It was a successful start to the inaugural Great British Fantasy Baseball Superleague with all 120 teams posting legal rosters.
A rule of thumb is that a total of 350 points is an excellent week; I think 25 teams scored at least 350 points during Week 1.
We had two teams break the 400-point barrier, and neither boasted the inclusion of Shohei Ohtani on their roster.
Excluding bonus points for the El Capitan UT-slot, two of the five highest-scoring players (Orlando Arcia and Adam Duvall) were undrafted before Opening Day, so even if your team started 0-1, there is a whole season of potential ahead of you.
Here’s the roundup of Week 1…
AL Central
Rob Whannel (379 points) & Jason Toms (347) were the highest scorers. Matt Robinson was unlucky to fall 0-1 despite scoring 315 points. Perhaps the luckiest team was Bat Flips & Nerds who defeated Pirates UK (Gareth) by just 2.5 points – the smallest margin of any matchup across all 10 divisions.
AL East
Michael Annison (393) and Ed Jefferies (342) were the highest scorers, with Michael’s tally the third-highest of the non-Champions League teams. Bat Flips & Nerds’ 332 points would have been good enough for a win in most matchups, but they enter Week 2 with a losing record.
AL North
Chris Jones (369) and Bat Flips & Nerds (367) were the highest scorers, although a shoutout to Scott MacGregor on 350 points. It was an exceptionally tight matchup between Karl Cobane and Manc Baseball, with Karl edging the victory 311-307. Andy Moore was the unluckiest team in the division, falling 0-1 despite scoring 343 points.
AL West
Charles Baldwin (383) and Martin Osborne (377) were the top scorers in the division. Chris Deeley had an impressive start to the season with 353 points. Paul Dearnley‘s 341 points tally was the fourth-highest in the division, so he was unlucky to lose the tie.
NL Central
There is a lot to unpack in the NL Central. Firstly, a tremendous effort by Richard Davison, whose 439 was tied for the highest-scoring week across all 10 divisions. Richard employed Ronald Acuna Jr. in the El Capitan spot, and could have scored even more as he had the luxury of Jorge Mateo’s 41 points on the bench.
Secondly, Richard secured the win over Callum Cockerill, who scored 382 points, making this the highest-scoring matchup in #GBfbs this week. In fact, Callum scored more points than every other team in the division. Adam Cockerill was the third-highest scorer with 368, but unlike Callum, he enters Week 2 up 1-0.
NL East
Four teams scored more than 350 points in the NL East: James Poppleton (379), Ben Jones (358), Mark Finbow (352) and Matthew Greig (351). Unfortunately for Mark, he has the accolade of one of the highest-scoring losing teams.
NL North
The second of our 400+ point scorers was in the NL where Shaun Barrett obliterated the field with 439 points. In any other division, second-placed Martin Wood‘s 361 points would have been vying for the best of the week. Timothy Burtt on 315 points was the highest-scoring non-winner.
The strategy as to which player to use in the bonus-scoring, El Capitan UT-spot, is difficult to judge. Yandy Diaz had an ADP of 235 and was not drafted in all of the divisions, but his 63 points showed impressive perception by Shaun.
NL West
In the division overweighed by Cambridge Baseball Club, Luke Kendrick was the top scored with 379 points ahead of Tom Lock on 340. Paul Denyer losing by five points – one of the lowest scoring margins across all 10 divisions – can consider himself very unlucky.
Basement
There were points galore in the inaccurately-named Basement Division, with Euan Leith (381 points) and Ash Smith (365) picking up wins. However, it was Gareth Neale getting tagged with a loss despite 374 points (second highest in the division) that was most noticeable.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Three of the six highest-scoring teams across all 10 divisions were in the Champions League, with Gav (that’s me) on 397 points and David Runciman on 394 points. The unluckiest team among the 120 participants was RotoBrits as Ryan Owen scored 390 points – the sixth highest in #GBfbs this week – yet still came away with an “L”
If Ryan had no luck, then Rob Novarrez’s luck bucket was overflowing, as he came away with the win despite only 268 points. This is the beauty of head-to-head competition.
Feature image of Adam Duvall by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)