2021 FGM Playoffs Recap & Commentary

[Flash]

Here are the final regular season records of the 10 playoff teams:

American League
1: :LAA: 140-22 - AL West Winner
2: :TB: 111 - 51 AL East Winner
3: :MIN: 105 - 57 AL Central Winner
4: :HOU2: 127 - 32 AL Wild Card #1
5: :SEA: 113 - 49 AL Wild Card #2


National League
1: :COL: 140-22 - NL West Winner
2: :STL:  138 - 24 - NL Central Winner
3: :PHI:  130 - 32  - NL East Winner
4: :SF: 133 - 29 - NL Wild Card #1
5: :LAD: 123 - 39 NL Wild Card #2

Wild Card Week August 23 - 29

AL Wild Card Matchup
#5 :SEA: vs. #4 :HOU2:

AL Wild Card Matchup
#5 :LAD: vs. #4 :SF:

There are some things of note going into the 2021 FGM playoffs.  The first of which is that the AL WC features last year?s championship roster.  The :HOU2: were the :CHC: in 2020 under a different GM.  The roster is still quite formidable and the :SEA: will have their hands full.  The NL WC will feature two teams from the NL West :LAD: and :SF:.  As a reward, the winner will get a chance to face the team they have been chasing all season long:  the :COL:

Secondly, there is usually a Cinderella type team every year, and many will recall that in 2019, :SEA: barely made the playoffs.  :SEA: managed to advance to the ALCS, but were defeated by the 2019 Champion :LAA:.  Who will be jump into the magic carriage this year and hope that it doesn?t turn into a pumpkin?

Thirdly, the playoffs feature three former champions, :COL: GM, Paul S. in 2013, when he was the GM of the :STL:, Chris (papps) in 2018 as the GM of the :PHI:, and Jason S. (game162) in 2019 as the GM of the :LAA:.  We?ve had one two time champion, Rob (MillerTime) in 2012 and 2015 (see correction in posted reply), will we another one in 2021?

As always, the playoffs will be affected by injuries, slumps, bad outings, hitting explosions, and byes. The :COL: and the :LAA: have enjoyed dominating seasons and look to be the odds on favorites.  However, as in past years, there will undoubtedly be some surprises and some corresponding disappointments, and it will all make for some interesting fantasy play over the next five weeks.  Stay tuned as we watch the playoffs unfold and please feel free to post your comments in this thread.  There will be recaps throughout the coming weeks as we watch ten teams chase a the opportunity to be added to the FGM Wall of Champions.

[papps]

Great write up Flash! But don?t forget Rob (Millertime) is the only two time FGM champ. I would have joined him in 2019 but Jason took me out! I?m hoping to join him this year. Good luck to everyone in the playoffs and congrats on a great season!!  :toast:

[Flash]

Great write up Flash! But don?t forget Rob (Millertime) is the only two time FGM champ. I would have joined him in 2019 but Jason took me out! I?m hoping to join him this year. Good luck to everyone in the playoffs and congrats on a great season!!  :toast:

I stand corrected, we did have a two time champion, Rob (MillerTime) in 2012 & 2015.  Let?s see if we have another at the end of the playoffs.

[kidd5jersey]

Great writeup flash.  :TB: will take the week to rest some arms and come in strong in the playoffs.

[Flash]

Two days of fantasy play left in the Wild Card matchups.  Each one is still in question as we all know a hot day by a given team?s lineup can upend what appears to be a comfortable lead.  The reward for winning the Wild Card games is a matchup with the #1 seed in each league, namely the :LAA: and the :COL:.

Here?s how things stand at the moment:

NL Wild Card
:LAD: 406.22 vs. :SF: 715.58

AL Wild Card
:SEA: 339.55 vs. :HOU2: 833.79

[Flash]

Wild Card week got a little wild on the final day, as both the :LAD: and the :SEA: made a run and made it close for a bit, but alas, :SF: and :HOU2: were able to survive. 

Wild Card week results (Aug 23, 2021 - Aug 29, 2021

National League
:LAD: 840.55 vs. :SF: 944.84

American League
:SEA: 710.05 vs. :HOU2: 883.07

So with these results, these are the matchups for the Division Series:

(Aug 30, 2021 - Sep 5, 2021)

NLDS
#4 :SF: vs. #1 :COL:
#3 :PHI: vs #2 :STL:

ALDS
#4 :HOU2: vs #1 :LAA:
#3 :MIN2: vs #2 :TB:

An update will be posted mid-week. :toth:

[Flash]

We?re halfway through the Division Series and things are starting to take shape.  There are no real surprises, no Cinderella, as the favored teams, with the exception of :STL:, start to take control of their series.


:SF: 379.22 vs :COL: 551.67
The :SF: bats have decided to miss the ball this week.  Mirroring the slumping MLB Giants, :SF: has fallen on some hard times at the wrong time.  :COL: hasn?t really flexed their muscles yet, but with :SF: horrendous pitching and non-contact bats, they don?t really have to.

:HOU2: 492.98 vs :LAA: 680.89
After jumping out to an early lead, :HOU2: has not been able to sustain its early momentum.  Despite the hot bats of Josh Harrison and Paul Goldschmidt, :HOU2: has seen its early lead fall victim to the consistency of the :LAA: lineup.  Both teams are about even in terms of pitching points, but even so, :LAA: holds a slim lead.

:MIN2: 350.34 vs :TB: 446.83
This series is still very competitive.  The hitters of each team are about equal, with :TB: having a slight 24 point edge. So far, the difference in point differential lies in the pitching staff.  Both teams have seven SPs scheduled, so it would seem we?re going to have a competitive series that goes right down to the wire.

:PHI: 842.54 vs :STL: 611.56
Sometimes minor trades become big in terms of dividends paid.  Right before the trade Trade Deadline, :PHI: acquired Ahmed Rosario from the :CLE2: for a fistful of prospects.  Rosario has scored 186 points so far this week and :PHI:, and although :STL: has 115 more pitching points, the :PHI: bats have come to life and have a 300+ edge over :STL:.  :PHI: also has 7 scheduled SPs whereas :STL: has only 3, none of which is named Max Scherzer.

[Flash]

This is certainly an awkward subject to broach since it involves my own team, but nonetheless, it requires some explanation.  I contacted Fantrax about this issue, but they were not much help and offered no explanation.

Yesterday, following the conclusion of the MLB :SF: :LAD: game, I checked the Live Scoring window to see how many IP my team had.  I then noticed that my score had dropped from 1519 to 1107.  I couldn?t figure out why this happened until I checked my team page and saw that my team roster was declared illegal because It had two UT players, Mark Canha and Justin Upton.  This certainly was confounding because I had previously set my lineup with Mark Canha in the OF slot.  He played in one of the first games of the day and was not in the UT spot in my lineup.

I then checked the Transactions page and saw he was moved to the UT position in an earlier scoring period, but the Transaction was made after the completion of the MLB games.  As all of you know, we cannot edit our lineup after a given game has begun, much less that of a previous scoring period.  There is no Commissioner tool that allows me to retroactively edit lineups, so it remains a mystery as to why my lineup was declared illegal at the conclusion of Saturday?s games or even how my lineup was changed.

Unusual things have happened with Fantrax in the past but this is a first for me.  As I said earlier, it?s awkward for me personally because it involves my team in a playoff match with the :COL:.  The only remedy available to me, besides giving up 412 points, was to manually adjust the scoring.  I manually adjusted my score since I cannot override my September 4th lineup to make it legal.  With that, all of us know that when our lineup is illegal, we get a variety of warning windows, and I never got one until after the completion of the day?s games.  With that, since Mark Canha was involved in one of the first games of the day,I would have noticed if there was something that made my roster illegal.  The true score appears on the Home Page.

I hope everyone reading this understands that I would make the scoring adjustment for any team this happened to befall, which is why I wanted to post this lengthy explanation. 

[Flash]

Matchups
Period 23 (Aug 30, 2021 - Sep 5, 2021

Division Series are in their final day of play and here is what?s cooking.

:SF: 1519.93 vs :COL: 1182.67
A lengthy explanation was posted regarding Fantrax and this series, but regardless, the resurgence of :SF: has been nothing short of astounding.  :COL: seems be in a bit of a funk, and :SF: has been lighting it up, however, with the such a potent lineup from top to bottom, it?s not beyond :COL: to come forth with a miracle finish and advance to the NLCS.

:HOU2: 802.69 vs :LAA: 1390.17
This series seems to be headed to a predictable ending as the top seeded :LAA: have methodically separated themselves from the :HOU2:

:MIN2: 1269.52 vs :TB: 1024.58
The :MIN2: have chosen the right time to get hot.  :TB: will need to have a massively productive day to come out on top, and we all know that it?s possible to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.

:PHI: 1374.4 vs :STL: 1368.53
This series has turned into the most competitive of the four.  With only 6 points separating the two, it?s going to be quite a day for :PHI: and :STL:. Who will prevail?  Stay tuned, because it?s going to be a battle.

[Flash]

The Conference Series matchups have been set. 

American League

#3 :MIN2: vs #1 :LAA:

National League

#4 :SF: vs :#3 :PHI: