Back from Vacation Recap
Usually how this blog works is that I have been paying close attention to the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League, and I use these posts to keep you, the readers, up to date at semi-regular intervals. However, since I have been on vacation for the last two weeks, I’ll be catching up on the recent proceedings, same as you. Granted, the middle of the stretch run with two fairly close divisional races wasn’t the BEST time to take a break from weekly lineup tinkering, but sometimes that’s just how the calendar works out.
When I stepped away, just after the real-life MLB Trade Deadline, the FABL season was heading to the end of Matchup 16, which ran from July 26 thru August 1. The leaders of both Polarities, Leo and Pisces, won their matchups, improving to 10-5 and 9-6 respectively. Even though the Lions took an L the following week, they mathematically sealed up their division, enjoying a 100% playoff probability. While Mike Trout still hasn’t returned, Luis Robert is back in action, and Max Scherzer’s trade to a better team could help his W-L record, which is still unfortunately important for fantasy purposes.
In the Negative Polarity, Pisces is still led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has just become the first batter to reach 2,000 points on the season. (Two-way player Shohei Ohtani is already approaching 3,000 points, when combining his hitting and pitching stats, but that’s a special case.) It’s obviously not ideal that important contributors Kyle Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins, and Clayton Kershaw are still injured, but if they can come back for the month of September, the Fish should be in good shape for the fantasy playoffs. Plus, they get to add Royals rookie starter Carlos Hernandez to the mix, whenever I get around to adding players off the waiver wire.
Meanwhile, the other two divisions are basically neck-and-neck, as far as winning percentage is concerned. Virgo was the only Earth Division team to win in Matchup 16, putting them in a dead heat with Taurus at 9-7. Both of those teams lost in Matchup 17 (August 2 thru August 8), keeping them even at 9-8 heading into this week’s matchup. To make matters more interesting, with Capricorn’s Week 17 win, they are just one game back of the leading pair with an 8-9 record. But despite this cluster in the standings, the Goats have just a 6% chance to make the playoffs: Taurus is on top with 52% to Virgo’s 42%.
Joey Votto’s unbelievable run has fueled Virgo in recent weeks, but a staggering amount of pitching injuries have kept their playoff chances below 50-50. Tyler Glasnow and Spencer Turnbull are done for the year, Noah Syndergaard has yet to pitch in 2021 (and will likely serve in a bullpen role if and when he does return), Carlos Martinez has struggled, but they would have taken his innings, and now ace Gerrit Cole is on the Covid IL. At least Pirates rookie Wil Crowe is around to soak up some innings and Ranger Suarez might soon qualify for the Phillies rotation.
But will that be enough to hold off Taurus, who just welcomed shortstop Corey Seager and John Means back from the injured list. These two join an offense anchored by Jose Altuve and Aaron Judge, and a pitching staff led by Field of Dreams Game starter Lance Lynn. On the flip side, we just learned that Angels starter Griffin Canning will not return for the remainder of 2021. However, Oakland A’s superprospect A.J. Puk was just called up to the majors, although as a non-closer reliever, his fantasy upside is not all that great.
Things even closer in the Air Division, with Gemini sporting a 50% chance to make the playoffs, just BARELY ahead of Libra’s 48%. These teams have kept pace with each other over the last two weeks, as both lost in Week 16, but then both defeated their Matchup 17 opponents. As far as the bottom line win-loss numbers are concerned, the Twins have the top record at 10-7, one game ahead of the Scales (9-8), and just two ahead of the Water Bearers (8-9). But again, despite their proximity in the standings, Aquarius currently has just a 2% chance to make the postseason.
There are still a couple of days left in Matchup 18, but Gemini is all but assured to take the loss against Virgo - losing Jacob deGrom and Anthony Rendon has been a heavy blow to the Twins. Also, the trade of Craig Kimbrel to the White Sox moved him from the unquestioned top of the saves pecking order to one half of a two-headed bullpen monster with Aquarian Liam Hendriks. Speaking of Aquarius, they will likely lose to Libra this week, which would lead to a tie at the top of the Air Division rankings heading into the final two matchups.
There are still plenty of exciting storylines as the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League marches towards the postseason. However, in my next post, I will return to my reverse-chronological trip through FABL history, examining the strike-shortened 1995 season.