The North (14-2) vs. Dothrakis (13-3)
The Venue: Eisenhower D @ 8:30am
These two teams are branched off of the great Savages teams of the past few years. Players like Hashim, Charley, Pavy, Irfan, Anwar, Saeed, Yasar etc all played together for a few years and won championships together. The teams are also packed with new players to add to the rivalry as Andy, Nick, Steve, Pablo, Justin etc have quickly established themselves as prime players for both franchises.
More importantly, this weeks matchup should determine who finishes as the top seed going into the Playoffs. The stakes are very high! Being in First seed means you get to dictate where and when you play thru the first two rounds of playoffs as you get the first choice on fields. The North are one game ahead of Dothrakis and both teams have 6 games to play in total for the season.
How They Got Here
The North:
The North had established themselves as an elite team and a true force to be reckoned with very early in the season. They roared to a 6-0 start to begin the season before losing their first game to Hit Squad. Since then, they are 7-1 with their only other loss coming to a veteran MonStars squad. At 14-2 and in first place, they haven’t really been challenged yet and that changes this week against Dothrakis who can match up with them in every facet of the game.
Their calling card early in the season was their offense, but now they boast the best defensive team in the league and has two elite pitchers. Their offense is still ranked second best in the league with about 14 runs scored per game on average. But it’s that defense which gives up about 7 runs a game that has really been marvelous the past few weeks. Overall, they have a +110 run differential which tops the league by quite a margin.
Dothrakis:
Dothrakis boast a 13-3 record (1 game behind first place). Their 3 losses? A sweep at the hands of Black Mambas and a loss to Troopers earlier in the year. Shocking! We are sure they want to run those games back as both of those teams are in the bottom half of the League now. With that said, they have some signature sweeps like against Dynasty and Hit Squad. They are 6-0 over their last 3 weeks and are putting their best foot forward with playoffs approaching.
For the season, they have the 5th best offense scoring a shade under 14 runs a game which is very similar to The North offense. On defense, they are giving up about 9 runs a game thru 16 games and their strength is their Outfield defense with Andy, Pablo, David and Sunny locking it down. Overall, +76 mark is second best in the League.
On Field Matchups
Pitching/Catching:
For the North, we expect a tandem of Yasar Bokhari at Pitcher and Papu Allen at Catcher. Yasar has pitched in many big games in his career and has won 5 championships. Yasar also boasts a league leading ERA of 6.20. Papu Allen is having a career year at the plate and is a disrupter on the basepaths.
For Dothrakis, Freddy Maldonado has been the Ace on the mound but he has seen his share of being a little wild. The Era is 9.2 is still very good but he just needs to trust his defense more. Gage Nestor has been catching most of the season and he’s having a subpar year at the dish.
Advantage: The North
Infield:
The North has one of the best Infields in the League. They will most likely use Charley at 3B, Steve at SS, Adeel at 2B and Akil at 1B. Defensively this is a very good Infield and the only weak spot maybe at second base where Adeel has made quite a few errors. Charley and Steve are elite hitters and Akil while he slowed down since his hot start, is still a capable bat with an above average glove.
Dothrakis have 3 star athletes in the infield. Led by 3b with Hashim nearing what we expect from him at the field when healthy with diving plays and an elite bat. Rookie Justin Sevilla has done well so far but can be shaky with the glove at times. At 2B, you have Pervez who is a hustle machine but his bat hasn’t gotten it going yet. Pavy rounds out the Infield at 1B and his bat is finally coming around.
Advantage: Even
Outfield:
From Left to Right, The North usually deploys Irfan Musliwala, Shawn Abraham, Nick Timpone and Saeed Anwar. All 4 have above average gloves and bats. Nick is the cleanup hitter of the team and boasts some of the best raw power numbers in the League. Irfan, Shawn and Saeed are all similar players: fast, good glove and above average hitters. As a tandem, they make up an elite Outfield crew.
David Rodriguez mans Left field for Dothrakis and he has the speed and arm to cover a lot of ground. At the plate, he is a very good hitter with some surprising pop. Andy Sanchez and Pablo Sanchez are up the middle at Centerfield. Andy has a top 5 arm in the League and right now is the leading Rookie of the Year candidate. Pablo is no slouch either. He provides elite speed for Dothrakis with a good glove and has been scoring runs in bunches from the Leadoff spot. Rounding out the Outfield is captain Sunny Naveed who has provided a steady hand out there while racking up RBIs in the middle of the lineup.
Advantage: Even
Keys To Winning
The North:
1. No Base-running Blunders: Outfield of Dothrakis led by Andy has cut down a lot of adventurous runners. Nothing cuts down a big inning like an out on the base-paths.
2. Get The Easy Outs: If you let Gage, Freddy, Pervez get on base almost every time, it will lead to two losses because Dothrakis top guys are lethal.
3. Get The Ball In Quick: Players like Pablo, Justin, Andy, David, Pervez provide a lot of speed and if North outfield is lallygagging, they will be giving up bases after every hit.
Dothrakis:
1. Throw Strikes, Avoid Walks: The games Dothrakis lost, their pitchers gave up a lot of walks. With a defense like Dothrakis, walks are killers.
2. Attendance: The Dothrakis bench is very weak with Ahad, Jig, Navin, Wang, etc on the bench. If they have to dip into that bench, they are in trouble.
3. Composure On The Field: In a matchup expected to be intense, will their players keep composure, especially with the umpire?
Prediction:
This is as good as any regular season game gets. The top two teams battling it out for what we think will be the first seed for the winner. We are going to predict this ends in a SPLIT! We know that isn’t an exciting or bold prediction but this one is way too close to call.
