Week 7: The Check Swing

How terrible are the Mets? Their lousy catcher, whose slash line is .200/.270/.238, is filling in for the injured Pete Alonso at first base, where McCann has never played before.

This week's version of our look-back blog will be a little different. We're going to examine at the statistical categories to see where our teams rank. It might give us an idea of why certain teams are doing well and others are struggling. Or it'll be boring and pointless. Whatever.

Gavin Lux seems to be doing just fine as the Dodgers' shortstop.

1. Tears In Nevin (Rich/Brian, 5-2, 1468 points, previously 1): The commissioners' team leads the league in runs, triples and innings pitched. They also are tied for the lead in fewest blown saves (four teams have zero). Meanwhile, they've only made 5 transactions — quick, somebody offer Rich a trade because he's going crazy from inactivity! ... In a Week 7 loss to The Misfits, TIN surpassed 200 points as Max Muncy led the way with 26 points. Every pitcher reached double figures in points (that's good!), but the catcher duo of Austin Nola and Omar Narvaez combined for only 6 (that's bad!). Freddie Freeman put up 20.5 points, which sounds good until you realize the Braves offense went berserk last week and Freeman neglected to participate in the fun.

2. Project Mayhem (Bill, 5-2, 1405.33 points, previously 2): Bill's team provides some pop, leading the league in homers and RBIs. They're tied for last in saves. ... If you like wild Big 12 football games, you'd have loved PM's high-scoring matchup with The Rookies — PM delivered the mayhem in a 260.67-223.67 win. Anthony DeSclafani and Jon Lester combined to allow 22 earned runs in 19 innings, but Yu Darvish and Trevor Bauer made up for it by scoring 60.33 points. The offense put up 171 points behind the power of a whopping 19 homers. Six of those came from breakout star Jesse Winker, who scored 33.5 points. Austin Riley and Gavin Lux have heated up, and each drove in 9 runs as they combined for 55 points.

Jon Lester is 0-2 with a 5.33 ERA.

3. Lumber Co Lumber (John, 5-2, 1318.17 points, previously 3): John's team leads FBLG in singles, doubles, fewest errors and no-hitters thrown — thank you, Joe Musgrove! But they're the worst in the league in getting caught stealing, innings pitched and blown saves. ... The all-offense approach keeps working well for LCL, this time resulting in a blowout win against AL. Musgrove scored 23 points but was the only pitcher in double figures. Jake Cronenworth had another big week, putting up 27 points and leading the team in scoring. Adam Frazier hit 9 singles but totaled only 12.5 points, which is hard to do.

4. Sunshine Carpet Cleaners (Jack, 4-3, 1284 points, previously 4): Jack's team is tied for the lead in steals and leads in fewest runs allowed and fewest pitcher losses. They also are tied for the lead in fewest blown saves. Sounds like he's got the 1980s Cardinals over there. ... By the razor-thin margin of 2/3 of a point, SCC defeated BOPP to get above .500. Fernando Tatis Jr. was a monster, homering 3 times, driving in 10 runs and putting up 30.5 points. Walker Buehler added 35 points with 14 fantastic innings and a pair of wins. Jon Gray got knocked around and Taijuan Walker got hurt (feigns surprise), and Justin Turner tallied 1 point for the entire week.

Is "Mets pitcher injured" the least surprising headline of all time?

5. The Misfits (Reid, 3-4, 1279.83 points, previously 6): Reid's team doesn't lead the league in anything, but is last in walks, errors and transactions — with only 1 move made so far. ... How did The Misfits put up 242.17 points to take down TIN in Week 7? Every player scored in double figures, which is a good start. The pitching staff posted 111.67 points, allowing only 6 runs in 44.2 innings and going 4-1 with 4 saves. Julio Urias scored 37.67 points all by himself. Will Smith was the leading hitter, posting 23.5 points, and Javier Baez hit 3 homers.

6. Jon Voight's Car (Adam, 2-5, 1250.83 points, previously 5): Adam's team leads the league in pitcher wins and transactions (22!), but is last in doubles. He's a regular Jerry DiPoto, churning that roster to find the magic formula. Hope you don't run out of moves by the all-star break. ... Congratulations to JVC for finally picking up win No. 2! Nick Castellanos, Ian Happ and Brian Anderson powered the offense, combining for 74 points and smacking 6 homers. Francisco Lindor appears to be too traumatized by being a Met to bother with hitting a baseball; he scored 10.5 points. Closer Alex Reyes had a nice 15-point week, but Miles Mikolas came off the DL just in time to score 6 points, then got hurt again.

Miles Mikolas barely stuck around long enough to get his picture taken.

7. The Rookies (Henry, 3-4, 1250 points, previously 8): The Rookies rank last in singles and pitcher Ks, and are tied for last in steals. ... Sorry, Henry. There's nothing worse than putting up 220-some points and still losing. Zack Wheeler was FBLG's top scorer of the week, with 40.33 points; he struck out 22 hitters and allowed 1 run in 14.1 innings. Tyler Mahle cost his team 6 points with an absolute stinker, but Craig Kimbrel continues to shine — he put up 21.33 points. The Rookies' offense was powered by the trio of Garrett Cooper, Ozzie Albies and Brig. Gen. Dansby Swanson, all of whom homered 3 times. Henry even got 16.5 points from whatever Guillermo Heredia is. Meanwhile, James McCann continues to be lousy, even by LOLMets catcher standards; Jimmy Mac posted 7 points, which might actually be a season high.

8. Boogie Oogie Penny Ponies (Matt, 4-3, 1198.5 points, previously 7): Matt's crazy team leads the league in saves and is tied for the lead in fewest blown saves; however, they're last in runs allowed, pitcher wins and pitcher losses. Sure sounds like Matt's closer is the only pitcher he has who's worth a damn. ... BOPP's pitchers were actually pretty good in Week 7, but they just didn't pitch enough innings. Logan Webb was the ace, with 15 points. (Oh, that can't be a good sign.) Kyle Schwarber was the leading scorer, homering 3 times and posting 26 points. Trea Turner had another ho-hum 20-point performance. Manny Machado scored only 7 points, probably because his buddy Tatis was hogging all the RBIs.

Alec Bohm is keeping alive the Phillies' tradition of mediocrity at third base. Maikel Franco, Cody Asche, Michael Young, Placido Polanco, Pedro Feliz ... and that's just since 2008!

9. Arbitration Losers (Tim, 1-6, 1133.83 points, previously 9): Our former commissioner's team is last in runs and tied for last in steals. They lead FBLG in fewest times caught stealing and are tied for the lead in fewest blown saves. ... The good news for AL in Week 7 is that Blake Snell and Kevin Gausman were outstanding, allowing 1 run and fanning 19 batters in 12 innings. The bad news is ... well, everything else. Madison Bumgarner went 0-2 and scored 4 points. The offense scored a putrid 69.5 points, and only 3 hitters reached double figures. We can't even blame the Giants because Alex Dickerson and Buster Posey were 2 of the good ones. The duds included Nolan Arenado, who made a pair of errors and posted a 9.

10. Clemente's Bucs (Ray, 3-4, 1108.67 points, previously 10): Ray's team is tied for the lead in steals, but the good news ends there. The Bucs are last in triples, homers, RBIs and pitcher Ks, and tied for last in saves. ... CB just can't get everyone healthy at the same time. Ketel Marte and Christian Yelich are back, but now Pete Alonso is hurt. Bryce Harper had a terrible week, scoring only 4.5 points, but that's still more than the error-prone Alec Bohm. Tommy Edman was the only offensive standout in Week 7; he scored 20.5 points. But the Bucs hit only 2 homers all week, which isn't going to cut it. Patrick Corbin allowed 7 runs in 10.2 innings but still was the top pitcher because he went 1-0.