I am sure if you asked any Sunbeams fan how they’re feeling about the second season of Blaseball’s new Coronation Era, they’d tell you they’re a bit nervous about all the attention they’re getting.

But the attention is for good reason, as one of the league’s top teams spent the election getting stronger and seems poised to have a great season. After finishing Season N1 with a record of 66-24, the Beams swept the Miami Dale only to stumble and have their kicks taken by the Charleston Shoe Thieves in the second round of the Post Season. But that’s the same Charleston team that finished below the Moab Hellmouth Sunbeams in the Awful Good division during the Regular Season.

So, what should we expect from the Estimated Sunbeams and the rest of Blaseball in this upcoming season in the Coronation Era? Here’s a preview of every division, including our panel of power rankers’ predictions for how each division will finish.

Awful Good

Predicted order of finish:

1. Moab Hellmouth Sunbeams (No. 1 overall)
2. Charleston Shoe Thieves (No. 2 overall)
3. Baltimore Crabs (No. 12 overall)
4. Miami Dale (No. 13 overall)
5. Philly Pies (No. 15 overall)
6. Hades Tigers (No. 20 overall)

While this writer (Firewall Andrews) thinks the Shoe Thieves are the best team in the league, most of our rankings panel picked the Sunbeams, so they get the top spot in the division prediction. However, the panel did put these teams at the top of the overall rankings together, so expect a close fight and a serious title run from whichever team wins the division.

Beyond the two powerhouses, there are three middling teams in the Crabs, Dale and Pies. Miami made the playoffs and saw its roster shuffled a bit with randomized players, but it remains to be seen if they improved enough to take a big step forward in Season 2. The Crabs added the best batter in the Black Hole, but that alone won’t be enough to shore up their roster, and they should struggle to keep up with the Sunbeams and Thieves. The Pies have a solid but unspectacular team destined for a middle-of-the-road finish.

And the Tigers have Zephyr McCloud, who is very good, but will also be very interesting to watch given their curse. So this is a division with lots of great storylines entering the new season.

Chaotic Good

Predicted order of finish:

1. The Kansas City Breath Mints (No. 5 overall)
2. Boston Flowers (No. 11 overall)
3. San Francisco Lovers (No. 16 overall)
4. Canada Moist Talkers (No. 19 overall)
5. New York Millennials (No. 21 overall)
6. LA Unlimited Tacos (No. 23 overall)

The Mints were one of four teams to go over 60 wins in Season 1 and return a solid roster that went unchanged in the offseason. They bump down to No. 5 overall following a fourth-place overall finish as the Yellowstone Magic are projected to jump them in overall standing based on our panel’s picks. I’m not so sure, and I think the Mints should coast to another 60-win season and playoff berth (birth? is that still a thing?).

The Flowers grew as a group over the offseason via the election and are a team with a lot of promise. This could be one of the top pitching and defense teams in the splort, and I think No. 11 overall is a bit low for Boston. They might give the Mints some trouble but likely finish as a runner-up with a solid shot at the playoffs alongside the Thieves, Beams and Mints.

The rest of this division is going to struggle, especially with all the games they’re going to have to play against Kansas City and Boston. None of the teams really got any better in the offseason, and the Moist Talkers losing Simon Haley probably makes them a good bit worse. The Season 2 elections will be very important for these four squads.

Awful Evil

Predicted order of finish:

1. Atlantis Georgias (No. 6 overall)
2. Core Mechanics (No. 9 overall)
3. Broken Ridge Jazz Hands (No. 10 overall)
4. Houston Spies (No. 14 overall)
5. Dallas Steaks (No. 18 overall)
6. Chicago Firefighters (No. 24 overall)

This is definitely a division to watch, as any of four teams could realistically pick up the division title in Season 2. The favorites are definitely Atlantis, with a solid pitching staff and long-time blaseballer Beck Whitney leading a good offense.

But the Core Mechanics have an optimized lineup and promising pitching of their own, the Jazz Hands got a big pitching boost in the offseason to support that was top 10 in OPS a season ago, and the Spies are long shots, but Terrell Bradley’s alternate is still quite the player and the offense in Houston can hit.

Hello, Steaks!

And the poor Firefighters not only missed out on team-improving blessings, but got tossed a terrible batter by a Houston wimdy of a blessing. Sorry, Chicago.

Chaotic Evil

Predicted order of finish:

1. Mexico City Wild Wings (No. 3 overall)
2. Yellowstone Magic (No. 4 overall)
3. Seattle Garages (No. 7 overall)
4. Hawai’i Fridays (No. 8 overall)
5. Ohio Worms (No. 18 overall)
6. Tokyo Lift (No. 22 overall)

If the Awful Evil is “a division to watch,” this is “THE division to watch.” Loaded with four of our top 10 teams in the power rankings, the Chaotic Evil will see the Wild Wings, downgraded by some awful misfortune and a noteworthy incineration, chased by the upgraded Magic and Garages and the slightly shored up Fridays.

These are four genuinely good teams and it’s hard to pick a favorite, because most of what we knew about the dominant Wild Wings team of a season ago is not going to be there to start this season. James Boy does return, but without Fletcher Peck and Anastasia Isarobot on the main roster, it’s left the door wide open for Kiki Avci and the Magic to make a real run at a division title.

Don’t count out the Garages or Fridays, who both finished ahead of the Magic last season, and while their blessings might not have seemed as flashy and fun as the one Yellowstone got, I wouldn’t say either team should be discounted as a true contender for this division.

The post Blaseball Season CE2 Preview: Estimating the Sunbeams appeared first on Blaseball News Network.

The Post Season of Blaseball’s first season of the new era continues, but Firewall continues to want to look back, considering the notable stats from the regular season that was.

After 90 games, every team showed strengths and weaknesses, so here’s a look at what every team did best, and where they should be looking to shore things up during the elections.

Atlantis Georgias – The Georgias scored tons of runs in lots of different ways, not relying on the homer but instead leading the league in sacrifice hits and ranking fifth in triples. This is the sort of power hitting that should translate well into this new era of defensive blaseball. However, the Georgias do need to strike out more batters, racking up the fewest Ks of any team (517) for the first season.

Baltimore Crabs – The Crabs’ pitching staff allowed the fewest home runs in the league in Season N1, which is great! It’s also one of few standout areas for Baltimore, who need a bit more star power to move up in the standings. The team finished in the bottom third of the league in total bases and runs scored on offense this past season.

Boston Flowers – Only the Lift allowed more home runs than the Flowers’ pitching staff this season, which will hold Boston back in its aspirations in future seasons. However, they also struck out the third-most batters, so there is a glimmer of hope that the underlying stats for the Boston bullpen are better than what we saw on the field in this first campaign of the new era.

Breckenridge Jazz Hands – The Jazz Hands were two strikeouts above last place among pitching staves, not a great place to be However, they picked up the fourth-most triples in the league, showing that they still know how to put on a captivating show in Breckenridge.

Canada Moist Talkers – The Talkers have some of the weaker power bats in the league, ranking 21st in team slugging percentage and near the bottom in runs scored, as well. However, no team hit more singles than the Canadians, which means with a bit of time in the gym and those singles becoming extra-base hits, the Moist Talkers could be in for a quick turnaround.

Charleston Shoe Thieves – The Shoe Thieves come in second in singles hit behind the Talkers but don’t have quite the same problem picking up extra-base hits, ranking seventh in total bases in ILB this season. However, they may want to avoid putting runners on first, as they hit into the fifth-most double plays of any team in ILB in the first season of the NEW era.

Chicago Firefighters – Let’s focus on the positives first and note that the Firefighters finished with a respectable 656 strikeouts, good for 10th among bullpens in ILB. However, the offense was … bad, scoring the fewest runs and racking up the second-worst slugging percentage in ILB.

Core Mechanics – A team after my own heart, the Mechs finished with the third-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in ILB this past season at 6.37 whiffs per free pass. However, the team was pretty mediocre at the plate, and while they have no clear weaknesses there, they failed to crack the top 10 in any meaningful team hitting stat outside of doubles and avoiding whiffs. That said .. it’s hard to find a negative thing to say about this team, and they’re one to watch for the future.

Dallas Steaks – Despite having one of the best sluggers in the league in Vanille Okidoke, the Steaks finished in the bottom five among offenses in OPS and on-base percentage. The pitching staff was great at keeping runners off the bases, though, as the team ranked ninth in WHIP (walks and hits allowed per inning pitched).

Hades Tigers – Mehdi Caper was the lone bright spot on a pitching staff that led ILB in walks issued in Season N1, where the Tigers really lacked consistency on the mound. The offense wasn’t much better, ranking last in OPS. Sorry, Tigers fans … there really isn’t much good to say about this team right now. Hades had arguably the worst statistical season in ILB to start the new era. I guess we can break the rules and shout out Stevenson Heat for leading ILB in double plays on defense? That’s a positive!

Hawai’i Fridays – The Fridays are a team I love to hate, as they are strong in one of my favorite stat categories (pitching strikeouts per nine innings, where they rank sixth), but poor in one of my other go-to stats for pitching strength (walks per nine innings, a stat in which they are 10th worst). This balances out to a very mid K/BB ratio, but it worked for Hawai’i, as they finished with the fourth-best ERA in the sport.

Houston Spies – Only the Tigers issued more walks than the Spies, who definitely need to shore up their pitching staff in the offseason. However, the bats showed some solid pop, coming in at No. 6 in ILB in slugging percentage in Season N1.

Kansas City Breath Mints – The Mints’ pitching staff was FANTASTIC on the mound, racking up the second-most strikeouts in ILB (752) and the second-best WHIP (0.825). It’s hard to find many negatives about the team, but they were one of only five teams to score over 300 runs but strike out over 600 times. That’s the one thing we could see propelling the Mints to an even better season: a bit more discipline at the plate.

LA Unlimited Tacos – However, no team struck out as often as the Tacos, who finished with just shy of 800 whiffs in 90 games at the plate. Not good. On the flip side, the team was great at keeping the ball in the park on defense, allowing the fourth-fewest homers per nine innings among pitching staffs to start the new era.

Mexico City Wild Wings – Well, they scored the most runs (by a wide margin), hit the most homers, struck out the least and had the best OPS by nearly 100 points on offense, all while sporting a solid pitching staff. It’s really hard to find a negative, but if we had to … they did hit into the most double plays of any team in Blaseball. I guess they can work on improving that?

Miami Dale – The Dale ranked sixth in triples with 50 (50 3s, backwards that’s 305). But they did struggle with keeping the ball in the park, allowing the third-most homers per nine innings of any pitching staff (more than one per game).

Moab Hellmouth Sunbeams –The BEAMS! Oh, how I love you, Beams. No team came close to Moab Hellmouth in the strikeout to walk ratio category, with the Sunbeams at 8.24 and the next closest squad at 6.67. However, that strong command came with a bit of risk, as the Beams also allowed the fifth-most homers per nine innings in the league.

New York Millennials – The Mills really lacked pop at the plate, hitting only 66 homers, fourth-fewest in Season N1. However, they were one of four teams to finish with at least 700 hits, 30 triples and 100 sacrifices but with 30 or fewer double plays. (This was a reach, sorry Mills fans, not a lot of good to say about the stats this season).

Ohio Worms – Only the Tigers had a worst strikeout to walk ratio than the Worms, who whiffed only 532 batters in 90 games. The offense was far from consistent but did offer a lot of pop, as the team was one of only 10 with more than 80 home runs on the campaign.

Philly Pies – The Pies’ pitching staff was solid to start the new era, ranking top 10 in K/BB and strikeouts, but could stand to improve at the plate with a team OPS of just 0.600, fourth-worst in ILB..

San Francisco Lovers – It was all or nothing for the Lovers, who had a respectable 90 home runs to rank eighth among ILB teams, but posted the sixth-worst slugging percentage at 0.367. The Lovers will need to make more consistent contact to take advantage of the clear home-run power on their roster.

Seattle Garages – The Garages were solid on both sides of the ball to start the new era with few obvious weak points, so we’ll start with the bad news: They did walk 220 batters, one of eight teams to issue over 200 free passes from the mound. However, they were top 10 in strikeouts and on the offensive side, top five in OPS as a team.

Tokyo Lift – No team allowed more hits than the Lift, who were the only team to break 10 hits allowed per nine innings in Season N1. The bats weren’t much better, but they were one of only four teams to hit 40 or more triples and 30 or fewer double plays. (Sorry to the Lift, as well, just not a lot of positive things to say.)

Yellowstone Magic – The ball was flying at the Park Park this season, as the Magic ranked third in OPS in the league, led by star Kiki Avci. However, the pitching was nothing special, as the Magic were one of seven teams with fewer than 600 strikeouts on the mound to begin the new era..

Special thanks to Abyline on the SIBR Discord for help parsing and compiling season stats!

The post The best and worst stat for every Blaseball team in NEW Season 1 appeared first on Blaseball News Network.

Season N1 is in the books, and the Post Season is underway. But before we get too far into the drama of the playoff and the intrigue of the elections, let’s take a look back at the notable players from the first season of the new era of ILB.

Specifically, here’s one player you should know about from every Blaseball club!

Atlantis Georgias – And I immediately cheat and start with two names: Let me tell you all about Son Jensen and Emmet Atomic. The Georgia’s ace, Jensen, went 14-4 and issued only seven walks while striking out 121. Atomic finished with a 12-6 record, walking only four batters and whiffing 86. These aren’t astronomical strikeout figures, but with walks that low, these are tough pitchers to beat.

Baltimore Crabs – It was a fairly quiet season in Baltimore compared to the team’s storied history in the previous eras of Blaseball, and the team really lacked in star power. However, Ramirez Winters is a name to know. They finished with 10 triples, one of only 29 players to accomplish the feat, and led the Crabs in homers, RBIs and batting average, while also chipping in with 21 sacrifices, top 10 in the league.

Boston Flowers – Amir Murphy cracked the top 20 in ILB with 166 strikeouts in the first season of the era, but was unlucky to walk away with a 7-11 pitching record thanks in part to low run support but also a bit of a homer problem. If Murphy can keep the ball in the park in the future, this flower should blossom in the coming seasons.

Breckenridge Jazz Hands – Veteran ILBer Qais Dogwalker finished in the top 20 of ILB in OPS and led the Jands in doubles, triples, sacrifice hits, RBIs and batting average. Their 23 sacrifice hits were tied for fourth in the league.

Canada Moist Talkers – Simon Haley! The former slugger for the Shoe Thieves who hit the splort’s first pentaslam is back as a pitcher, and showed off some incredible skills this season. Haley sat down 128 batters via the strikeout while walking only 5, giving them the seventh best strikeout-to-walk ratio for Season N1. (Eris Street? They’re good, too.)

Charleston Shoe Thieves – Jammy Decksetter was a star on offense for the Thieves, ranking 13th in Blaseball in OPS and being one of only 17 players to hit 20 or more homers over the 90 game season.

Chicago Firefighters – It wasn’t exactly a season to write home about for the Firefighters, but they have a promising talent on the mound in Karato Rangel. The team’s ace was one of only seven pitchers to strike out more than 150 batters and walk 10 or fewer over the course of the regular season.

Core Mechanics – We have to talk about Chorby Short, right? The fan favorite took to the mound and was incredible, demonstrating pinpoint precision with 114 strikeouts and only four walks, the third-best K/BB ratio in ILB. The Mechanics as a whole were great at keeping the ball in the zone, issuing the third-fewest walks of any pitching staff.

Dallas Steaks – Vanille Okidoke was one of 15 ILBers to hit for better than .330 on the season, adding 28 home runs, second in the league. That’s more homers than the next three best players from the Steaks combined!

Hades Tigers – Mehdi Caper was one of 15 pitchers to surpass 170 strikeouts in Season N1, and finished with the best ERA in blaseball at 1.37. However, poor run support meant they could only manage a 9-9 win-loss record, but that’s not a great reflection of the dominant season on the mound for Caper, who was arguably the best pitcher in blaseball.

Hawai’i Fridays – Famous Owens lived up to their name with a noteworthy performance at the plate, ranking 16th in OPS in the league (one of 18 players above 1.000) and leading the Fridays in homers (19, tied with Valenzuela), RBIs (65) and hits (122).

Houston Spies – Terrell Bradley finished 12th in the league in RBIs for the Spies, thanks in large part to 20 sacrifice hits, one of only 15 players to hit that mark, and the only player with at least 20 sacrifices and 15 home runs.

Kansas City Breath Mints – Thanks to the facts machine, you already know about Stretch Sutton, so let’s instead focus on Plums Blather. Part of a dominant Mints’ pitching staff, Plums struck out 190 batters, third-most in ILB, and finished with the fifth-best ERA (1.71).

LA Unlimited Tacos – Despite joining midseason, Malik Destiny led the Tacos in triples hit with 13 (tied for ninth in the league in two-thirds the plate appearances of other leaders) and posted the second-best OPS on their team.

Mexico City Wild Wings – There’s almost too much to say about this team, so let’s focus on someone whose name doesn’t show up on the home run leaderboard: Letitia Diop. Diop had the second-most sacrifice hits in Blaseball with 25, and they’re one of four Wings players in the top eight in the league in runs batted in.

Miami Dale – Malik Romayne posted the third-best ERA in ILB in Season N1, ranking seventh with 178 strikeouts and walking only 12. Their 14-4 record helped lift the Dale into the Post Season to begin the new era.

Moab Hellmouth Sunbeams – Jorge Owens was the only non-Wings player to top 80 runs batted in this season, tying for the league lead with 86. That, combined with their 26 homers, helped propel a well-rounded Moab Hellmouth team into the Post Season and a spot in the Semifinals.

New York Millennials – Not much went right for the Mills in Season N1, but Alejandro Navarro is a keeper on the mound. They finished with 111 strikeouts and only eight walks, a stat line hardly deserving of a 7-11 win-loss record.

Ohio Worms – Malin Hsu joined the 20 home run club in Season N1 for the Worms while finishing with the eighth-best batting average in blaseball. They led Ohio in pretty much every category, including hits, singles, doubles, RBIs and OPS.

Philly Pies – Jira Sealegs was one of only four players with more than 20 home runs and fewer than 35 strikeouts. They made good, consistent contact for the Pies, as well, ranking 10th in ILB in batting average on the season.

San Francisco Lovers – Alvie Kesh finished tied for ninth in RBIs with 67, slugging 22 homers and batting .310 to lead the Lovers in all three categories. They also struck out 14 fewer times than their next closest teammate, Kiki Junior Jr.

Seattle Garages – A run-producer who doesn’t rely on the long ball, Hendricks Richardson finished with 68 RBIs despite only 11 homers. That’s thanks in part to 54 doubles, tied for 11th in the league, and a respectable 14 sacrifice hits.

Tokyo Lift – Tad Blortles finished with a 7-11 record on the season for the Lift, and while they did give up a good number of homers, to finish with 99 strikeouts to only six walks shows good promise for a Lift team looking for big gains in Season N2.

Yellowstone Magic – The League’s OPS leader (not counting Natha Spruce, who played in only a few games for the Lift) was the Magic’s own Kiki Avci, one of only 19 players to hit for a “quadruple double” on the season (more than 10 of each: singles, doubles, triples and home runs). They also drove in 73 runs, fourth-best in the league.

Special thanks to Abyline on the SIBR Discord for help parsing and compiling season stats!

The post Every Blaseball Team’s Star of the New Era appeared first on Blaseball News Network.