Fantasy Baseball Week 4

The Toucans have been struggling lately, but there's no reason to complain about how we did in week 4. We faced a tough opponent in ShaveThoseSideburns, and the final score was 5-6-1. That doesn't show how dominant Sideburns was during the week, as they held a 3-8-1 lead heading into Sunday.

Honestly though, I'm not too disappointed, as the Toucans collectively hit 358/518 (OBP/Slug) for the week which is pretty impressive. I had 8 HR, which generally should win you a ton of offensive categories. Unfortunately Sideburns just had probably the best week of the season, collectively hitting 435/578 (OBP/slug) with 10 HR. That's pretty damn good, and you just gotta tip your hat to him for having a good week.

My streaming strategy is what saved the week for us. The Toucans dominated in counting stats like wins, strikeouts and quality starts, while Jon Rauch managed to tie up saves at the last possible minute. If Sideburns made one mistake, it was starting his pitchers when he had a clear edge in the rate stats - ERA & WHIP. He couldn't catch us in the counting stats, so a smart idea would have been to bench his starters and take his wins in ERA/WHIP. He started a couple pitchers, and this was the result. He had both Livan & Nathan, so it wasn't a great night for him. He did get a nice Josh Beckett start, which probably saved the day.

The reason this cost him though, was because I ended up taking WHIP by .02, and I almost won ERA. Otherwise he's up 7-4-1 on the week. Let that be a lesson to all you head2head players - when you have an edge in rate stats heading into the last day, don't start your pitchers! It'll do more harm than good.

Going forward, the Toucans look pretty strong. Longoria has been a terrific pick for us, and Votto continues to rake. Glaus is starting to heat up and we all know what he can do on his prolonged hot streaks. Utley is the hottest player in baseball right now, while Posada & Drew (SS) give us a terrific IF. Beltran, Swisher, Dunn & Corey Hart really need to pick it up though, or the Toucans will remain in the bottom half. Right now the Toucans are 10th out of 14th, but one good week and we're back in the top 6.

This week the Toucans will battle against I'm On My Couch. The couch-potatoes are currently behind the Toucans at 11th, and the psychological battle has already begun. My first barrage consisted of "Hey Couch-Potatoes - better get some comfort food for when I open the can of whoopass". I know he'll be devastated.

Well, that's all for Week 4 of fantasy baseball. But do you think you're capable of psyching out those crazy Couches? Support your local Toucans of Whoopass by posting what you would say to psych out I'm On My Couch. If it's crazy, dirty, and underhanded, all the better! The Toucans need your help more now than ever, Heroes!

Update: I think it'd make more sense if I put the standings for everyone to see..

Rank		Team	W-L-T	Pct	GB	Last Week	Waiver	Moves
1.		Base Belong to Rios	32-14-2	.688	-	7-4-1	9	4
2.		Bluebird Banter	26-20-2	.563	6	10-1-1	11	16
3.		The Huck Fleners	24-19-5	.552	6.5	5-6-1	5	13
4.		I'm In Your Mind	23-19-6	.542	7	7-5-0	12	5
5.		The_Reverend	24-20-4	.542	7	4-7-1	2	2
6.		Mulliniks' Staches	25-22-1	.531	7.5	2-10-0	13	5
7.		Mockingbird	24-22-2	.521	8	10-2-0	3	9
8.		Mop Up Duty	23-21-4	.521	8	8-3-1	8	4
9.		ShaveThoseSideburns	20-19-9	.510	8.5	6-5-1	10	3
10.		Toucans Of Whoopass	20-23-5	.469	10.5	5-6-1	6	25
11.		I'm On My Couch	18-26-4	.417	13	5-7-0	1	5
12.		Born to Ghostrun	17-27-4	.396	14	3-8-1	4	6
13.		Tao of Stieb	17-27-4	.396	14	1-10-1	14	9
14.		Swayze4Life	16-30-2	.354	16	6-5-1	7	7

Twitchy.