Round One: Spokane 4, St. Louis 3

Game recaps from the Strat box scores. In this round one matchup, the No. 3 Spokane Hooded Crows (96-63) met the No. 6 St. Louis Maulers (93-69).

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Game One
Crows 4, Maulers 0

Starters: Jacob deGrom @ Zack Greinke

Zack Greinke took a no-hitter into the 6th inning at The Crows Nest where the Spokane Hooded Crows beat the St. Louis Maulers 4 to 0.

Greinke (1-0) was indeed brilliant as he hand-cuffed the St. Louis offense. He didn't allow much, just 2 hits and 1 walk in 7 innings. Greinke whiffed an impressive total of 8 St. Louis batters.  The right-handed Greinke lost his chance for a no-hitter when Nick Hundley singled with nobody out in the 6th inning. Both teams' bats went to sleep after the 3rd inning, with no runs scored after that point.

Jacob deGrom (0-1) absorbed the loss. He pitched 7 innings, allowing 5 hits and 3 walks.

Power Ranking After Block Four

An attempt to rank the league's best teams for the 2016 season. Teams sorted by run differential, then wins.

This installment finds us 108 games into the season, with two blocks and 54 games remaining.

Note that OPS+ and ERA+ are not adjusted for ballpark context during the season.

RD stands for run differential and Pyth for Pythagorean winning percentage. Pace is projected win total based on current winning percentage. BB% and SO/BB ratio do not include intentional walks.

Power Ranking 

No	Team	W	L	PCT	Division	R/G	OPS+	RA/G	ERA+	Pyth	Pace	RD
1	Death Valley	70	38	.648	Atlantic	5.16	124	4.30	95	.582	105	+93
2	Goldenrod	69	39	.639	Central	4.49	105	2.98	140	.677	104	+163
3	St. Louis	67	41	.620	Central	3.81	91	2.87	144	.626	101	+102
4	Elysian Fields	64	44	.593	Pacific	5.15	113	4.35	101	.575	96	+86
5	Spokane	61	47	.565	Pacific	3.88	91	3.41	123	.558	92	+51
6	Miami	61	47	.565	Northeast	4.31	103	4.07	100	.525	92	+25
7	Mohawk Valley	60	48	.556	Atlantic	4.35	104	3.62	118	.583	90	+79
8	Cape Cod	60	48	.556	Northeast	4.48	107	4.00	107	.551	90	+52
9	Brooklyn	58	50	.537	Pacific	4.25	103	4.09	100	.517	87	+17
10	Lake County	55	53	.509	Central	4.14	105	4.34	96	.478	83	–22
11	Rosehill	53	55	.491	Central	4.11	99	4.05	100	.507	80	+7
12	Fighting Irish	53	55	.491	Northeast	4.23	105	4.30	99	.493	80	–7
13	Northwest	52	56	.481	Pacific	3.94	87	4.12	102	.479	78	–20
14	Northeast	51	57	.472	Northeast	3.96	95	4.42	95	.451	77	–49
15	Wilmington	50	58	.463	Atlantic	4.36	104	4.40	95	.496	75	–4
16	Rochester	48	60	.444	Atlantic	3.52	89	3.82	110	.462	72	–33
17	California	43	65	.398	Pacific	3.78	93	4.54	94	.418	65	–82
18	West Side	40	68	.370	Northeast	4.40	102	5.55	78	.397	60	–124
19	Sudbury	38	70	.352	Atlantic	3.85	95	4.81	85	.401	57	–103
20	Little Rock	27	81	.250	Central	3.57	83	5.71	72	.300	41	–231

Top Eight Rotations You Want To Avoid In The Playoffs

By Matt Eddy

How strong is the link between rotation quality and team success in a 20-team Strat league? In the case of the MMDA: pretty strong.

Prior to the 2015 season, I ranked the top eight MMDA rotations in terms of the quality of each club's top four starters—the quartet most likely to appear in a playoff series. As it turned out, four of the top six teams on that ranking advanced to the league semifinals in 2015. The No. 2 Miami Manatees met the No. 3 Northwest Stars in one bracket, while in the other, the No. 4 Mohawk Valley Lions combated the No. 6 Spokane Hooded Crows.

So let's give it another go. Just like last year, I will rank in this space the eight most fearsome rotations in the MMDA, at least according to the on-base and total-base units for the top four starter cards on each team.

The methodology is slightly changed this year. I used the SOM World starting pitcher rankings to remove my subjectivity and personal bias from the exercise. I also weighted the starter cards on a simple 4-3-2-1 scale to reward clubs with top-heavy rotations. After all, a club's top two starters likely will compile the most playoff innings.

Each club's top four starters—again, according to SOM World—are included here, along with their overall rank among starters. An asterisk (*) denotes that a pitcher may come back on short rest in the playoffs.

1. Spokane Hooded Crows (Pacific)
RHP Zack Greinke (2*), LHP Clayton Kershaw (3*), RHP Jesse Hahn (15), LHP Cole Hamels (16*)

Four of the top 20 starters in the 2016 set can be found in the Crows' rotation, so this is the matchup that opposing teams will want to put off as long as possible in the playoffs. Greinke (1.66 ERA) and Kershaw (301 strikeouts) form the best righty-lefty one-two punch in the game, and both of them can pitch on short rest in the playoffs. Gulp.

A Crude Ranking Of The Eight Hardest-Hitting Lineups

By Matt Eddy

This piece does not attempt to rank the best collections of position players in the MMDA, because defensive proficiency is not considered. Nor does it single out the best rate performers (always handy for the playoffs) or account for a lineup's strength versus lefthanded starters.

Anthony Rendon's emergence fortifies a Dodgers lineup
that already had Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera

This simply measures the quality (runs created) and quantity (at-bats) of offense produced by each team's projected regulars around the diamond. In other words, we would expect these lineups in a neutral ballpark context and against a standard percentage of righthanded starters to score the most runs over 162 games.

To measure offensive quality, I identified the probable lineup regulars for each team, then ranked those regulars by projected runs created. Because this is a crude measure, I used a Roto-style scoring system, such that teams received points based on where their players ranked among the 20 MMDA regulars.

For example, the No. 1 center fielder, Mike Trout, bestowed one point to the Dodgers. The No. 2 first baseman, Miguel Cabrera, credited Brooklyn with two points, and so on down line. The lowest point total for any player is 20. I then summed those point totals for all nine lineup regulars to arrive at a ranking, and here it is. Remember that lower scores are best.

1. Brooklyn Dodgers (Pacific)
Total: 67.
C—Dioner Navarro (9). 1B—Miguel Cabrera (2). 2B—Neil Walker (5). 3B—Anthony Rendon (2). SS—Jimmy Rollins (11). LF—Rajai Davis (16). CF—Mike Trout (1). RF—Jon Jay (12). DH—Hanley Ramirez (9).

The Dodgers scored more than 100 additional runs than any MMDA team in 2014, and expect them to repeat as the league's top offense this season. Cabrera and Trout continue to rank among the elite players in the, while 2014 first-rounder Rendon has supplanted Ramirez as the club's third banana. Extra RH bats: Trevor Plouffe, Collin Cowgill.

Maulers Target Top Arms In Draft

By Mike Johnson

DRAFT REVIEW

Jake deGrom fell to the Maulers at No. 12 overall

First round (#12): Jake deGrom (SP). I expected the top 3 SPs to picked, so I was planning on selecting Betances. If I could not draft a SP, I would enhance my RP. Happy w/ the pick and improved my SP (Bumgarner/deGrom/A.Wood/Weaver/Latos/Hendrick).

Second round (#25): Andrew Miller (RP). I planned on and wanted this guy! It would have been nice to have Betance/Miller. St. Louis RP is solid and deep.

Second round (#32): Kyle Hendricks (SP). This was my last pick until the 5th rd so I needed it to count! The 25 YR old K.Kendrick is solid and his 88 IP fills in for the shortage of IP that deGrom has (154 IP). Thought about Shoemaker with this pick. Kendrick was solid in the minors. My rotation is set!

Round One: Goldenrod 4, St. Louis 2

Game recaps from the Strat-generated box scores. In this series, the No. 4 Goldenrod Gators (94-68) had home-field advantage versus the No. 5 St. Louis Maulers (92-70).

Game One
Maulers 3, Gators 2

Zack Greinke racked up an impressive total of 12 strikeouts as the St. Louis Maulers topped the Goldenrod Gators by a score of 3 to 2 at Gator Grounds.

Greinke (1-0) pitched a solid game. He surrendered only 6 hits and no walks in 8 innings. Goldenrod made it exciting in the 9th, but they were unable to push the needed runs across. 

Matt Thornton earned his 1st save. David Phelps (0-1) was the losing pitcher. He pitched 5 innings and surrendered 5 hits and no walks.

'I had my good stuff tonight.' Greinke said. 'As the game went along I started to get the feeling that I was going to strike out a bunch of hitters.'

Huskies dominate regular season once again, but can they get it done in October?

The Northeast Huskies have done it again. John Tresca's club led the league with 115 wins during the regular season, landing in a familiar place: atop the Northeast Division (named for its geographic location, though it could just as well be in honor of its dominant team). This marks six consecutive seasons in which the Huskies have either won the division outright or tied for first.

Since bringing up the rear with a 54-108 record in 2007, the Huskies have gone 659-313, good for a .678 winning percentage. During that span they have posted the best record in the league three times (2009, 2012, 2013). For all that dominance, however, there is one thing that has eluded them: a title. Over the past five years the Huskies have advanced to the final series only once, falling to the Bulldogs in seven games in 2009.

Can they do it this year? Their road to the World Series runs first through division rival West Side Bluejays, who are making their first-ever appearance in the MMDA postseason. Vegas likes the Huskies here. Northeast led the MMDA with a 3.28 ERA and ranked third in runs scored with 891. By contrast, the Bluejays posted a 3.97 ERA (9th) and crossed the plate 784 times (6th). But as the Huskies have learned, these games aren't played on paper.

Jim Baker's Wilmington Razorbacks finished with the second-best record in the league, at 112-50, ending a postseason drought reminiscent of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Razorbacks were led by a stout offense that gets on base and scores lots of runs. They posted a .359 on-base percentage as a team, nineteen points better than the second-best club (Huskies), and scored a league-best 928 runs. Their pitching staff logged a 3.92 ERA, eighth best in the league.

The Razors will be going up against a playoff fixture, the Northwest Stars, who secured the No. 7 seed after losing the tie-breaker with division foe Spokane. The Stars are a balanced club that finished fourth in the league in ERA (3.63) and seventh in runs scored (769).

Spokane, the sixth seed, will face the third-seeded Mohawk Valley Crimson Lions, whose potent offense ranked fourth in runs (839) and pitching staff finished third with a 3.55 ERA. The Hooded Crows are a pitching oriented club. Led by ERA champion Clayton Kershaw (2.08), they finished second in the MMDA with a 3.35 ERA. Kershaw and his fellow rotation mates will have to shine, however, because Spokane's offense ranked just 15th in runs scored, with 679, the least of any playoff qualifier.

The final matchup features divisional foes Goldenrod and St. Louis. They met in the second round of last year's playoffs, with the Gators sweeping the Maulers on the way to capturing the league championship. The Gators, who won two more games in the regular season this year to take the division title, have the edge in both ERA (3.82 to 3.91) and runs scored (796 to 720).

Best of luck to all eight clubs and congratulations on advancing this far.

Maulers-Huskies pull off pre-Christmas deal

Veteran outfielder Covelli "Coco" Crisp has been sent packing by the St. Louis Maulers, who dealt him to the Northeast Huskies for righthander Ervin "Magic" Santana in a pre-Christmas swap. Crisp hit .272 with 18 stolen bases in part-time duty for the Maulers as they captured the Central Division flag. Santana was 10-7 with a 3.30 ERA for the Huskies, who had the best record in the MMDA but failed to make it beyond the first round of the playoffs.