Week 18's installment of the DDWPIPOTCFFBE (Diamond Dynasty Weekly Preview In Pursuit Of The Chalice For Fantasy Baseball Excellence)

Week 17 – The favorites take care of business and the top 6 start pulling away

The Match-Up: TJ (3^rd) vs James (10^th) *5*

TJ is taking advantage of his soft schedule, beating Jarrett (9^th) and Ben (7^th) in consecutive weeks to keep pace with the first and second place teams. If he could have avoided a nasty 6 week win-less streak in June and July he might have been sitting in the driver's seat, but he's only 7.5 games out of first and 3 games out of a bye. TJ will have the toughest last month of the season, facing Adrian (2^nd), Drew (1^st), Kurt (4^th), and Alex (5^th), so it would seem that a big win this week is vital to his bye-week chances. James has been scuffling all season and the last month has been no different, posting an 0-2-2 record and remaining in last place. He's got some nice pieces on his squad and he should be a seller at the deadline, so his impact on the 2011 playoffs remains to be seen. And James knows better than anyone that anything can happen in October September. TJ beat James 6-4 in week 9.

The Match-Up: Colin (6^th) vs Adrian (2^nd) *4*

Colin has faltered at the most critical point in the season, posting a 0-2-1 record over the last three weeks against the bottom of the league (Jarrett (9^th) Ben (8^th) James (10^th)). He might have the hardest schedule coming in, drawing Adrian (2^nd), Drew (1^st) Kurt (4^th), Alex (5^th), and Richie (8^th). He's 1-3-2 in his last 6 weeks overall, and holds a 4.5 game lead over Ben (7^th) for the last playoff spot. It'll be interesting to see if Colin can right the ship and hold his ground against these hard-hitting opponents. After what seems to be a fluke losing streak, Adrian has won 2 in a row and is keeping pace with Drew after losing first place. He closes the season against Jarrett (9^th), Ben (7^th), and James (10^th), so a late season run for #1 is in order. He's got a fantastic match-up next week, facing off against TJ (3^rd) in a battle that could go a long way towards determining who gets that important bye-week come playoff time. Adrian and Colin played to a tie in week 9, 5-5.

The Match-Up: Ben (7^th) vs Jarrett (9^th) *3*

Ben lost last week to TJ (3^rd), 3-6. It's his 6^th loss in the last 8 weeks (1-6-1) and his schedule relief is coming at the perfect time. After battling the top/middle of the league, he gets Jarrett, Richie (8^th) and James (10^th) before closing out the season with a kick-in-the-balls Drew (1st)-Adrian (2^nd) combo. If he has any shot of making the playoffs, he needs to prepare for his last 2 weeks by really turning on the jets over the next three. He'll probably need to put up 20 category wins over the next three weeks in order to survive the end of the season. Jarrett has been scuffling lately, losing 2 weeks in a row and kissing his playoff hopes goodbye. He's battling James for the first pick in next year's draft, and he could pick up a couple more draft picks by selling off some of his more valuable pieces. Ben crushed Jarrett in week 9, 9-1, and he needs to do it again to insert himself back into the playoff picture.

The Match-Up: Drew (1^st) vs Alex (5^th) *2*

Drew continued his torrid stretch of dominance last week, beating Kurt 6-3 for his 7^th straight win. No other team has won more than 4 in a row this season. He's 21-3 over the past 3 weeks and downright SCARY. Does it really matter who he's playing the rest of the way? Drew is my pick to lock up the number one spot, and it's going to take a 2010 Troy Tulowitzki to knock him out of the playoffs. Alex has been playing decently as of late, despite losing 4-6 last week to Adrian (2^nd). The loss was his first in 6 weeks, but he's not blowing anyone away. He posted a 3-2-1 record over that span, but is outscoring his opponents just 30-27. Alex doesn't have a favorable schedule to improve upon his standing, drawing Kurt (4^th), Richie (8^th), Colin (6^th), and TJ (3^rd) to end the season, but a .500 record over the remainder of the year will ensure a playoff spot for the Bates graduate. Drew beat Alex 6-4 in week 9.

The Match-Up: Richie (8^th) vs Kurt (4^th) *1*

Richie got back to his winning ways last week, holding on to a 5-4 victory over Jarrett. He's 6-2 over the last 2 months, but he can't seem to close the playoff gap. He sits 5 games out with 5 weeks left, but Kurt is his toughest test (on paper) for the rest of the season. After this week, he plays Ben (7^th), Alex (5^th), James (10^th), and Colin (6^th) to close out the season. A big loss this week could mean he'll be a seller at the August 14^th trade deadline. Kurt had to face off against Adrian (2^nd) and Drew (1^st) the last two weeks and dropped both match-ups by a combined score of 4-15. He's only won 2 of his last 7, and he no longer has a shot at a bye week. Over the past month, he's gone from 6 games out of first to a whopping 19. After this week, he plays Alex (5^th) and Colin (6^th), all three teams separated by a mere 2 games. It should be an exciting finish to the season! Kurt edged Richie 5-4 in week 9.

Everyone but Alex sucks.