Prognostikeggers Week 4: Brewers @ Twins

(If you're looking for an explanation of Prognostikeggers, check out the Full Rules for Prognostikeggers.)

That was a tough series.  It's never easy to watch the Brewers get swept, and it's even rougher when you know that the Brewers can win these games.  However, even as the Brewers lose, Prognostikeggers rolls on.  Two three-point bonuses were hit during the Yankees series, along with two record six-point days.  It's not surprising that those two people have taken the lead halfway through the week.

First of all, there is some rules housekeeping to attend to here.  A few people have made predictions that are more unusual and creative, but have a flaw built into them.  To properly score them, I would have to watch full broadcasts, which is not possible for most games.  You can make these predictions, but I cannot guarantee that they will be scored accurately (if at all).  If you want to make sure that your bonus is scored correctly, make a bonus prediction that I can use either the box score or a recap to verify.  If I can use one of those two sources, then it will be scored correctly.  I don't want to discourage you from making certain predictions, I just want to give you every chance to score points.

EDIT: I also realized that I have highlight videos from MLB.com to look at.  Certain plays (like HRs, which would include balls hit off the foul pole since they are always HRs) always have a highlight video, so I can also use those to verify predictions.

Let's get back on track now.  Here are the top 5 in the weekly standings through Thursday:

Here are the top 5 in the overall standings through Thursday:

Check out full standings, a discussion on making predicitons, and the series extra prediction after the jump.

Weekly Winners

Week 1 - Officer Jim Lahey, icecreamman
Week 2 - ddloml
Week 3 - MrLeam

Current Standings for Week 4

Overall Standings through Thursday of Week 4

Let's have a little discussion today on your predictions.  Today, the discussion will focus on following the crowd vs. making your own decisions.  Which is better to do?  By following the crowd, ideally you will keep up with everyone else.  However, you may not make the move to take the lead yourself.  Separating yourself with your own predictions may separate you from the pack, but it's also a risk.  If you're wrong, you could fall behind.

Of course, you could also hedge your bets here.  You can't follow the crowd on everything, so you could follow the crowd on certain predictions and go wild on the others.  For example, follow the crowd on the error and MVP predictions, but maybe go a little wild on hits and runs.  You're strategy also might change based on your current location in the standings.  Leaders may choose to play conservative.  Those behind may go a little more reckless on their predictions.  Some may not care at all and just go with their own feelings or research each day.  What do you think?  How do you feel about it?

Extra Prediction for the Series:  MLB players, managers, GMs, etc., have become obsessed with pitch counts.  Why wouldn't they be?  Science has shown what happens to pitchers who pitch too much, so keeping the pitchers safe is important.  For this series, you're going to be just as obsessed about those pitch counts, but to a different degree.

Your goal is to predict how many total pitches will be thrown in each game between both teams.  This is only for pitches that count towards a pitcher's official pitch count.  If you are within 15 pitches of the actual count (high or low), you will get 1 point.  If you hit it exact, you will get 2 points.  I will give you one hint for this.  The range you will want to pick a number in is between 200 and 400.  I won't get any more specific than that.  It's up to you to do any research that might give you more information on a prediction.

Good luck during this series.