1. THE NORTH (11-1) ↔️
They made unexpectedly quick work of TSFE. Defense and pitching was on point as they only surrendered 4 runs combined in two games. It’s good to have your top players play both sides of the ball as Nick, Charley, Steve, Shawn, Irfan, etc are just as capable at the dish as they are on the field. The only concern seems to be how the bottom half of the lineup will hit as they would like to turn that lineup over quick. But this is the best they have looked all year.
2. DYNASTY (10-2) ⬆️ 1 SPOT
They move up one spot after 2 close but great wins against MonStars who could’ve dealt Dynasty a crushing blow. Yamin led the way with a monster week as he was crushing the ball all day. A slight concern as Pitcher Ali didn’t pitch game 2 with an injury. The difference was immense: game 1 Dynasty gave up 6 runs and in game 2 they gave up 18. Dynasty will need Ali at 100% to be considered elite. This week they have a monster matchup against Dothrakis.
3. DOTHRAKIS (9-3) ⬆️ 1 SPOT
Two fantastic wins against Hit Squad was much needed as they were coming off of 2 crushing losses against Mambas. Andy finally seems to have started to swing like the elite player he is. Freddy really settled down from the last time we saw him when he averaged about 8 walks a game. The team has solid players at every position and they proved they can win against an elite team in low scoring games. We haven’t talked about him much but Justin Sevilla has quietly been Dothrakis second best player in the season. The rookie seems to bring it every week!
4. HIT SQUAD (7-5) ⬇️ 2 SPOTS
The champs got taught a lesson this past Sunday by Dothrakis. While Dothrakis were making the fundamental plays, HS had players not hustling or getting thrown out on base paths. Very un-Hit Squad like. Some cause for concern as well as their top 3 hitters in the lineup are hitting about .500 combined (Ankit, Ahmad and Ramy). They are 3-3 against the top 3 teams, so they still know how to grind it out but they will need better production from their highest rated players moving forward.
5. MONSTARS (7-5) ↔️
They had a golden chance to win 2 games against Dynasty and move into 2nd place. But why make the season easier for yourself when you are MonStars? They like to play on the edge. Both games were close as they lost by a margin of 5 runs combined. The shine has worn off a little for this team as they are 0-2 against the top teams and still has games against North, Dothrakis and Hit Squad left. They are missing a big piece in Haaris Din the past few weeks and its cost them in the defensive side of things.
6. THE ONES (7-5) ↔️
We are going to keep calling them the Jekyll and Hyde team. Will the real Ones please stand up? They shockingly lost to a previously winless team in Backdoor Sliders in game 1 of last week. Then came back and mercied them with a score of 13-1 in game 2. We see a huge mistake from their leadership: elite teams don’t switch up key positions because they are playing a winless team. Having your 4th string pitcher start game 1 was all Sliders needed to steal a game. This may come back to haunt them when it comes to seeding time.
7. BLACK MAMBAS (5-7) ↔️
They really should drop down 10 spots after getting swept by DadBods. I mean come on guys. With everything at stake and where every win is precious, you guys lay an egg like that? Where was the defense? Mambas may have made more errors this past Sunday as they did all year combined. This team loves to play up and down to their competition. They beat Dothrakis and lose to DadBods. This week they should get Captain America back as they face a tougher than it looks matchup against Shooter McGavins.
8. TSFE (5-7) ↔️
Tough, tough weekend. When your Player of the Week is 1 for 3, you know something went wrong. This was the first time all year TSFE played a 8:30am game and their bats seemed to be sleeping still. 4 runs in 2 games is hard to do even when you are trying not to hit. They have a few winnable weekends coming up and they should really work hard to make the makeup game happen against Shooter McGavins if they want to stay out of the SNL spot.
9. SHOOTER MCGAVINS (4-8) ⬆️ 1 SPOT
The sleeping giant seems to have stirred a little. They looked GREAT against Troopers. The energy was there, the defense was good and the bats finally woke up. If this version of Shooter McGavins show up every week, they can surely make a dent in the standings. The speedy duo of Nick Tamayo and VJ Samaroo have been getting to everything in the outfield and Khurram looks more and more like the gold glover he has been know for at SS. They have a big matchup this week against Mambas and if they can sweep, they may finally climb out of the SNL hole.
10. TROOPERS (6-8) ⬇️ 1 SPOT
Getting swept by Shooter McGavins in two games where they absolutely did not show up ready to play. Their players looked lethargic and the captains need to do a better job to make sure the guys are ready to play. If they won both games, they would have leapfrogged 3 teams ahead of them. They have done a good job to be relevant this year, but have lost some of that momentum and goodwill they had built up earlier in the season. They have a matchup against TSFE this weekend, a team they matchup really well against.
11. DADBODS (2-12) ↔️
The biggest upset of the season? 2 wins against Black Mambas and they scored almost 30 runs! Where did this come from? The offense was on fire all day but they also caught some lucky breaks with Mambas missing Dan and playing some shoddy defense. Their last minute pickup Giuseppe has been a godsend, as he has hit .565 ever since he came on board. This week if they can pickup two more wins against Backdoor Sliders which are winnable games, they can make it real interesting in the playoff race. Best of luck Sunday!
12. BACKDOOR SLIDERS (1-11) ↔️
Miracles do happen! Vegas lost big time by betting against Backdoor Sliders this past Sunday. Bettors expected an easy sweep for The Ones and they got it wrong! After picking up their first win of the season, they finally have momentum heading into their big matchup against DadBods. This should be a highly entertaining matchup. It was good to see veteran Travis earn the Player Of The Week after a tough start to the season. Good luck next week boys!
