FABL 2023 Playoff Wk 1 Update

It’s one week into (i.e. halfway through) the semifinal matchups, and one question rises to the top: can anyone stop Virgo? Case in point: on Saturday, their batters scored the highest single-day point total of any team in the final four so far. And that was just a day after their pitchers combined for the second-highest single-day total. Needless to say, their total of nearly 1,500 points over the first week is nigh-untouchable by a middling Cancer squad.

The heroes of that big offensive Saturday were the veteran George Springer and the versatile Lane Thomas (and the perennial All-Star Jose Ramirez)… but neither of the first base duo of Freddie Freeman and Paul Goldschmidt. In fact, I had Goldy sitting in favor of former phenom Spencer Torkelson. Torky and his Tigers teammate Kerry Carpenter are getting hot in their real-life team’s garbage time games, which is why the fantasy playoffs take place during the regular season.

Likewise, this weekend’s top pitchers weren’t the big names: Kyle Bradish of the Orioles was responsible for Friday’s gem, and Dodgers closer Evan Phillips nailed down the save. Of course, both Los Angeles and Baltimore are first place teams, so that’s something to keep an eye on. Virgo’s overall performance was even more impressive, considering they lost last year’s Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara early in the week!

I mentioned that Virgo’s Friday was only the second-highest daily point total of the playoffs so far, with the number one spot going to Libra. On the very first day of the matchup, Merrill Kelly got the win for Arizona, and David Bednar picked up a save for Pittsburgh. Add those to a tough luck loss from Corbin Burnes, and Scales pitchers notched 202 points on the day. They’re set up comfortably over Sagittarius, but with a much smaller margin than over in the Negative League.