Lenny Melnick (164.85) took first place in the first week of Phase IV of the Tout Wars daily contest, edging out Scott Pianowski (161.10) and then Michael Rathburn (158.70) in a week laden with points and high scores, provided Frankie Montas and Corey Kluber were not selected as starting pitchers for the day.
For those of us who did — like Jeff Boggis and me — there is again an uphill climb to try and touch the leaders, but here we are at Week 2 of the contest so, for now, all bets are off.
The overall contest is being waged at DraftKings and is nearly three-fifths through, which suggests the season has slipped away so quickly, but there you have it. The tourney is desperate for finalists not named Link, Zola, or Wolf, so root for Brian and Bret, and even Jeff Boggis and me if you will!
You can check out the leaderboard as the season progresses, along with a wrap-up on ToutWars every Wednesday.
For the archivists, totals are gathered for all participants over five four-week periods, with the top three point-scorers per period getting golden tickets 
to the survivor tournament. That’s where the player with the most points after three contests will be crowned champion. Additionally, the highest-scoring player over all 20 weeks earns a wild-card entry to the tournament.
You can see the Touts’ recommendations as participants suggest a pitcher and hitter every Tuesday on the Tout Wars site.
Zach Eflin (7600): The Phillies righty is 6-2, 3.02, with a 1.17 WHIP and 57 strikeouts over his last 56.2 frames and faces an Orioles team that is hitting just .225 off righties. And Elfin gets to pitch at home.
Jake Bauers ($4000): Bauers has been solid since his call-up, generating 7.8 points per game. He and his under-rated Rays mates square off against Trevor Richards, he of the 5.06 ERA and 1.48 WHIP.
Tune into the Tout Wars Hour on the FNTSY network, hosted by me, with Justin Mason and featuring Lord Z every Sunday, 2-4 PM ET/11 AM-1 PM PT, and you can follow me @lawrmichaels.
