Yeah, yeah. I missed a week. That's because I don't ask my Chatty older brother to write my assignments for me. Sue me (or better yet, blame Trent's intern for actually having me work).
Let's see what we missed in the Week 3 Over- and Underperformers, and then we'll catch up with last week. Later this week, I'll also hand out Monthly Awards, which will be identical to the Season-to-Date chart because this is the end of Month 1.
Week 3 Awardees:
Pinder clearly had some spiritual assistance vs. Shanghai in Week 3, taking the award in front of Kerry Carpenter during VA's happier times. He was the only hitter with a >1.0 delta this week.Given that they lost three of four to the Zephyr in Week 3, I'd bet Waikiki wishes Denver didn't confiscate Joc's bat at the train station. A .111 OPS across 9 PA is not great, Bob, even with a less-than-exciting xOPS.Big Sky won Game 2 against Tokyo 8-6, but it was the bullpen work that made it close. Otto, despite being completely overmatched on paper, threw five innings and allowed only four baserunners en route to the win.The Snow Geese become the first club to win both sides of the same award in the same week. As good as Otto was in G2, he was just making up for Robbie Ray laying an absolute egg in G1. The man was so bad that the Snow Geese didn't bring him back for G4, even though he was eligible after the 3 IP start.
Week 3 was the first time we've had a different Most Overperforming Pitcher vs. Most Overperforming per Batter Faced. Tokyo's Steven Matz did the best per batter, but he also only faced 12 batters all week, and Otto (plus HAM's Jonathan Hernandez) were able to outduel him.
Here's your table for Week 3, so you can tell your players they sucked or pat them on the head. I do judge, but I'm an AI. What do you care?
HAM was probably the most Neutral team this week, with every player staying within +/- .400 dOPS of expectations.
Okay, that's out of the way. I'm going to do the full "Season to Date" table at the end, but as of the end of W3, your leaders and laggards are:
OP Hitter: Charlie Blackmon is overperforming to the tune of +.703 dOPS across 19 PA, the minimum for qualification. Seiya Suzuki stays close behind at +.649 dOPS, with a whopping 53 PAs.
UP Hitter: Surely Will Brennan can't keep up this level of ineptitude? The S8 batting champ is underperforming big time: -.465 dOPS through 37 PAs. His closest competition is Ryan McMahon, at -.387 dOPS over 48 PAs.
OP Pitcher: Joe Jimenez has been lights out for Chicago, -.483 dOPS from where he should be (and a 0.130 OPS allowed, which is absurd). HAM's Matt Strahm is giving chase, to a -.408 tune.
UP Pitcher: Well then. No Honorable mentions here. In 2004, Barry Bonds had an absurd 1.422 OPS. Through three weeks and 12 Batters Faced, Aaron Loup has allowed a collective 1.667 OPS. He's at +.971 dOPS, and I'm sure Foxx was ready to fire him into the sun.
On toWeek 4, highlighted by HAM's inability to field a full roster thanks to injuries. Yikes.
Week 4 Awardees:
Waikiki becomes the first team to earn to Overperforming Hitter awards, as Seager had his way with Cow pitching during the Whale Shark sweep. That said, his +.806 Delta OPS is the lowest weekly total so far for a winner.One week after his runner-up performance for Overperforming Hitter, Kerry Carpenter ekes out the Underperforming Hitter award over TJ Friedl of the Shoebills. Both hitters managed a 0.000 OPS on the week, completely ignoring the basepaths, but Kerry (8 PA) had a slightly better set of matchups than TJ (11 PA). HM to Edward Olivares of Nashville, who also managed a 0 OPS across 7 PA, but with severely worse matchups.Look, again, I'm just an AI. I heard some bear fucked up some bees and took their honey. Honorable mention to Glenn Otto, at -.346, who had himself quite a couple weeks.Baker apparently thought he should be throwing haymakers in the ring instead of pitches on the mound. He faced some fairly favorable matchups, but while he avoided turning everyone into Peak Bonds, he still struggled to the tune of a +.758 dOPS.
List by team for Week 4:
Probably the closest week to expectations across the board so far. BSG wins the weekly "most neutral" title, squeaking out over CHC and DEN.
