Aces Only Association:

2026, Week 17

Written by Cory Puffett
Published July 19, 2026

Last week's All-Star Break-shortened week was the first time in AOA history we saw a team fail to record a single pitcher start across an entire matchup with Eric's Eagle Fang Baseball did it. This year, Sean Kennedy joined him as his staff logged just two innings pitched across two relief appearances by Aroldis Chapman.

Stephen April can clinch the AOA West with a win this week against Cory Frontin.

Sam Martin can clinch a wild card spot, eliminating the AOA West from the wild card race, with a win against Rich Blorstad if Stephen beats Cory Frontin. If only one of those happens, Sam will clinch no worse than a tie for the final wild card spot at season's end.

Players of the Week

Catcher - Drake Baldwin, 11.80 points (Cory Puffett)

1st Baseman - Pete Alonso, 2.30 points (Stephen April)

2nd Baseman - Nico Hoerner, 5.45 points (Stephen April)

3rd Baseman - Sal Stewart, 3.25 points (Stephen April)

Shortstop - Elly De La Cruz, 5.95 points (Cory Puffett)

OF - Wilyer Abreu, 10.65 points (Sam Martin)

UTIL - Taylor Ward, 4.35 points (Alex Mayo)

SP - Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 12.95 points (Cory Frontin)

RP - Aroldis Chapman, 8.10 points (Sean Kennedy)

Drake Baldwin and Wilyer Abreu were on fire coming out of the All-Star Break. Double digit points in just three games each is insane. All season there have only been 93 double-digit weeks from non-pitchers, or an average of fewer than six per week through the first 16 weeks of the season!

Abreu and Taylor Ward each earned their first career player of the week recognition this week!

Game of the Week: Cory Puffett (58.90) vs Rich Blorstad (51.15)

All-time H2H: Series tied 5-5

In an All-Star-shortened battle between the league’s two heavyweights, vying for an AOA East division title, Cory had slightly less volume than Rich in each discipline but his vast advantage in offensive production lifted him to the victory.

Rich’s Dredgers had a solid pitching advantage of nearly 10 points. While Webb, Alcantara and McGreevy each pitched well for Cory’s Fireflies, Eovaldi did not and neither of his relief appearances resulted in a save or hold. Rich, meanwhile, only had one relief appearance, which also did not result in a save or hold, but he received two masterful performances Sunday from Burke and Griffin while Woo and Luzardo each contributed strong outings from the mound.

Unfortunately for Rich, his bats hit the snooze button coming out of the All-Star break as his squad managed just one home run and six extra base hits against 7 and 10, respectively, for Cory’s squad. Cory’s 32 points from offense were only bested by Sam’s Lowlanders by a quarter of a point.

Cory's top scorer: Drake Baldwin, 11.80 points (3 games)

Rich's top scorer: Sean Burke, 11.80 points (1 start)

Sean Kennedy (26.95) vs Stephen April (63.95)

All-time H2H: Stephen leads series 5-1

Sean's top scorer: Aroldis Chapman, 8.10 points (2 appearances)

Stephen's top scorer: Paul Skenes, 11.05 points (1 start)

Sam Martin (60.75) vs Eric Meyer (38.95)

All-time H2H: Sam leads series 14-4

Sam's top scorer: Tarik Skubal, 12.45 points (1 start)

Eric's top scorer: Chris Sale, 12.30 points (1 start)

Alex Mayo (32.45) vs Cory Frontin (59.80)

All-time H2H: Series tied 8-8

Alex's top scorer: Fernando Tatis Jr., 8.40 points (3 games)

Cory's top scorer: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 12.95 points (1 start)

Rich Blorstad remains atop the power rankings this week. It is his 24th #1 ranking in his career.

Alex Mayo has now been at the bottom of the power rankings for 12 weeks in a row. This is his 26th career appearance at the bottom of the power rankings.

Note: MLB issues stat corrections up to 7 days after games. These corrections will be applied to games, including those that have been completed, but these articles will not necessarily be updated with those stat corrections.

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