Midseason Report: Maplewood Lumberjacks

The Maplewood Lumberjacks did not make any changes after having a reasonably successful season last year. They are happy with the roster as it is from last season, but they have had a bit of mixed results for this year. The stability has helped them at times, and they have a strong hierarchy, but they are only at 17-15 as the last team to reach midseason. This means they will face a crowded schedule of about 2.5 games per week over the last half of their season. They will need to be at their best to hold onto their current ranking of 15th in the league.

The Lumberjacks total offense sits at about 1548, which is what can reasonably be expected of a middle of the pack team. Their longtime captain and offensive leader is their lead-off hitter Fluffina, who averages 461 points per game to account for 30% of the offense. While she may be getting tired from carrying the team on her back, she has a decent consistency of about 1.3, which pairs well with the high offensive output. Behind her, Bryant is the other career Lumberjacks, and he carries a 381 average that makes up 24.5% of the team offense. Bryant is consistent to a measure of about 1.35 so far this season, which also goes pretty well with his offense. Behind him, the second-year Lumberjack Diddley produces about 368 points per game, which puts him at 24% of the offense. Diddley is a savvy veteran and strongly consistent, approaching a mark of 1.6 in that particular metric. At the back of the lineup is the team's anchor, Cubby, who has a 337 average this season. Cubby may be leaving the team at the end of the year, and his 22% point share would be easily replaced, as would his 1.5 consistency that proves a bit more troubling with the lower average. On the whole, the Lumberjacks pretty much have all the pieces they need to make the playoffs for one last run with this group of players. I believe they will make it.

With this being the final midseason report, I will look back on my playoff predictions and edit them as I see fit. In this case, I only see the need for one change: the Eastside Sharks will actually make the playoffs (not miss, as I predicted in game 514), and the Todavía Stills will be out due to an irreparable slump unforeseen at game 501.