Yall are lucky the Hurricanes are in double OT on this brisk Monday night or this may not have come until tomorrow.

Another week, another undefeated team that bites the dust. This time in the form of a man previously considered to be unbeatable by some. Legends told of his ascension, but here he is now, a mere mortal once more. Clark taking down the 2-0 giant in Nathan leaves only 2 unscathed on the season. The same luck did not befall the trio of winless teams, as they all three still seek the sweet taste of victory here in the sunrise of our season. Before we break into the recaps this week, I've got perhaps the most important tech upgrade of the season ready for yall to dive into.

The AFBL App

Well it's not really an app. It's what's called a PWA, but it works all the same way. This is important so focus up. I've set up the website to be, first and foremost, an app. Everything will still work on the desktop or mobile browser just the same. But this is the best way to enjoy the league website. Go to the website on your phone (you may be on it now) and, in your broswer share menu, find an option like "Add to Home Screen" or "Install as Web App". It will drop the page onto your home screen, with a nice little app icon and everything. Then, when you navigate to the app, it will open in its own window outside of Safari and not have all the annoying web browser things.

You will also be prompted to subscribe to push notifications. This is not necessary if you don't want them, but after this week I will only send out alerts for the league, like newsletters being published, via push notifications. No more emails. Again, if you don't want them or don't want the app, totally fine. You just will no longer receive emails from me. You can reliably check the website early in the week for the stanard update!!

Stats Stats Stats

This week saw just slightly more points than last, about 70 more (2,669 this week vs 2,598 last), but almost all of that additional production has come from batters. In fact, the percent of total points coming from pitchers has dropped almost 4 basis points since Week 1, down to 40% this week from just over 44% in Week 1. The points from pitchers has stayed consistent WoW, but the points from batters is up. Now, its really just two weeks of comparison, hardly enough for a trend, but maybe something to keep an eye on this season. Will pitching rebound, or has it never left and was just drug down by one specific, sad, person?

Seb, who found the win column this week, was an example of this, increasing his batting points from 146 to 178 week over week. David too, increasing from 121 to 196! Maybe we're in the juiced ball era of the season, make sure you're all setting your lineups to get the most out of your lineup. Because when your bats go dead, it won't matter how good your pitching is. Nathan dropped from 204 to 177, so even leading the league in strikeouts for the week was not enough to scrape out a win.

Also, silly quirk this week, all the "home" teams won. 5-0. Way to put on a show for the home crowds, boys.

Recaps

Joe 193 - 331 Jake

Yeahh... I mean Joe can't complain all that much because he hasn't been the most active manager, but I'd consider this one a rout. Jake set the record for points this week, with 47.3 per day which tops Nathan's Week 2 pace of 46.9, and had 2 of the top 3 scorers of the week with Jose Ramirez (48 points) and Yordan Alvarez (39). In fact, Jake has had the top individual scorer in every week so far. Jake also set a record for the largest MOV of 138, beating out Nathan's 125 victory over Joe in week 1. Now look, I get it, calling performaces record-setting in Week 3 feels gratuitous, but records have to start somewhere! Joe, you're facing fellow 0-3 Ethan this week. One of you MUST win. Dig deep!

John Luke 179 - 295 Seb

Go check the box score and take a guess when John Luke sent me this text.


But I won't belabor on that. Garrett Crochet will have his own special today. Anyways, after originally not realzing he should set his lineup daily, Seb has emerged from a poor Week 1 outing to win 2 straight and sit only 1 game back from the lead. Mason Miller has been an absolute fiend on the mound, the Padres closer has not allowed an earned run since August, now 32.2 IP in a row without conceding. Just this season he's pitched 11.1 innings (34 outs, for you math hotshots), and get this, has twenty-seven strikeouts. Not only is he locking guys down, he's completely blowing them away. This week that was good for 34 points, tops in the Seb-JL matchup this week. John Luke also had a significant RP appearance, though his was around Angels closer Jordan Romano blowing 2 saves in three nights, recording 1 out while giving up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 5 earned runs for -21 before being aggressively dropped to waivers. Reallllyyy not JL's week on the mound. His ERA this week is.... appropriate.

Garrett 186 - 239 Xan

See watch yall this is what's about to happen. I've known Garrett for too long to be caught off guard on this. Garrett is not going to touch his team until the week I play him, he may pick up 1 win by chance in that time, but otherwise will be a bottom feeder for games like this, where Xan steals a win despite putting up the 3rd fewest points in the league this week. Then he'll beat me and gloat about it. Well Garrett, a preemptive fuck you for that. Xan, a post-emptive fuck you for getting to stay tied with me thanks to this clown. Garrett, with every passing week I'm more and more sad you are who you chose to be. Nathan, beat this fool.

Ethan 262 - 307 David

Ethan brother I want you to succeed, I do. I see you on the waivers, setting your lineup. It makes me sick that you're still behind Garrett. Please don't get discouraged, THINK OF YOUR NEWBORN BABY. Ethan got 32 points from both Aaron Judge and Cristopher Sanchez, plus 5 other players breaking 20, but just ran into a 300+ point David team led by Yankees catcher Ben Rice, a team that moves to 2-0 against people not named Jake. Ethan, I think its time for some self-reflection. Why do you think your team refuses to win? Is it some sort of player strike? A union dispute? Do you think your managerial style isn't jiving with the team? One day you'll need to answer these questions, I hope that day comes soon. David will try to knock off an undefeated Xan team this week and keep the pressure on the top of the league, while Ethan has a potential win at hand vs 0-3 Joe.

Clark 320 - 316 Nathan

This one came down to a Braves showdown on Sunday night, Bladwin/Riley vs Olsen for the win. I mean just go look at the box score on this one on the website, look at that score chart, super tight the whole way. Ironically, Nathan benching the other Brave, Michael Harris, wound up costing him the game due to not getting his 10 points for the night. Despite the final score, Nathan did set a record this week with the best single day an owner has had, with 114 points on Wednesday alone. Its Nathan's first L on the season, but don't worry man, its baseball. You're going to win 6, you're going to lose 6. Well, not me, but you and the other losers that aren't undefeated after Week 3. I'm mostly kidding, please don't let Mike Trout hurt me like he hurt the baseball this week, 5 home runs this week with 23 total bases. Clark will try to build on his winning record vs Seb this week, as Nathan will attempt to (and almost certainly succeed) get back on track vs Garrett.

The Mark De Rosa "I'm Bad at My Job" Award

No explaination needed here. Just enjoy my comp of John Luke's nightmare.

Sports: In the Real World

• Braves: Another week, another couple of series wins for Atlanta including a delicious sweep in Philadelphia. They're now 6-0-1 (split vs Dbacks) in series this year and trail only the Dodgers for the best record in the bigs. Drake Baldwin currently leads the bigs in hits and RBIs, be good to our boy Clark.
• Red Sox: 1-2 in Minnesota and vs Detroit made for an unfortunate 2-4 week that keeps the Sox well behind the Yankees for the division lead. Shortstop Trevor Story is pushing 100 ABs on the season, the most on his team, and is currently batting .196.
• Orioles: Not a great week for the orange birds. Without an off day, they played a full 4-game series in Cleveland that saw them go 1-3, plus they dropped a series vs the Diamondbacks 1-2 for a 2-5 record on the week. The Os are back under .500 with the Royals and Red Sox on deck this week.