[StLee]

Analysis

The South Charles Association is beginning to look a lot like the dominant association again. Winners of the past two Sole Survivor Series, the SCA now sports the top three teams in the CBO's Week 19 Power Rankings in Diamond City, Goodneighbor, and Quincy. Of course, the NCA's two best, Fort Hagen and Nordhagen Beach, round out the Top 5.

We also officially have half of the playoff teams set, with every team from the Top 5 clinching a spot, except the Silver Shroud. Of course, all the Shroud need are a win or Starlight and Abernathy to each lose a game. Since the Lady Killers and Adamantium meet in the final weekend, at least one of those two teams will do that, which means, Fort Hagen HAS clinched a playoff berth, but the standings represent the numbers minus the schedule influence. Therefore, with 10 games left to play, the Shroud could go 0-10 and will still be guaranteed with at least tying for the Institute League title.

Otherwise, there are few big movements in the Rankings. Atom (#19) is now tied for the worst record in the CBO with County Crossing (#22) and Roxbury (#23) after going 7-3 in their last 10. Warwick is now the 24th team after they have gone 1-9 in their last 10.

Weekly Team Power Rankings

Here are the current team power rankings for Commonwealth Baseball Organization:

Teams (Total Points, Tendency):
1) Diamond City Swatters (138.7, o)
2) Goodneighbor Hancocks (128.2, +3)
3) Quincy Gunners (123.0, o)
4) Fort Hagen Silver Shroud (120.6, -2)
5) Nordhagen Beach Party Boys (116.6, -1)
6) Abernathy Adamantium (104.2, +1)
7) Vault 81 Dwellers (102.3, -1)
8) The Slog Ghouls (99.5, o)
9) Starlight Lady Killers (98.2, o)
10) Salem Witch Hats (96.5, +1)
11) Lexington Synths (90.5, -1)
12) Sunshine Tidings Chemists (87.7, +3)
13) Oberland T-51s (87.0, +3)
14) University Point Deathclaws (84.2, -2)
15-T) Egret Ninjas (81.3, -2)
15-T) Jamaica Plain Red Rockets (81.3, -1)
17) FHE Yao Guai (73.1, o)
18) Finch Farm Four Leafs (70.5, o)
19) Atom Cats (69.3, +3)
20) Easy Town Assaultrons (68.1, -1)
21) Concord Radstags (66.5, -1)
22) County Crossing Bloodbugs (61.3, +2)
23) Roxbury Knuckle Punchers (57.3, -2)
24) Warwick Mirelurks (55.1, -1)

Peeks at Peops

RF Brightsun Ramos, Sunshine Tidings

He won't see the playoffs for the fourth straight season, but the Sunshine Tidings Chemists' Brightsun Ramos is in the running for the NCA's Nuka-Hitter Award. Ramos is the NCA's leader in total bases (252) and falls in the Top 10 in a number of other offensive categories. In fact, his biggest threat appears to be Starlight's Zeldolph Violet. The two are tied for 6th in batting average (.361) with Ramos leading in homers (24 vs 22) but trailing in RBI (78 vs 76). Violet has the top WAR (5.7) while Ramos is #3 (5.0).

SP Terrence Artman, Salem

As the 4th overall pick of the 2296 CBO Inaugural Draft, Terrence Artman was supposed to be one of the dominant pitchers of the CBO. He started the 2296 season looking that way, but then faded out to a 10-8 season with a 5.50 ERA. The next two seasons looked just as dire, including losing a Brotherhood League high 11 games in 2297 before the leagues merged in 2298. In 2299, he is suddenly starting to perform the way he was expected to, going 14-5 with a 2.96 ERA in the Witch Hats' legitimate bid at being a playoff team. He is still behind ex-teammate Mike Cartrette now of Fort Hagen in the Vim! Pitcher Award pursuit, but Salem will be happy if Artman is the starter in their first-ever playoff game.

2B Jumper Hayes, Goodneighbor

He gets overshadowed by several of his standout teammates, but Jumper Hayes is a star without the ring of fame to place him atop. With Bryan Assman as a reigning MVP, Good Don Duck as last season's playoffs MVP, Quincy Eloquent as a legitimate #1 in the league, and John Rose as a sure #3, Hayes seems to fall out of the limelight when he would be the #1 man in most franchises. Still Hayes is #1 in batting average (.377), as well as being Top 10 in seven other categories. Most importantly of those, Hayes (5.7) only trails Assman (6.2) in SCA WAR, making him a potential MVP candidate heading into the final two weeks.

SP Manny McDuff, Quincy

He never stood out in his first three years, finishing a game below .500 (7-8) in 2296 and at .500 (8-8 and 10-10) in the next two seasons. This season he is 17-4, leading the SCA in wins, with the 2nd-best ERA at 2.93. (Note: Goodneighbor's Matt Pageturner is 11-1 in the SCA but 18-3 overall between Finch Farm and the Hancocks.) McDuff is a big reason that Quincy has a chance to win the Sole Survivor Series in 2299.