Sunday Predictions

Here are my quick predictions for today's games. After bombing my predictions the last few weeks I think I'm due to go undefeated.

Lapine vs. Randell
Wallman vs. Schefkind
Goldfarb vs. Younger
Granese vs. Harris
Beilis vs. Spiegel
Randell vs. Beilis
Sarcona vs. Applebaum
Carlin vs. Peragine

Sunday Preview

One question I have as we enter the second half of the 2011 season is "Where has all the offense gone?" While the individual leaderboards show no indication of any offensive declines, team totals tell a different story. Last year, 10 teams averaged at least 10 runs per game. This year, only 2 teams can say the same. Last year there was an average of 20.09 runs scored per game. This year that total is down to 17.08. This means over the course of a season there will be approximately 550 fewer runs scored this year than last year. Most likely the difference between the two seasons is just coincidental and can't be attributed to anything. Perhaps this means we're in for a very high scoring second half to make up for the first half.

As we enter the second half of the season, several teams playing double headers are looking to put a mediocre first half behind and show that they're a real threat. Unfortunately for Teams Lapine, Harris, and Feldman they have some tough matchups that will most likely prevent them from sweeping their Sunday games. If I had to pick one of these three teams to win both their games I'd pick Feldman. However, I think they'll come up short against Younger.

So while Sunday doubleheaders provide opportunities for teams to accumulate some momentum, I think we'll have to wait for a middle of the pack team to take a major step up. Here are my complete Sunday predictions(minus my team's games) with the projected winner in bold:

Harris vs. Wallman
Granese vs. Randell
Sarcona vs. Schefkind
Applebaum vs. Peragine
Younger vs. Feldman
Feldman vs. Harris
Spiegel vs. Carlin
Goldfarb vs. Lapine
Lapine vs. Younger

Sunday Preview/Predictions

Thanks to the NL dominating last week's games, I haven't too much success predicting these matchups. We have a lot of games this week, and the league could have quite a big shakeup. For instance, before last week it would have been easy to say Team Younger was the best in the league. However if (and this is a big IF) they lose both games this week, they're in the middle of the pack at 5-4. In addition to Younger, other teams playing two games include:

Granese
Spiegel
Beilis
Lapine
Harris

Out of these teams I think Lapine and Harris have the most at stake. Team Harris looked very strong before the season, but a 3-6 record has them in danger of falling well short of expectations. They don't have it easy this week playing Younger and Lapine, but if they can win both these games they'll be making a strong statement.

And speaking of Lapine, their reputation of being among the league's elite has clearly taken a hit during their 4 game losing streak. They're the only team with a losing record that has scored more runs than given up, and I still think they're one of the better teams in the league. However, another disappointing week would have them at 3-7 for the year. That's why Harris vs. Lapine is one of the more appealing matchups this week. Two pre-season favorites in desperate need to turn their seasons around.

Another great matchup is going to be the early Marlboro El game between Spiegel and Feldman. At this point there is no disputing how good Mitch's crew is, but it's Team Feldman that is quietly establishing themselves as a team to be reckoned with. After a roster shakeup, their team has made a 180 degree turn from their eawrly struggles. Case in point: During their three game winning streak they've won by 8, 6, and 12 runs. Each win has been decisive. In the 3 games preceding these, they've lost by 9, 13, and 13. Clearly Feldman has turned their season around. Even though on paper it looks like an upset, I'm picking Feldman to continue their hot streak vs. a very tough Team Spiegel.

Here are all my picks for the week with the predicted winner in bold.

Spiegel vs. Feldman
Granese vs. Carlin
Granese vs. Spiegel
Applebaum vs. Wallman
Sarcona vs. Randell
Beilis vs. Peragine
Beilis vs. Lapine
Harris vs. Lapine
Younger vs. Harris
Younger vs. Schefkind

AL vs. NL Runs Scored/ Sunday Predictions

Teams may have been arbitrarily been placed in the American League or National League, but there certainly has been a great divide between the two leagues this year. Staying true to their MLB counterparts, the AL has earned the reputation as home of the slugfest while the NL prides itself on defense. The top scoring NL team would have the 7th best offense in the AL while the best defensive AL team would only have the 6th best in that category in the NL. With the second week of interleague games coming up this Sunday, I thought I’d look at the runs scored numbers for both leagues.

So far there have been 64 games played. 56 of these have been intraleague (AL vs. AL/ NL vs.NL) while the other 8 have been interleague. Here are the runs scored totals for all intraleague games:

NL= 6.25 runs per game
AL= 10.07 runs per game

Last week was the first full week of interleague games. Here are the runs scored statistics based on the 8 NL vs. AL games so far this season:

NL= 8.38 runs per game
AL= 9.38 runs per game

It’s interesting that when the two teams play each other, the runs scored gap between the two leagues shrinks. Maybe the answer is simply the NL has better defense than the AL. Maybe the answer is it’s only been 8 games. It’ll be interesting (at least to me) to see how these numbers change after Sunday.

Although the AL is scoring one run more per game than the NL in interleague games, they are only 3-5 in these matchups. This week I’m going to support my fellow American League teams and predict them to win almost all of this week’s games. I think the AL will continue to score runs in bunches and those incredible NL runs against averages will begin to rise. Here are my quick predictions:

Projected winner in bold:

Carlin vs. Beilis
Wallman vs. Granese
Feldman vs. Applebaum
Peragine vs. Sarcona
Schefkind vs. Harris
Goldfarb vs. Randell
Spiegel vs. Lapine

Sunday Predictions

Like everything else on this site, this post is just for fun. My one rule is I'm not going to make any predictions involving my team's games. Just assume I think our team is going to win every game for the rest of the season 

Beilis vs. Lapine

Winner: Lapine

I think Team Lapine is going to break out again and score a ton of runs after some low scoring efforts.

Granese vs. Schefkind:

Winner: Schefkind

Amazingly, Schefkind is 2-5 despite scoring more runs than they have given up. Granese has lost two in a row, but I think they'll lose one or two more before getting back on track.

Spiegel vs. Randell

Winner: Spiegel

Tough matchup for Randell to play one of the hottest teams in the league. Will Spiegel give up less than 100 runs for the year? Let the watch begin.

Carlin vs. Randell

Winner: Carlin

Before the season started, I thought Carlin had the third best team and it looks like they're starting to play up to those expectations.

Goldfarb vs. Wallman

Winner: Wallman

Ok, so I may have been slightly wrong about Goldfarb's squad coming into the year. However, the streak of underestimation is going to continue just a little longer. Wallman's team was my preseason pick for the best team in the league and they've been on a roll lately. I will issue a public apology to Team Goldfarb if they win this game.

Younger vs. Carlin

Winner: Younger

This is a good matchup, but I'm going to go with the team with the best record in the league. This should be a close one.

Sarcona vs. Feldman

Winner: Sarcona

I think Sarcona has the best team in a very tight NL West. They need to beat Team Feldman to start separating themselves from the rest of the pack.

Harris vs. Peragine

Winner: Peragine

Is it time to give up on a team I thought would go 13-9 before the season? I only had Peragine winning one less game and they're hot right now. I'm going with my team's division rival and then maybe Team Harris will start a winning streak next week.

Peragine vs. Lapine

Winner: Lapine

I think this is the game of the day. A sweep for either of these teams will firmly put them among the league's elite. Like I said before, I'm expecting Lapine's bats to be on fire this week, so I think they'll pull this one out. This could end up being the highest scoring game of the week as long as both teams aren't too tired from their earlier games.

Wednesday Predictions

Every Monday I'll post my predictions for Wednesday's games. Predictions for Sunday's matchups won't be posted until Friday or Saturday. There's no way me of knowing who is missing from each team, so unless I have that information, I'm going to assume that everyone on the roster will be there.


Wednesday, June 8 2011

Lapine vs. Applebaum

Winner: Lapine

Upsets happen all the time in our league, but it's hard to pick against Lapine. After losing two in a row, Team Lapine should be itching to get back on track. The highest scoring team in the league has only scored 11 runs in their last two games, so I fully expect a 15+ run performances versus Team Applebaum who has given up more than 12 runs per game.


Peragine vs. Goldfarb

Winner: Peragine

This should be a great matchup between two teams who are on nice winning streaks. So far I'm wrong about Goldfarb's season performance. Before the year started I thought their good defense wouldn't make up for their noticeable lack of power. Team Peragine, however, has lived up to strong pre- season expectations and currently has the third highest winning percentage. Although I have Goldfarb ranked one place higher on the power rankings, I'm leaning towards Peragine because the game is at Union Hill. I wouldn't be surprised if an over the fence homerun by Turner ends up being the difference in a tight ballgame.