Even though I easily have the best offense in my league (I outrank the next best team by 10 points in the batting categories), I've recently taken a dive in the standings, from 2nd to 5th, thanks to my pitching.
On paper, my staff actually looks pretty good. But thanks in part to injuries and slow starts, my team is hurting out of the gate.
The 1st pitcher I took off the board was Gio Gonzalez (WSH) over Madison Bumgarner (SF), which, in hindsight, was a mistake. Gonzalez has been pretty shaky to start the season, whereas Bumgarner has dominated. Similarly, my 2nd best pitcher, Johnny Cueto, hit the DL before he even made his 4th start. So, they're not doing me any favors. Neither has Yovani Gallardo, or Brandon Morrow, or Lance Lynn -- all guys who should THEORETICALLY pitch well (sure, they were all a bit of a crapshoot, but I obviously wasn't expecting them to get pounded like they have).
On the other hand, I've been pleasantly surprised by Kyle Lohse (MIL), Anibal Sanchez (DET) and Wade Miley (ARI), but they've been too few and far between to make up the difference.
Yet, my offense is insane -- to the detriment of my pitching, of course, but stacked nonetheless. Even with injuries and poor play from my first 2 picks, I'm still dominating the batting categories.
Offense I'm currently fielding:
C - Yadier Molina, STL
C - John Jaso, OAK
1B - Joey Votto, CIN
2B - Brandon Phillips, CIN
3B - David Wright, NYM
SS - Andrelton Simmons, ATL
MI - Zack Cozart, CIN
CI - Chase Headley, SD
OF - Giancarlo Stanton, MIA
OF - Justin Upton, ATL
OF - Austin Jackson, DET
OF - Nelson Cruz, TEX
OF - Brandon Moss, OAK
UT - Chris Davis, BAL
Bench - Michael Bourn, CLE
Bench - Erick Aybar, LAA
Bench - Lance Berkman, TEX
I'm already blowing out my competition, and you've got to figure, once Votto & Stanton pick it up, I'll be golden (not to mention, once Bourn gets back to stealing bags)... Which allows me to swing a deal for an ace pitcher.
My current plan is to trade David Wright for either Felix Hernandez (SEA) or Yu Darvish (TEX), especially now that Chase Headley (SD) is back, which would help out my situation tremendously, but we'll see if the other owners will bite. I think either trade would be a fair deal, but elite pitching is pretty hard to come by. So, we will see.
+MLB
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