Griffleball Week One Power Rankings and Players of the Week

GRIFFLEBALL POWER RANKINGS

WEEK ONE

1. Taka Drivers - 1-1 (LW - #1)

Even though the defending champions did not register a hit in their opening game, they were able to withstand the adversity and hold off a sweep. Kyle Lidster made his 2018 debut with six strikeouts and shows that he could be a great asset to the Taka rotation moving forward. With very little offense for every team in week one, I believe Taka is still the team to beat moving foward.

2. Nighttime Ninjas - 1-1 (LW - #3)

With some uncertainty on their roster, the new additions to the Ninjas did not disappoint. Kyle Gagliardi, Kevin Edgington, and Jeremy Camp all played significant roles in their series against the GasHouse Gorillas. And, Mr. Opening Day (Mike Kubacki) came ready to play in as he was the key reason they took game one from GasHouse.

3. Leroy Legends - 1-1 (LW - #6)

As it stands, the Legends will arguably have one of the best pitchers in Griffleball moving forward. Caleb Jonkman pitched a perfect game and struck out every batter he faced as the Legends shocked the champs by taking the first game. I still worry about how they will adjust offensively in the GBL but, they certainly have the pitching to make their expansion year a playoff year.

4. Digger Dudes - 1-0 (LW - #5)

For the first time in the Dudes history they sit in first place but, it is VERY early in the season. The Felde brothers have shown they can be a great one-two punch on the mound and could be difficult to score on. If they could just find ways to string some hits and score just a run or two, they may surprise many.

5. GasHouse Gorillas - 1-1 (LW - #2)

Without their key offensive player, Jeremy Ratajczyk, the Gorillas were only able to plate one run in 15 innings. And, that run came in the last inning of the series to give them a must needed win. Galiher and Tucker are still their go to starters and should keep them afloat even without Rat for the next few weeks.

6. Ducks on the Pond - 0-1 (LW - #5)

Even though only one game was completed, the Ducks were unable to scratch across a run in 13 innings (second game PPD). On the positive side, Chris Diehl threw eight innings in game one and only allowed one hit. For now the Ducks are at the bottom but, if they begin to produce at the plate they won't be here for long.

GRIFFLEBALL POTW

(I used to do a hitter, pitcher, and rookie of the week but, in 2018 we are going to shake things up. I believe using those categories is too limited and I will now move to a top 3 players of the week regardless of hitting or pitching.)

1. Caleb Jonkman - (P) 1-0 6 IP 12 SO 0 HA 0 BB; (H) 8 AB 4 HITS

2. Jim Tucker - (P) 1-0 10 IP 14 SO 3 HA 2 BB

3. Andrew Felde - (P) 0-0 8 IP 10 SO 0 HA 3 BB