August 11, 2014

Daltry/Lovejoy reign supreme for the second consecutive update, with Jeff Gatland and Jim Kushner sitting in second and third. D/L are the first this season to lead an update with more than five points, as well as the first to hold a lead greater than one point. The dynamic duo has now topped 12 of our 16 updates.

Dalt/Love and Jeff scored a key point this week for NL RBI in the form of Adrian Gonzalez. Perhaps not coincidentally, they also currently own the only unique picks in the pool (D/L with Troy Tulowitzki in NL BA, Jeff with David Price in AL IP).

Jeff Gatland is also part of our HBP “big three,” along with Stephen Craig and Mark Watzke. Each lead the pool with 55 tiebreaker points, with all four of their HBP picks in double digits (Choo-11, Marte-12, Masterson-13*, Morton-19). Jeff, Stephen, and Mark are nearly on pace to reach Jon Pauley’s 2008 mark of 71 HBP in a single season (A-Rod-14, Utley-27, D.Cabrera-18, Owings-12).

* Justin Masterson had 11 hit batsmen for Clevelandthis year, and currently has 2 with St. Louis.

See you next week…

-Dan and Jud

August 4, 2014

Daltry/Lovejoy are back in business, leading the MLB Predictions Pool in our first August update. D/L remain at five points while sixteen other entrants lost one in ALruns (Trout). Jim Kushner has sole possession of second place, with Dan McCloskey and Jason Salavon tied for third.

We emerged unscathed from the trade deadline, with no major picks potentially ineligible due to changes of league. Remember that HBP tiebreaker points continue to accumulate regardless of AL/NL switches (ex. Justin Masterson CLE to STL)…

However, Paul Goldschmidt’s hand injury over the weekend will certainly affect some scores. The D-back slugger was a strong candidate in the NL runs and RBI categories; his return in 2014 is doubtful.

See you next week…

-Dan and Jud

July 28, 2014

Dan McCloskey regains the lead outright, followed by Daltry/Lovejoy and Brian Wells in a tie for second. Frank Gatland sits in fourth as our only other entrant with five points.

Although our actual scores changed very little since last Monday’s update (six are identical!), the components of our point totals are quite different this week. Sixteen entrants gained an AL R point for Mike Trout, but thirteen lost one with Paul Goldschmidt for NL RBI. Goldschmidt paid three of us back in NL runs, while three other entrants lost their NL HR point with Giancarlo Stanton.

Sixteen of us finally got our Clayton Kershaw ERA point, while nearly everyone lost one for saves with Craig Kimbrel. Max Scherzer rewarded five entrants with a piece of the AL wins lead, and Chris Sale snuck under Felix Hernández in the ERA category.

See you next week…

-Dan and Jud

July 21, 2014

Dan McCloskey and Jason Salavon share the lead in our first post-All-Star update, with Daltry/Lovejoy trailing by 9 HBPs. Thirteen entrants benefited from Paul Goldschmidt’s recent ascension to the NL RBI lead.

Many more of us missed a chance at two points when Clayton Kershaw surrendered a game-tying 2-run dinger to Peter Bourjos in the Dodgers win over St. Louislast night. Kershaw’s no-decision (7IP, 3ER, 8K) kept him out of a tie for the lead in NL wins, and sent his ERA ballooning to 1.92.

Let’s wish Dan a swell time up in Cooperstown for HOF weekend!

-Dan and Jud

July 14, 2014 (All-Star break)

Daltry/Lovejoy are back in the lead as we head into the All-Star break… Dan McCloskey’s turn at the top is on hold with would-be AL ERA leader Chris Sale just one inning short of qualification. Clayton Kershaw suffers a similar fate in the NL, currently needing 2/3 of an inning to qualify for the ERA lead.

D/L and Jason Salavon achieved scores of interest over the weekend: both entrants had all five NL pitching categories correct after Saturday’s games (Wainwright IP & W, Kershaw ERA, Strasburg SO, Kimbrel S). The feat wasn’t repeated in today’s update due to Johnny Cueto’s 6 IP in Cincinnati (including an hour of rain delay!) and Kershaw’s aforementioned disqualification.

We’ll check in next Monday after season play resumes.

-Dan and Jud

July 11, 2014

Dan McCloskey is our new leader this week, with Jim Kushner and Jason Salavon in second and third. Daltry/Lovejoy are still in the mix with four points.

Clayton Kershaw and Craig Kimbrel finally joined the NL pitching leaders this week, resulting in our highest update point totals so far. Dan and Jim picked up a valuable AL ERA point courtesy of Chris Sale’s no-decision gem against the Red Sox last night (7.2IP, ER, 6K), while Harvey Hawkins and Amy Gill earned an AL BA bump from Adrian Beltré.

Thanks to Michael Orobona for submitting last week’s trivia question! To view the ten left fielders solution, click comments below.

We’ll send out a quick All-Star break update on Monday…

-Dan and Jud

July 3, 2014

Jason Salavon sneaks into the lead in update #10 and relegates longtime incumbents Daltry/Lovejoy to second place. D/L and seven other entrants lost a point yesterday when Fernando Rodney assumed the AL saves lead over KC’s Greg Holland. Predictions Pool co-founder Dan McCloskey makes his top-three update debut in third.

We haven’t pushed the baseball trivia this year due to a perceived lack of interest, but here’s an original question submitted by one of our very own entrants:

The New York Yankees have won ten World Series Championships in the last 55 years, twice as many as any other club. When the final out was made in each of these series, the Yankees have had ten different men playing left field. How many of them can you name?

You can email answers in a reply to Jud, leave a comment here (spoiler alert!), or just wait until the next update for the full ten player solution.

Have a great holiday weekend!

-Dan and Jud