Astrology Baseball: Checking in for May

The stars have shifted, we're in the throes of Taurus, and it's time to check in with my astrology baseball league. Last year I sunk a lot of time into this project, tinkering with each team's roster every week, subbing out slumping and injured players for more relevant ones. This year I was not nearly as ambitious, only periodically checking the standings and only making the odd change here and there. However, today, as I was checking the fantasy stats of the top players in the leagues to determine my first round of All-Star voting, I saw that some of said best players were not being fully utilized by their starry affiliates. And given that today's the first day of a matchup that begins in a new month, I thought it was a fine milestone to do some lineup adjustments. Whether this will turn into a monthly thing, who can know, but for now, here's what I've gleaned from the state of major league baseball through watching the stars.

First, it's no wonder that the Rockies are doing as well as they are given the monsterful performance of Troy Tulowitzki (fantasy's top hitter, according to my point system) and the unforeseen breakout of Charlie Blackmon (who has already equaled his 2013 HR, RBI, and BB totals, but in 50 fewer games). I was astute enough to grab Blackmon off the waiver wire for my own fantasy team, but I was also foolish enough to draft Yasiel Puig (currently day to day having crashed into ANOTHER wall) in front of fantasy's number 2 hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who's putting up the types of numbers he couldn't produce for me last year when I picked him first. I think I've officially changed my draft day stance from "once bitten, twice shy" to "he couldn't possibly disappoint so severely two years in a row."

Tulo and Stanton's performances have helped put their respective astrology teams (Libra and Scorpio) at the tops of their respective divisions (Air and Water). Capricorn, meanwhile, is leading the Earth division, and they got to that point without the help of the game's top relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez. I obviously hadn't been paying enough attention to the Brewers' closer situation (to be fair, MLB.com's rankings indicated that Jim Henderson would get the first crack at the job), and the veteran has been reaping the benefits of his club's hot streak to start the season. It looks like the old Sea-Goats are climbing back to the powerhouse they were in 2012 rather than the .500 mediocrity of 2013.

The two best starters in the game right now - Johnny Cueto of Aquarius and Jose Fernandez of Leo - have yet to lead their teams to a winning record. But possibly the changes I've made - getting Julio Teheran and Nate Eovaldi in the AQU rotation, and swapping out the slumping Pablo Sandoval for Mark Reynolds and hoping Jesse Chavez's brilliance as a fill-in starter for the A's continues on the LEO side - will improve their fortunes. The only other active starter to average more than 100 points per game is another dude I picked up on waivers, Tim Hudson. Funny how my two big pickups this year both play for the Cancer astrology team, yet they currently are ahead of only the winless Pisces Fish in the standings. I just hope they can turn things around by birthday, otherwise we'll both be in for a long summer.