Here at Pitcher List, we thought it would be fun to give the readers a look into the dynasty leagues of Pitcher List staff members. I will be providing reviews throughout the season of my dynasty team in my home league, which originated in 2009.
The league is a 10-team, weekly, head-to-head points league and I am playing the 2019 season under the team name of Angels in the TROUTfield.
Week 15
I did not have roster moves in Week 15, as I am fairly happy with my roster, but as always, I am ready to make a move if necessary.
Week 15 ended well for me and it was a much needed victory. I won despite a few pretty bad pitching performances. Below is the lineup that I rolled with:
C – Mitch Garver
1B – Edwin Encarnacion
2B – Ozzie Albies
3B – Anthony Rendon
SS – Dansby Swanson
OF – Yordan Alvarez
OF – Michael Conforto
OF – Mike Trout
OF – Tommy Pham
U – Didi Gregorius
U – Aaron Judge
B – Andrew Benintendi
B – Matt Carpenter
B – Khris Davis
SP – Gerrit Cole
SP – Luis Castillo
SP – Zac Gallen
SP – Nick Pivetta
SP – Mike Soroka
RP – Felipe Vazquez
RP – Edwin Diaz
B – German Marquez
B – Andrew Heaney
IL – Tyler Glasnow
mL – Nick Senzel
mL – Carter Kieboom
mL – Alex Reyes
mL – Andrew Vaughn
mL – Luis Urias
Top performers: Ozzie Albies (9-21, 5 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 5 R, 2 BB), Mike Trout (18-23, 6 HR, 10 RBI, 8 R, 6 BB), Dansby Swanson (5-18, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R), Luis Castillo (7.2 IP, HA, BBI, 9 K, W, 2 HB, QS), Gerrit Cole (7 IP, 3 HA, 2 BBI, 9 K, W, QS)
Worst performers: Edwin Encarnacion (2-22, HR, RBI, 2 R, 8 KO), Michael Conforto (3-16, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 6 KO), Zac Gallen (2 IP, 3 HA, BBI, 2 K, 2 ER), Nick Pivetta (5.2 IP, 5 HA, BBI, 4 K, 5 ER, L), Mike Soroka (4.2 IP, 9 HA, 2 BBI, 6 K, 4 ER)
Despite Gallen, Pivetta, and Soroka putting up some bad numbers for me, my hitters carried me through and I had some great help from Cole and Castillo. I have been finding myself benching guys that I wouldn’t have dreamed I would have done before this season (i.e., Benintendi, Carpenter, Davis). But, things change and owners must adapt to how their rosters are shaping up. Those 3 guys just haven’t looked the same this year and I am unable to wait around on them. I will absolutely be starting Benintendi and Davis again this season, but I have been playing matchups and they haven’t been playing very well lately. I think there is some serious grounds to drop Carpenter. I am not there yet, despite him hitting the IL with a foot contusion, but ask me again in a few weeks and I may answer differently. I don’t want to be the guy that drops a player of Carpenter’s caliber, who has been a productive hitter for many years now, but I am losing patience.
Outcome: Win (512.5 – 492.5)
Record: 8-7
Week 16
Note: Week 16 in my league is a long week due to the All-Star break, so I will not be going into detail about the results until my next article when the scoring period ends.
I made the following roster move in Week 16:
1.) Added Eduardo Rodriguez and dropped Nick Pivetta. I was extremely surprised to see Rodriguez hit the waiver wire and since I had a middle of the pack waiver order spot, I didn’t think I was going to get him. But, luckily I was able to. I’ve considered Rodriguez a buy-low for quite some time now, as I noted in the article that summarized the trade he was involved in earlier this season. I think there is a lot of reason to be optimistic in Rodriguez for the remainder of the season (not to mention he just threw a gem against the Dodgers). His FIP is 0.4 runs below his ERA, he’s striking out over a batter an inning, and he has 10 wins on the season. He’s walking a high but palatable number of guys but his walks are down a considerable amount from the last couple of seasons so that makes me optimistic. I would like to see more strikeouts from him but I’m hoping that his most recent 10 strikeout game against the Dodgers will spark an uptick in Ks from him. As for Pivetta, it really hurt me to drop him. I’m not sure there is a bigger Pivetta guy than me, so believe me when I say this wasn’t a move I thought I would be making. Nonetheless, Pivetta has looked very rough this season. The most exciting aspect of Pivetta, and the reason most in the industry were so high on him coming into the year, has seemingly dwindled away. What i’m talking about of course are the strikeouts. Since his arrival to the Major Leagues he has sustained a 9+ K/9 and has maxed out at a 10.32 K/9 in 2018. So far in 2019, not including his 37 AAA innings, he has only been able to muster a 7.29 K/9 and his SwStr% is down from 12% in 2018 (where he ranked just inside the top 20 among qualified starters) to 9.5% in 2019. Pivetta has allowed an ugly 2.16 HR/9 and it is not as if he is exactly under-performing in the ERA department either, evidenced by his 5.81 ERA compared to his 5.75 FIP and 4.69 xFIP. 2019 is obviously not the year for Pivetta, but i’d be lying if I said that I won’t be giving him a look in 2020 as a potential bargain.
Here is the lineup I took into Week 16.
C – Mitch Garver
1B – Edwin Encarnacion
2B – Ozzie Albies
3B – Anthony Rendon
SS – Dansby Swanson
OF – Yordan Alvarez
OF – Andrew Benintendi
OF – Tommy Pham
OF – Mike Trout
U – Didi Gregorius
U – Aaron Judge
B – Michael Conforto
B – Matt Carpenter
B – Khris Davis
SP – Gerrit Cole
SP – Luis Castillo
SP – Eduardo Rodriguez
SP – Andrew Heaney
SP – German Marquez
SP – Mike Soroka
RP – Edwin Diaz
B – Felipe Vazquez
B – Zac Gallen
IL – Tyler Glasnow
mL – Nick Senzel
mL – Andrew Vaughn
mL – Carter Kieboom
mL – Luis Urias
mL – Alex Reyes
We have gotten some bad news over the last few days with a Mike Trout injury. The Angels are playing down the calf injury saying that it is not serious but he has been kept out of the lineup for two straight games. It is said the he is possibly available off the bench so it doesn’t sound too serious but let’s hope this isn’t just posturing on the Angels part and that we can get Trout back on the field soon in what has been yet another MVP type season. Trout is in the midst of what may be his best season thus far, and that is hard to do. He is batting .305/.455/.666 with 30 bombs, 74 R, and 75 RBIs. His stolen base numbers are down but that is hardly worth griping about as he has swiped 8 thus far. There is not much more that I can say about the best player in the game, his game speaks for itself.
I want to talk a little bit about Gerrit Cole and just how good he has been this season. Cole has been an absolute monster and strikeout king on the mound. He is following up his breakout season in 2018 with an even better 2019. Cole has a 3.23 ERA with a 9-5 record and 183 strikeouts in 122.2 innings. His 13.43 K/9 is good for first in baseball among qualified starters and his 16.2% SwStr% is second among qualified starters behind only Max Scherzer. Half of Cole’s 20 games started have resulted in double digit strikeout efforts and he has just been so fun to watch game after game. After having a fairly high ERA to begin the season, he has slowly gotten it down to a very good spot and has allowed only 14 earned runs in his last 5 starts since a 6 ER blow-up against the White Sox. I have gotten quite a bit of interest in Cole from other owners but moving my ace would be a very hard decision for me to make and would take an absolute haul. I am not shopping him but as any good owner would do, I am always willing to listen. I have him on a 3 year deal at 36 dollars/year. That may sound steep but with the current state of pitching and with the price of pitching in my league, it is more than fair and palatable. Cole has been extremely entertaining to watch in 2019 and I am very glad I targeted him in the draft.
Standings
I think this is a good time to give an update on league standings. The American League division (the league i’m in) has a 3-way tie for second place with 8-7 records, 2 games back from the first place team. The last place team is sitting at a 7-8 record. Overall the standings are very tight, unlike the National League. The first place team in the National League is carrying an 11-4 record and there is also a 3-way tie for second place and they are all carrying 6-9 records with the last place team holding a 5-10 record. The first place team seems to be running away with the division. The crazy part is that I have had 1000 more points scored against me overall than both first place teams (insert eye roll). I am feeling good about where I am currently and that optimism is only bolstered by my Power Ranking, where I sit at third overall. I am second overall in points scored so as long as I continue to rack up points, I am hoping that the wins will follow.
(Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)