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Written by Cory Puffett
Published August 18, 2024
It's time for the fourth edition of the Scully Cup!
Congratulations to Sean Kennedy on his second title game appearance in as many years. For Sam, he's making his first appearance since losing in Scully Cup I following the 2021 season.
Both managers come into this week 0-1 in their career when playing in the title game, so there no shortage of motivation to keep an eye on their players through this week and get their lineups in order.
Players of the Week
Catcher - Connor Wong, 6.25 points (Sam Martin)
1st Baseman - Jonah Bride, 9.50 points (Cory Puffett)
2nd Baseman - Xavier Edwards, 9.25 points (Cory Puffett)
3rd Baseman - Elly De La Cruz, 15.00 points (Sean Kennedy)
Shortstop - Bobby Witt Jr, 18.00 points (Sean Kennedy)
OF - Aaron Judge, 13.50 points (Sam Martin)
UTIL - Marcell Ozuna, 14.00 points (Sam Martin)
SP - Blake Snell, 23.25 points (Cory Puffett)
RP - Raisel Iglesias, 12.75 points (Cory Puffett)
Story
For the first time in AOA history, neither division winner will compete for the Scully Cup. In the higher scoring of the two matchups, Stephen’s Orange Team put up quite a fight, scoring the second most points of the four playoff teams, but a massive Saturday performance by Sam’s Lowlanders was the difference maker.
A big part of Sam’s 60-point weekend was Cristopher Sanchez’s impressive Saturday outing against the Washington Nationals. The Phillies pitcher tossed a complete game, giving up just one run on 99 pitches. Back in Week 12, Sanchez was one of two starters who came within a few pitches of a Maddux, each pitching for Sam in that matchup. Since then, Sanchez had started seven games and topped five fantasy points just twice before this game, part of a 54-point Saturday that ultimately secured Sam his first Scully Cup berth since our league’s inaugural season.
In the other matchup, Cory’s Fireflies were fighting for their first Scully Cup appearance since their name change after missing the title game for the first time last year.
Cory will have to hang his hat on being the only AOA manager to make the playoffs in all four seasons because, despite a strong comeback on Sunday, Tarik Skubal’s 9-point Sunday night performance was the difference maker to lift Sean to his second consecutive Scully Cup berth.
Sean’s Marauders were a steady force all week, scoring 8.5 points on Monday and then hitting double digits in all six subsequent days. They did their biggest pieces of damage to Cory’s title hopes on Tuesday, when Skubal’s 13.75 points helped Sean to a 22-point daily total, and Saturday when Hunter Brown contributed 14.75 points to a 25.5-point team total for the day.
Scully Cup IV Preview
We've reached the final game of the season. Two managers will face off, each looking for his first career Scully Trophy.
#4 Sam Martin (11-7) vs #3 Sean Kennedy (12-6)
#4 Sam Martin (11-7) vs #3 Sean Kennedy (12-6)
All-time H2H: Sam leads series 6-3
As we enter this final game of the season before the majority of our league turns their attention to fantasy football, the title matchup pits two form Scully Cup losers. Sam lost a nailbiter to Cory Puffett in the first edition of our league's championship game and Sean lost by nearly 50 points to Eric Meyer a year ago.
Sam will be keeping an eye on Ha-seong Kim's shoulder injury as we enter the week. The Padres second baseman has been a mainstay in Sam's lineup this season. He'll also have a decision to make regarding his starting pitchers as his staff has eight scheduled starts this coming week and he'll have to cut that down to six. He'll hope for Cristopher Sanchez to look better coming off Saturday's dominant outing than he did after his near-Maddux in late June, when he cost Sam a point in his next outing.
Sean also has eight scheduled starts for the coming week. No doubt he's wishing he could have had Skubal for two starts in the championship game. Instead he'll have to decide if Erick Fedde is deserving of two-start status this week. A key to Sean's week will be Bobby Witt Jr. The Royals shortstop scored 18 points in the wild card playoffs, the most of any non-starting pitcher. But he'll need Witt's supporting cast to step up, too. Last year, Bryce Harper provided the fireworks in Sean's wild card win over Cory Puffett, but then when Ronald Acuña Jr stepped up to deliver 23 points in Scully Cup II, Harper turned in a ho-hum week.
With the way Sam and Sean have been playing lately, this game could go either way. If they faced each other each week this season, Sean would hold a 9-7 advantage, but they've flip-flopped quite a bit. In fact, the past four weeks have seen them take turns leading the other in scoring, so Sam will hope to buck that trend or it just might be Sean sharing his famous "ANOTHER ONE FOR MILOS" gif one last time in 2024.
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