ADBL Week 5 Review

Baseball in the ADBL is in full swing as we just finished our first week of match-ups in the month of May. Division races have taken shapes and contenders are starting to pull ahead of the pack. After 5 weeks, the Phillies remain the lone 'true' undefeated left, but Boston has yet to register a loss at 4-0-1. The league has been extremely competitive once again, as every team has picked up a win through 5 weeks. After 5 weeks the division leaders are Boston (AL East), Detroit (AL West), Arizona (NL West), and Philadelphia (NL East).

Arizona Diamondbacks (2-2-1) @ Cincinnati Reds (3-2): 4-9-1

The Reds continue to charge back from a tough start picking up their second straight victory with a win over the NL West leading Diamondbacks. The Reds were dominant on offense, outperforming the D-Backs in most of the categories. Cincy also held their own on the pitching front, pulling out the close victory. Despite the win, the Reds don't make up any ground in the tough NL East, remaining 2 games back of the Phillies. However, the Reds hold on to the final NL Wild Card spot. Arizona remains in first in the NL West. 

MVP: Justin Verlander had a week to remember for the Reds. The hard throwing righty managed to pick up the 2nd no-hitter of his career and 2 QS. He struck out 12 batters in 15 innings, posting a 1.80 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP.

Goat: Tough week for Starlin Castro. The young shortstop hit a putrid .095 with a .190 OPS, failing to score or drive in a run. He had just 2 hits in 21 ABs, and watched his average fall to a shade over .300 for the season. After a sizzling start to the season, Castro has cooled down considerably.

Colorado Rockies (1-3-1) @ New York Mets (1-4): 5-6-3

The Mets finally got a win and it couldn't have come any sooner. Unfortunately for the Rockies, the defending champs fall again, and have dropped two in a row. Despite the win, the Mets remain in the basement of the very tough NL East. The Rockies are in 3rd place in a shaken up NL West. Their start to the season has to be one of the bigger surprises this season.

MVP: Ryan Dempster bounced back from an atrocious week last week to pitch a pair of gems this week for the Mets. In 14 innings, the veteran righty allowed just 3 runs striking out 9 and picking up a pair of quality starts. He posted a 1.93 ERA with an equally minuscule 0.93 WHIP. 

Goat: The Rockies desperately need their offense to wake-up and Prince Fielder's terrible offensive showing this week did not help their cause. Fielder had just 2 hits in in 24 ABs, good for a .083 average and a .362 OPS. Despite hitting a home run, Fielder's showing this week hurt the Rockies more than it helped them.

Philadelphia Phillies (5-0) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (1-4): 9-3-2

The Phillies roll again and keep the perfect streak intact with a route of the LA Dodgers, who continue to struggle mightily this season. The Dodgers have lost 4 in a row, as these 2 teams are heading in completely opposite directions. With the win, the Phillies maintain a slim one game lead over the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers, on the other hand, remain in the cellar out West.

MVP: Cole Hamels continues to impose his will out there on the mound. The Phillies southpaw tossed two gems this past week racking up 14 K's in 14.2 IP. ****

Goat: Ryan Raburn had a tough week for the Dodgers, hitting just .105 with 2 hits in 19 ABs. Despite scoring 3 runs, Raburn did little else to help the Dodgers offensively.

Atlanta Braves (4-1) @ San Francisco Giants (2-3): 11-2-1

The Braves continue their hot start to the season with a dominant showing against the San Francisco Giants. Atlanta keeps pace with the undefeated Phillies out East, while the Giants fall to second in the wild West. The balanced Braves effort proved to be too much for the Giants, as they rolled in most of the categories this week.

MVP: The Braves rotation led by Halladay, Lee, Gallardo, Hudson, and Lowe dominated on the mound for the Braves. It's hard to believe they have all these guys on one team, but the Braves managed to do it. The starting staff racked up the K's, kept the ERA's and WHIP's down, and managed to dominate the opposition.

Goat: Tough week for the youngster Buster Posey. He managed just 2 hits in 21 ABs hitting under .100 for the week and posting an OPS under .400. The Giants catcher has had an off sophomore campaign to start the season, but hopefully he turns things around as the weather gets warmer. 

New York Yankees (3-1-1) @ Detroit Tigers (3-2): 8-3-3

After an undefeated start to the season, the Tigers have dropped two straight, as the Yankees come into town and take care of business. The Yankees make it 3 in a row in the win column, picking up solid contributions from the offense and pitching staffs. Despite the loss, the Tigers remain in first place in the AL West, while the Yankees remain in 2nd place out in the East.

MVP: The trio of Shields, Billingsley, and Wandy continued to hold down the fort while the Yankees get all their pitchers back. With Greinke back in the fold now, the pitching staff has gotten a shot in the arm. The trio all pitched into the 7th and posted low ERAs and WHIPs, combining for 3 QS and 2 W's.

Goat: Michael Bourn had a terrible week, managing just 1 hit in 17 ABs. He failed to swipe a base, but scored 3 runs. However, the .059 AVG and .217 OPS were enough to earn him the dubious honor of the Goat of the Week in this match-up.

Kansas City Royals (1-4) @ Tampa Bay Rays (3-2): 1-13-0

Tampa continues to play solid ball this season, laying an absolute beating on the Kansas City Royals. Despite only hitting one home run all week, Tampa Bay took care of business in all the other categories. The Royals have now dropped 3 in a row and find themselves in the cellar of the AL West, while the Rays have now won 2 straight and find themselves in a position to make some noise as we enter the heart of the season.

MVP: Huge week for the young lefty Madison Bumgarner. Despite not picking up a win, Bumgarner had 2 QS, giving up just 1 ER in 13 innings of work. The southpaw whiffed 12 batters, walking just 3, adding up to a 0.69 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. The Rays are hoping this version of Bumgarner is here to stay.

Goat: Livan Hernandez had a week to forget for the Royals. The veteran right hander had a 7.94 ERA and a ugly WHIP of 2.12. He allowed 10 runs and 18 hits in 11.1 IP. He also had 6 BBs, while striking out just 5. His pair of outings certainly did not help the Royals this past week.

Texas Rangers (2-3) @ Boston Red Sox (4-0-1): 3-10-1

The Red Sox continue their resurgence this season after a down year last year. They pounded the Texas Rangers for their third straight win, while setting the league record for staff ERA this past week. Boston has yet to lose a game, and remain one of only two teams remaining without a registered loss in the ADBL. After a win last week, Texas falls one game under .500 with the loss, but remain in striking distance of the Detroit Tigers for first out West.

MVP: This award has to go collectively to all the Red Sox pitchers. Whenever you have a historic week in the league as a team, it is hard to give the MVP award to any one individual. As a staff, no Red Sox pitcher allowed more than 2 ERs. Also, only one pitcher had a WHIP over 1.33. 

Goat: Rangers catcher Jonathan Lucroy had a tough week, collecting just 2 hits in 17 ABs with just 1 RBI. For the week, Lucroy hit .118 with an OPS of .229. It's tough to win many games when you're basically playing one man down, if one of your starters doesn't produce. 

Chicago White Sox (1-4) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2-3): 6-7-1

The Angels get back on the winning track and keep themselves from falling too far out of the playoff chase here early on. On the flip side of things, the White Sox find themselves in a similar position as they were in this time last year. Chicago started off slow last year, but finished the year on a massive winning streak to sneak into the playoffs. The White Sox have to hope this year brings similar things. This past week, the Angels took advantage of an underachieving team, and came away with a win.

MVP: Great week for the Angels' young third baseman Danny Valencia. Valencia hit .333 for the week posting an OPS of 1.035. He provided an extremely balanced effort for the Angels hitting a home run, driving in 5, scoring 3, and even swiping a bag. 

Goat: Hisanori Takahashi was terrible for the White Sox out of the pen. In 2.2 innings of work, he gave up 5 runs, 6 hits, and a walk. When all was said and done, the Japanese southpaw posted an ugly 16.88 ERA and a WHIP of 2.63.

News and Notes from Around the League:

• After 5 Weeks, the ADBL Power Rankings has the Phillies, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, and Tigers in the Top 5.
• Every team in the ADBL has now registered at least one win, and almost 75% of the league has multiple wins.
• This past week the Boston Red Sox shattered the Team ERA record for a week, posting a staff ERA of 1.246. The previous record was held by the 2010 Phillies (1.508).
• The Rays made a pair of interesting moves this past week. Here's a breakdown of both.
• In the first trade, the Rays sent ace Josh Johnson and the 30th pick in the draft to the Rockies for a boatload of outfielders (Julio Borbon, Dexter Fowler, Travis Snider), C Nick Hundley, and the 53rd pick in the draft.
• In the 2nd trade, the Rays sent struggling OF Carl Crawford to the Tigers for a pair of relievers, Kameron Loe and Leo Nunez. 
• At first glance, you'd probably think the Rays are crazy for trading two All-Star caliber players and getting a bunch of mid-tier talent in return. But to properly assess these trades, I think they must be looked at side-by-side. A glaring weakness for the Rays this season was their lack of bullpen depth. A big strength for the Rays is their abundance of starting pitching. Also, the Rays had a surplus of OF talent with Kemp, Markakis, Crawford, and Joyce. With Crawford struggling, it probably wasn't the best time to trade him. Especially, not for a pair of relievers that aren't even in the top 10 amongst closers. However, with the Johnson deal, the Rays got 3 OF's, 2 of which (Fowler and Borbon), who provide similar statistical contributions as Crawford. The Rays must be banking on Fowler and Borbon to collectively contribute like Crawford. I don't quite understand trading Josh Johnson for relievers, but his salary is ridiculously high at this point, so maybe salary was a factor. But if he was going to trade a starter for a reliever why not trade one of your lesser ones. I'm not knocking the Rays, I just think he could've got a lot more for two All-Star caliber players. 
• The Eastern divisions have dominated play thus far against their competitors from the West. This past week the AL East won 3 of the 4 match-ups, while the NL East won all 4 match-ups against their Western counterparts. Overall, the East is 13-3 against the West this season.