2021 FABL Best of Losers Bracket
It turns out I was mistaken in my last post, when I asserted that the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League playoffs would have started by the time this post went live – we actually have one more week of regular season matchups. And what’s more, the final four is far from settled: Leo, Pisces, and Libra are locks – Gemini is actually just one game back in the Air division, but Libra has the edge in a potential tiebreaker scenario. However, in the Earth Division, Taurus and Virgo enter the final week with the same record… and they play against each other! While we wait for the outcome of the exciting final matchup, I’d like to use this week to celebrate the “best of the rest” – the top players from teams who will be relegated to the 2021 consolation (or losers) bracket.
The top player in baseball, according to total fantasy points, is electrifying Cancer Crabs two-way star Shohei Ohtani (3,397 / 26.5). This astronomical point total is actually a combination of his batting and pitching stats, which breaks down thusly: 2,121 offensive points, thanks to a league-leading 41 home runs and.623 slugging percentage, and 1,276 pitching points, behind an 8-1 record with a 3.00 ERA over 20 starts and 105 innings. While Ohtani leads all Cancer batters, he actually trails Lucas Giolito (1,495 / 57.5) in total pitching points, but not points-per-game average. In the interest of completeness, new Dodgers middle infielder Trea Turner (1,811 / 14.4) and Padres third baseman Manny Machado (1,713 / 13.9) make up the offensive runners up.
Speaking of the Padres, they likely would be hanging on to a National League playoff spot, if not for the shoulder troubles suffered by Capricorn star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. (1,958 / 19.6), although he is probably still the front-runner for NL MVP. Speaking of real-life teams that are chasing a playoff spot, the excellence of Aries first baseman Matt Olson (1,870 / 15.0) hasn’t been enough to keep the Athletics in the hunt, following the suspension of their best defensive player (Cancer Ramon Laureano) and a freak injury to their ace pitcher (Pisces Chris Bassitt – 1,697 / 67.9). The team directly ahead of Oakland in the American League Wild Card standings is the Boston Red Sox, who are led offensively by Scorpio third baseman Rafael Devers (1,943 / 15.4).
The remaining non-playoff Positive Polarity signs all have pitchers as their fantasy point leaders. Gemini boasts Phillies ace Zack Wheeler (1,967 / 75.7), another player on a real-life team that is chasing a playoff spot (they’re [five] games out of an NL Wild Card spot). Of course Jacob deGrom (1,638 / 109.2) would have been in the running here, were it not for his elbow injury that should keep him out of action through mid-September. The top Aquarius point scorer is Brewers co-ace Brandon Woodruff (1,836 / 73.4), an honor he shares with Libra hurler Corbin Burnes (1,745 / 79.3) – who is actually behind Robbie Ray (1,816 / 72.6) in points for the Scales.
Padres starter Joe Musgrove (1,677 / 64.5) leads Sagittarius in total points, although injury-prone White Sox starter Carlos Rodon (1,569 / 78.5) leads in per-game average. Interestingly enough, it was just last week when Pete Alonso (1,542 / 12.7) passed Ronald Acuna Jr. (1,494 / 18.2) for the Archers’ offensive point lead, despite the fact that Acuna was lost for the season on July 10. I’m leaving Taurus and Virgo out of this equation for now, since we don’t yet know which of those two teams will be occupying a space in the losers’ bracket.
Next time, we’re heading back to 1991, a season that took place (gasp) 30 years ago! Tune in to see how much the fantasy astrology baseball landscape has changed in the last three decades.