I've only published
one batch of excerpts from my mammoth spreadsheet tracking Fantasy Astrology Baseball lineups through the last two decades, but it's already time to move onto another type of baseball list. These one-page team summaries were my first attempt at tracking yearly baseball rosters vis-a-vis fantasy points, and although the layout and parameters have changed somewhat since the first time I did this exercise in the year 2000, the basic format remains the same. I finished putting the 2019 list together yesterday, just in time for the Nationals to go up on the Cardinals two games to nothing in the NLCS, so let's start by examining the rosters (i.e. lineup, rotation, and bullpen) of the National League's Wild Card winner.
This is a pretty easy one to start with, because the Nats had one of the more consistent starting lineups throughout the 2019 season. Beginning with the most relevant column - 2019 fantasy points - we see that MVP candidate Anthony Rendon and 20-year-old sophomore Juan Soto led the team offensively, so it makes sense that the Gemini and Scorpio (respectively) hit back-to-back home runs off longtime Dodgers (and Pisces) ace Clayton Kershaw to tie the decisive NL Division Series Game 5 on Thursday. Cancer Crabs shortstop Trea Turner also eclipsed the 2,000-point threshold, and if you look at his points-per-game column (in parentheses), you'll see that he produced at the same rate as Soto when healthy, but he missed time with a broken finger early in the season.
Now to explain some formatting quirks of the list. You might have already deduced that the positions listed to the left of the players' names are their primary positions, and the ones to the right (where applicable) are secondary positions, and you would be right... but ONLY when those secondary positions are in italics. The only example in this lineup is fellow CancerCrab and NLDS Game 5 hero Howie Kendrick, who qualified at both first and second base in 2019. However, when the italicized position is on the left, such as in the case of Virgo benchwarmer Matt Adams, that was NOT the player's primary position, indicating that I futzed with eligibility rules to fill a team's positional need. Indeed, National League teams don't have access to the DH (...yet!) but I list nine players in all 30 starting lineups so as to better compare overall point totals. You may have also deduced that players below the starting nine represent bench depth, but what's not so obvious is that the "^" symbol next to Taurus backup outfielder (and the Baby Shark himself) Gerardo Parra denotes that he was acquired midseason and spent time with another MLB team in 2019.
The 2019 Nationals have a starting rotation with one of the most impressive "Big Threes" in recent memory with Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin (a Leo and two Cancers, respectively). Despite his solid-not-great 2019 regular season production, manager Dave Martinez has made the argument to make that "Big Four" after Pisces Anibal Sanchez's stellar performance in Game 1 of the NLCS on Friday. In stark contrast to the starting staff, Washington's bullpen has been much maligned all year, and rightly so, with Libra closer Sean Doolittle and under-the-radar late-May waiver claim Javy Guerra the only relievers to average 10+ points per game. However, this list doesn't feature other more significant midseason acquisitions, such as new closer Daniel Hudson, tilted-cap-wearer Fernando Rodney, and former Mariners closers Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland, because these four failed to rack up the requisite 40 innings and/or appearances necessary for inclusion on the list. Speaking of rules for inclusion, Austin Voth is down at the bottom, despite an impressive 2019 rookie season, because I require pitchers to rack up at least 10 games started and 60 innings pitched to make it into the list of non-italicized SP's (Voth had 8 GS and 43 2/3 IP). Also, the generic "P" next to Joe Ross's name is my shorthand for a "spot starter" type - a pitcher with more than 5 games started, but more relief appearances than starts (Ross started 9 games out of 27 total appearances).
At first glance, it's clear that St. Louis's offense doesn't feature the same scary performers as Washington's, as longtime Virgo first baseman Paul Goldschmidt needed a red-hot September to barely eclipse 2,000 points (he's AVERAGED 2,322 over the seven years prior to 2019). Scorpio Slugger Marcell Ozuna had a decent platform season heading into free agency, but you can see that he didn't log a full season by comparing his points/PPG columns (like Turner above, he too missed time with a broken finger). Leo shortstop Paul DeJong had a solid and healthy regular season, but he's recently been relegated to the 8th spot in the batting order in the postseason. Batting above him is rookie Taurus utility player Tommy Edman, who despite logging most of his brief MLB time in the infield so far, has gotten the lion's share of starts in right field, while veteran Aries Dexter Fowler moves to center, pushing Gemini defensive stalwart Harrison Bader to the bench (remember the NL does not get the benefit of a DH spot).
Beyond ace Jack Flaherty (who's a Libra), you can't toss a baseball into the Cardinals pitching staff without hitting a Virgo: not only were starters Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, and Dakota Hudson all born between mid-August and mid-September, but the same is true of starter-turned-closer Carlos Martinez, and currently injured once-and-future closer Jordan Hicks. (His line appears in italics because, while he didn't reach the requisite innings/appearances totals, he accounted for over 20% of his team's save opportunities, earning him mention as a part-time closer.) This looks like a sound strategy for Cardinals management, since Virgo did win the fantasy astrology championship this year, after all. Beyond Martinez, Leo reliever Giovanny Gallegos has blossomed into a nice bullpen piece, making the trade of Luke Voit look much less one-sided - the Aquarius slugger isn't even on the Yankees' ALCS roster. Speaking of people left off rosters, John Gant didn't make St. Louis's, despite a solid regular season overall - although I guess he did post a 6.20 ERA in the second half. But with former postseason strikeout machine Andrew Miller and hard-throwing John Brebbia (both Gemini's) on the roster, I'd say STL's late-inning corps looks a bit more impressive than WAS's.
No comments:
Post a Comment