October 3, 2016

Congratulations to Jim Kushner, champion of the 2016 MLB Predictions Pool! Jim is our twelfth new winner in twelve years, and has won in his eleventh year of competition.

• Two unique picks were made this year: Jim had Zach Britton for AL saves, and Daltry/Lovejoy chose Max Scherzer in the NL IP category.
•  Jon Pauley and Jason Salavon collected 81 HBPs each this year, shattering Jon’s own pool record of 71 from 2008.
• Three returning entrants (along with Jim) had their best finishes to date this year: Jason Salavon, Garrett Schwab, and Mike Levine.

Here are the season category leaders, with bold indicating players we actually chose:

AL BA: José Altuve (7)

AL HR: Mark Trumbo

AL RBI: Edwin Encarnación, David Ortiz

AL R: Mike Trout (10)

AL SB: Rajai Davis

NL BA: DJ LeMahieu

NL HR: Nolan Arenado (2), Chris Carter

NL RBI: Nolan Arenado (9)

NL R: Kris Bryant

NL SB: Jonathan Villar

AL IP: David Price (4)

AL W: Rick Porcello

AL ERA: Aaron Sanchez

AL SO: Justin Verlander

AL S: Zach Britton (1)

NL IP: Max Scherzer (1)

NL W: Max Scherzer (3)

NL ERA: Kyle Hendricks

NL SO: Max Scherzer (4)

NL S: Jeurys Familia (3)

AL HBP: Brandon Guyer (7)

NL HBP: Derek Dietrich

AL HBP: Chris Sale (16)

NL HBP: Jimmy Nelson (6)

As always, thanks to our own Brian Wells for making our daily updates possible on the pool site and Twitter. Thanks to Greg and Anthony for joining this year! Congrats to Jim, and let’s enjoy the playoffs… We don’t keep track of fan affiliations, but we can at least confirm devotees of the Mets, Red Sox, and Cubs among our entrants.

-Jud and Dan

October 2, 2016

October 1, 2016

Jason Salavon is back on top thanks to Madison Bumgarner's 7 1/3 innings at AT&T Park yesterday. Jason's NL IP point won't last long, as Max Scherzer takes the mound tomorrow trailing Bumgarner by just 3 1/3 innings.

Should we start making out a check to Jim Kushner? Not so fast… If Jon Lester wins his start this afternoon in Cincinnati, then Scherzer will need a win of his own on Sunday to restore Jim's NL W point. If Lester doesn't get the win today, then Jim's looking pretty good. Kushner can also score some insurance if Mike Trout loses his lead in AL runs, or even shares the lead with Josh Donaldson.

Remember that any one-game tiebreaker potentially played on Monday is considered a "Game 163," so the stats count in the pool (see Matt Holliday, 2007)…

Happy October!

-Jud and Dan

September 30, 2016

September 29, 2016

September 28, 2016

Jim Kushner reclaims the throne with a two-point lead over Jason Salavon. Max Scherzer's outing against the D-backs last night (6IP, 2ER, 10K) earned Jim a point for NL wins while docking Jason one in IP. Scherzer is indeed scheduled to pitch again on Sunday, which could very well grant Jim his first Predictions Pool title.

Our next update will likely follow Madison Bumgarner's start against the Dodgers. See you then!

-Jud and Dan

September 27, 2016