Post by Rangers GM (Mike) on Jun 19, 2012 19:26:18 GMT -5
| Team | Rank (LW) | Record | Trending | Comments | |
 | Giants | 1 (1) | 9-1 | - | After another impressive performance, it's easy to wonder when this team is gonna lose again. Granderson is proving that last year wasn't a fluke as he and Dunn are powering this offense to victory every week. The scary thing about this team is they have the best pitching staff in the league and that's with The Freak completely disappearing this season. |
[tr] | Rangers | 2 (2) | 8-1-1 | - | The Rangers continued to roll as they shutout the Royals this week. A solid offense has been a given for the leagues top offense, but the pitching has been suprising the past few weeks. Their staff has had ERAs of 1.26 and 2.032 the past couple weeks as guys like Lewis and Harrison have been dominant to say the least. |
 | Braves | 3 (3) | 7-2-1 | - | Atlanta can breathe a sigh of relief after they barely made it out with a win. By no means did they put up a bad week in terms of ERA or TB, but the average and other pitching stats weren't very impressive. The good news though is that it was a rare occurrence in an otherwise solid inaugural season. They'll need to bounce back quickly though as they face off against Boston in the game of the week. |
 | Indians | 4 (4) | 8-2 | - | Cleveland came very close to losing their second in a row, but were able to fend off Seattle on the last day. Even though, Escobar and Agon continue to struggle, young stud Jason Kipnis continued his breakout season as he, Lawrie, and Cuddyer paced the offense. The Indians may be in trouble though as they got the crushing news that Drabek, Morrow, and Dempster are all injured and former fantasy ace King Felix isn't putting him his usual numbers. |
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[/td][td]In the Game of the Week, the Sox came away with an impressive 8-6-0 win over Detroit, the other wild card team at the moment. This win was especially important for Boston as it was the first time all year that they beat a team over .500. It wasn't easy as they were losing as late as Sunday, but strong showings from their Boston players ensured the win.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Cubs[/td][td]6 (7)[/td][td]7-3[/td][td][/td][td]This team may be rebuilding, but they just continue to win. They bounced back from a poor outing the previous week to dominate the Nationals who were coming off an impressive offensive showing. Braun along with Jones, Holliday, and the suprising Trevor Plouffe led the offense to 111 TB and an OPS close to 1. The Cubs will need them to keep it up if they want a chance against Texas.[/td][/tr][tr][td][tr]
[/td][td]Tigers[/td][td]7 (5)[/td][td]5-4-1[/td][td]
[/td][td]It was a weird week for the Tigers as they pitched well and hit poorly, the exact opposite of how their season has been going so far. The offense looked pretty bad and didn't have a single player bat over .300. Strong weeks by Scherzer and Chen kept them in the matchup though and they were winning as late as Sunday afternoon before falling to Boston 6-8-0.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Nationals[/td][td]8 (8)[/td][td]4-6[/td][td]-[/td][td]After snapping their losing streak last week, the Nationals went right back to their old ways as they got whupped by the "rebuilding" Cubs. Their pitching was a little better as Hudson and Strasburg looked good, but it was nothing special. They may have faced a Cubs offense that went off, but that's no excuse when you only bat around .240 for the week. The Nationals are going to have play better if they want to keep their playoff spot.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Phillies[/td][td]9 (9)[/td][td]3-6-1[/td][td]-[/td][td]After beating up on the talented Cubs, the Phillies came back down to earth as they got killed 2-11-1 to the red hot Giants. They put up decent numbers, but not good enough for the win. Good news for the Phillies though is that Utley is very close to returning and Howard is playing in minor league instrasquad games. The Phills are only 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and they don't even have their two studs yet.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Reds[/td][td]10 (10)[/td][td]3-7[/td][td]-[/td][td]In what should have been an easy win, the Reds couldn't beat the now 2-8 Marlins who hadn't won since week 5. Cueto was outstanding this week with 2 QS, 15 Ks, a 1.13 ERA, and a WHIP under 1. He led the pitching staff as they put up an impressive 7 wins. The offense was the problem though as the team only hit .215 with 2 HR. They're only one game out of the playoffs, but they'll need to do a lot better than this if they want to win that wild card spot.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Rockies[/td][td]11 (11)[/td][td]4-6[/td][td]-[/td][td]After seeing their three game win streak come to an end, they've struggled to get back in the win column and have now lost 2 in a row. This week's loss was especially tough as they came very close to upsetting one of the top teams in the league in a 6-7-1 loss. Outside of E-Jax their pitching was awful, posting an ERA over 5. The offense wasn't able to bail them out as they only managed 4 HR and 18 RBI.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Astros[/td][td]12 (14)[/td][td]3-6-1[/td][td][/td][td]Coming off a tie against one of the better teams in the league, the Astros kept it going against the struggling Rays with an easy 11-2-1 win. Unlike last week where the offense carried them, the pitching was the story as they put up an impressive 2.824 ERA led by Cy Young candidate R.A. Dickey. They're a better team than their record suggests as half of their losses have come against Texas and Cleveland, and they currently sit only 2 games out of the playoffs.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Mariners[/td][td]13 (13)[/td][td]2-7-1[/td][td]-[/td][td]Tough loss for Seattle as they barely were taken down by Cleveland 5-7-2. It was especially tough considering it was against his Dad. The record is ugly to look at, but this team has been playing better and better each week as the front office has made some solid acquisitons. As long as acquisitions like McCutch, Rasmus, and Phillips continue to pay off there's no reason why they can't make a run at the wild card.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Marlins[/td][td]14 (16)[/td][td]2-8[/td][td][/td][td]Finally! For the first time since week 5 the Marlins won their matchup. They've actually been playing well for the past few weeks, but got stuck facing tough teams. They didn't hit very well, but I don't think the Marlins care since they were still able to win. They'll try and put together a 2 game win streak as they face off against the lowly Rays.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Rays[/b][/td][td]15 (12)[/td][td]2-7-1[/td][td][/td][td]Tampa continues to lose as they are in full rebuilding mode. However, the front office made a huge move during the week acquiring MVP Ryan Braun from Chicago. They had to give up some very good prospects, but Braun is one hell of a player and well worth it.[/td][/tr][tr][td]
[/td][td]Royals[/td][td]16 (15)[/td][td]3-7[/td][td][/td][td]Despite the fact that they got shut out, they really didn't play that poorly. They put up decent numbers, but were stuck facing the 8-1-1 Rangers. Masterson and Upton are finally playing up to their expectations and will be key factors during the stretch run. The Royals are going to need them to perform if they want that wild card spot.[/td][/tr][/table]