The updated standings can be found here.
(I have retired the Weekly Projections portion since they aren't that fascinating.)
Caff is still hanging onto the top spot, and has been there for as far back as I can remember. Though, Mooch is hot on his heels. But I'm playing a different game. I'm playing in a world of hypotheticals projected outcomes. I'm playing for the title after Week 23, not Week 8. I choose to live in this virtual reality where Mooch and Caff are projected to be the 2nd and 3rd worst teams going forward and have to fight for a playoff spot.
And yet, in both the reality and fantasy worlds, I am losing. For the first time all season, we have a new projected winner: I got Matsui!
I don't know how Riley is doing it, but by golly we've got to take him down. His batting stats have skyrocketed over the course of 7 days, and to boot, he's still got Votto on the DL
Looking closer at the rest of season projections, another team that rivals Riley for one of the best teams of the rest of the season is Goose's Flock. Let's have a looksie at them.
Batting
What have they done?
They have a winning percentage of .615, which is only 2nd to Mooch (.625). That's quite remarkable. They have had very few holes in their offense with only SBs (3-4-1) dipping below .500.
What will they do?
Make no mistake, their results aren't far from reality. They're projected to win at a clip of .529 the rest of the season, largely relying on HR and RBI to do the heavy lifting
| HR | |
| Giancarlo Stanton | 39 |
| Brandon Moss | 30 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | 29 |
| Freddie Freeman | 27 |
| Brian Dozier | 22 |
| Pablo Sandoval | 21 |
| Michael Cuddyer | 20 |
| Salvador Pérez | 13 |
| J.J. Hardy | 13 |
That's an awful lot of homers from just those starters. Giancarlo has YET to hit 39 according to Steamer's projections. Moss for 30? DOZIER for 22? I guess I can't argue since I've invested so much in the narrative of "numbers know more than you". So, there's that.
Pitching
What have they done?
Sucked. Sucked badly. Almost as much as Dave's pitching staff. Only Losses (4-3-1) and Saves (5-3) have been above .500.
What will they do?
They will monumentally bounce back. Wins will climb back toward .500. Their rate stats will also have a heavy climb back toward contender status.
What we have here is a power-laced team that has had some back luck in their pitching stats thus far that will potentially ride the coat tails of their offense to a playoff spot.