August, 2020

Chapter Four Recap

This past weekend, several of us were supposed to get together to celebrate another BDBL Weekend. In an alternate universe where the Rona didn't exist, we would have gathered together at a bar outside of Minute Maid Park on Friday night to enjoy several beers while catching up on our lives. Later that night, we would have watched America's most hated team face the Cleveland Indians. For one night, at least, we would all be Cleveland fans.

With the trading deadline looming, we would have huddled together in groups of two to convince each other that we had exactly what the other guy needed to push his team over the top and win that trophy. We would have gorged ourselves on overpriced hotdogs and $12 beers. We would have tested Matt Clemm's insane memory once again. We would have laughed at the recollections of BDBL Weekends past and longed for the return of some of our league's greatest characters.

We would have had heated debates about the DH and expanded farm rosters -- again. We would have listened politely to Tony Chamra's latest crazy rule proposal. We would have welcomed Greg Newgard back into the brotherhood and begged him to return to the league. At the end of the night, we would return to the bar before heading to bed with our bellies full and our faces aching from smiles and laughter.

Maybe next year.

Players of the Chapter

This coming winter, Mike Trout becomes a free agent for the first time in his career. Coming off of his age-28 season, Trout will be the best hitter available in the draft, by far, and one of the surest of sure-things in all of baseball. Last winter, a similar player hit the market. He, too, was coming off of his age-28 season, was the best hitter in the auction, and was as close to a "sure thing" as it gets in the game of baseball. Great Lakes GM Scott Romonosky ponied up $18 million for Christian Yelich, and the rest is becoming history. Yelich hit .407/.463/.814 in Chapter Four, and practically carried the team on his back to a 15-9 chapter. The EL Hitter of the Chapter helped put some distance between the Sphinx and the rest of the pack in the EL wildcard race. It makes you wonder how much Trout will get this winter.

Carlos Santana is playing his final year under contract for a team that is going nowhere in 2020. You'd think he wouldn't be very motivated to perform, and yet the OL Hitter of the Chapter hit a whopping .393/.485/.655 in Chapter Four, and carried the Joplin Miners to a surprising 15-9 record in the chapter. Imagine how much differently this season would have played out if our chapters had been ordered in reverse. Joplin would have led the McGowan division by two games after one chapter, and would have trailed by just one game after two. In this alternate universe, it's easy to imagine Jim Doyle throwing his franchise's future out the window to "go for it all" in the second half of the season. In our actual universe, Joplin trails by 17 games in the division and a dozen games in the wildcard race.

It would be more fun to award the EL Pitcher of the Chapter award to some obscure and underrated underdog, but when you post stats like Jacob deGrom did in Chapter Four (4-0, 2.17 ERA, .190/.254/.267 opponents average), it's tough to give it to anyone else. The really amazing part about deGrom's performance is that he didn't need to be so good. He led the league with an average run support of -- get this -- 8.0 runs per game.

Iron Spider Pigs fans don't have a lot to celebrate this year. They are in last place in the McGowan Division, sporting the worst record in the OL, and are on pace to lose 114 games this year. However, there is one lone bright spot. OL Pitcher of the Chapter Jack Flaherty posted a 2.15 ERA in Chapter Four, and finished in the top three in all three triple-slash categories: .112/.230/.194. Unlike deGrom, Flaherty received an average of only 2.8 runs per game, which explains his mediocre 1-1 record.

Top Stories of the Chapter

Story #1: The Battle for the Benes

As the summer heats up, so does the battle for the Benes Division title between the Akron Ryche and Ravenswood Infidels. After four chapters of play, the two teams are deadlocked at 60-44. The fact that the Bear Country Jamboree trail by only two games in the wildcard race gives added significance to this division race.

Akron (16-8) won the most games in the OL in Chapter Four, but their runs differential for the chapter (+38) was nearly identical to Ravenswood's (+32), who went just 13-11. The two teams rank #2 and #3 in runs scored in the OL, and #3 and #5 in fewest runs allowed, with Akron topping Ravenswood in both categories.

Akron made their big trade moves a chapter ago when they acquired Patrick Corbin, Scott Oberg, and Tommy Edman. Since then, the Ryche are two games better than the Infidels. More importantly, since those trades, Akron leads the entire BDBL in runs differential, at a whopping +110. Other than Los Altos (+95), no other team comes close to that level of dominance over the past two chapters.

Akron won five of their first eight head-to-head matchups against Ravenswood in the first two chapters. They'll meet four times this chapter, and then four more times in Chapter Six. Those eight games could very well determine the fate of this division race.

Story #2: Chicago Implosion

We're used to seeing the Chicago Black Sox implode in Chapter One, but to have it happen this late in the season is jarring. One chapter ago, the Black Sox were enjoying a comfortable five-game lead over the Cleveland Rocks in the Hrbek Division. They were tied with the Kansas Law Dogs and SoCal Slyme for the best record in the Eck League.

This past chapter, the wheels fell off the bandwagon. Chicago went just 11-13 while the Rocks went 13-11. That narrowed the gap between the two teams to just two games. Both the Slyme and the Law Dogs beat up on the Black Sox in Chapter Four, with each team winning three out of four games. Chicago also lost three of four to the Buckingham Sovereigns.

The Rocks were also spanked for three of four games by the Law Dogs, but did not have to face the Slyme or Sovereigns in Chapter Four. Instead, they beat up the Niagara Locks (3/4) and Great Lakes Sphinx (3/4).

Looking ahead, Chicago will face SoCal and Buckingham yet again in Chapter Five, as well as St. Louis, Niagara, and their division foes. Cleveland will face the lowly Saskatoon Sasquatch and South Carolina Sea Cats, but will also face the tough Sovereigns and Sphinx. Those two schedules are basically reversed in Chapter Six, so expect an easy coast to the finish for Chicago and an uphill climb for Cleveland.

Story #3: The Final Deadline(ish)

Once upon a time, the Chapter Five deadline was one of the most exciting aspects of the BDBL season. However, in recent years, it seems that the era of league-shaking, playoff-race-impacting, controversy-generating, blockbuster deals has come to an end. That isn't to say, however, that there weren't a few interesting and potentially impactful trades made at this year's final deadline. In no particular order:

1. Great Lakes acquired Mike Yastrzemski from Allentown for Chris Devenski.

The Sphinx are within spitting distance of the Kansas Law Dogs, trailing by six games in the Higuera Division, and they currently lead the EL wildcard race by two games. Yastrzemski is an Ex glove in both outfield corners, and can also play center field. He will likely fill in for Jose Martinez (who is at 94% usage) against lefties and Kole Calhoun (71% usage, .208/.277/.461) against righties. Yaz hits equally well against both lefties (.329/.382/.561 in MLB) and righties (.256/.321/.505), but expect those numbers to go through the roof when he moves from his MLB park factors (98/94/150/69) to Great Lakes (97/95/90/121).

2. Bear Country added Francisco Liriano, Emilio Pagan, and Sergio Romo in two separate deals.

Yes, yes, the Liriano deal was fraught with controversy after it was confirmed two minutes past the deadline, but what's done is done. Moving on to the baseball side of the deal, it's clear that Bear Country's bullpen is well-fortified with these three new additions. Not that there was much of a problem with their bullpen in the first place. The Jamboree rank #2 in the OL in saves percentage, #3 in lowest blown saves percentage, and are a respectable 13-10 in one-run games. Every little bit helps, though, when you're trailing by only two games.

3. Southern Cal added Michael Brantley from the Charlotte Mustangs.

The Slyme already lead the entire BDBL in runs scored, batting average, and OBP, and rank #2 in the BDBL in slugging. It's not as if they needed another bat, and yet that's exactly what they got. And not just another bat, but a bat that is hitting .312/.370/.560 against righties this season. With Willie Calhoun (.342/.381/.589 vs. RH) quickly approaching his usage limit, Brantley could slot right into his spot in the lineup. With Ketel Marte (.305/.393/.523 vs. RH) and Jorge Soler (.294/.367/.672) filling the other two outfield spots, it isn't as if there is any other logical place for Brantley. Imagine having Brantley or Calhoun as your #4 outfielder. Must be nice.

4. Chicago added Trey Mancini from Las Vegas.

Speaking of an embarrassment of riches, why the hell do the Black Sox need Trey Mancini? Mancini, who is hitting .278/.366/.522 against lefties and .290/.340/.526 against righties, can play either outfield corner. Left field is where Kyle Schwarber (.231/.325/.508) plays against right-handers, and Philip Ervin (.372/.386/.721) plays against southpaws. Right field is played by some guy named Bryce Harper. Mancini is also rated at first base, but that position is manned by a -- get this -- PLATOON of Freddie Freeman and Kris Bryant. Seriously. The Eck League is ridiculous. So, where does Mancini play? Who knows. I guess he serves as a Super Bench Player Extraordinnaire? Or maybe John Gill will lobby the BDBL to install the DH immediately.

5. Darien acquired Kumar Rocker from St. Louis.

For a guy who has been touted as the greatest pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg, Rocker has now switched teams -- and has even been released! -- more times than most players change uniforms before they even take the MLB field for the first time. The Darien franchise has more than their fair share of top-graded prospects, but most of them are on the offensive side. Rocker easily becomes the team's best pitching prospect. Years from now, Bobby Sylvester may be asking himself why the hell he traded Rocker, the same way he questions today why he traded Luis Robert, Yadier F'ing Alvarez, Gleyber Torres, Lucas Giolito, Jose Berrios, Yoan Moncada, Nick Castellanos, Jose Abreu, Marcus Semien, and Francisco Lindor. Who the hell does Bobby think he is? Johnny Appleseed?

Story #4: The Year of the Hitter Continues

We aren't likely to see any individual record-breaking performances this year, but it is worth noting that -- with 56 games still remaining on the schedule -- two players (Christian Yelich and Eugenio Suarez) have already topped 40 home runs, two (Suarez and Nelson Cruz) have already topped 100 RBI's, two (Yelich and Ronald Acuna) have already topped 100 runs scored, and four (Yelich, Acuna, Cody Bellinger, and Rafael Devers) have already topped 100 runs created.

It is incredible that Yelich already has 49 home runs on the season, and yet there is likely no way he comes close to reaching the BDBL record of 79 home runs, set by David Ortiz in 2007. It seems that most individual offensive records in the BDBL may never be broken, as they were set in an era of unprecedented offense.

The BDBL is hitting .262/.325/.459 as a league, with 12,909 runs scored. That puts us on pace for 19,860 runs. A year ago, we scored 18,241 runs. The last time we scored over 19,000 runs was 2005 (19,369). The all-time record was set in 2001, with 20,395 runs scored. So, while we may not see any individual records set, this could be a record-breaking year for the league as a whole.

Story #5: Projecting the 2021 Season

Listen, no one wants to play the 2021 BDBL season using a projection disk, and yet, that is the only logical choice at hand. We will make the most of it, as it is better than not playing a BDBL season at all. Our simulated fans in 2021 will be much happier than the real fans of MLB in 2020, that's for sure.

With this decision comes many adjustments to our rulebook. Gone is our in-season trading VORP cap. The auction's top-50 will be determined by a committee. There will be slight changes to our farm-eligibility rules. For the most part, however, it will be business as usual.

I appreciate all of your patience as we worked through this painful process. As they say, this, too, shall pass. Hopefully, everything returns back to normal for our 2022 season.