Jacob Bezner & Friends Fantasy Baseball Matchweek 1 Power Rankings

12. Sinjin’s Team (2-10-0)

Kicking off the last spot in the power rankings is Sinjin’s Team. Following up a very serendipitous playoff appearance in the 2023 season, Sinjin Team opens up their 2024 campaign with a 2-10-0 loss to Triple Crown. While it wasn’t all a complete disaster (Sinjin’s Team did manage to finish 3rd in league ERA in matchweek 1), it’s hard to see Sinjin replicate their surprising 4th place finish from last season. Francisco Lindor, Sinjin’s big money signing of the offseason will need to kick it up a few gears for Sinjin to have a shot at competing this season.

11. The Oppenheimer’s (4-8-0)

Last year’s basement dwellers began their 2024 campaign with an 4-8-0 loss to r/The_Ronald. Early in the week it looked like the matchup could stray to a huge victory for the defending title holders, but The Oppenheimers held strong over the weekend and were able to maintain a smaller margin of defeat. However, Oppenheimer’s finished bottom 3 in 8 of 12 categories across the league and finished dead last in 4 (QS, K, ERA, WHIP). Their best finish was 5th place in K/9. With a pitching staff that seems to be completely devoid of any ability and an offense that plays mediocre at best, it’s difficult to envision The Oppenheimer’s competing this year. They’re going to need call-ups from hopefuls Jackson Holliday and Paul Skenes very soon.

10. Blue Hennessy (4-8-0)

Newcomers Blue Hennessy start their league tenure with a result that club founder Justin Fuchs would be proud of, a 4-8-0 loss to Brutus. Picking up a roster of just Mookie Betts in a sea of incompetent baseballing ability is no easy task for any manager as new club CEO Connell tries to make a solid club out of a mess. Pitching is going to be an issue for Blue Hennessy this season but with players like Mookie Betts, and young talent like CJ Abrams and Grayson Rodriguez, there is a solid core and a potential path to playoff contention.

9. Bwentford Baldies (1-2-9)

The Bwentford Baldies have little to be happy about looking back on their matchup against rival Nathan’s Team. It was a non-start over the first couple of days for the Baldies offense as they failed to register even a single homerun over the first 3 days of their matchup.The offense ultimately did pick themselves up a bit finishing 3rd in RBI and 6th in steals. There’s a lot to be optimistic about in this roster between mainstays like Aaron Judge and Pablo Lopez as well as newcomers like Jake Burger and Seiya Suzuki, however in a league packed with some deep teams, the Baldies will need consistency to avoid these blowout losses in the future.

8. Patty Daddy (4-7-1)

Patty Daddy is always the club that gets a lot of hype for an interesting roster but ultimately disappoints with their results. We got a dose of that already to begin this young season. With an offense packed full with exciting talent like Fernando Tatis Jr.,Ozzie Albies, Nolan Gorman, Oneil Cruz, Wyatt Langford run creation should be readily available for Patty Daddy this season.The offense struggled opening week averaging around 7th place in each category. With a very short pitching staff highlighted by Dylan Cease, Evan Phillips and little else, Patty Daddy can not expect to be a playoff team if his high class offense doesn’t kick into gear fast.

7. Brutus (8-4-0)

You might be wondering why the 3rd place team in the league is so low in the power rankings, especially after a solid Matchweek 1 victory. You have to beat the teams on your schedule and Brutus did just that, however, Brutus finished top 3 in just one category in Matchweek 1 (SB). Arms like Zac Gallen, Freddy Peralta, Brady Singer, and Logan Gilbert will need to pitch to their full potential to help propel Brutus to a first playoff appearance. Behind strong hitters like Francisco Alvarez, and Austin Riley it’s difficult to see to much depth in consistency in this offense.

6. Lagermeisters (7-4-1)

The Lagermeisters followed up their first league title with a disappointing 6th place finish in 2023. Looking to shake things up, President of Baseball Operations Landman esq. dealt impending FA Bo Bichette to Triple Crown for a Jazz Chisholm Jr. led package. This trade sent shockwaves through the league and made many question if the Lagermeisters were rebuilding. However with a lot of money wrapped up in familiar talent (Rutschman, Alonso, Seager) it looks like the Lagers will be running it back with a similar squad. They disappointed with a lackluster pitching performance finishing 10th in QS and mid table in Saves, ERA and WHIP. A few outstanding finishes in Runs, Steals an K/9 were the backbone for a solid opening week victory but with a lack of reliable pitching and a lot of young names in the offense it could be a very boom or bust season for The Lagermeisters.

5. r/The_Ronald (8-4-0)

Last seasons champions* finished Matchweek 1 with an 8-4-0 victory over last place defender’s The Oppenheimers. The Ronald’s pitching came out of the gate strong, finishing 1st in ERA and 2nd in WHIP and Quality starts as well as 4th in saves. It came at the expense of K and K/9 but if r/The_Ronald can put out consistently solid pitching like they did this week they will surely be playoff competitors. The offense faltered this week failing to finish top 3 in any categories. With a slow opening to the season for star player Ronald Acuña, this could be a sign of what's to come if Acuña fails to match the absurd heights he reached last season.

4. Nathan’s Team (9-2-1)

Nathan’s Team is one of the most interesting going into the 2024 season. Nathan’s Team (then known as Ernie) finished 2022 with a scorching hot 2nd half that saw them finish just 6 games back of a coveted playoff spot. They followed last season up with a disappointing sub .500 record. However, GM Andelsman has put a lot of attention on his club and plans to make them a competitor this season. New acquisitions Corbin Burnes and Aaron Nola could potentially transform the Nathan’s Team pitching staff into one that can help supplement their budding offense. With names like Adolis Garcia, Yordan Alvarez, Christian Yelich, Michael Harris II, Anthony Volpe and Marcus Semien it’ll be hard for opponents to match the offense of Nathan’s Team. Capturing top 3 finishes in 5 categories (4 offensive) Nathan’s Team are certainly one to look out for in 2024.

3. Sho Time (5-6-1)

3 time running Supporter’s Shield winner’s Sho Time opened up their 2024 campaign with a hard fought matchup against Andre’s Grandma BC. Sho Time ultimately came up short winning just 5 categories, however they managed to lead the league in OBP, SLG and Saves, while finishing top 5 in another 5 categories. If Shohei Ohtani can manage to stay out of trouble from the FBI it could be another year of offensive dominance for Sho Time who’s offense include’s names such as: Bryce Harper, Jose Altuve, Rafael Devers, Kyle Schwarber, Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bobby Witt Jr. Starting pitching will be a question mark for Sho Time with the loss of Ohtani from the rotation, fringe pitchers like Eric Fedde, Spencer Turnbull and Mackenzie Gore will have to be consistent and skilled arms like Chris Sale will have to avoid long trips to the IL.

2. Andre’s Grandma Baseball Club (6-5-1)

AGBC had their 5 year streak of top 3 finishes snapped last year with a disappointing 5th place finish, and no playoff appearance. Met with a cap crunch in the off-season they had to move on from long tenured superstar Jose Ramirez. In what came as a surprise to the rest of the league AGBC dealt JRam to Triple Crown for young talents Tarik Skubal and Spencer Steer. Those players led the way for a hard fought 6-5-1 victory over Sho Time. AGBC’s new look offense finished first in runs, home runs, rbi as well as 3rd and 4th in SLG and OBP respectively. Despite a few blown saves and an offseason injury to star closer Devin Williams, AGBC also managed a first place finish in WHIP and top 4 finishes in Saves and ERA. The quantity of reliable starting pitching is the biggest question mark for Andre’s Grandma this season as they put up bottom half numbers in QS, K and K/9 in this opening week. If Andre’s Grandma can continue to deliver a quality offensive product with quality pitching it may be enough to compensate for the lack of pitching depth, however, a few trades could be in the clubs future as they have already used 16 claims. With names like Freddie Freeman, Julio Rodriguez, Spencer Steer, Teoscar Hernandez, Tyler Glasnow, Tarik Skubal, Jesus Luzardo, Edwin Diaz, Raisel Iglesias and Andres Muñoz leading the charge it’s easy to see AGBC having a bounce back year.

1. Triple Crown (10-2-0)

Triple Crown came out of the gate flying with a massive 10-2-0 victory over Sinjin’s Team. Triple Crown’s pitching was phenomenal finish 1st in quality starts and strikeouts, 2nd in k/9, saves and ERA and 3rd in WHIP. If they can continue to match that level of success in the counting stats with top ERA and WHIP performances they are going to be a serious problem for all opponents this season. The offense wasn’t bad either as they finished 1st in steals, 2nd in RBI and 4th in homers. Triple Crown let down with an 11th finish in OBP, 7th in SLG and 9th in runs but if their pitching staff continues to shine, and the offense can put up good numbers in a few categories it may be enough to cover up some of the holes on offense. Triple Crown take on newcomers Blue Hennessy in week 2 as they look to expand upon their impressive week 1 showing.