Gallo, and Grandal, but it’s early.

Kyle takes the WHIP, tops in the category. Basepath dominatrices Rodon, Rasmussen, Ober, and Heaney withhold baserunning permission, eschew typical leather and boot trappings. These guys all had sub 1.00 marks. The staff as a whole has been excellent; it appears Kyle will be tested again this year with SP injuries as Lynn goes down. Can Heaney be a reliable fill-in?

Chicks Dig the Long Ball

Category	Points
R	7
HR	3
RBI	4.5
SB	4.5
AVG	4
K	8
W	8.5
SV	10
ERA	6
WHIP	7
TOTAL	62.5

Fleurs Du Mal

Category	Points
R	12
HR	12
RBI	11
SB	7
AVG	12
K	7
W	5.5
SV	10
ERA	7
WHIP	8
TOTAL	91.5

Andy wastes no time filling up the display case with in-season accolades as he nabs the top spot in the standings, as well as category leads in R, HR, and AVG. I’ve chosen the SPARKPLUG, BOMB, and LUMBER for these, respectively. Vlad had a 3 homer game, and has 5 now on the young season. He’s joined by B. Lowe, Belt, Soto, and Edman (?!) in the early bird bombers club, with 3 a piece. Straw has been on a torrid SB pace, racking up 4 already. He’ll need to do a lot of the SB heavy lifting for this team, so far so good!

I’ll lead with the adds on the pitching side because I’m a big Tylor Megill fan despite the whack spelling of his name. Anday getting him and Matt Brash is a potential coup. Megill grades out well in Stuff+ and is one of the bigger gainers from 2021 to 2022, and Brash has a filthy breaker that he can build around, he just has to limit the walks. Taylor Rogers is pacing the RP corps with 4 saves already, golly.

Ginger Thunder

Category	Points
R	5
HR	7.5
RBI	8.5
SB	11
AVG	9
K	5
W	8.5
SV	10
ERA	2
WHIP	5
TOTAL	71.5

In this house we support Jorge Mateo, you can like it or get out. He is not a very good real life baseball player but he could honest to goodness steal 30 bags on the Orioles with a little pop thrown in as well. He already has 3 SB. Also cool to see Cutch stealing a couple bags. If the Dread Pirate is sailing again, even if it’s without dreads and on a motorized boat scooter, I’m here for it. Ozuna has 4 homers and 8 RBI. Olson is hitting .421. The offense is churning along just fine in Natetown.

Wanna know who is leading this team in strikeouts? It’s Cole or Manoah or Gausman right? No, because it’s KYLE GIBSON. Nate didn’t get the 10K start vs. Oakland but the register still shows Gibby has 16K in 11.2 innings. He gets a Coors start next, hold on to your giblets. There’s weird mojo with Cole having a bumpy start, and tough luck injuries to Ryu and Clevinger, but the save situation is looking good with Iglesias, Soto, Bender, and some contributions from Barlow and Robles. Look for the ratios to even out with some more innings.

Jolly Rogers

Category	Points
R	1
HR	1
RBI	3
SB	8
AVG	3
K	5
W	3.5
SV	5.5
ERA	3
WHIP	1
TOTAL	34

The youth movement has face-planted. These aren’t baseball wunderkinds, these are stupid undisciplined baseball babies! Who let these babies on the field?! J-Rod (.125), Kelenic (.172), and Adell (.167) encapsulate the struggles of the whole offense, as 9 regulars are hitting sub .240, with 7 guys below .200. Strikeouts abound. No barrels hit yet for Justin Turner or Mookie. Baez, Senzel, and India hurt. It’s early, but it’s an inauspicious start. I have my work cut out for me. On the plus side, speed contributions from across the whole roster suggest a nice SB floor, and Acuna starts a rehab assignment on Tuesday.

Things aren’t much better on the bump, but the pitching ratios should stabilize some with more innings. Freddy Peralta has an 11.57 ERA after 2 rough starts, but reinforcements have arrived with nasty Nestor Cortes (17K in 9.1 innings) now in the fold. His Yankee brother Aroldis Chapman needs to stop walking the yard, if he doesn’t then there’s trouble brewing in the relief corps.

Midget Mafia

Category	Points
R	8.5
HR	11
RBI	12
SB	6
AVG	11
K	2
W	1
SV	5.5
ERA	10
WHIP	6
TOTAL	73

JoRam (15! RBI) carved up my poor Reds and spoiled the home opener with his beastly grand slam, so I bore witness to the forging of the RIBS that Kevin now holds in his sauce-stained hands. His barbarism knows no bounds, as Jazz Chisolm, from his spot in the bottom third of the Marlins line-up, has managed to put up 10 RBI of his own. Mullins has 8 despite hitting .167. Elsewhere on offense it stays yummy; Lux has 3 barrels on the young season, Timmy is hitting almost .400. Once the slow starters get going and Bux+Teoscar are back we’ll be in business for sure.

Shane McClanahan is also pinging on the list of Stuff+ gainers this year, and his 15K in 9 innings is testament to that. Luzardo is on that list too, and he was feeling it with his 12K start vs the Angels. These guys will need to shoulder a heavy load with deGrom going down on this boom/bust staff.

Oprahsmash!

Category	Points
R	10.5
HR	7.5
RBI	10
SB	10
AVG	5
K	12
W	8.5
SV	5.5
ERA	8
WHIP	11
TOTAL	88

Just a little hop, skip, and flippy dip from your boy polar Pete, who’s put up a 7/3/14/0/.241 line in the early going. BA stuggles from Brendan Rodgers (.097), Pham (.038), Robert (.194) have pulled the team average down, but Robert has still been killing it with 2 homers and 5 steals. This is a top 3 offense on paper, and amazingly has had more slow starters than fast starters despite the strong 43 points on offense. Santander has a .296 xBA, .486 xSLG, and is walking 22.2% of the time after never posting a rate above 6.1% in his MLB career.

Matt gets the SWORDS because Burnes, Nola, Montas, Manaea, and Greene have combined for 62 K in 56 innings. That’s a lot of strikeouts Susan. Saves are still gonna be dicey but there’s a new closer share to be had on waivers every 15 minutes these days. Shout out to WHIP stewards Nola (1.07), Montas (1.06), and Burnes (0.92). These guys are gonna keep ratios in check all year.

Robomark Pavelcops

Category	Points
R	10.5
HR	7.5
RBI	1
SB	9
AVG	1
K	11
W	11.5
SV	5.5
ERA	11
WHIP	9
TOTAL	77

It’s immediately very odd to see 7.5 points in HR and 1 point in RBI. Lots of solo homers mixed with some early season standings shenanigans? I also count 9 rostered hitters hitting below .200, while the team is excelling in runs and stolen bases. April is bonkers, man. Some fun foibles: Belly has 3 SB, Mercado now fancies himself a pull power hitter with 3 homers (56.5% pull rate vs. 41.3% career, .508 xSLG), Vaughn is hitting .348/.400/.652. I have no idea what to make of this offense quite frankly so I’m gonna play the wait and see game. Several of these guys are gonna wake up, but how much?

Cookie Carrasco! How awesome is it to see Carlos put up a sub 1 ERA with 13 K in 10.2 innings? He will help fill the void left behind by Giolito. Elsewhere Mark is banking on the elite STL defense and high IP from Matz and Mikolas, but with the aggressive streaming strategy being employed, who knows how long any of these guys will stay? Its been working so far, 48 pitching points is testament to that. Mark shares the LUCKY CLOVER with Elliott for the Wins title, Sliante. Quick hit: Daniel Bard has been a save maven for Mark and has quietly put up 4, thats money in the bank.

Silly Nannies

Category	Points
R	2.5
HR	4.5
RBI	7
SB	12
AVG	2
K	2
W	2
SV	1
ERA	1
WHIP	3
TOTAL	37

After giving CPR to his bat, Ohtani has come alive with his 9/3/7/2/.227 line. There’s been guys stealing bases all over this roster, and that’s given Nannies the early SB crown and the WINGSHOE. Manny Machado has 3, I don’t have to tell you what kind of fantasy player Machado is if he puts up 15 to 20 SB this season, you smart and handsome devil you. CJ Cron is out of his mind with 5 homers and 10 RBI. There’s been issues at catcher for this team, Higgy and McCann have 5 hits in 44 AB between them. The people want (healthy) Rutschman, give us Rutschman, baseball gods!

Pitching has been very unlucky so far. The lack of Sale and Flaherty is hurting the staff, and blow-ups from Wheeler (3IP, 7ER) and Darvish (1.2IP, 9ER) means ratios are going to be tanked for awhile. Turnaround from these staff aces will help a lot, but RP reinforcements (SV) are still needed from the waiver wire.

Strong Badia Homestarmy

Category	Points
R	8.5
HR	10
RBI	8.5
SB	1
AVG	7
K	9
W	11.5
SV	5.5
ERA	12
WHIP	10
TOTAL	83

I am stealing this image for you Bush League for your amusement. For you, I become the poo poo head that Obvious Shirts foretold. Seiya has been as great as advertised, putting up a 7/4/11/0/.400 line in the early going and anchoring Elliott’s offense during the slow starts of Votto (.118 BA), Bichette (.222 BA, 1 HR, 0 SB), and Winker (.152 BA) amongst a few others. Elliott is our local Kwan-man; we shall all watch with great interest to see his BA exploits. None of the SB threats on this team have stolen a bag aside from Garcia, a speed infusion to supplement an otherwise quite solid offense may be needed.

Check out that pitching hardware. Elliott captures a share of the LUCKY CLOVER and sole ownership of the SHIELD, tops in ERA. Verlander’s dominant start vs. Seattle was a declaration that there’s still something left in the tank. There’s been no hiccups on this staff except for Eovaldi being a little shaky, and tough luck RP injuries. Rainey and Givens will try to toe the line until Pressly and Floro come back.

The Ale and Quail Club

Category	Points
R	6
HR	4.5
RBI	4.5
SB	3
AVG	8
K	5
W	3.5
SV	5.5
ERA	4
WHIP	4
TOTAL	48

Welcome back John! Ale and Quail begins the reunion tour with a mixed bag on offense: solid performances from Bell (9/2/10/0/.350) and Verdugo (3/3/8/0/.300) help sooth the burn of slow starts from Goldy, Adames, and the two catchers Varsho and Vazquez. Don’t sleep on Ty France heroically carrying Seattles offense with his 9 RBI either. The pickup of Thairo Estrada was savvy and is probably a ticket to a 20 homer MI at least. Bryant is going to make us wait for the Colorado power explosion, so coy. Speed has been troublesome in the early going and may be a bugaboo all season unless its addressed.

Ratio’s aren’t great but Hendriks has been bringing home the bacon with 4 saves, and a cool bobblehead

Injuries have reared their ugly heads amongst the starters, as both Gray boys now join Castillo on the IL. This staff is deep enough to weather the storm, but the injury risk will remain high all season. Look for Rogers to rebound from his 1.2IP 7ER blow up, and the pitching ratios to recover for this team (with time).

Try Not to Suck

Category	Points
R	4
HR	2
RBI	2
SB	4.5
AVG	6
K	2
W	5.5
SV	12
ERA	5
WHIP	2
TOTAL	45

When you pick up Ji-man Choi and he’s immediately the most decorated hitter on your team, you know it’s early April. Slow starts abound here, paced by the large share of Tigers Dave has on the team. Grossman (.105), Baddoo (.087), and Schoop (.143) haven’t gotten much going in Motor City, and like other teams in the bottom half of the standings, are part of a with a good chunk of players (7) hitting below the Mendoza line. Time will tell what the rebound will bring, but these guys will start hitting eventually.

Here on the Bush League blog we are keeping the floppy disk references alive. Dave gets the FLOPPY DISK as he’s tops in the save category, thanks to utter dominance of Jordan Romano and his 6 saves. Can you imagine if the Jays went out and got Kimbrel or something to block him in the pre-season? The starters have endured a few blow-ups, chief among them Berrios (0.1IP, 4ER) and Mahle (3.2IP, 7ER) and the ratios have suffered as a result. Pablo Lopez? Still cool:

Weekly Awards

Benchest Mench

No award this week.

Weekly MVP

Jose Ramirez – .500/6/3/15/0

Elite production from the #1 3B.

Best FAAB pick-up

No award this week.