Welcome to Episode Seven of the Kruk Bucket; I’m your host John Kruk, also known affectionately as “Krukkie” to the staff of Bobby’s Burger Palace. You might have noticed this delicious, half eaten hot dog that I got here. If you’re wondering why, you might remember of an incident I spoke of during my last Kruk Bucket in which several mischievous Tycoons fans thought it might be funny to humiliate me by publicly offering me hot dogs everywhere I went. Although I might have acted a little angrily at first, this boy doesn’t see an ounce of shame in enjoying a good hot dog (as long as you got the relish to go along with it). So in a show of defiance to that, worldwide fans of the Kruk Bucket have been sending me hotdogs through the mail. This one here comes to us all the way from Lithuania, sent in by a fellow who would like to be kept anonymous. Thanks for all your support, folks, and just know that you’re the greatest fan that a baseball analyst could hope for!
Today’s episode will be a little different. I will give my power rankings as usual, but I will just be giving a quick run-down of each team’s man strength, weakness, and X-factor as we enter playoff push territory towards the end of the season.
Strength: The starting Pitching. David Cone’s staff is on a 15 game quality start streak and have been simply dominant. I’m ready to say it's the best starting rotation that the league has ever seen.
Weakness: The offense, generally speaking. No one has really stepped up to lead it. Ichiro started hot, but has noticeably cooled. For Koresh sake, Giles in 2nd in the team with 8 RBIs!
X-Factor: I’m gonna say Luis Aparicio for the Spartans. Not because he’s gonna set a league record for stolen bases, but because he is exactly the kind of player that you need to manufacture runs. With pitching as dominant as the Spartans have, every run that Aparicio can squeeze out is going to have big consequences.
Strength: The three players Albert Pujols, Jack Wilson, and Ralph Kiner have a combined 47 RBIs. To put that in perspective, the entire Darkpaws team only has 35 so far this season.
Weakness: Paradoxically the offense. They only scored 4 runs last series, even though the pitching bailed them out to achieve the sweep. It’s feast or famine with these guys, and it's a bit too streaky for comfort.
X-Factor: Their first three starters: Wells, Hernandez and Day, who are all having career years and performing WAY above their potential. As long as they can keep that up, this team will be close to Number 1.
3. RED (+1)
Strength: Threats up and down the lineup, leading to a very strong but balanced attack. Six batters have at least 2 homeruns
Weakness: Part of the thing holding them back from absolutely dominating the Pee Wee League is their clear lack of an ace. Mark Buerhle is clearly not getting it down, with a record of 0-3 and no quality starts.
X-Factor: Bullpen. I see 10 quality starts from other 3 starters and none of them with any losses. That tells me that a lot of their games are decided in the late innings. We’ll see how they recover after their 30 inning series against the Tycoons.
Strength: Pitching in general. Although Cy Young winner Carl Pavano hasn’t exactly matched his previous year’s performance, both the starting rotation and bullpen have been quite solid.
Weakness: The offense is being carried entirely on the backs of catcher Gregg Zaun and outfielder Eric Chavez. They are the only two players on the roster with more than 6 RBIs.
X-factor: The top of the order really needs to be getting on base more. Zaun and Chavez consistently get the big hits, but there just never seem to be runners in scoring position to cash in on.
Strength: Bullpen. Jesse Orosco and Steve Karsay have been unhittable. I think they are both strong candidates for the All-Star Team. Closer Robb Nen hasn’t been too shabby either.
Weakness: JELLY QUEEN pitchers seem to have some kind of curse on them, in which they are subject to “hell innings.” This is where they are pitching very well, and then have one inning where they breakdown and give up a big rally.
X-Factor: Manny Ramirez. At times, he really looks like MVP material. Not only does he get the big hits, but he really does a good job of moving runners and manufacturing runs. When him and Rondell White are hot, this is a very potent offense.
Strength: Inconsistent in a consistent way, as they’ve split every series but one this year. Continuing this will get them into the playoffs for sure.
Weakness: Aside from Renteria, Cepeda, and Walker, the offense is weak, especially so in the middle of the lineup. Aside from the players mentioned, no other with more than 5 RBIs.
X-Factor: Defense. With three golden gloves in the infield, I can definitely see that being the edge for this team to pull out wins in close games.
Strength: Dynamic offense that moves runners. They lead the league in extra bases and moving runners with sacrifice flies. Outfielder Frank Catalonotto is one of the best examples of this; he gets on base A LOT and rarely gets stranded at first.
Weakness: This team would definitely have another chance at winning the division if it wasn’t for the abysmal performance of their bullpen. They’ve taken 4 losses, only the Darkpaws are worse in that regard.
X-Factor: Tim Spooneybarger. While the rest of the bullpen has been horrible, Spooneybarger has been nothing short of dominant. Look for Coach Jaby to rely on him very heavily as they make a final charge towards the playoffs.
Strength: Like most years, their bullpen has been one of the best. The problem is, most their games this year have been decided in the early and mid-innings.
Weakness: I gave these Tycoons their due. But this team’s offensive performance has been shameful. Shutout 4 of the last 8 games!
X-Factor: You know, I see a lot of parallels with the Darkpaws. Both teams are over-relying on a former MVP. While there is little that Ken Griffey Jr. can do at this point to make a difference, reigning MVP Jeremy Giambi still could do a lot to help his team finish the season strong. He had 34 RBIs last season compared to only 8 RBI so far this year.
Strength: This team is the master of the long ball. They hit a lot of homeruns. David Ortiz, J.D. Drew, Jorge Posada, and Magglio Ordonez are all deadly threats in each and every at bat.
Weakness: Most of their homers are solo homeruns. On base performance has been pitiful; they really could be scoring a lot more runs if they simply had men positioned on base for the big hits.
X-Factor: Edgar Martinez Jr. was brought in specifically to remedy this weakness. He’s been quite in his league debut, but can really have a big impact down the stretch if he gets hot. He is a natural fit for this team.
Strength: Although this team sits at the bottom of the Pee Wee League, they have a rather dangerous offense with Riche Ashburn, Edgar Martinez, and Bengie “Don’t Make Fun of My Speed” Molina all having rather good seasons at the plate.
Weakness: The starters have been blowing their run support. Less than 50% of their starts are quality ones
X-Factor: Starting rotation. Halladay, Daal, Franklin, and Pettite all show flashes of brilliance. If they can get their acts together and start putting together some quality starts, I actually think this team has what it takes to sneak into the playoffs in a very weak Division 2.
Strength: This team doesn’t quit, and has a penchant for late inning heroics. I’m not exactly sure why this happens, but Dr. Vindaloo has attributed it to his mother’s chicken tandoori recipe.
Weakness: Definitely their defense. Catcher Miguel Olivo has one of the weakest arms in the league and gets run all over. Kind of scary with their next matchup against the feet happy Spartans, who have the most stolen bases as a team in the entire league.
X-Factor: Second baseman and coach Adam Kennedy anchors this offense, totaling 8 RBIs so far. He’s actually not a big hitter, but gets on base remarkably often.
Strength: I hate to be crass here, folks…but this team doesn’t have any strengths. This team is even worse than salad; at least salad has got that green fiber that helps a day later when you’ve overdone it on the meats…
Weakness: Everything has been going wrong, but I think the biggest weakness has been the offense. Every single player (with the exception of mid-season acquisition Hank Blalock) is having the worst year of their career. Griffey has only a pitiful 7 RBIs.
X-Factor: None, they're already done like dinner.
That’s all for now, folks. Thanks for tuning in and thanks to all my fans for these delicious hot dogs. Let’s see, what do we have next…oh, an entire crate of of Ballpark Franks? Signed from G. Hammy, of the UK? I really do have the best fans! Thanks again and until next time!
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