[StLee]

Analysis

We have now surpassed the halfway point of the season as all teams have completed 55 of their 108 games. Now, we think we know what we have in the CBO as a few teams have set the pace for the season while other teams have their ups and downs while trying to get into playoff position.

Weekly Team Power Rankings: Here are the current team power rankings for Commonwealth Baseball Organization:

Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Oberland T-51s (140.5, o)
2) Goodneighbor Hancocks (119.4, o)
3) Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (109.3, o)
4) Starlight Lady Killers (106.5, o)
5) University Point Deathclaws (105.7, +1)
6) Easy Town Assaultrons (103.5, ++3)
7) Quincy Gunners (101.2, +1)
8) The Slog Ghouls (98.9, -1)
9) Abernathy Adamantium (98.5, --4)
10) Warwick Mirelurks (96.6, +2)
11) Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (90.6, -1)
12) Lexington Synths (89.4, +1)
13) Diamond City Swatters (88.1, -2)
14) Egret Ninjas (87.1, ++3)
15) Finch Farm Four Leafs (86.1, +1)
16) Concord Radstags (83.5, ++3)
17) FHE Yao Guai (82.8, -2)
18) Salem Witch Hats (80.5, o)
19) Jamaica Plain Red Rockets (75.1, --5)
20) Atom Cats (71.5, ++3)
21) Sunshine Tidings Chemists (67.0, -1)
22) County Crossing Bloodbugs (66.3, -1)
23) Vault 81 Dwellers (60.7, -1)
24) Roxbury Knuckle Punchers (49.4, o)

Brotherhood League

After Friday's loss, Easy Town no longer had sole possession of 2nd place. However, the Assaultrons rebounded in the next two games, taking the series over The Slog to again take control for the wildcard spot and get an important series win. It does not mean the Assaultrons will hold on to the spot to the defending league champions. As we pointed out, Easy Town has benefited from close-game wins more than any other team. That is still true as Easy Town (11-3) is tied for first in the CBO in one-run wins while only trailing Oberland (8-2) in one-run losses.

The Slog stayed hot in 2297, but they are looking more like the 2296 team that won it all. Although the offense (10th in runs scored with 263) still has not been anywhere near what it was in the past two seasons, the pitching (tied for 2nd with 249 runs) is formidable. The starting combination of Edwin Mass (4-5, 3.35), David Kiwi (5-7, 3.76), and Jason Woods (9-4, 3.38) is not getting enough run support to win routinely, but they help The Slog hold the second-best ERA for starters in the North Charles Association (3.92).

Nordhagen Beach has been consistent as a first place team despite dropping their series to Salem. By being 3rd in the NCA in runs (292) and 1st in runs allowed (225), they are expected to win two out of every three. One thing that has been disturbing about the offense is that they do not tend to do well the first two times through the lineup, depending on late runs in too many games. That can be seen in the overall record of second and third starters Chet Arthur (5-7, 3.36) and Julian Shed (5-6, 3.14) despite having good ERAs. The Party Boys have the best starters ERA with a 3.59 mark.

Institute League

Remember when the Starlight Lady Killers were way up in this league in 2297 before plummeting? Well, they had better not. The Lady Killers have surged into a first-place tie at the halfway point of the season. They were in first place at midseason last year, too, before ultimately falling to 4th place. This season, the offense has been waking up after a torrid start. With the trade for Damani Beebe (.341/9/20), the Lady Killers look to have a dangerous and powerful lineup, especially for their right-handed batters. Leadoff hitter Hubris McBride (.220/11/27) is not getting as many hits as they need, but he does lead the team in homers by using the home screen to his advantage.

While it has been noted that Fort Hagen has had the biggest drop so far, Abernathy is actually the second coldest team in the NCA. The Adamantium have been 3-7 in their last 10 and barely escaped being swept by the Silver Shroud with a 2-1 victory on Sunday. Brad Westing (8-4, 3.91) has been solid, but the Adamantium may want to consider a trade for another top starter to stay in the playoff race, especially with Lexington still sticking around at only four games back.

The Shroud got the series win they needed over Abernathy, but they have to find the momentum they had early in the season. They have fallen to 11th in runs scored (256), which is a big contributor in their drop. They just cannot convert hits (2nd in batting average at .298) to runs. Should they learn how to string together hits, they will see their win totals increase in the second half of the season.

Minutemen League

After taking the first game of a canceled game, Goodneighbor lost the next three in the home series versus Warwick, marking their longest losing streak of the season. After splitting with Oberland, it is not a time to panic for the Hancocks, but they did lose ground to the T-51s. They probably are more concerned with holding off University Point and Quincy on the season, but losing three to the 4th place team is not a sign of anything.

On the other end of the sweep, the Mirelurks have now surpassed Jamaica Plain for 4th place and stand just two back of Quincy and four back of University Point. Warwick missed the playoffs last season, but they were in the race the whole way and won the league two years ago. They are not a team to take for granted.

Railroad League

Oberland went 3-2 this week, which is equivalent to a losing week for them. It's not as bad as their 1-4 week two weeks ago, but they seem to expect at least one sweep a week. Roxbury was having none of it in Game Three, taking it 6-4, dropping the T-51s league lead to only 16 games. For perspective, Goodneighbor has an 18-win lead over last place Atom in the ML, which is the biggest gap between two league teams. The T-51s are 16 up on the two second place teams in their league! Their magic number is a low 38 with 53 to play. Expect that in no later than mid-August.

With the Knuckle Punchers and Dwellers expected to be pretenders at best in the RL wildcard race, the jumble of Egret (26-29), Diamond City (26-29), and FHE (25-30). What gives each team an edge? For the Ninjas, Paladin Danse was the CBO MVP two years ago. This season he has MVP-like numbers (.315/13/50) and the team leads the CBO in home runs (82) with five guys with 10 or more homers and two more guys,Bill Chaney (9) and Dustin Bowfiddle (7) on their way. Diamond City has the MVP leader, which would mark the MVP coming out of the RL for the third straight season, in Wayne Lacy (.374/22/60). Wally Warwick (.314/9/42) and Jeffrey Curatolo (.279/13/42) have to help a team that have little hittig outside their big three. The Yao Guai have the benefit of better pitching than the other two teams, including Bow Rome (3-6, 4.35), Sage Monticello (5-3, 3.90), and Papa Bush (7-4, 4.80).