League Updates

Ease His Pain

(Note: weigh in on options for our next manager’s meeting here. Now.)

(FRIENDS:  WORDPRESS DID IT TO ME AGAIN.  It neither saved this post when I last saved it nor did it post this post when I posted the finished version about 1:00 this afternoon. I just now discovered the problem.  I will post what it last saved when I took a break to take my mom to the bank.   I have no time to redo the omitted part now.  My apologies. This is really frustrating.)

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The Mariners won Sunday, thanks to Yusei Kikuchi and fellow EFLers Mitch Haniger, Dan Vogelbach, JP Crawford, and Brandon Brennan (plus non-EFLers Edwin Encarnacion and Domingo Santana).  It was an act of healing.

This is how M’s manager Scott Servais looked after Saturday’s game, embodying his team’s mood.

Daniel Vogelbach embodied his team’s mood as a result of Sunday’s action:

(When something needs embodiment, Vogey’s definitely your man.)

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After the M’s were 13-2, they went 9 – 24 until Sunday’s win. It wasn’t just that they were losing. It was the magnitude of the losses. Like these:

April 27: L, 15 – 1  (TEX)

April 28: L, 14 – 1  (TEX)

May 1:    L, 11 – 0  (CHC)

May 10:  L, 14 – 1  (BOS)

May 12:  L, 11 – 2  (BOS)

May 16:  L, 11 – 6  (MIN)

May 17:  L,   7 – 1  (MIN)

May 18:  L, 18 – 4 (MIN)

They did win three blowouts (Apr 25: 14 – 2; May 5, 10-0; May 8, 10 – 1). But their run differential, which peaked at +42 over 15 games, dropped to – 37 over 48 games. That’s -79 over 33 games.  They dominated teams in a jaw-dropping way going 13 – 2 to start the season. But they paid for it by being dominated to almost the same jaw-dropping magnitude over a period twice as long.

Their 4 game lead in the pennant race turned into a place in the cellar, 10 games-behind.  They fell 3.5 times further than they had risen in only a little more than twice the time. It’s like going on a roller coaster except you rise to the top on a rocket, which then suddenly tips and points straight down.  Your fall doesn’t straighten out at ground level. You just keep going until you are so far underground they don’t even try to dig you out because you are already buried and no medicine can put you back together.

Ryan and I kept asking each other “how can they keep doing this?” as the M’s were on their meteoric rise.  But the question applies to their meteoric descent, too. “How can they keep doing this?  How can they keep going out there to play when they keep enduring these awful beatdowns?”

Even if I weren’t an M’s fan, I would feel badly for M’s fans. It’s not the way any human should be treated.  Well, maybe it would be OK to do this to a Yankees fan. But not any other human.

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With so many EFL players on loan to the M’s and pitching in to end the misery for at least one day, we can all take quiet satisfaction in this irrefutable proof that the EFL is a force for good in the world.  We all eased his pain.

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EFL Standings for 2019
EFL
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA
Flint Hill Tornadoes 29 16 .644 267.7 198.5
Portland Rosebuds 30 18 .622 0.7 286.3 221.2
Canberra Kangaroos 25 21 .554 4 256.9 230.6
Old Detroit Wolverines 24 21 .537 4.8 243.6 225.2
Peshastin Pears 24 24 .508 6.1 229.6 226.8
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 23 23 .505 6.3 215.4 212.8
Kaline Drive 24 23 .503 6.3 190.4 188.0
Haviland Dragons 22 25 .462 8.3 208.4 227.2
Bellingham Cascades 20 26 .445 9 225.7 256.0
Cottage Cheese 19 25 .438 9.2 215.3 244.0
Brookland Outs 18 26 .398 11 209.4 259.0
D.C. Balk 18 28 .382 11.9 192.2 246.3
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Flint Hill:  W 1, L 1; 12 – 11. (30 PA, .370, .443, .630;  2 ip, 2 er, 9.00 ERA).  Derek Dietrich achieved the perfect 5.000 OPS with a pinch-hit homer.  I feel like he’ done this before, but I don’t have time to go look.   It made Dietrich the Tornados’ May OPS leader at 1.113 on the month, over a hearty 48 plate appearances.  For perspective, Mike Trout is OPSing 1.058 over 72 PAs.
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Portland: W, 9 – 4. (43 PA, .316, .395, .684; 13.3 ip, 5 er, 3.37 ERA) The Rosebuds essentially matched the Tornados’ offense (except Portland had 43.3% more of it), but smoked ’em in pitching, to gain 0.4 games in the standings.  JT Realmuto matched Dietrich’s 5.000 OPS, and six other Rosebuds exceeded 1.000 OPS. However, the ‘Buds’ May OPS leader, Carlos Correa, is OPSing only .961.  Which explains why to the Tornados are still in first place.
Canberra: W, 5 – 2. (18 PA, .286, .444, .357;  7.7 ip. 2 er, 2.35 ERA).  Such low levels of participation on a day with a full schedule alarmed the League Office, especially from one of the teams in the middle of the pennant race.  But so far replacements are not at toxic levels, at least among hitter s where there have been only 8 replacement at bats so far (all at second base).  The shortfall would be nearly totally addressed by activating Garrett Hampson, who is only 40% active, and could be 36% more active with a quick boost today. The K’s have 12.4 innings of replacement pitching so far, evenly split between starters and relievers. That’s a little over 10% of the total pitching required for the 17 games the ‘Roos have played in May. I won’t try to prescribe a remedy for that… my writ as Commissioner stretches MAAAYBE to one piece of unsolicited advice at a time.  And anyway, a solid effort on both offense and pitching kept the W’s at bay for another day.
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Old Detroit: W 1, L 1; 13  – 7.  (47 PA, .263, .388, .421;  10 ip, 3 er. 2.70 ERA). Daniel Vogelbach went 2 for 3 with a homer and a walk, a 2.417 daily OPS boosting his season OPS to 1.021.  But that’s only enough for 3rd place (4th place if you count Jacob Nottingham’s one-game total for the season of 2.333).  In second place is Willson Contreras, whose 1.067 May has elevated his season OPS to 1.053.  In first place is Josh Bell, whose May (1.317) elevates his season to team-high (except Jacob Nottingham) 1.101. Kikuchi’s 6 ip, 1 er performance was made possible, in part, by his own well-timed error that made 3 runs unearned.  What? Do we coach pitchers to protect their ERA’s with errors?  I will not dignify that inflammatory question with a response.
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Peshastin: “L”, 6 – 4. (43 PA, .308, .372, .487; 6 ip, 2 er, 3.00 ERA). The Pears kept pace on the field with the ‘Roos and the W’s, staying exactly 2.1 games off Peshastin’s pace. Haniger’s heroics ( a homer and a walk in 4 PAs) eased Seattle’s pain AND (fittingly) saved the Pears from pains of their own. Four other Pears OPSed 1.000 or better, and Jack Flaherty continued a fine season with 6 strong innings, only 2 earned runs.
Pittsburgh: L, 2 – 6. (43 PA, .200, .256, .300;  1.3 ip, 0 er , 0.00 ERA). It’s a good thing the W’s are doing well this month, or days like Sunday, with the coveted Michael Chavis going 2 for 4 with a homer, would give me pain and the Alleghenys an obligation to ease it.  Frankly, an obligation they have seldom met.
Kaline:  W, 9 – 6.  (46 PA, .350, .435, .600;  0 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).  Huh.  Danny Santana got that rare 5.000 ERA but he had two plate appearances!  His other one was a walk, after which he scored. So you’d have to say Santana superceded the standard set by Dietrich and Realmuto!  This helped the Drive sneak back above .500, and give the league seven teams above .500 less than a week after we had only 3 teams over .500. Nice work, league!  A lot of pains eased all over the place, I would guess.
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Haviland: L, 4 – 7.  (36 PA, .206, .250, .441; 3.7 ip, 2 er, 4.91 ERA).  Now we have to tread lightly. We are in the region of the league under .500, where we may find fellow owners living in pain. But even here we find generous spirits who pitched in to help the Mariners. For example, the Dragons’ Brandon Brennan pitched two innings of stellar hitless, walkless scoreless relief with three k’s .
Bellingham: “L”, 3- 2.
Cottage:  W. 7 – (-2).
Brookland:  “W”, 0 – 2.
DC: W, 7 – 4.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2019
AL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Flint Hill Tornadoes 29 16 .644
New York Yankees 28 17 .622 1
Tampa Bay Rays 27 17 .614 1.5
Old Detroit Wolverines 24 21 .537 4.8
Boston Red Sox 24 22 .522 5.5
Toronto Blue Jays 19 27 .413 10.5
Baltimore Orioles 15 31 .326 14.5
NL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Philadelphia Phillies 27 19 .587
Canberra Kangaroos 25 21 .554 1.5
Atlanta Braves 25 22 .532 2.5
New York Mets 20 25 .444 6.5
Washington Nationals 19 27 .413 8
D.C. Balk 18 28 .382 9.4
Miami Marlins 13 31 .295 13
AL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Minnesota Twins 30 16 .652
Cleveland Indians 25 20 .556 4.5
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 23 23 .505 6.8
Chicago White Sox 21 24 .467 8.5
Bellingham Cascades 20 26 .445 9.5
Detroit Tigers 18 26 .409 11
Kansas City Royals 16 31 .340 14.5
NL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Chicago Cubs 27 17 .614
Milwaukee Brewers 28 21 .571 1.5
Pittsburgh Pirates 24 20 .545 3
St. Louis Cardinals 24 23 .511 4.5
Cincinnati Reds 21 26 .447 7.5
Cottage Cheese 19 25 .438 7.7
Brookland Outs 18 26 .398 9.5
AL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Houston Astros 31 16 .660
Kaline Drive 24 23 .503 7.3
Los Angeles Angels 22 24 .478 8.5
Texas Rangers 21 23 .477 8.5
Seattle Mariners 23 26 .469 9
Oakland A’s 22 25 .468 9
Haviland Dragons 22 25 .462 9.3
NL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Los Angeles Dodgers 31 17 .646
Portland Rosebuds 30 18 .622 1.2
Arizona Diamondbacks 25 22 .532 5.5
Peshastin Pears 24 24 .508 6.6
San Diego Padres 23 24 .489 7.5
San Francisco Giants 20 25 .444 9.5
Colorado Rockies 20 25 .444 9.5