Bubbler Baseball Week 18 Power Rankings
Week 18 did seem to see the playoff picture start to coagulate, while we can also say the Power Rankings are starting to make more sense, too. It only took this long, right?
- (+1) HAVE MERCY (Hitting 1st, Pitching +2 to T-6th) — While Mercy has had a good record all season, the fact they only appear to be getting stronger as the season comes to an end makes them pretty clearly the team to beat. Best-in-the-league numbers in runs, errors and WHIP, along with second-best numbers in batting average & ERA and third-best numbers in stolen bases & strikeouts make this look like a very complete team. Look out.
T-2. (+4) ZIMA SOMBRERO (Hitting +1 to T-3rd, Pitching +3 to T-6th) — The Zimas took a big leap this week, not just in terms of making themselves look playoff-bound than but also in terms of numbers. The categories where the Zimas have good figures are key ones: Tops in OPS, second-best in quality starts and holds and third-best in homers and RBI. If the Zimas keep playing the way they have, they look like they could give Mercy the biggest run for their money.
T-2. (+1) BULDINKY ’N’ POPPYCOCK (Hitting -1 to 8th, Pitching +1 to 3rd) — Boy have things gone right for BNP at the right time, namely a three-matchup win streak capped by their most-recent nine-category win, just as Marquette, unwittingly or no, has virtually folded up the tent. Just three weeks ago, BNP was staring up at Marquette seven games away. Now, they’re four games ahead. It’s been a total turnaround, and it has a lot to do with BNP getting back to their strong-pitching ways. We’ve learned to never count this team out, and if they can basically deal Marquette a death blow this week, they‘re’ a force to be reckoned with in the postseason.
4. (+1) EAMUS CATULI (Hitting +2 to T-6th, Pitching +1 to T-4th) — Catuli’s win this week would have been satisfactory under most circumstances, but with the Zimas doing a number on The Fam, Catuli has to be a little nervous about just where they’ll finish in the postseason chase now. That said, their schedules wraps up with a Rowlets team whose late-season surge of recent times seems to have petered out, followed by a showdown with The Fam, where they could try and replicate BNP’s big win themselves. Either way, it would take something tragic for Catuli to not be postseason bound at this point. It’s just what seed they’ll be in that’s up in the air.
5. (-4) DOODLERS A DOO DOO (Hitting -1 to T-3rd, Pitching -3 to 9th) — Great of a season as it has been for the Doodlers, it’s starting to look bleak after their loss to Fall Guy. No one is faulting the Doodlers’ effort this year, as they’ve come a long way from teams that were historically bad in Bubbler Baseball terms. However, there’s a common thread between the Doodlers and Marquette with regards to why it’s looking less and less like either might make the postseason: Both teams’ pitching just seems to have fallen apart. The Doodlers will actually play Marquette in the final week. It’s possible the two teams will just be sharing misery as their seasons clunk to an end.
T-6. FALL GUY STUNTMAN ASSOCATION (Hitting +1 to 5th, Pitching -1 to 8th) — Fall Guy looks like a playoff-bound team after their win over the Doodlers, but they also look like the playoff-bound team with the least-great numbers this side of The Fam, a team they might face in the Wild Card Round. That said, their biggest remaining challenge to remain in the postseason hunt comes this week against Mercy. If they can survive without being blown out, wrapping up against the Hackers should be easy enough for Fall Guy to be able to think about how to attack whoever their Wild Card opponent will be.
T-6. (-2) ANYONE BUT DAN (Hitting 10th, Pitching -1 to 2nd) — ABD gave back some of its surprising surge up the Power Rankings last week as its pitching took a small step back from the top spot. Their Power Ranking didn’t help their results, though, as they still lost to Catuli. The only good news for ABD at this stage is their remaining schedule consists of two fellow non-playoff-hopefuls in the Benders and Rowlets. Going out with two wins would at least be a positive going into next year.
8. (+2) MARQUETTE BASEBALL (Hitting +1 to 2nd, Pitching 12th) — After playing with fire all year, Marquette finally got burned. When an ERA of 5.30 feels like an improvement over recent results, your pitching has had a bad go of things. It doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of optimism surrounding this Marquette team. Yes, a win over BNP could put them back in contention for the Scully title, but recent results don’t make it feel likely. Too many things have gone wrong all at once for Marquette, which will make for some interesting discussion in its end-of-season postmortem column if it misses the Bubbler Baseball playoffs for the first time since 2016.
9. (-1) ANDY HACKS AT 3–0 (Hitting 9th, Pitching -1 to T-4th) — The Hackers are pretty much done and pretty much know it, leaving a few inactive players in their starting lineup for days at a time at this stage. Yes, they tied Marquette, which is one of their “better” recent results, but that has as much to do with Marquette’s pitching implosion as anything. Other than the whole minimum-innings incident with Mercy, it’s otherwise been an unremarkable season for the Hackers. There’s always 2024.
10. (-1) THE ADDAMES FAMILY (Hitting -1 to T-6th, Pitching 10th) — While a lot of things seemed to become clearer this week, one thing that didn’t is whether or not we should consider The Addames Family a postseason threat or a team likely to be eliminated early. Other than stolen bases, where they’re second only to ABD’s organized crime syndicate, their offense is mostly middling, while their pitching has suffered much of the same inconsistency as many other teams’ this year. Is TAF the kind of team that’s won a lot of offensive categories through strategic play and smart, end-of-week decisions? Or has it just been dumb luck? We’ll probably find out in the postseason, but this week’s big loss to BNP did nothing to rule good fortune out of the equation.
11. SOUTH BEND BENDERS (Hitting 12th, Pitching +1 to 1st) — The Benders finish with ABD and, notably, the Zimas. They remain bottom quadrant in every hitting category except errors after a week where they failed to reach the Mendoza line as a unit at the plate. Their pitching did go back to the top spot, which is somewhat of an accomplishment, but the offense has been too bad for too long for it to really matter. Let’s just say the Zimas are probably licking their chops while the Benders are probably thinking about what different draft stratagem to use next year.
12. ROWLETS (Hitting 11th, Pitching 11th) — For a moment, it looked like there could be a miracle finish for the Rowlets, who have spent most of this season in the bottom two spots in the Power Rankings and all of it under .500. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as the bats finally gave out and the they were on the wrong end of a big Zimas victory. Nonetheless, we still like the effort we see this franchise put in every year. There were times this season when it looked like the Rowlets could put things together. We’re not ruling it out next year. That said, the playoff drought will likely continue for another year for this team. •
