BNN Report
News from the CBO, Minors, CCBL, and CYL
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
4 September 2317
CBO Playoff Tree
SCA Playoffs Preview - Wildcard Round
#5 Quincy Granites (71-59) vs #4 Atom Cats (72-58)
Season Series: Atom 6, Quincy 4
May 18-20 @Qui: Atom 8-3, Atom 14-3, Atom 2-0
July 2-2 @Atom: Atom 4-1, Atom 11-10 (10)
August 24-26 @Atom: Qui 11-5, Qui 13-11, Qui 5-4
August 30-31 @Qui: Atom 10-1, Qui 2-0
Analysis
Baseball is probably a "what have you done for me lately" sport. Assuming that to be true, "lately" has been good for both the Quincy Granites and Atom Cats, the fifth ad fourth seeds in this season's playoffs. Just one year ago, the Granites (then the Gunners) were the SCA's #6 seed, still propelling themselves to the Sole Survivor Series and their first championship. In 2313, the Cats entered as the #2 seed and won ever series to win it all. Two of the last four champions have been either Quincy or Atom, and the Granites also represented the SCA in the 2314 Sole Survivor Series as the #2 seed.
The teams had never met in the playoffs until 2315. Now, this will mark the third-straight season that they meet in the postseason. In 2315, the #6 Gunners downed the #3 Cats, 2 games to 1, in the Wildcard Round. Last season, again as the #6 seed, Quincy defeated the #2 Atom squad, 3 games to 2, in the Association Semifinals.
While they have not been able to be the ML regular season champions except for 2314, Quincy is a dangerous postseason team. With a belt now in their possession, they have shown that they know how to win, especially road series against good teams. We like Quincy, but we also see the major flaw in their chance to repeat in 2317.
On offense, the Granites are efficient, including finishing 2nd in the SCA in runs scored (709), powered by their power hitting (2nd in home runs with 148). Four players were the cause for the run barrage, including two 30-homer hitters in Will Hell (33) and Brad Hop (30). Cf Duff Fee (21) and LF Adavald Vigilant (19) also contributed to the CBO's most dangerous power outfield. Rookie 1B Dodge Squallbender has been an interesting callup to the squad, starting the last 11 games of the season (.213/0/3) over Bingy Xiu (.301/8/28). Squallbender was hitting .245/17/39 with the NEBL's Fall Rivers Rippers before the callup.
The fault comes in pitching, where the Granites were last in the SCA in runs allowed (697) and Starters ERA (5.06). Ace Make Money (10-9, 3.46) is the one saving grace with an ERA below 5.00. Kid Boots Appling (9-6, 5.47) and College Luckyman (10-9, 5.62) are expected to be the other two starters and need a ton of runs to get wins in their decisions. Four-time Fallon's Reliever Award winner, CL Professor Harriel (25 SV, 3.71) is still as good as ever, but his ERA was up nearly 100 points from his career 2.73. he had a 1.12 ERA last season, his second straight Fallon award.
For Atom, the most impressive accomplishment in earning the #4 seed is that they were the CBO's worst team for a time. Despite winning on opening day, the Cats then went 2-17 the rest of the month, falling as far as 3-18 before beginning their turnaround. That means the Cats were 69-40 (.633) since May 2. Atom might be the tea to beat after Glowing Sea.
On offense, the Cars were a pretty good team, finishing 4th in runs scored (651) thanks to the 4th-best OBP (.346). Three standouts in both average and power have been 2B Lee Mayhew (.324/15/86), RF Candy Kline (.315/16/63), and 1B McMack Bingham (.301/23/100).
Starting pitching has been good (3rd with a 3.78 ERA). while the bullpen has not (14th in ERA at 5.50), leading to the 5th-best runs allowed mark (620). All four starters had an ERA below 4.00, with the starters in the postseason expected to be K-9 Creep (11-9, 3.52), Josh Brown (16-12, 3.71), and Junkyard Gourd (12-10, 3.96). Melvin Terminator (6-7, 3.50) moves to the bullpen to try to help. CL Benkum Windhelm (35 SV, 4.02) was OK, but the playoffs Cats need much better.
Prediction
It's the defending champions looking to defend their championship, facing off one of the teams looking for revenge from 2316. It's tough to decide which way is best. Looking at the total product, Atom seems to have the shirt series advantage. Then again, the Granites were a lot more successful in the latter part of the season. We are wavering, but we will pick the Gunners to win shootouts. Quincy 2, Atom 1
#6 FHE Yao Guai (70-60) vs #3 Diamond City Swatters (74-56)
Season Series: FHE 6, Diamond City 4
April 9-10 @DC: DC 9-5, FHE 3-1
June 6-8 @FHE: FHE 6-4, DC 8-3, FHE 8-4
July 26-27 @FHE: FHE 7-5, DC 4-2
August 27-29 @DC: DC 9-5, FHE 5-3, FHE 3-1
Analysis
This is a tale of two teams that have had quite different histories over the years. The FHE Yao Guai have not found much success, though they did expect to compete for a playoff appearance in 2317. PAM though that the Swatters would be the 7th-place team in the RL, but we pointed out that the pitching was just too good to have a losing record. In the end, these are the 6th and 3rd seeds in the playoffs, with Diamond City a veteran team in the playoffs, and the Yao Guai trying to create an identity.
For FHE, this is only their 5th appearance in the playoffs. In their first appearance, 2303, the Yao Guai qualified as the last seed (#5) and lost to #4 Diamond City in the Play-in Round. It was their only meeting. The Swatters are making their 12th playoff appearance and fifth straight after an eight-year absence. Diamond City won the Sole Survivor Series twice (2299, 2300), their only two appearances.
The Yao Guai were about in the middle on both offense and pitching. On offense, they finished 6th in runs scored (640) with the 2nd-best stolen bases number (127). Two players that contributed to that cause were leadoff 3B Dathomirian Zabrak (.293/13/63/53 SB) and CF Missile Crews (.317/9/48/39 SB). 2B Blue Dahlia (.285/19/74) was the team leader in homers and RBI.
On the mound, FHE was tied for 6th in runs allowed (625), with the 11th-best Starters ERA (4.67) and 2nd-best Bullpen ERA (3.84). Starters Baker Dozen (10-9, 4.41) and Nien Nunb (14-9, 3.69) give the Yao Guai their best chance of winning.
Diamond City was bad on offense and great on the mound. The Swatters were 11th in runs scored (580) with their best stat being stolen bases (5th at 102). SS Alex Bragman (.282/19/74) was the best overall hitter on the team. RF Nicholas Stapleton (.306/13/66) helped.
The pitching is top-notch, and Diamond City may even drop 2311 Vim! Pitcher Award winner Heaven Fontenot (15-8, 3.46) to the bullpen for the playoffs. The Swatters finished 2nd in runs allowed (529) with the 2nd-best Starters ERA (3.48) and 4th-best Bullpen ERA (4.26). Who will pitch will be Macho Lopez (14-11, 3.27), beachboy Nut (12-14, 3.93), and Dropper Millieu (12-9, 3.00), a rough bunch to score on. CL Machine Beard (21 SV, 2.25) has been efficient.
Prediction
While we are not sold on either team as the 2317 champions, we do think both can make noise in the playoffs. Only one team can come out of this one. FHE has been good at winning at least one game in every series this season against the Swatters. However, pitching tends to stand out in the playoffs, and the Swatters were only bested in the CBO by the Radscorpions in that regard. We think this will be a quick series. Diamond City 2, FHE 0.