Week 4 Power Rankings
This week (providing the weather holds) we enter the first of four weeks of interleague play that will surely mix up the standings. We've seen how teams size up with their division now we get to see what they are really made of against teams they know little about. These next four weeks are going to be interesting...
Green @ Poker Night
Sweep for the Green Bears
These two struggling franchises are definitely not front-runners in their own divisions and have been looking forward to branching out in interleague play to hopefully come up with a couple wins. I think the Green Bears will see this goal through with a sweep over Poker Night. Poker Night haven't won a game all season so far and I see no reason why they would win any against the experienced pitching of the Green Bears. But if Poker Night is going to get any wins this season, this is the time. This could be the time that they get it together and finally put a tally in the Wins column. But it's difficult to say who needs to win more in this matchup. Sure, Poker Night hasn't won any games yet but the big picture tells me that even if they do pick up a couple wins against some Jewel City teams they will continue to struggle once divisional play resumes in Week 8 of the schedule. Meanwhile, the Green Bears are trying to stand out in a division dominated by Nick Kappra and Jeremy Ray, they don't even stand out in last place because they are tied with Team BagTag & WWW for last place in the division.
Breaking Balls @ Wee Willy Wiffle Split Series
The River City division is full of great pitchers: Steven Adkins, Josh Berletich, Paul Hesson, Drew McClanahan, and Ryan Pritt. But Breaking Balls have managed to defeat every River City team's top ace but I think their run could finally run out this week when they face Wee Willy Wiffle. WWW are coming off of a sweep courtesy of Sit on my Base and are hungry to get back above .500. Match that with the fact that Drew McClanahan and Rob Stewart are out of town for tomorrow's games and that could spell trouble for Breaking Balls since they will not have their top ace. Nick Kappra is quite possibly the most powerful pitcher in the league and Breaking Balls are going to have to rely heavily on offense rather than pitching dominance to win this series. So I think it's fair to say that each team could walk away with a victory each by the end of the night. However, tomorrow's forecast could really play the biggest role. If it's storming tomorrow, then the games are pushed off until next week...and Drew McClanahan and Rob Stewart will be in town.
Team BagTag @ Wiffle Ballers
Sweep for the Wiffle Ballers
I am going to be honest: forget that the Wiffle Ballers have a 3-3 record, look for them to improve to 5-3. Steven Adkins is on the top of his game and is leading the league with 43 K's. Don't get me wrong, Team BagTag have some good pitchers. Brian Ball has shown promise all season long but has walked a lot of players but does not miss the zone by much, he's bound to improve. Ryan Blatt has impressive velocity and movement but his new job seems to be preventing him from finding his way to the field. Zach has also had some luck as a rare left hander who throws many right-handed batters off just enough. Gary Ball has also been gaining experience as a reliever the past few weeks. But hitting is the real problem for BagTag and it could be their undoing with their series with the Wiffle Ballers. But unless BagTag finds a way to hit the ball hard and more often, this doesn't look good.
Sit On My Base @ Honey Badgers
Split Series
This will be a great series to watch. Sit On My Base have been a fascinating franchise to watch this season. They had no experience in the sport and didn't participate in Fall Ball last year. They have been learning the game as they go and have improved by leaps and bounds each week. They have stunned everyone by going 6-0 so far this year and Jeremy Ray has become one of the most impressive pitchers in the league. Ray is coming off a great week last week having thrown a no-hitter and won Week 3 Player of the Week. He could easily carry that momentum into this week's series and there's no better pitcher to test his stamina against than Josh Berletich. My guess is that the team's split this series but if SOMB can manage to sweep this series I will need surgery to re-attach my jaw to my face. What's more impressive about SOMB is that they are operating on a nearly minimal roster with only 4 guys. They have two players on the roster who have yet to show up to a game and Kevin Chattin is working on replacing them with players who will. But don't count the Honey Badgers out, they are more than able to give SOMB their first loss if they can hit off Ray.
