TheCommissioner

Round 1 Recap

Every High Seed Falls

I’ll be as bold as to say… if this were March Madness, we would have zero perfect brackets left after Round One of the 2023 HumBabe Dynasty Postseason. Every favored team lost to their underdog opponent, and it’s made for a very intriguing Final Four! Wally Mash and the Brooklyn Robins get two calendar weeks to fight over the Shot Call League crown, while the Say Hey Kids and Super Smash Stros duke it out on the Basket Catch League half of the bracket.

LeBronto Won’t Four-Peat

Sighs of relief heard across the masses of HumBabe General Managers… LeBronto’s been eliminated. Fear certainly heightened as LeBronto caught a head of steam, again, right as we broke into the Postseason… but it was all for not this year. Their defeat was really due to the worst possible happen-chance for this single calendar week Match-Up. Brooklyn put up a League best 566.25 points, while LeBronto was the third highest scoring team of the eight with 484.25. The summary of this Match-Up isn’t really about where LeBronto fell short, but rather where Brooklyn excelled: Trea Turner (80.5pts) for example outscored the Blue James’ top guy (Blake Snell, 56.25pts) by 24.25 points… ridiculous. But looking at the season as a whole for LeBronto, some takeaways to be proud of…

  1. Led the League in Pitching Points Scored, remarkable when you consider that Orlando had the 1st, 2nd and 3rd best Pitchers in baseball. LeBronto built a Pitching Staff that was strong-through and undoubtedly proved its worth by the end of the season – struggling Sandy Alcantara or not, strong staff.
  2. Had a great 1st Round pick in the FAR Draft with Anthony Santander (4.21pts/g) and found an even better Outfielder on the Waiver Wire in Lane Thomas (4.38pts/g)
  3. Kyle Tucker is currently the 6th best player in the League, heck of an acquisition last year that really produced fruit in 2023. This is a long-term dynasty asset too, not just a win-now piece.

Splitters Short Again

Not much to say here… just more heartbreak and mourning for the Splitters Franchise. Takeaways from the season:

  1. Corbin Carroll proved to be a stud and a future cornerstone for the Franchise; 690 points to date, 5.11/G, 7th best in HumBabe among all players
  2. Acquired Marcus Semien (9th best player) who is finishing the year just under 5pts/g; Yes, he’s 32 years old and came at the expense of a younger stud-in-the-making, but Semien is a keeper and a great piece to have for the next year or two (when Orlando has desperate hopes to win a real prize).
  3. Spencer Strider, Gerrit Cole, Kevin Gausman. Enough said? Among all Pitchers in the League, Strider ranks 1st with 655.92pts (24.29/G), Cole 2nd with 577pts (19.9/G), and Gausman 3rd at 546.17pts (20.23/G)

Other than that, leading the League in Total Points Scored meant nothing during a calendar week with Wally Mash. We could point to a lot of different things as the cause, but perhaps the most gut-wrenching for Orlando is the 66 Hitting Points left on the bench (not by mistake, rather due to start/sit decisions) in the 16-point loss. Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda.

Shot Call League Final

Brooklyn rides a hot streak into the SCL Championship, but they also had a lot of pitchers throw late in last week’s Match-Up. Wally Mash on the other hand sneaked by Orlando and walks in the next Round with several pitchers lined up to make three starts against Brooklyn. Both of these teams have proven their strength throughout their multiple HumBabe Dynasty seasons – high point totals, playoff runs, great transaction track records, etc. Time for one of them to add their logo to the Banner of Champions? We shall see, but only one franchise will get that chance come September 18th.

Jackal Runs Out of Steam

Jackal Attack should be feeling pretty similar to the other eliminated #1 Seed at this point – that feeling of, “What more can we do???” Shoehi Ohtani goes down days before the fantasy Postseason. The General Manager told the press that it absolutely crushed team morale and how could it not? The Record Book will jott down “17-3 record, BCL Mays Division Winner” and that’s it for the 2023 Jackal season. An abrupt ending, but let’s not forget how successful the team has been over the past five-six months:

  1. Third and Fourth best players in HumBabe’s 2023 Season – Shoehi Ohanti (784.5pts, 5.81/G) and Freddie Freeman (773.5, 5.65/G)
  2. Huge steal in the 6th Round of the FAR Draft via Yusei Kikuchi – 401.3pts, 14.9/G (better than guys like Sandy Alcantara, Clayton Kershaw, and Yu Darvish)
  3. 4th most Total Points, 4th most Pitching Points, 4th most Hitting Points… talk about a well-balanced roster.

Pablo Outgunned

Pablo was a silent assassin of sorts during the 2023 season. Ranking just 8th best in Points Scored, they managed to win the BCL Vic Division pretty handily with a 15-5 record. Their closest Division Opponent, the Say Hey Kids (12-8), took them down in Round 1 when it mattered most though. Takeaways for the Secret Weapons:

  1. Julio Rodriguez collected 680.5pts, 5.19/G, and in case you’ve forgotten… he’s 22 years old. Talk about a Face of a Franchise.
  2. Bryce Miller was an 8th Round FAR Draft Pick that produced 293.3pts, 14/G, after his call to the Show in May. An 8th Round FAR Draft Pick equates to your 23rd best MLB Player … I’d call that a boom pick.
  3. Logan Gilbert (17.64pts/g), George Kirby (16.47pts/g), Julio, Bryce Miller, Matt Brash … all solid Fantasy contributors that just so happen to wear this General Manager’s favorite uniform. Pretty cool group of young studs to be cheering for over the next several years.

Basket Catch League Final

The Say Hey Kids and the Super Smash ‘Stros, two teams that are so easy to root for. Great General Managers and great journeys from joining the HumBabe Dynasty to this chance at a League Championship. Say Hey boasts Ronald Acuna Jr., baseball’s most prized player, along with the Philly aces: Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. The Stros lean on a revitalized Francisco Lindor, Mitch Keller, Kyle Gibson (acquired via the Justin Verlander trade with Orlando), and a pair of gritty Rays: Yandy Diaz and Isaac Paredes. While both teams have made it to the Final Four, and not necessarily as a surprise, they both have experienced some up and down seasons – which means this may be their best chance to claim the League throne. Make it count gentlemen!

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