PREMIER MATCH-UP

Over an extended Match-Up Period that resulted from the MLB All-Star break, the Orlando Splitters managed to send a message to the rest of the League. A showdown between two of the best 2022 HumBabe teams, split the League’s Pick-Em votes essentially down the middle – half in favor of the LeBronto Blue James and the other half for Orlando. Jose Ramirez, the backbone of the Blue James’ franchise, led his team with 56 points (42 ABs, 12 Hs, 2 HRs, 9 RBIs) and was supplemented by a Blake Snell resurgence who led the Pitching Staff with 42.25 pts over two starts. The Orlando Splitters on the other hand, ran out a full roster’s worth of stellar performances. On the mound, Brandon Woodruff threw two starts for 56.42 pts, Corbin Burnes and Tyler Mahle each collected more than 40 pts, while Shane Bieber, Gerrit Cole, Lance Lynn, Aaron Ashby, Kevin Gausman and Alex Cobb all cleared the 30 pt threshold. A total of 437.75 Pitching Points for the Splitters, when compared across the League, would have been enough to take down two teams on it’s own – but the Splitter hitters were no slouches themselves. Posting another 425 Hitting Points, Orlando saw 44 pts each from Xander Bogaerts and Ketel Marte, and more than 30 pts from both Daulton Varsho and Kris Bryant – most impressively however, Matt Chapman, a Waiver Wire addition for the Splitters this season nearly doubled those other bats with his 72 points over the Week 15 Match-Up Period. Beating the reigning back-to-back champions by a margin of 165.33 points is certainly a feather to add to the cap, but one has to wonder, are the Orlando Splitters repeating their prior seasons and burning out before the Postseason begins?

The San Francisco Studs had been leading the way in Month Four’s Pick-Em, and could have secured a Pay-Out with a correct pick in Week 15 … however, they selected LeBronto and allowed Jackal Attack to enter the fold. Tied with four out of five correct picks between Weeks Twelve and Fifteen, Jackal Attack and the Studs brought things to a tiebreaker. That tiebreaker landed firmly in Jackal Attack’s favor, thanks to a 537.7 points advantage over the timeframe, and grants them the fourth of seven 2022 Pick-Em Payouts – their first of the Season.

Impressive Individuals

Need we talk more about the historic pace that Aaron Judge is currently on? Pablo’s most lethal bat posted an unfathomable 121 points during Week 15 (11pts / G) and created a spread between himself and the second best individual performance, Matt Chapman, by more than 40 points. And when you can supplement the bat of Aaron Judge, with Week 15’s third best performer – Yordan Alvarez (75.5 pts) – it’s no wonder that Pablo leds the 2022 HumBabe Dynasty in Hitting Points Scored. Other notable performances over the extended All-Star Break Period included: Hunter Renfroe (SQZ, 75.5 pts), Adolis Garcis (NSH, 70 pts), Jonathan India (ElP, 59.5 pts), Jeimer Candelario (LBJ, 57.5 pts) and Brady Singer (STRO, 57 pts). The key to winning a HumBabe Dynasty Championship, is having the right guys on your roster at the right time. The question, or the challenge with that, is trying to predict who will land on this list of best performances between Periods 19 and 22 (Postseason Match-ups) before it happens, and finding a way to roster them now.

The Frenzy Marches On

Amidst an entertaining and active MLB Trade Deadline (ends today, August 2nd), the HumBabe Dynasty Trade Market has been just as interesting to follow. Headlined by the Aaron Nola sweepstakes and a deal that included Jacob deGrom, the rosters across our League has certainly undergone some notable changes over the past couple weeks. Most recently, the London Bag Club sent Cole Irvin to the Perth Platypi in exchange for Javier Baez while two more pending trades await their Veto fate – Jackal Attack acquiring Mike Clevinger from London for Jordan Walker + Kyle Lewis, and the LeBronto Blue James acquiring Zac Gallen + Carlos Correa + Hunter Renfroe from the Florida Squeeze, at the expense of Jorge Polanco + Ranger Suarez + Taylor Ward + Trevor Rogers. The better part of two weeks still remain before HumBabe General Managers have to call it quits on their wheeling and dealing – who will manage to make another deal before then?