Updated Power Rankings

Power Rankings Update 5/26

Last week's rankings is in ().

1. Wallman(3)- I am not sure what that all-time record is for consecutive regular season wins, but Wallman has now won 11 in a row dating back to last year. He must be coming close.

2. Lombardi (4)- The best run differential in the league so far goes to a team that was not on many people's radar before the season started.

3. Bykofsky(3)- The slight dip in placement from last time is more due to the rainouts than anything else. Bykofsky should be well on its way to another 14+ wins season.

4. Schefkind(9)- The 19-3 pre-season prediction may have been tongue-in-cheek, but at this point they are more likely to come close to such a lofty projection than the other pre-ordained 19 win club(Brock).

5. Ferrarese(7)- There were some doubts about the Cowboy's ability to be a full-time pitcher, but through four games, Ferrarese is looking like a Cy Young nominee.

6. Fradkin (NR) Picking up seamlessly from last year, Fradkin once again has an offense that rankings in the top 3 in the league in the early going.

7. Brock(5)- How high can I put a team that is 1-3? Last week's loss can partly be blamed on Justin not being there, but the fact is so far the offensive production has not been there. They are one of only two teams(Randell being the other) to have played more than 2 games but not score double digits in any. That should change soon.

8. Larocca(1)- This sets a dubious record of biggest drop from #1 in power rankings history. This is what happens when you give up 39 runs in a double header. Still, there is a reason why I ranked them so high in the first place, and I expect Larocca to meet last year's 13 win total.

9. Pollock(NR)- With Pollock at #9, that makes it 5 teams from the East ranked in the top half of the power rankings. There will be some solid teams from the division whose records will be misleading given the extra games played against tough division rivals. Obviously I'm going to be optimistic about my team's chances, but the fact is we have the same core as the 2017 championship team and 7/13 players from last year's 19 win club. If the offense can click, then we can go on a nice run.

Toughest Omission:

Goldfarb- They did nothing wrong to knock themselves off the list since they did not even play last week. They'll earn a spot back next week with a strong performance this week.

Week 2 Power Rankings AKA It’s Way Too Early To Rush to Judgments But Let’s Do This Anyway

Power rankings are usually based on, in some order: personal opinion, team record, run differential, strength of opponent. In the early rankings I will also factor in the pre-season expectations.

While team record is not always the number one factor, it is my traditional practice to rank undefeated teams at the top. Once a team suffer a loss, then the other factors will come into play. Therefore, the top four teams will feature the four teams who have started 2-0. On the reverse side, teams without a victory can not appear in the top 9.

Here are the power rankings after Week 2:

1. Larocca- With Brock projected going to go 19-3 and dominate the league like no team has ever done, Larocca has earned the top slot for being the Kingslayer. With 8 returning players from last year’s 13 win team, similar results, maybe even slightly better results can be expected.

2. Bykofsky- Bykosfky’s 62 wins from 2014-2018 are the highest in the league(A commanding 10 wins more than second place Pollock). The 2-0 start, coupled with a strong pre-season prediction, makes it likely that 2019 will continue this dominant run. One of the big questions this season will be can Bykofsky finally have the post-season success to match their regular season performance.

3. Wallman- This team was projected to be one of the top 3 teams prior to the season and so far they haven’t disappointed. Their defense, led by a strong Todd Wallman at SS, will never go into a prolonged slump.

4. Lombardi- If there’s one team who can play the “Nobody believed in us!” card to motivate his troop this season, it’s Lombardi. The rookie captain’s squad was not given much respect after the draft, so Lombardi should get every bit of satisfaction as possible from a tremendous start.

5. Brock- Has there ever been a team predicted to be as dominant as the 2019 Brock squad? Nobody from memory has ever been projected to go 19-3 before and they dominated the Captains’ Pre-Season Poll. There can be a lot of pressure living up to those kinds of expectations. To me, this is the storyline of the year.

6. Goldfarb- This part of the rankings becomes tricky, so I have to go with the team that has the fewest overreaches at the draft(Gettleman, take notice).

7. Ferrarese- If Ritchie Bomenblitt can play like an MVP, and Mike can continue to control the strike zone, this team will win 13+ games. It’s better for the game summary page if this teams has success.

8. Applebaum- Seriously, one-hit shutout in Marlboro softball? Time will tell if there will be enough offensive production to keep this team in the top half of the year, but Burns’s performance singlehandedly earns Applebaum a spot on this week’s rankings.

9. Schefkind- I imagine this team will eventually move up in the rankings. I am impressed with how deep their lineup is, and they have one of the best OF defenses in the league.

Decade Statistical Leaders

With one more season remaining in our first decade keeping (almost)accurate statistics, I figured I’d post the top 3 decade leaders in key statistical categories.

Batting Average(Minimum of 450 plate appearances):

Ari Mesmer   .607
Ed Fradkin     .592
Justin Bykofsky  .578

 Ari Mesmer will coast to the decade title.

Hits:

 Justin Bykofsky 455

2.       Dave Polzer        426

3.       Justin Brock        422

Barring injury, it looks like Justin has this wrapped up.

Runs:

1.       Justin Bykofsky 318

2.       Justin Brock        298

3.       Joel Zaretsky      288

It would take a record setting season for Justin Brock to challenge Justin in this category.

RBI:

1.       Mike Conti                          315

2.       Justin Brock                        298

3.       Rick Schindelheim            278

Justin can have a great season and make it close, but it looks like Conti should finish with the lead.

Home Runs:

1.       Ed Fradkin           57

2.       Mike Conti          47

3.       Joel Zaretsky      40

Ed Fradkin will run away with the HR title. He also has this lead while having 135 fewer at bats than Conti and 163 fewer than JZ.

Doubles:

1.       Ed Fradkin           131

2.       Joe Mamone     118

3.       Justin Brock        111

A healthy 2018 Joe Mamone would have made this race interesting. Instead, it looks like Fradkin will win this one as well.

Triples:

1.       Glen Roland            26

2.       Brian Applebaum   24

3.       Joe Spoto                 23     

This may be the only title that is up for grabs.

2nd Annual Captains Poll

The 2019 season is finally here and for every team who had a strong regular season last year, it could not come soon enough. It was a postseason for the ages(and one this author would like to forget) as practically every strong regular season team fell short of expectations in the playoffs.

Before sharing this year's results of the Captains' Poll, here are 2018's Poll results along with how they actually performed:

Rank  Team(total points)     Regular Season Record           Playoff Result

1.       Goldfarb (21)                          12-10                          Lost in the first round
2.       Marrone (17)                           7-15                            Lost in the first round
3.       Bykofsky (10)                         17-5                            Lost in the first round
4.       Brock       (9)                           14-8                            Lost in the first round
5.       Wallman   (5)                          14-8                             Lost in the first round
6.       Fradkin     (5)                          16-6                             Lost in the second round
7.       Pollock     (3)                          18-4                             Lost in the second round


Pretty amazing. Other than Marrone's disastrous season and the fact Goldfarb didn't dominate the league, the Captains' Poll did a pretty accurate job of predicting which teams would have success in the regular season. But look at those playoff results. We'll never see anything like that again.


Onto the 2019 Captains' Poll Results. Captains were asked to rank the top 3 teams based on the draft. 3 points were given for first place, 2 for second place, 1 for third place. Over half of the captains took part, so while this is not a reflection of every captain, it does represent enough opinions to give us a solid idea of who the favorites are.

Rank        Team                            total points

1.              Brock                               29
2.              Wallman                           9
2.              Bykofsky                          9
4.              Pollock                             8
5.              Fradkin                             4
5.              Larocca                            4
7.              Schefkind                         3
8.              Randell                             1
8.              Goldfarb                           1


As you can see, Team Brock goes into the season as the overwhelming favorite. With three out of the top four teams and five out of the top seven, The East division should be fierce.

I plan on updating the power ranking. First with my own pre-season rankings(time permitting) and then regularly through the season, once we're a few games into the season.

What do you think of this poll? Do you feel a team has been wrongfully ignored? Do you think Team Brock will coast to a championship like many seem to think or will they stumble like all of the favorites last season?  Leave your comments below.

Power Rankings Update

1.  Bykofsky (1)- You have to go back to June 6^th for the last time Bykofsky lost a game by more than one run.

2.  Pollock (2)- Not counting the 5-inning Goldfarb game, only one of Pollock’s other 15 wins had a margin of victory of three or fewer runs.

3.  Fradkin (3)-  Their offense is what grabs people’s attention, but no team has given up 4 or fewer runs a game more times than Fradkin.

4.  Wallman (5)- Wallman has now won five consecutive games by 7+ runs.

5.  Brock (4)- In a year where many teams have had at least one long winning streak, Brock’s consistently good team is one of only five that haven’t won more than three in a row at some point this season.

6. Granese (8)- It’s not how you start, but how you finish a season that’s important. Last year’s runner up was a pedestrian 4-6 to start the year but have since won 8 of their last 10 games.

7. Larocca (6)- What I said about Granese can also apply to Larocca. 3-7 to start the season but have a record of 8-2 since.

8. Schefkind (7)- Team Schef has fallen on some hard times after reaching their 11-4 mark and sharing a virtual tie at the top of the division. I blame their bad fortunes more on the high competition than anything else. During their 5-game losing streak, 4 of the losses have come against teams in the top 6 of the power rankings.

9. Lapine (9)- It had seemed that Lapine turned a corner, but Dennis’s club has lost some momentum after losing to Granese by 15 runs and Sarcona by 11. It won’t get any easier as they the league’s number 1 ranked team on Sunday.

10. Goldfarb (NR)- Not ranked last week because their forfeit was imminent. Missed games have caused Goldfarb to either play severely shorthanded(or not at all) at least three times this year. While these losses count, everyone knows the talent is there to make a serious run in the playoffs.

Power Rankings Update

Power Rankings Update:

1. Bykofsky(1)- Only two wins away from 18 victories, something that has only been accomplished twice this decade.

2. Pollock (4)- The only team that has beaten all division leaders. One of two teams(Bykofsky) that haven’t lost two consecutive games this year.

3. Fradkin (2)- Fradkin recently had a stretch where they gave up four or fewer runs in four out of five games. We all know Fradkin can hit, but it’s that kind of defense and pitching that makes them a complete team.

4. Brock (5)- Justin Brock already has a myriad of impressive stats as a player. Having a .690 winning percentage after nearly two years as a captain is just as impressive.

5. Wallman (7)- This begins the portion of the power rankings where there are five teams who have valid claims for being ranked 5th. I’m going with the team that’s been most dominant of late. Wallman hasn’t lost since July 1st and their 2.5 run differential is even better than Fradkin’s.

6. Larocca (8)- Their 10-2 record over the last 12 games is second to only Bykofsky’s 11-1 record over that same span.

7. Schefkind (3)- The steep drop in rankings is what happens when you lose both ends of a double-header while other teams remain hot.

8. Granese (9)- Granese gets my vote for most dangerous, under-the-radar team. They haven’t won more than three consecutive games all season which is maybe why they haven’t gotten the attentions other teams have gotten. However, their 3.0 run differential is 3rd in the league and their roster consists of many key players from last year’s team that nearly won the championship.

9. Lapine (6)- Like Schefkind, Team Lapine gets the short end of the stick for losing on Sunday. No team has a bigger Sunday coming up than Lapine. With two games, they need to be careful their one blowout loss doesn’t turn into a losing streak.

updated power rankings

1. Bykofsky(1)- The king still be the king. Bykofsky now has four consecutive 14-win seasons. No other captain has more than two consecutive 14-win seasons this entire decade.

2. Fradkin(2)- Lipomi’s injury shortens the lineup for now, but still the top 4 might be the most dangerous the league has seen this decade.

3. Schefkind(3)- The league’s biggest surprise(at least according to pre-season writeups) has a chance to make the top two with a win against Bykofsky.

4. Pollock(4)- Last week’s victory was a gift, so we’re looking to play a lot sharper against Applebaum and Fradkin this week.

5. Brock(5)- Team Brock’s 16.2 RS+RA is the lowest in the league. Great defense always translates to great regular seasons, but the question is will they score enough runs to make a championship run?

6. Lapine (8)- the hottest team in the league is doing it thanks to an always great offense and improved defense. Moving Krant to second base has paid huge dividends.

7. Wallman(7)- Has a team ever responded better after getting shutout? Since that loss, Wallman hasn’t lost a game. And since their tie(boo!), they’ve beaten opponents by almost 12 runs per game.

8. Larocca (9)- It’s been quite a summer for the rookie captain. WInners of six of their last seven, Team Larocca is part of the reason why the playoffs are going to be wide open this year.

9. Granese (NR)- Ranking Granese only 9th says more about how great Lapine, Wallman, and Larocca have been than it does about Team Granese. If they can have more games like the 21-run outburst against Sarcona then a trip back to the finals isn’t out of the question.

10. Goldfarb(6)- I can’t believe Goldfarb has fallen this low in the rankings, but this is what happens when you can barely field a team some weeks(or can’t field a team at all). When compiling a list of “Teams you don’t want to face in the playoffs even though their record isn’t great”, this team will be at the top of the list.