Flapjacks Power Rankings Week 4

Here we are with another look at the teams in my Yahoo H2H keeper league. This week's power rankings will be somewhat brief. Feel free to provide your bonus commentary in the comments section.



4/22/08 Flapjacks Power Rankings
(Season record and last week's rankings in parentheses. )

1. Macafeys (21-9-0) (1)
Tim's hold on the top spot is starting to look a little tenous. He continues to dominate almost every category, and almost every batter on his roster is hitting over .300 for the past week. Reasons to worry: Jimmy Rollins will miss two weeks with an ankle injury, and the pitching staff has a thin margin of error with Roy Halladay, Carlos Zambrano, and Brett Myers the only established stars. Reasons to be hopeful: Despite hitting a combined .230 over the last week, Carlos Gomez and Michael Bourn are stealing every chance they get, with 10 SB's over the same period.


2. Dinos (18-10-2) (2)
I was this close to moving the Dinos into the top spot based on their incredible offensive performance last week. 18 HR and 67 RBI? I'd like some of that. Chase Utley is trying to complete the MVP-trio in Philly, with 6 HR in the past week. Old man Miguel Tejada is hitting like he's 31, and Joey Votto is really coming alive with 4 HR and 10 RBI in the last seven games. The rotation was almost as incredible, with 5 starters throwing shutouts for 31 innings. Why couldn't I rank the Dinos first? Their offense was amazing, but not as solid from top to bottom as Tim's was. And while the pitching staff has been very good, they share a lot of the same questions about depth with Tim, especially if Ben Sheets' triceps injury lingers throughout the season. Homer Bailey should be called up in a week or two; his arrival could answer those questions.


3. The Balls (20-9-1) (3)
The Balls' pitching staff took a hit when Erik Bedard joined Pedro Martinez on the DL, but Jake Peavy continues to amaze, and Adam Wainwright pitched like an ace in his last two starts with 12 K's in 14.2 innings. The bullpen should be okay, despite Eric Gagne's blowup over the weekend, though age could be catching up to Trevor Hoffman. Both Hanley Ramirez and Garrett Atkins are showing their power, with 3 HR each in the past week, and Carlos Quentin is making the case for more playing time, also hitting 3 HR. Gaining Mike Cameron back from suspension next week should add some much needed speed to the team.


4. Butt Admirals (18-7-5) (6)
With three straight weeks of winning records, the Admirals vault up two spots. Both the offense and the pitching have been solid; Edwin Encarnacion is surging, and Dustin Pedroia is showing some power with 6 extra-base hits and 8 RBI in seven games. Both the rotation and the bullpen continue to be dominant, though Bobby Jenks did blow a save pitching in his third game in a row. The bad news: Prince Fielder is still hitting less than his weight, and Grady Sizemore hasn't homered since Opening Day.


5. Screaming Lemurs (13-14-3) (5)
The Lemurs remain in the fifth spot after tying Adrian's Revenge (my team) 5-5 in last week's matchup. The matchup could have easily been 7-3 in the Lemurs favor, so they move above the Adrian's in the rankings. Even though Ryan Braun and Placido Polanco have performed below expectations, the offense has been productive, though they could use some power. Brandon Webb continues to be the ace of the staff, which is leading the league in overall K's. This team is continuing to punt saves, so they need solid production in WHIP and ERA in order to stay competitive.


6. Adrian's Revenge (20-10-0) (4)
My team underperformed last week, with five regulars hitting .200 or worse. Josh Willingham and Mark Teixeira have been bright spots, and Hunter Pence is finally starting to hit, but Brian Roberts, Ryan Zimmerman and Rick Ankiel have hit a combined .170 over the past week. Encouraging starts from the rotation: Rich Hill pitched well in his last start, Ervin Santana has proven to be a decent pickup, with 8 K's in his last start, and the bullpen hasn't allowed a run in 9.1 innings. Still waiting for Ted Lilly to come around.


7. Summer Fox (10-18-2) (8)
The Fox moves up a spot due to good pitching and a good bullpen. Both Todd Jones and Billy Wagner are perfect in save opportunities so far, and Jason Isringhausen is tied for the lead in saves. The rest of the rotation needs a resurgence, as only Fausto Carmona pitched well last week. Beyond Adrian Beltre and Aaron Rowand, the offense has been struggling, though Ichiro is starting to run, with 2 of his 3 steals coming in the last week.

8. The Tossers (10-18-2) (7)
The Tossers have started to come alive offensively, with good weeks by Conor Jackson and Alex Rodriguez. Brad Hawpe looks to be coming out of his early season slump; since his BA dropped below .200, he's had six hits in the past three games. The bad news: Gary Sheffield is still dealing with shoulder issues, and Travis Hafner has had only 6 extra-base hits all year. The good news: Kaz Matsui is hitting .313 with 5 runs since being activated from the DL. Get that guy in the lineup, Troost.

9. Naterade (9-21-0) (10)
Naterade's continues to get great offensive production from almost everyone on his roster. Russell Martin has started to heat up after a putrid start to the season, hitting 2 HR in the past week. Justin Morneau, Nick Markakis, and Edgar Renteria are hitting a combined .350 with 7 HR and 18 RBI in the last week. The injury to Rafael Soriano leaves Nate a bit shorthanded in the bullpen, but he was able to pick up Manny Acosta, who should see some save opportunities in Soriano's place.

10. Val Kilmer's Asshole (11-18-1) (9)
The Kilmer's offense is staying afloat, despite not being able to field a complete roster due to injuries. Jose Reyes and David Ortiz have finall come alive; Reyes hit his first two homers of the year last week, and Ortiz has 12 RBI in his last six games. Andruw Jones is still struggling, though he did hit his first home run of the year over the weekend. Scott Rolen could be back in a week, so at least Mark will be able to roster a full squad. The pitching staff had a horrible week, with almost everyone getting shelled. The good news is that it looks like B.J. Ryan will get the majority of save opportunitiesfor the Blue Jays as long as he can stay healthy.

11. Dissect Yourself (7-21-2) (11)
Micah's team had a decent last week, though they had the unfortunate task of facing the Macafeys. Manny Ramirez has been tearing it up, Xavier Nady continues to hit, and Juan Pierre is finding a way to steal bases despite limited at bats, but the infield is struggling. Losing Alfsono Soriano last week to a calf injury doesn't help, but the Cubs hope to have him back in a week. Even though he's not closing, Carlos Marmol has been very valuable to Micah's team, striking out nine in five innings with a 1.80 ERA. Trading for Roy Oswalt and Oliver Perez is paying off in dividends so far; they combined for 3 Wins, 17 K's and a 2.20 ERA. Add Yovani Gallardo coming off the DL and picking up where he left off last year, and two solid starts from Brad Penny, and this pitching staff looks like it's turning around.

12. Self Indulgence (10-18-2) (12)
Self Indulgence had a tough matchup against the Admirals that could have gone either way; the offense was very solid, but the team was let down by poor pitching. Chipper Jones has been on a tear, hitting .538 with 4 HR in the past week; hopefully his hot streak won't be hampered by a sore quadriceps. Despite a poor BA, the team is finding ways to score runs and knock guys in. For the most part, the bullpen has struggled recently, and the bullpen may be down a closer if Jeremy Accardo starts losing saves to B.J. Ryan. Chien-Ming Wang had a poor start, but at least Johan Santana is pitching well with 10 K's in seven innings.


Questions, comments, disagreements? Let me know in the commentary.