My Oh My, How Things Change

  Most of the HumBabe Dynasty General Managers have learned the lesson by this sixth season in the HumBabe Dynasty League, you’re only as good as your players are in September (HumBabe Playoffs).  But building a roster based on this strategy is not as easy as it may seem.  How does one go about building a playoff ready roster?  Analyzing which MLB teams have the easiest strength of schedule in September?  Projecting who’s going to throw the most September innings among starting pitchers?  Young guns or veterans?  No matter what you consider to be the right approach, here’s some reasons why you would have been wrong in 2024.

  Lawrence Butler, Oakland Athletics Outfielder, was owned for a stint in 2023 by Wally Mash where he averaged 1.7 FPts/G.  He went undrafted in the 2024 HumBabe FAR Draft and for good reason, he averaged just 1.4 FPts/G from the Opening Day 2024 through the month of June… but them Pablo and the Secret Weapons picked him up.  Since that July 21st acquisition, Butler has become a 6.32 FPts/G player somehow.  An outfield that consists of Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez, and Julio Rodriguez… is hot in the playoffs thanks to Lawrence freaking Butler.

  Corbin Carroll argues from the other side of this equation.  A notable dynasty superstar that was so ice-cold for most of the 2024 Season that the Orlando Splitters GM seriously considered selling Carroll for win-in-2024 pieces… what a disaster that would have been.  The 24-year old put up 65.5 FPts during the Brooklyn Robins match-up (a 10.92 FPts/G clip). 

  Dansby Swanson was dropped by a rebuilding Hard Ball LoD team on July 22 because he was averaging just 2.12 FPts/G through July.  LeBronto scoops him up, and guess what, that boy Dansby is 5.23 FPts/G player in August and was a 10 FPts/G player in the Divisonal Playoff Round against Florida.

  Try all you want to predict who’s going to be hot during the HumBabe postseason… it’s much easier said than done.  Question is, who proves to be the hottest over the next two weeks for the Semi-Final Match-Ups?

Pablo & Perth for the BCL Pennant

Between Pablo and the Secret Weapons and the Perth Platypi, the BCL Championship (Semi-Final Round) features two quietly dangerous squads.  Combine their records and you’ve got just a .575 winning percentage this season, but look at the ceiling of their potential and either one of these teams could lead the League in Points any given week. 

  Pablo did just that in the Divisional Playoff Round against Jackal Attack, and they had to.  Jackal Attack makes an unfortunate early exit despite totalling more First Round Points than any other HumBabe team (521.417), just not Pablo (526.75).  Lawrence Butler (63.5), Willy Adames (58), and Yordan Alvarez (54.5) led a Secret Weapons offense that somehow also includes the likes of Aaron Judge, Alex Bregam, and Julio Rodriguez.  If these guys all perform to their capabilities, there’s no stopping Pablo.

  The Perth Platypi grappled their way into the postseason as the 5th of five BCL Playoff Seeds and then put the screws to the Vic Division Winner, Wally Mash, with a 135.75 FPts margin of victory.  This Perth team, located in Australia for those that didn’t know, seems to have a keen interest in Chicago Cubs.  Pete Crow-Armstrong (49.5), Seiya Suzuki (42.5), Nico Hoerner (48), Ian Happ (36) posted four of the top five Perth performances against Wally Mash, and now Jameson Taillon toes the rubber on Monday against Pablo.  In addition to that, the “young cubs” on this Platypi roster, Colt Keith and Cedanne Rafaela, have been nice adds made since the Orlando Splitters let each of them go.

  If this match-up comes down to the common denominator for HumBabe success, Starting Pitching, we’re looking at an Atlanta Braves versus Seattle Mariners scenario.  Perth tosses their Reynaldo Lopez and Max Fried up against Pablo’s Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller, George Kirby trio.

Brotherly Love, Again

  Let’s spare ourselves a recap on how many times the LeBronto Blue James have met the Splitters in a pivotal match-up, and each outcome, shall we?  It’s a new day for this rivalry of brother General Managers.

  The Orlando Splitters claimed the Regular Season crown with their 18-2 record and League best 9,687.416 point total.  A common recipe for this franchise, but if there’s another common ingredient for the Splitters, it’s a lack of postseason success.  They just barely made it past the Brooklyn Robins, thanks to a Sunday comeback on the wake of 24 FPts from Alex Cobb and 9 FPts each from Corbin Carroll and Seth Brown.  Brown was acquired during that Robins match-up due to a disastrous coupling of events.  The Splitters GM decided to cut Paul Goldschmidt, a franchise keeper since acquisition, due to a lingering lack of results from the 36-year old.  A younger and more productive Vinnie Pasquantion made that roster cut manageable, even when Goldy decided to turn on the after-burners immediately after his departure.  But then Pasquatch went ahead and got injured, out for the rest of the season.  A Splitters team that had fielded two lock-starters via the first base position was forced to add a waiver wire player at the position just in time for their postseason run.  And guess where the heating-up Goldschmidt is now… yup, the opposing Blue James dugout.

  The Blue James are also home to other notable former-Splitters; Xander Bogaerts tallied 30 FPts against the Florida Squeeze, Tobias Myers 23.58, Taijuan Walker was not so good with negative 3.25, but Goldy did contribute to the LBJ cause with 16.5 FPts of his own in four days.  As we all have come to learn, there’s something in the LeBronto water, like the SpaceJam special juice, that caused this squad to get-up for postseason play.  Dansby Swanson (59), Jose Berrios (45.58), and Jose Ramirez (35.5) led the offense against the Florida Squeeze, while Berrios, Bowden Francis, Blake Snell, Mitchell Parker, Adam Oller, and Tobias Myers all added more than 20 FPts each from the mound.

  Each and every day will be a grind in this Semi-Final showdown and Day 1 features a Jack Flaherty start for LBJ, while Orlando leans on Day 1 starts from Corbin Burnes, Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander.  Rumor has it that these two General Managers will be found together at a Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins game this Monday night.  Brooks Lee (SPLT) and Matt Wallner (LBJ) will each have something to prove in Tropicana.