[StLee]

Analysis

We are at the end of the first quarter of the 2297 season, and the league races are mostly tight and interesting. The one league where there is a team without question in the lead is the Railroad League. At 12-3, the Oberland T-51s have a four-game lead and look like they will cruise into the league title for the second straight season.

Since the other three leagues are tight at the top, we are going to analyze the top three of those leagues this week. In the RL, we'll look at places 2 through 4 since there is a one-game difference there.

So let's start with what we think is the toughest league in the CBO, the Brotherhood League. The three-team race includes the down but up more County Crossing Bloodbugs in first, with The Slog Ghouls and Finch Farm Four Leafs trailing by a game.

County Crossing surged into first place with their sweep of the previous top Four Leafs. That follows a weekend where the Bloodbugs lost the series to sixth-place Nordhagen Beach and losing two of three to Finch Farm the weekend before. So let us look at the Bloodbugs first. The team has been led by its pitching, currently second in the BL in runs allowed, starter ERA, and bullpen ERA. Ace Bad Company Grognak is 2-1 with a 4.38 ERA and second starter Blaine Phrasemaker is 3-1 with a 4.45 ERA. On offense, the Bloodbugs get a lot of hits, leading the BL in batting average, but they are 5th in runs scored and 6th in power hitting! 1B Josh Noggin has been the standout, batting .414 with three home runs and 17 RBI.

For the Ghouls and Leafs, they have their strengths and weaknesses. The defending CBO champions are leading the league in runs scored (106) and second in batting average. RF Boots Yellowhair is looking like a legit Steel MVP Award contender, batting .418 with 7 home runs and 20 RBI. Six of the Ghouls are batting over .300 on the season. Pitching could be better since the Ghouls are 4th in runs allowed. Ace Edwin Mass is doing well at 2-0 with a 3.15 ERA, but the other two starters are getting blasted.

Finch Farm looked like it was going to take control of the BL a week ago, but things did not go well this past weekend. Still, that broke a string of winning 8 out of their last 9 before that. Against the top, though, the Leafs are a combined 3-6, so they will need to do better against County Crossing (2-4) and The Slog (1-2) to be able to take the division. Finch Farm is 6-0 so far against the bottom three with a trip to Nordhagen Beach and a home series against Salem in the next two weeks. That bodes well for them working their way back into 1st place.

In the Institute League, Starlight has a two-game lead over both Sunshine Tidings and Lexington. The rest of the league may not be able to compete for a spot unless some weekends go differently in the second quarter than they did in the first one. Fort Hagen has been up and down, but they seem to be solidly the fourth- or fifth-best team in the division.

For the Lady Killers, they are not at the top of much in either offensive or defensive categories, but they are in the top three in almost all categories. They are 2nd in runs scored (88) and 3rd in runs against (64). Ace City Moore has been outstanding, going 4-0 with a 3.13 ERA to start the season, but their second and third starters are not performing well. Chris Schneier, who was 2-2 with a 4.97 ERA was just sent to Mystic Pines for a minor league stretch. Larry Undertaker leads the IL with 8 saves. The 1st through 6th hitters have been consistently solid throughout the season with 2B Wild Cannon leading the team with a .422 average and 1B Willie Qesadana leading in home runs (4) and RBI (12).

Lexington has been better at pitching than offense, currently 5th in runs scored (61) and 2nd in runs allowed (48). All three starters are 3-2 with respectable ERAs (Pete Pembroke-2.61, Lawdog Whipple-4.08, and Chris Morgen-2.09). On offense, SS Swift Hendrix has been the leader, batting .345 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI. No one else on the team is batting above .300.

The Chemists have been high for most of the season but a recent series loss to Starlight keeps them out of 1st place talks. On offense, Sunshine Tidings has been pretty bad, falling dead last in the IL in runs scored (60). They balance that with leading the league in runs allowed (47). Therefore, they win with low-scoring games. As a sign of that, ace Tony Bertha has a 0.45 ERA, but his record in 3-2. Third starter Bill Sarnacki is 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA. Cleanup hitter CF Frank Corsica is batting .345 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI. The Chemists have hit 12 home runs as a team, good enough for 4th in the IL.

The Minutemen League is the one division with a tie for 1st place. Quincy has been consistently good. Goodneighbor has been red hot, though a loss in their last game drops them back into a tie. Right behind both of them is defending league champions, the Warwick Mirelurks. Though University Point has a respectable 7-8 record, they are not in the top talks right now.

For Quincy, they had a chance to take true control of the league this past weekend against the Mirelurks, but they dropped the series, their second straight series lost. Still, the Gunners are 4-2 against Warwick on the season and 3-0 against Goodneighbor. The team is 2nd in runs scored (90) and 1st in runs allowed (60), nice round numbers to show a 6-4 outscoring of opponents per game. RF David Driftwood (.328/4/13) and LF Andrew Nuka (.327/4/16) have been leading the offense, while all three starters have pitched well. Ace Matt Ranger is 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA.

The Hancocks are surprisingly low in runs scored and allowed. They are 4th in each in the league (87-86), showing they win tight games and lose blowouts. Ace Quincy Eloquent has been pitching the best, going 4-1 with a 3.43 ERA. 1B Bryan Assman have been the best all-around hitter, batting .375 with 4 home runs and 15 RBI.

Warwick is surprised not to have a huge lead in the division, but getting swept by the Gunners helped that. The Mirelurks are 1st in scoring (101) and 2nd in runs allowed (73). Three players are batting over .400, with 2B Brad Krol looking like a Minutemen Honorary MVP Award candidate with a .407/6/18 line. Ace John Diner is 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA, which also makes him look like a repeat candidate for the Cannon SP Award.