Every day, I make a home run call through the Discord chat related to FantasyPros. It’s this game that started off small and now has a little more than 50 people making a call every single day. We banter with each other, make small talk, have inside jokes, etc. It’s like someone heard my prayers for a community with whom I can spend hours every day discussing random baseball nonsense.
It is somehow nerdy but not elitist. We definitely don’t use the word “extrapolate” very much. While there is nothing wrong with that word, I typically find it being used by people who think we don’t all have access to baseball stats nor the basic skills to understand them. Those people drive me crazy.
Anyway, in this home run call competition, we have identified a few players and labeled them as “bots” — as in, picking them would seemingly raise your stakes of getting it right. Now, if we extrapolate the data… 🙂 Obviously, you’d still have to pick the correct bot on the correct day. But let’s just say that is a lot easier than you think it is. So far, the “bots” we have identified: Ohtani, Vladdy, Tatis, and Schwarber.
Go ahead and play along if you’d like in your head (or for real) and just pick any one of those four guys. Monday night saw only Ohtani and Schwarber play. Did they hit one? Of course they did. Schwarber apparently has decided to hit two at a time nowadays. As Cubs fans, we’re super excited we no longer have him. Who needs him when we can play Jake Marisnick? Dad keeps telling me we miss Matt Duffy.
He’s not wrong, but guys? If your team misses Matt Duffy, then your team is in deep trouble.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK!!!
I was absolutely positive that Schwarber would have been the player of the week but nope. Fernando Tatis, Jr., somehow topped him. Sure, a 3-HR game will help with that. I do wonder to myself quite frequently how good he would be if his shoulder hadn’t been injured multiple times this year. But what is the next level, really? I suppose if he starts to pitch, then that’s leveling up, but still. I marvel at him on the regular.
The pitcher of the week is somehow Kyle Gibson. Friends, I don’t know why he is good. We all watched him pour gas and light it on fire for the Twins for many years. He was a very safe “bet against” option. And now, he is pitching like an ace and Cubs fans are clamoring for him at the trade deadline.
And again – when your team clamors for Kyle Gibson, something is still quite wrong.
I’d put money that the Cubs will be sellers by the trade deadline, just as the Ricketts intended.
Have a great week everyone!
Knuckles Report: Week 12
