Dynasty League Review: Weeks 7-8

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 7 

 

I made the following roster moves in Week 7, with my eye on Week 8:

1.) Added Spencer Turnbull. Turnbull has had a great start to 2019, having yet to allow more than 3 ER in a start. The strikeouts are there, evidenced by the 9.25 K/9 and solid 11.5 SwStr%. His 2.40 ERA is due for some regression, but he is a serviceable SP that you should feel comfortable running out there or, at the very least, stashing on your bench for favorable matchups.
2.) Added Zac Gallen. As has been customary for me this year, with mL spots to fill, I added Gallen with the hopes that he will get the call soon. Gallen has been absolutely destroying AAA, with a 1.79 ERA and 11.04 K/9, while limiting the walks (1.49 BB/9). The Miami Marlins don’t seem too inclined to promote Gallen, in an attempt to manipulate his service time in what is an obvious lost year for the Fish. Nevertheless, the appeal is too great for me not to take this chance to see how he will fare against Major League competition if the time comes.
3.) Added Kyle Gibson and dropped J.A. Happ. I found myself unable to trust Happ in any matchup, and that is when I decided to give him the boot. He seems to have lost his ability to strike anyone out and, in turn, I lost the little confidence I had left in him. I will let someone else roster him and learn the lesson I did. Gibson on the other hand, is gaining my confidence with every start. I will be honest, I hadn’t given Gibson much thought heading into my 2019 drafts and hadn’t been paying too much attention to him in the early-going, but that has changed. Although his 4.47 ERA is higher than desired, he has improved in two very important aspects between his 2018 breakout campaign and 2019. Just take a look:

 

	2018	2019
K/9	8.19	9.12
BB/9	3.62	2.32

 

He is striking more guys out and walking batters less often. I bet you’re saying to yourself, “great analysis, Austin.” Yes it seems so elementary, but, sometimes all it takes is to look at a couple of the simpler stats to see that a pitcher is improving. Gibson’s ERA is due for improvement, with his FIP being 0.45 points lower than his ERA and possessing a 3.41 xFIP. I’m excited to see if Gibson can keep up his solid 2019 campaign.

Week 7 was a high scoring affair for my squad, and it turned out that I desperately needed it, winning by a narrow margin. I carried the following roster into my matchup:

C – James McCann
1B – Daniel Murphy
2B – Ozzie Albies
3B – Matt Carpenter
SS – Dansby Swanson
OF – Andrew Benintendi
OF – Michael Conforto
OF – Tommy Pham
OF – Mike Trout
U – Khris Davis
U – Edwin Encarnacion
B – Anthony Rendon
B – Carter Kieboom
IL – Aaron Judge

SP – Gerrit Cole
SP – Luis Castillo
SP – Tyler Glasnow
SP – German Marquez
SP – Mike Soroka
RP – Edwin Diaz
RP – Jerad Eickhoff
B – J.A. Happ
B – Jose Quintana
B – Felipe Vazquez

mL – Nick Senzel
mL – Yordan Alvarez
mL – Nick Pivetta

Top performers: James McCann (9-18, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 5 R, BB), Mike Trout (5-20, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, SB, 6 BB), Michael Conforto (5-16, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 R, SB, 4 BB), Luis Castillo (6 IP, 2 HA, 5 BBI, 11 K, QS, W), Gerrit Cole (12.1 IP, 11 HA, 21 K, 5 ER, 2W, QS)

Side Note: I decided to sit Anthony Rendon who was coming back from an elbow injury that did not require a IL stint. I decided to bench him in favor of getting Daniel Murphy in the lineup. This was a toss-up for me, but I decided to go with Murphy in case Rendon wasn’t 100%. Khris Davis also went down with a hip injury that continues to plague him. When he’s playing, he has been producing despite his injury, but he has sat for eight contests since his injury. His most recent scratch was Tuesday night, after he was expected to be back in the lineup. This back and forth is hard to manage as a fantasy owner and unfortunately he has finally hit the IL as of this morning. This is a tough blow but at least now there is some clarity as a Davis owner.

Worst performers: Khris Davis (2-5, BB), Ozzie Albies (6-29, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB, BB, 7 KO)

Outcome: Win (636.75 – 603)

Record: 4-3

 

Week 8

 

I made the following roster moves in Week 8, with my eye on Week 9:

1.) Added Corbin Martin and dropped Turnbull. I added Martin following his nine-strikeout debut against the Texas Rangers. I know what you’re thinking, I just bragged about how much I liked Turnbull, and you’re right, I do. I think I got a little enamored with Martin’s debut and I wish I hadn’t dropped Turnbull. But, I think he will be a waiver wire guy in my league, so if I feel inclined, I believe I’ll have another opportunity to add him.
2.) Added Gregory Polanco and dropped Corbin Martin. The Martin experiment didn’t last long. I decided I would make a decision on his fate with my team following his second start and he made it an easy decision with his dud against the Boston Red Sox. With the injuries to my outfield, which I will highlight in a bit, I had to make an addition and decided to add Polanco who has been swinging a hot bat. Sadly, he was a late scratch on Tuesday night so this may have not been the greatest move, but hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

I was not at my best in week 8. Here is the lineup I rolled with:

C – James McCann
1B – Matt Carpenter
2B – Ozzie Albies
3B – Anthony Rendon
SS – Dansby Swanson
OF – Andrew Benintendi
OF – Michael Conforto
OF – Tommy Pham
OF – Mike Trout
U – Khris Davis
U – Edwin Encarnacion
B – Daniel Murphy
IL – Aaron Judge

SP – Gerrit Cole
SP – Luis Castillo
SP – Kyle Gibson
SP – German Marquez
SP – Mike Soroka
RP – Edwin Diaz
RP – Jerad Eickhoff
B – Tyler Glasnow
B – Corbin Martin
B – Jose Quintana
B – Felipe Vazquez

mL – Nick Senzel
mL – Carter Kieboom
mL – Yordan Alvarez
mL – Zac Gallen
mL – Nick Pivetta

Top performers: Anthony Rendon (10-23, 4 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 8 R, 4 BB), Mike Trout (9-22, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 5 R, SB, 4 BB), Edwin Encarnacion (9-23, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB), Luis Castillo (5.1 INN, 2 HA, BBI, 6 K, 2 ER, W), Kyle Gibson (11.2 INN, 15 HA, 2 BBI, 11 K, 7 ER, W, L), Mike Soroka (7 INN, 3 HA, 3 BBI, 3 K, W, HB, QS), Gerrit Cole (5 INN, 6 HA, BBI, 7 K)

Side Note: The Tyler Glasnow injury the prior week dealt a devastating blow to my rotation. Glasnow was looking like a legitimate candidate, if not favorite, for the AL Cy Young award. Luckily, he avoided the dreaded TJ scare that was circulating the baseball community, but he is not out of the woods yet. I will feel more comfortable when I hear another update on him in the coming weeks. I also had some bad news with Michael Conforto who had a nasty collision that resulted in a concussion. It should be a short IL stint for Conforto, but nevertheless, you never know how he will produce upon returning.

Worst performers: James McCann (0-9, KO, GDP), Dansby Swanson (3-26, HR, 4 RBI, R, BB, 2 KO, 2 GDP), Andrew Benintendi (4-18, 3B, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 KO), Tommy Pham (5-20, 2B, 2 R, 4 BB, 6 KO), German Marquez (6.1 INN, 10 HA, 6 K, 5 ER), Jerad Eickhoff (9 INN, 12 HA, 3 BBI, 7 K, 9 ER, L)

Outcome: Loss (486.5 – 650.75)

Record: 4-4

 

Trade

 

A trade went down in our league that seemed to fit both teams well. The trade looks as follows: Sixto Sanchez ($0, 3mL) for Roberto Osuna. The Osuna owner needed to shed a roster spot, especially a relief pitcher, and luckily he found an owner willing to move a valuable minor league prospect. The jury is still out on Sanchez, but he is undoubtedly a coveted asset in dynasty. The Sanchez owner is new to the league and hasn’t quite realized the value of the minor league contracts, but this trade works well for both owners. One was able to shore up his RP and the other was able to retool their mL system while clearing a spot on their active roster by moving a position of surplus on his team.

 

Injuries

 

The injuries are starting to pile up on my squad. Not only has Rendon had to deal with an injury that didn’t require time on the IL, but Judge, Glasnow, Conforto, and now Davis, all requiring time on the IL has really made my team suffer. Luckily, I have been able to suffice and play to a .500 record, but I have expected more out of my squad. I can’t go without saying that it is difficult to manage a team that has injuries piling up, only one IL spot, and no players that you really feel comfortable dropping. That last point sounds like a good problem to have, right? Yes, maybe, but I will have some tough decisions coming up if I don’t get an OF back from the IL soon. I have been considering dropping Daniel Murphy, although I don’t want to, but with Carpenter struggling I may need to add another productive bat until he can figure it out and hopefully go on another Carpenter-esque hot streak. I have a little time to decide before I make a move like that but injuries have taken up a lot of my bench spots and is requiring me to think outside the box and add some flexibility to my lineup.

 

I fully expect that I will end up going on a hot streak, and with a little bit of luck in my schedule, I should start accumulating some wins. In fact, I am quite happy to be 4-4, because despite being second in points scored overall, I have had the most points scored against me overall by a long shot. The power rankings agree, as they have me third overall. Nevertheless, I have to play with the cards that I am dealt and play the schedule provided to me. I am considering it a challenge—one that I am thrilled to take head on as the 2019 season continues. It is still so early in the season that anything can happen and I’m looking forward to what is shaping up to be an exciting year.

(Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)