League Updates

Rosebuds in serious bloom

The Rosebuds, 2.5 games out in fourth place yesterday, surged into a very close second place by taking advantage of their competitors’ lapses.  I have some rosebushes. I pruned them (very late) last weekend. Maybe I’ll just go and prune them again. Harder.

EFL Standings for 2018
EFL
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA
Brookland Outs 29 20 .602 258.3 212.6
Portland Rosebuds 29 20 .591 0.5 230.4 190.6
Old Detroit Wolverines 26 19 .582 1.3 188.8 160.7
Canberra Kangaroos 26 21 .549 2.7 210.5 190.4
Flint Hill Tornadoes 24 21 .529 3.7 190.7 179.8
Kaline Drive 25 24 .502 4.9 215.3 214.5
Cottage Cheese 24 25 .486 5.7 251.9 259.5
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 22 24 .479 5.9 240.1 253.5
Haviland Dragons 23 26 .469 6.5 203.5 217.1
Peshastin Pears 22 27 .439 8 206.9 237.1
D.C. Balk 20 27 .417 8.9 185.3 219.5
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Brookland:  W (-1), L 2; (-2) – 6. Even though Jose Bautista rose from the dead again to go 1 for 3 with a double; even though Jeremy Hellickson turned in 5.3 more improbably good innings (1 earned run, for a 1.69 ERA but a 4.18 FIP); and even though both of Brookland’s third basemen had great days (Anderson: 1.167 OPS; Andujar: 1.250 OPS); the Outs in 55 plate appearances could only muster a .135, .182, .250 batting line.  That’s almost two games’ worth of only about one run created per game. Put that up against their 5.62 era (Mychal Givens’ triple-chulking 1 ip, 3 er being the capper), and the Outs experienced their worst day in quite a while.  Badly timed, too.
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Portland:  W 2, L (-1); 10 – (-2). (.375, .432, .575 — Happy Edgar Day!; 15.3 ip, 1 er).   Chris Sale gave a gift homer to the debuting Willy Adames.  Despite the generosity, Sale and Kevin Gausman combined for 14 ip, 1 er, good enough to go back and revoke some prior runs allowed.  This is one of the unique beauties of the EFL!  Redemption is possible.  Jonathan Villar will need some redemption on the offensive side since he was the only Rosebud (out of 11 who appeared) to not reach base safely Tuesday. On the other hand, four Rosebuds had matching 1.750 OPSes yesterday.  Mookie Betts and Gleyber Torres took the same path (2 for 4 with a homer) while Welington Castillo went 3 for 4 with a double and Jacoby Jones did it with 2 for 3 with a double and a HBP. Gleyber Torres is beginning to resemble Jose Altuve from the Wolverine point of view.  Had we been awake we could have nabbed him in the last monthly draft. Had we been quicker we could have nabbed him in a trade last weekend. After that I’m pretty sure he is going to lead the Rosebuds to EFL glory.
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Odd Detritus:  L, 3 – 3. (.209, .306, 326 — Happy Mario Mendoza Day!; no pitching).  Missing out twice on Gleyber Torres is only part of the picture of Woeverine  brilliance on display yesterday.  Here’s another:  the W’s best hitter in terms of RC/G yesterday was probably Dan Vogelbach. The only hitter who appeared yesterday and was benched 100%: Dan Vogelbach.  The W’s have stuck by Vogelbach ever since they stupidly used him in the last week of the 2016 season, hoping he would push the team into the EFL championship (which his .083, .154, .083 line somehow failed to do), thereby burning the entire 2021 season.  Someone should trade something to me to free Dan Vogelbach so he can carry the Mariners on his back until August.
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(Editor’s Note: this is actually a misuse of Mario Mendoza’s name.  The real Mario Mendoza ended his 19-year career with a .215, .245, .262 line. I suppose a Mario Mendoza day would be when your team batting average barely clears .200 while your team OPS hovers right around .500. The W’s OPS was clearly too high to merit a Mario Mendoza mention.)
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(Did you know there was another Mario Mendoza?  He had a 17-year career from 1999 to 2016, all of it in the minors or the Mexican League.  The pinnacle came in 2002 when he made it to triple-A  Salt Lake City for 7 innings. The good news was his FIP in SLC was 6.88.  His ERA there was 10.29. His career culminated in 2016 when he appeared in 21 games for VAQ — apparently in a Mexican league — where he pitched 18 innings in 21 games to a magical 5.50 ERA with 23 hits, 11 walks, and 6 strikeouts.)
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Canberra: L, 2 – 9. (.229, .325, .400;  9 ip, 9 er). The hitting would play this season but not with a 9.00 ERA built on exactly 9 earned runs in exactly 9 innings. Brock Stewart contributed 2 of those runs in his 4 innings.  Andrew Suarez provided 5 more in his 4 innings.  And then came the Kangaroo’s closer, Greg Holland, who contributed 2 more earned runs (3 hits and a walk) in 0.0 innings. Drafting Greg Holland was another boneheaded move by the Woeverines.  But trading him to Canberra just before Opening Day kind of makes up for it.
Flint Hill: W, 5 – 5. (.385, .393, .462;  11.7 ip 7 er).  The Tornado offense was raring to go, ready to follow the Rosebuds as they ripped past the W’s and the ‘Roos.  But the pitching staff had to stop and tie its shoes. Actually Trevor Cahill was read (7 ip, 2 er) and so was Corey Knebel (1 ip, o er).  The unready one was Domingo German (3.7 ip, 6 er).  And/or maybe Tornado management? Jackie Bradley Junior is on the bench these days. He went 2 for 4 yesterday.
Kaline: “W”, 2 – 4. (.205, .244, .385; 2 ip, 0 er).  Ian Desmond homered and singled in 4 at bats to salvage a “win.”  Right now the Drive has 250% of allocations for first base. Desmond is there 100%, and three others are there 50% each: Todd Frazier (DL), Steve Pearce (DL) and Howie Kendrick (recently added to the DL).  See?  That’s how it’s done.  You  foresee who will go on the DL and you allocate to cover it.
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Cottage: L, 3 – 8. (.182, .280, .364; no pitching).  An almost precisely replacement-level performance on both offense and defense looks like this. The Cheese were in  first place at the beginning of May.  I remember hearing the Head Cheese about that time make comments showing apprehension about their future. And now they have sunk all the way under .500. Even their conning tower is underwater. Boy are those Cheese fans lucky to have such a clairvoyant GM! Also Mike Trout who, even though he went 0 for 3 yesterday, is still OPSing 1.080 on the month.
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Pittsburgh: W, 3 – (-1).  (.271, .280. .333; 13.7 ip, 3 er). Lance Lynn has been much maligned this year. He is running a 6.34 ERA, so it’s understandable. But yesterday he pitched  6.7  scoreless innings, with only 5 hits and one walk allowed. Combine that with Luke Weaver’s 7 ip, 3 er and you have a very nice day even with mediocre offense.  Mark Reynolds went 2 for 4, so he’s not slowing down. And even Jurickson Profar is contributing:  1 for 4 with a homer.
Haviland: W, 8 – 4. (.281, .415, .563;  5.7 ip, 1 er).  Vincent Velasquez struck out 9 in only  4.3 innings. He also surrendered 6 hits and 3 walks. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen in the EFL a case like that: a WHIP and  a K/9 both over 2.00 in the same game.  Only 1 earned run scored.  Yasiel Puig belted a homer walked twice for a perfect  5.000 OPS to lead the powerful Dragon offense.  All that fire and fury and the Dragons are still in 9th place.  But 9th place and moving up is a lot better than just plain old 9th place.
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Peshastin: “W”, 3 – 6. (.276, .333, .448; 9 ip, 6 er). If only Jameson Taillon could finish putting everything together.  His 6 ip,  6 er performance sank Pear hopes for a real win Tuesday.  Taillon’s May ERA rose to 4.12, and his season-long ERA to 4.56.
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DC: L. 2 – 5. (.129, .200, .258; 1 ip, 0 er.)  Kyle Barraclough is a stud. Once again he produced an outstanding inning. His May ERA is 0.90. His season ERA is 1.59.  That wonderful inning; Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s 2 for 3 with 2 walks; and Scooter Gennett’s 2 for 3 with a homer and a double: these were the only highlights of the game.  The only other good thing was a walk drawn by Aaron Alther in his one plate appearance.  The other 7 Balk hitters went 0 for 4 (except Kole Calhoun, who went 0 for 1).
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2018
AL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Boston Red Sox 33 15 .688
New York Yankees 31 14 .689 0.5
Old Detroit Wolverines 26 19 .582 5.3
Flint Hill Tornadoes 24 21 .529 7.7
Toronto Blue Jays 23 25 .479 10
Tampa Bay Rays 22 24 .478 10
Baltimore Orioles 15 33 .313 18
NL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Atlanta Braves 29 18 .617
Philadelphia Phillies 27 19 .587 1.5
Washington Nationals 26 21 .553 3
Canberra Kangaroos 26 21 .549 3.2
New York Mets 24 20 .545 3.5
D.C. Balk 20 27 .417 9.4
Miami Marlins 18 30 .375 11.5
AL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Cleveland Indians 23 23 .500
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 22 24 .479 1
Minnesota Twins 21 23 .477 1
Detroit Tigers 20 28 .417 4
Chicago White Sox 14 31 .311 8.5
Kansas City Royals 15 33 .313 9
NL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Milwaukee Brewers 30 19 .612
Brookland Outs 29 20 .602 0.5
St. Louis Cardinals 26 20 .565 2.5
Chicago Cubs 25 20 .556 3
Pittsburgh Pirates 26 21 .553 3
Cottage Cheese 24 25 .486 6.2
Cincinnati Reds 17 32 .347 13
AL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Houston Astros 31 18 .633
Seattle Mariners 28 19 .596 2
Los Angeles Angels 26 22 .542 4.5
Oakland A’s 25 23 .521 5.5
Kaline Drive 25 24 .502 6.4
Haviland Dragons 23 26 .469 8
Texas Rangers 19 31 .380 12.5
NL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Portland Rosebuds 29 20 .591
Colorado Rockies 26 23 .531 2.9
Arizona Diamondbacks 25 23 .521 3.4
San Francisco Giants 24 25 .490 4.9
Peshastin Pears 22 27 .439 7.4
Los Angeles Dodgers 21 27 .438 7.4
San Diego Padres 20 30 .400 9.4