THE ONES (2-2) vs. SHOOTER MCGAVINS (0-4)
The Venue: Eisenhower 6
Time: 8:30am
This weeks SASL Game Of The Week includes two teams headed in the opposite direction in the standings and in our Power Rankings. The Ones can move to 4-2 with a sweep and be right at the thick of things with the big dogs of SASL. The Shooter McGavins MUST avoid a sweep and falling to an embarrassing 0-6 after coming into season with grand aspirations.
How They Got Here:
The Ones: Declared by many in the preseason to be the “Most Improved Team” with their multitude of offseason moves, they are off to an uneven start. Week 1, they should have swept The North as they scored about 19 runs in each game, But their pitching and defense was awful and they dropped both. Week 2, they beat up on a hapless DadBods team that couldn’t match the offensive firepower of The Ones. It was an expected sweep. The question still remains if The Ones can actually beat a legitimate contender, and beating Shooters would go a long way to answering those questions. The Ones boast the second best Runs Scored in the league this season so far (65 runs) and they are in the middle of the pack in defense but that had a lot to do with holding DadBods to 7 runs last weekend.
Shooter McGavins: They bought the core back from an excellent 2019 season and added TK, Zulfikar, and Razi. Only Dynasty made less additions to their roster than the 3 new Shooter players. You would think continuity and stability would be a hallmark for a winning team. Unfortunately, Shooter McGavins are 0-4. On Opening Day, they were their worst enemy as they could have won both games. If not for errors, they would have easily swept. Week 2 was a different story. Dothrakis came and destroyed Shooters in two mercy losses. 5 runs in 2 games from any offense is atrocious, but it is especially bad from Shooter McGavins who put up 28 just the week before. Week 1 was no defense and Week 2 was no offense. Can they put it together and win a game this Sunday?
On-Field Matchups:
Pitcher/Catcher: The Ones starting pitcher should be Saiful Ashraf but he was removed after just one inning in an opening day meltdown where he walked 7 guys in the first inning. He settled down big time against DadBods and pitched two gems. Amby Cruceta will most likely be the catcher for The Ones. He’s an excellent hitter. For Shooters, expect a battery of Aasheesh Shravah and Jojo Rodriguez. Aasheesh has done fairly well this season on the mound but his batting continues to be a liability. Jojo is squeezed out of the Oufield for now and he’s been ok at the dish.
Advantage: The Ones.
Infield: The Ones can have many variations of their infield based on attendance every week. Waqas Ali, Denen Olson, Naeem Bhalli, and Mike Bittner probably make up their best defensive and offensive infield. Denen can play a great 3B and is one of the best bats. Waqas and Naeem are both smooth on the field and has a lot of power to the pull side. Mike Bittner had a rough 2019, but his lefty power will work well in Eisenhower 6.
On paper, Shooter McGavins should have one of the better infields with Rich/Zulfikar at the corners and Khurram/Ronak up the middle. But they have all struggled on both sides of the ball. It is not a question of talent, but rather execution from here on out. Ronak has been the best bat so far of the group, and they need Rich, Khurram and Zulfikar to get going.
Advantage: The Ones.
Outfield: The weakness of The Ones is definitely their Outfield defense. Rafael Liriano is a star in the outfield. Both on offense and defense. Zabi Khosdal, Sijo Jacob, Shehzad Asif are all OK outfielders. We will see how the captains of the Ones patch up the Outfield until they can get some consistency.
Once again on paper, the outfield of Shooter McGavins is formidable. TK makes the spectacular look easy at LCF. Nick Tamayo is one of the most underrated players in SASL. Mike Velez just won the NL MVP. VJ is above average in right field. But so far thru 4 weeks, they have not carried their weight. If there was ever a time to bring back the swag of “No Fly Zone”, this is the week.
Advantage: Shooter McGavins.
Keys To Winning:
The Ones:
Strikes, Strikes, Strikes: Week 1, they filtered thru 3 pitchers in Saiful, Denen and Rafael. They lost both games that week. Week 2, Saiful threw strikes all day and the swept easily.
Don’t Give Gifts: Shooter McGavins just came off a weekend where they scored 5 runs in two games. Easy way to start up their offense? Not making the routine plays.
Don’t Look Ahead: Yes, their opponent is 0-4. But to take these games even slightly lightly will be a death sentence.
Shooter McGavins:
Be Patient Early: They must see if the pitchers are throwing strikes. No need to expand the zone early. Try to get in the pitchers head.
Red Bull Energy: Last year, the Shooter McGavins dugout was lit. This year after the losses have piled up, it feels like a funeral. Keep the energy up! Who will be the spark plug?
Bottom of the lineup: Zulfikar, VJ, Aasheesh make up the bottom 3 in the lineup. Unless they step up, that’s 3 easy innings for The Ones.
Prediction:
When you tally up the in depth analysis and breakdown of position by position, The Ones has a slight advantage. The Ones have outscored Shooter McGavins by 65-33 so far. The Ones defense has also given up less runs than Shooter McGavins.
We are going to be very boring and call this a SPLIT!
