AND LO, I have more to write this week. And so I shall write it right now. And it shall be right. We gotta get to the June Power Rankings but ALSO I should get some Mid-Season Awards in here but ALSO I don’t feel like predicting which owner will die before the season ends (Doch) or which team will win the championship (maybe Doch’s) or whom has the hottest relative (definite not Doch) and all that shit. Awards shall be all business because I am a mature, non-pretentious, adult man. Let’s do those real quick:

(All stats through 06/03/19 I think….)

 

FIRST HALF ROY:  Pete Alonso (RCBD)  –  56/213, 34 Rs, 12 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 19 HRs, 44 RBIs, .335 OBP

honorable mention:  Chris Paddack (BBS)

 

FIRST HALF ROLAIDS RELIEVER OF THE YEAR:  Kirby Yates (BBS)  –  26 IP, 3 ER, 45 Ks, 22 Saves (0 BS), 1.04 ERA

honorable mention:  Roberto Osuna (LTBS)

 

FIRST HALF IMMODIUM BEDSHITTER RELIEVER OF THE YEAR:  Craig Kimbrel (ECK)  –  HE’S JUST SITTIN’ THERE…

honorable mention:  Pedro Strop (RCBD/PBX/AI/RCBD/LL)

 

FIRST HALF LVP (Pitcher):  Mike Foltyniewicz (LL)  –  38.1 IP, 26 ER, 32 Ks, 2 QS, 1 W, 6.10 ERA

honorable mention:  Corey Kluber (RRF)

 

FIRST HALF MVP (Pitcher):  Justin Verlander (LTBS)  –  87.1 IP, 22 ER, 103 Ks, 11 QS, 9 Ws, 2.27 ERA

honorable mention:  Hyun-Jin Ryu (IBB/RRF)

 

FIRST HALF LVP (Hitter):  Rougned Odor (RCBD/FA)  –  27/163, 22 Rs, 6 2Bs, 7 HRs, 25 RBIs, 4 SBs, .232 OBP     🙂

honorable mention:  Jose Ramirez (PBX)

 

FIRST HALF MVP (Hitter):  Cody Bellinger (LTBS)  –  79/210, 50 Rs, 13 2Bs, 1 3B, 20 HRs, 52 RBIs, 7 SBs, .462 OBP

honorable mention:  Christian Yelich (ECK), Adalberto Mondesi (LL)

 

 

AND LO, there’s your MIDSEASON AWARDS. They are a better effort than last season because last season’s MIDSEASON AWARDS was just a bunch of pictures of a dead dog so at least I’ve improved since then. We must always strive to be a bit better than our last shitty attempt at something. Write that down. And ON TO THE JULY POWER RANKINGS:

 

NEW FEATURES ALERT:  Shall be noting Top Hitter First Half MVP and Top Pitcher First Half LVP (never mind ESPN kinda kills LVP with no active stats #TeamFantrax) for each squad, one for Hitters and Pitchers which is generous of me because I don’t want to stare at your fucking teams for too long I have other things to stare at (projected starters because half my bats sit against lefties). AGAIN shall be withholding my unnecessary commentary for the teams I currently deem outta the top 6 and thus undeserving of said commentary. Deal with it dog.gif…

 

 

 

#1  –  Lacey Township BackdoorSliderz (9-0)

So I s’pose they’ve won a couple more coin flips since I last called them lucky fucks for winning a few coin flips, and by THAT I mean they’ve mostly rolled through ever since. Let’s see the numbers:  Runs 1st, Doubles 6th, Triples 9th, HRs 2nd, RBIs 2nd, SBs 5th, OBP 1st, Strikeouts 2nd, QS 2nd, CG t-1st, Wins 1st, Saves 3rd, Holds t-8th, ERA 1st, MOVES 3rd. PRETTY DOMINANT GODDAMN LINE THERE (through 9 weeks), one that certainly backs up the flawless record and one that can be thrown in Doch’s face whenever he creeps into your DMs talkin’ all sorts of “always room for improvement” nonsense. There isn’t much room for improvement here, on either side. The staff is anchored by Verlander but getting great #s from Greinke and deGrom, Buehler is rounding into form, Osuna probably did that shit but all three closers (Holland, Colome) have sub-1 ERAs and double digit Saves (lets just round up with Holland, the passage of time is an illusion). So all of this is unfortunate. The offense discussion can basically begin and end with Cody Bellinger so THAT is what I am going to do. This league wasn’t around for Bonds so the only thing that compares to this was Bryce Harper‘s bonkers 2015 season, whom’s first 2.5 months were sorta similar actually (18 HRs, 42 Rs, 43 RBIs) but still cannot….quite….compare…..to….this:  50 Rs, 13 2Bs, 1 3B, 20 HRs, 52 RBIs, 7 SBs, .462 OBP. The most dominant first 9 weeks The Backyard has ever seen I’m quite certain. WHO WOULDA THUNK IT.

So yea this team is CLEARLY the team to beat, don’t feel like I need to point that out but here we are once again. Fuck them, though.

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Cody Bellinger (79/210, 50 Rs, 13 2Bs, 1 3B, 20 HRs, 52 RBIs, 7 SBs, .462 OBP, 1 JROLL)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  Justin Verlander (87.1 IP, 22 ER, 103 Ks, 11 QS, 9 Ws, 2.27 ERA)

 

 

#2  –  Ocean Gate Fishing Club (5-3-1)

Well well well…..IF IT ISN’T, the team I’ve claimed should re-brand as the “LessWithMores”….yanno doing a little bit. At least enough of a little bit to claim the 2nd bye if the BYBracket broke today. Show me the rankings:  Runs 7th, Doubles 2nd, Triples t-4th, HRs 5th, RBIs 6th, SBs 4th, OBP 2nd, Strikeouts 4th, QS t-3rd, CG t-3rd, Wins 6th, Saves 2nd, Holds t-8th, ERA 2nd, MOVES 10th. The offense is weirdly low in Runs and middle of the pack in most other things, I say weirdly because they STILL carry the two best fantasy hitters on the planet (maybe two of the three now, see above) in Mike Trout and Mookie Betts. Even rosier, their dynamic Cubs duo (Rizzo/Bryant) is back to actually being pretty goddamned dynamic after a few up and down campaigns. Josh Bell and Austin Meadows are all of a sudden both awesome and YANNO WHAT now I am mad at these underachievers once again let’s switch to pitching. Pitching is in many ways what sets this team apart from previous Fishing Clubs, as they now have a BUNCHA legit young arms (Glasnow RIP for now but also Luis Castillo, Shane Bieber, Max Fried, Griffin Canning) to pair with Gerrit Cole and a mildly resurgent Cole Hamels and a perhaps even more resurgent Kyle Hendricks. If this team makes some noise this season (and they can start by stopping this ButtSliderz win streak) the resurgent pitching will be behind it, methinks.

I still don’t know how this franchise hasn’t won multiple championships, would require some sort of blog DEEP DIVE, and maybe one day I get to that (very very unlikely) but for now yanno….there’s worse teams to bet on this season (the Banana Slugs).

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Mike Trout (57/188, 43 Rs, 14 2Bs, 14 HRs, 37 RBIs, 7 SBs, .468 OBP)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  Gerrit Cole (77.2 IP, 34 ER, 116 Ks, 9 QS, 5 Ws, 3.94 ERA)

 

 

#3  – East Coast Kings (5-4)

APROPOS that I just kinda sorta gushed about a pitching staff for the #2 in the rankings (get it? cuz Greg is a piece of shit) and we now arrive on the team that spent years YEARRRS I TELL YOU as the gold standard pitching staff in the Backyard. Almost to a fault. Well this year they’ve fallen off that a bit, father time being undefeated and all. Well here’s the #s:  Runs 6th, Doubles t-4th, Triples t-6th, HRs 3rd, RBIs 3rd, SBs 2nd, OBP 2nd, Strikeouts 7th, QS t-3rd, CG t-3rd, Wins 5th, Saves 7th, Holds 9th, ERA 4th, MOVES 8th. Hey good thing Yelich is out here absolutely raking huh? Cuz the pitching, while still good, ain’t what it once was. But the hitting has been pretttttttty special, lead by the NL MVP in a world where Cody Bellinger doesn’t exist and by weirdly excellent middle infielders (Gleyber Torres, Ketel Marte, Javier Baez but a lil more expected outta him). Much like the Ravens at the height of the Joe Flacco offense, THE SCRIPT HAS FLIPPED and now hitting is carrying the pitching (really bad reference that offense was terrible). Which isn’t to say that pitching has been TERRIBLE, just perhaps not tops in the leage no mo’. Kershaw Paxton & Price (the world’s sorest law firm) are still good when healthy, Stephen Strasburg has been good in general and THUS FAR healthy. But Darvish is toast, Carrasco was unlucky and now has mono or something, Syndergaard has been a bit unlucky but also a bit worse than he’s ever been (HE IS HARVEYING). Mix that all together with a LAZY bullpen that’s carried by Brad Hand and you have a pitching staff that is vulnerable, which is a shame because the offense doesn’t appear to be.

All in all the East Coast Kings display a balance most teams can merely dream about, so don’t let some negativity over pitcher health make you think I don’t think this team can win it all cuz I do think that so you shouldn’t think I don’t think that I don’t want you thinking that I think that you think that I don’t think they can. I believe in this team more often than not, even when they miss the playoffs and win like 5 games so….yea.

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Christian Yelich (60/192, 46 Rs, 8 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 22 HRs, 49 RBIs, 12 SBs, .425 OBP,  1 JROLL)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  Stephen Strasburg (79 IP, 28 ER, 98 Ks, 8 QS, 5 Ws, 3.19 ERA)

 

 

#4  –  River City Bad Dudes (4-4-1)

WHAT can I really say about the Dudes this time? They’re always in it, their offense has been great despite some great players being injured, blah blee blah blee blee blew. STATS ME:  Runs 2nd, Doubles 1st, Triples 8th, HRs 1st, RBIs 1st, SBs 10th, OBP 7th, Strikeouts 6th, QS 5th, CG t-5th, Wins 3rd, Saves 6th, Holds 7th, ERA 7th, MOVES 2nd. So yea just LOOK at that offense. Actually look at everything. Actually there’s a case they should probably have more wins but they don’t and fuck Mike. All those bombs and RBIs are coming with a hurt Stanton and a hurt Pollock (if these are shocking to Dudes ownership that says more about them than anything, though) and also a bit of a ho-hum campaign from Manny Machado. But Pete Alonso ain’t hurt and Matt Chapman ain’t hurt and Xander Bogaerts is having a helluva year and Bryce Harper hasn’t been ho-hum okay he’s actually been a little bit ho-hum. The pitching rankings are actually most impressive here because I don’t find a single pitcher of theirs impressive. Won’t even talk about them. Marcus Stroman is trash.

ALL IN ALL there is some nice numbers in River City and they probably find a way to make it into the playoffs and after that WHOM KNOWS, like all of these teams on this list it’s more about how everyone is playing in August than how everyone played in May. Also it looks like there will be no Banana Slugs for them to knock out, so that may be a motivational problem.

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Pete Alonso (56/213, 34 Rs, 12 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 19 HRs, 44 RBIs, .335 OBP)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  Marcus Stroman (76 IP, 24 ER, 59 Ks, 8 QS, 3 Ws, 2.84 ERA)

 

 

#5- Rojo’s Renegade Force (4-4-1) 

This is one of my FAVORITE rosters in all the Backyard, partly because #FORCE ownership declared in pre-season they would trade their roster for any other roster in the leauge. And now look at em, ACTUALLY KINDA GOOD! Here take a look see:  Runs 3rd, Doubles 10th, Triples 10th, HRs 4th, RBIs 5th, SBs 8th, OBP 4th, Strikeouts 10th, QS t-7th, CG t-5th, Wins t-9th, Saves 9th, Holds 3rd, ERA 3rd, MOVES 7th. Weirdly low energy stuff on the doubles and triples markets but everything else looks fairly lovely to this guy, fair reader. Marcell Ozuna has been downright great and Gallo and Springer were great and are now injured and I believe they can be great again. And Devers just seems to benefit from being a Red Sawk and Goldy should be better and they’re FINALLY getting something out of Victor Robles (i traded him to Rojo 9 seasons ago). KEWT lil offense. And KEWT that they have Hyun-Jin Ryu out there dominating and Charlie Morton being very serviceable and are working through it a bit despite a rough year from Corey Kluber and a seemingly aging Bumgarner and meh Tanaka. Alright the pitching may actually be a problem. But AT LEAST they have SP-eligible Diego Castillo out there getting Saves, THE RRF ARE NOT LAST IN THE LEAGUE IN SAVES NOR ARE THEY FIRST IN THE LEAGUE IN HOLDS.

THE RRF ARE NOT LAST IN THE LEAGUE IN SAVES NOR ARE THEY FIRST IN THE LEAGUE IN HOLDS. This isn’t a typo I just wanted to hit on that point again. Apart from that though, the pitching could ultimately end up being a problem. Also fuck this guy for taking my childhood home away?

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Marcell Ozuna (53/216, 42 Rs, 12 2Bs, 16 HRs, 51 RBIs, 4 SBs, .324 OBP)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  Hyun-Jin Ryu (73 IP, 12 ER, 69 Ks, 9 QS, 1 CG, 8 Ws, 1.48 ERA)

 

 

#6  –  Astoria Isotopes (4-5)

UGH, these PIECES OF SHIT that sort of prevented me from writing about the Lakehurst Leviathans because I had this weird code about trying to accurately nail down Power Rankings and also this new weird rule to prevent me having to write 5000 word opuses about your stupid little teams and their stupid little rosters. The 2018 FIRST LOSERS were well on their way to an epic run at the once-fabled BCS curse and now they’ve won 4 in a row and I just don’t know. Their numbers, please:  Runs 5th, Doubles 7th, Triples 1st, HRs 7th, RBIs 9th, SBs 9th, OBP 6th, Strikeouts 5th, QS 9th, CG t-5th, Wins 7th, Saves 8th, Holds 2nd, ERA 8th, MOVES 5th.   So Nolan Arenado is obviously someone that is very good that can anchor an offense (not BELLINGER GOOD, but good) so obviously that helps. What also helps is fucking Eduardo Escobar consistently begging me to give him MVP o’ the week honors. Eddy Escobar, forreal. So that’s good and fine, and Khris Davis will ultimately be good and fine, and they’ll be getting Blackmon back soon after a quick lil DL sting and Aaron Judge back soon and he has missed FOREVER. So those are important pieces that could dictate a matchup or two in the ‘Topes future. Also important will be Chris Sale continuing to shake off an awful April, German Marquez uhhh idk avoiding pitching at home somehow? Zach Wheeler finding dat positive regression would also be nice for Astoria, as would Wade Miley avoiding the LIKELY SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE REGRESSION. It will likely be somewhat significant. But idk I’ve seen like Ervin Santana and Jason Vargas avoid it for long stretches so idk mannnnn. Also the ‘Topes were smart enough to be the team that finally picked up Ryan Pressly setup man extraordinaire so that is good. Also the ‘Topes currently have two SP eligible relievers (Gant & Romo) in their RP slots while they await Robertson & Betances returns like fucking puds. So that is bad.

I could see this team coming out the gates now and losing another 5 in a row and I could also see them winning another 4 in a row. Definitely one or the other though. so WHO KNOWS.  

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Nolan Arenado (80/232, 47 Rs, 16 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 16 HRs, 52 RBIs, 1 SB, .395 OBP)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  German Marquez (85.1 IP, 33 ER, 83 Ks, 6 QS, 1 CG, 6 Ws, 3.48 ERA)

 

 

#7  –  Lakehurst Leviathans (4-5) 

Runs 8th, Doubles t-4th, Triples 3rd, HRs 10th, RBIs 10th, SBs 3rd, OBP 5th, Strikeouts 9th, QS 6th, CG t-5th, Wins 8th, Saves 10th, Holds 4th, ERA 9th, MOVES 4th. 

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Adalberto Mondesi (67/235, 35 Rs, 14 2Bs, 8 3Bs, 6 HRs, 42 RBIs, 21 SBs, .322 OBP, 3 JROLLs)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  Matt Boyd (77.2 IP, 26 ER, 97 Ks, 9 QS, 5 Ws, 3.01 ERA)

 

 

#8  –  Pacific Beach X-Rayz (1-6-2) 

Runs 10th, Doubles 3rd, Triples t-4th, HRs 9th, RBIs 4th, SBs 1st, OBP 10th, Strikeouts 1st, QS t-7th, CGs 1st, Wins t-3rd, Saves 1st, Holds 6th, ERA 6th, MOVES 1st. 

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Austin Riley (22/67, 12 Rs, 2 2Bs, 8 HRs, 22 RBIs, .366 OBP)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  Blake Snell (61.2 IP, 21 ER, 83 Ks, 7 QS, 3 Ws, 3.06 ERA)

 

 

#9  –  Island Beach Bears (4-4-1) 

Runs 4th, Doubles 8th, Triples 6th, HRs 6th, RBIs 8th, SBs 6th, OBP 9th, Strikeouts 8th, QS 10th, CG 10th, Wins 2nd, Saves 4th, Holds 1st, ERA 10th, MOVES 5th.

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Rhys Hoskins (59/212, 33 Rs, 12 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 13 HRs, 42 RBIs, 1 SB, .402 OBP)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  Domingo German (64 IP, 26 ER, 71 Ks, 5 QS, 9 Ws, 3.66 ERA)

 

 

#10-  Barnegat Banana Slugs (2-6-1)

Runs 9th, Doubles 9th, Triples 2nd, HRs 8th, RBIs 7th, SBs 7th, OBP 7th, Strikeouts 3rd, QS 1st, CG t-5th, Wins t-9th, Saves 5th, Holds 5th, ERA 5th, MOVES 8th. 

First Half Team MVP (Hitter):  Trevor Story (68/232, 53 Rs, 12 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 15 HRs, 42 RBIs, 10 SBs, .360 OBP, 2 JROLLs)

First Half Team MVP (Pitcher):  Max Scherzer (85.1 IP, 29 ER, 117 Ks, 10 QS, 3 Ws, 3.06 ERA)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June Power Rankings/Midseason Awards, Finito. Clearly the Midseason Awards peaked like two years ago, clearly I do not care.