Who is Tarik Skubal and why is he the feature photo on this post?
Is Tarik related to Kris Bubic? And how did Bubic and a teammate cough up 10 runs in 13 innings without making the Dragons take a loss?
How did the Cheese outscore their opponents and still report the same .462 winning percentage and go 0 – 2 on the day?
Why is Daniel Vogelbach in Milwaukee, and how could both he and fellow fallen Wolverine Louis Brinson both bat .500 on the same day?
Is there any doubt about Trout? How could there be?
What if Blake Snell had been Blake Snell yesterday?
How did the heretofore lowly Cascades sneak Devin Williams past the ever-watchful Wolverines without revealing Williams’ existence?
How close can one get to a no-entropy baseball game? And if you got there — if you played an entire baseball game generating no stats other than quiet outs — did the game actually exist?
What’s a Teoscar?
If you’re the Rosebuds, isn’t it about time to relax and let it ride?
We will ask all these questions, and fewer, and answer even fewer, in today’s post.
EFL Standings for 2020
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Kaline Drive | 21 | 15 | .588 | — | 173.8 | 144.7 |
| Haviland Dragons | 21 | 15 | .570 | 0.7 | 188.9 | 164.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 20 | 20 | .500 | 3.2 | 217.0 | 219.7 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 20 | 20 | .498 | 3.2 | 219.1 | 230.0 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 18 | 21 | .469 | 4.4 | 204.8 | 218.1 |
| D.C. Balk | 18 | 21 | .465 | 4.5 | 177.0 | 189.9 |
| Cottage Cheese | 18 | 22 | .462 | 4.7 | 202.3 | 221.2 |
| Peshastin Pears | 19 | 22 | .457 | 4.9 | 198.9 | 215.2 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 15 | 25 | .365 | 8.6 | 183.2 | 242.6 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 15 | 25 | .364 | 8.6 | 179.1 | 237.7 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 14 | 27 | .331 | 10.1 | 202.1 | 287.5 |
Kaline: L, 3 – 4.
| AVG: 0.200 | OBP: 0.298 | SLG: 0.300 | OPS: 0.598 | PA: 57 |
| ERA: 3.68 | WHIP: 1.364 | IP: 22.0 | |||||||||||
Very good pitching over a lot of innings, and a goodly amount of rather weak hitting, combined to add another day to the Drive’s glide. They aren’t crashing, they are gliding, losing just a little altitude every day lately. The Kaline winning percentage slipped 0.005 points yesterday, the same decline as the day before, with 24 games to go. At that pace the Drive would end up right around .500. That would disappoint more than a few EFL fans.
But it could have been worse! Kaline came close to trading Orlando Arcia just before our deadline. Arcia led the wobbly Drive offense yesterday, 2 for 4 with the team’s only home run. Thank goodness the Drive’s generosity with Arcia was balanced by the other EFL owner’s missed timing. A guardian angel may be watching over the Wizard. There is still hope!
Haviland: W, 4 – 4.
| AVG: 0.255 | OBP: 0.263 | SLG: 0.400 | OPS: 0.663 | PA: 57 |
| ERA: 4.85 | WHIP: 1.000 | IP: 13.0 | |||||||||||
Miguel Sano is a beacon of hope for Wolverine fans worried their former top prospects will never become present top stars. Yesterday Sano went 3 for 4 with a homer to squeeze the Dragons through to a win. He’s on pace to deliver a fine 4.5 fWAR for the Dragons if this were a 162-game season.
Sano’s good day was timely. Trevor Williams and Kris Bubic combined to surrender 10 runs in 13 innings, but somehow Bubic managed to get 3 of his runs labelled “unearned.” How does one do that? Is it a managerial skill? A pitching skill? Magic? The upshot: the Dragons, stuck on 0.8 games behind for a week, cut their deficit by 0.1 games. Gaining a game a week won’t win the championship, but there’s still time to pick up the pace.
Flint Hill: W, 12 – 3.
| AVG: 0.318 | OBP: 0.404 | SLG: 0.727 | OPS: 1.131 | PA: 52 |
| ERA: 2.92 | WHIP: 1.169 | IP: 15.4 | |||||||||||
Massive offense led by Mike Trout: 300th career homer, three doubles and three walks in 8 plate appearances He made 1 out in two games! He passed former Garden City KingBee star Tim Salmon for most homers as an Angel… but he hasn’t yet achieved what Salmon did: be his underdog team’s MVP in a thrilling run to a league championship, including hitting the winning homer run in the seventh game of the championship series against Don Powers’ Dodger-heavy favorites.
All four Tornado pitchers surrendered at least one earned run — and German Marquez gave away 2. But they combined for 15.3 innings pitched making for a nice 2.92 ERA, a 0.6 game dash up the standings, and a move back into 3rd place after a long sojourn at lower levels.
Watch out, Dragons and Drive! The Whirlwind cometh!
Bellingham: L, 4 – 9.
| AVG: 0.265 | OBP: 0.379 | SLG: 0.408 | OPS: 0.787 | PA: 58 |
| Team stats: | ERA: 6.43 | WHIP: 0.714 | IP: 5.6 | ||||||||||||
Former future Wolverine Jo Adell is heating up. He went 3 for 8 Saturday with a home run. He made a dramatic (if ungraceful) catch to deny a home run. He led the Cascades to a win!
No, wait, it wasn’t a win, because Jacob Barnes chulked (1 ip, 2 er) and Blake Taylor sextuple chulked (0.33 ip, 2 er). Devin Williams’ 2 scoreless innings couldn’t repair the damage. (How did the Cascades know about Devin Williams? I had never heard of him before Cascade management was crowing about getting their target pitcher. No wonder the W’s and the C’s have traded places in the standings.)
Canberra: W, 11 – 8.
| AVG: 0.320 | OBP: 0.393 | SLG: 0.680 | OPS: 1.073 | PA: 56 |
| ERA: 7.11 | WHIP: 1.711 | IP: 7.6 | |||||||||||
Canberra crowed when they snagged Kyle Tucker late-ish in a rookie draft. And Saturday it was plain to see why: 4 for 7 with a homer and a stolen base to lead a powerful (5 homers) Kangaroo offense. Had Blake Snell not collapsed, giving up 4 er in 5 ip, the ‘Roos might find themselves in amongst the pack of clear pennant contenders (Drive, Dragons, Tornados and Cascades).
DC: L, 1 – 5.
| AVG: 0.171 | OBP: 0.227 | SLG: 0.195 | OPS: 0.422 | PA: 44 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 0.435 | IP: 2.3 | |||||||||||
Apparently concerned that high-scoring baseball games might contribute to global warming, the Balk played low-impact baseball: 7 for 44 at the plate with only one loud hit (a double), and only 2.3 innings consumed on the mound, with only one hit and no runs allowed. It’s not quite “no trace” baseball, but it’s close.
No-impact baseball would be impossible. By definition a living system cannot exist without impacting its environment. But as a man whose empty greek yogurt tubs are threatening to overrun the kitchen, I certainly admire the Balks’ efforts. .
Cottage: W 0, L 2; 12 -11.
| AVG: 0.280 | OBP: 0.333 | SLG: 0.480 | OPS: 0.813 | PA: 54 |
| ERA: 4.21 | WHIP: 1.028 | IP: 10.7 | |||||||||||
Chris Paddack stumbled (4.7 ip, 4 er) but Tony Gonsolin from Gondolin heroically hurled 6 sterling innings ( 1 er) to keep the Cheese from slipping down the standings.
You may ask “how can a fine, upstanding EFL team outscore its opponents 12 – 11 and go 0 – 2 with the same .462 winning percentage it had the day before?” Well, let’s say the team’s actual winning percentage Saturday morning was .46151 over 38 games, giving it 17.53738 wins. The team’s record would show up as 18 – 20 with a .462 winning percentage. Then on Saturday the team plays two games, combining for 11.8 runs scored and 11.3 runs allowed, increasing the team’s winning percentage to .46249 (probably a little less than that, but I am exploring extreme cases here). That would generated 18.4996 wins over 40 games, leaving the team’s listig in the standings as 18 – 22, with a .462 winning percentage.
Admittedly, this is very hard to do. But there isn’t much that’s too hard for the Head Cheese. Although taking his two “losses” cheerfully may be too hard even for him as he considers the last three results, below.
Peshastin: W, 10 – 1
| AVG: 0.433 | OBP: 0.486 | SLG: 0.633 | OPS: 1.119 | PA: 35 |
| ERA: 1.73 | WHIP: 1.538 | IP: 10.4 | |||||||||||
Victor Robles and Teoscar Hernandez each had three hits, combining to go 6 for 10 with a homer and a HBP. Not as good as Trout, boys, but don’t let that get you down. No one not named for a fish is better than Trout these days. (Hmm. I don’t know what Teoscar means… could it be a fish?)
Justus Sheffield pitched 7 strong innings (2 er) and three relievers added 2.7 shutout innings. Thus the Pears had the best day of anyone in the league, and gained 0.8 games on the Drive. They didn’t pass anyone, but they are bearing down on the Cheese with their paring knives out.
Pittsburgh: “W”, 1 – 4.
| AVG: 0.211 | OBP: 0.250 | SLG: 0.211 | OPS: 0.461 | PA: 40 |
| ERA: 5.00 | WHIP: 1.042 | IP: 14.4 | |||||||||||
Passable pitching, featuring Tarik Skubal (who, despite the name, is not a Vulcan, as the featured photo proves — maybe) and his 6 ip, 1 er. The Alleghenys might even have won (or at least “won”) had the hitters done their jobs. Other than Stephen Piscotty and Christian Vazquez (combined for 5 for 8, all singles) the team was blown away at the plate, the rest going just 3 for 30 (all singles).
Or I guess you could look at it from a different perspective: had it not been for the heroics of Skubal and his earthling allies (Pi)Scotty and Vazquez, the Wolverines would have dumped the Alleghenys into 10th place.
Or maybe there is something afoot here. Could the W’s be setting a screen for the A’s, clearing a path for them to lay the ball into the first-pick basket?
Old Detroit: “W”, 2 – 4.
| AVG: 0.182 | OBP: 0.297 | SLG: 0.291 | OPS: 0.588 | PA: 64 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 1.000 | IP: 1.0 | |||||||||||
The flaw — well, actually, one of the flaws — in my drafting last time was not considering whether Trevor Rosenthal would actually get to pitch for the Padres. He had not pitched in September until yesterday — and then it was just to get in some work. He was not closing yesterday. I don’t think the Padres have had a save situation this month. I spent a relatively large amount of money for Rosenthal. I was hoping for more than 1 inning a week.
On the other hand, his inning was scoreless. That matched very nicely the W’s nearly scoreless offense. I can’t escape my possible blunders on the offensive side, either: Lewis Brinson is suddenly hitting, OPSing 1.067 in the second half of the season. It’s only 25 plate appearances, but he hasn’t had a 25 plate-appearance stretch like that since the Wolverines traded Christian Yelich for him. Brinson went 2 for 4 with a double yesterday. Had he been active in the Wolverine lineup, the W’s would be in 9th place right now.
Brinson was sent definitively to the doghouse last month. But he wasn’t DFA’d. He was next on the list of players to jettison if occasion arose in the latest draft. So… do I activate him now? Or would that just be a cruel renewal of a jinx?
Portland: “W”, 6 – 7.
| AVG: 0.278 | OBP: 0.297 | SLG: 0.500 | OPS: 0.797 | PA: 37 |
| ERA: 4.86 | WHIP: 2.432 | IP: 3.7 | |||||||||||
Let Portland relax. The W’s aren’t tearing up the league in September — yet — but they are moving steadily away from last place. The Rosebuds can coast to that first round pick.
Which might be why, on the busiest day in baseball in many years, the ‘Buds only produced 3.7 innings of practically-by-definition mediocre pitching. The hitting was a bit better than precisely mediocre, which left the Rosebuds keeping pace with the first-place Drive. Sure, go ahead, Portland, match pace with the Drive. You can do that and still draft first. Why not? Glance around. You shouldn’t notice anyone about to pounce on your prize.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2020
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 27 | 13 | .675 | — |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 21 | 18 | .538 | 5.5 |
| New York Yankees | 21 | 18 | .538 | 5.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 20 | 20 | .500 | 7 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 18 | 21 | .462 | 8.5 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 15 | 25 | .364 | 12.5 |
| Boston Red Sox | 14 | 27 | .341 | 13.5 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Atlanta Braves | 23 | 16 | .590 | — |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 19 | 16 | .543 | 2 |
| Miami Marlins | 17 | 17 | .500 | 3.5 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 18 | 21 | .469 | 4.7 |
| D.C. Balk | 18 | 21 | .465 | 4.8 |
| New York Mets | 18 | 22 | .450 | 5.5 |
| Washington Nationals | 14 | 24 | .368 | 8.5 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Chicago White Sox | 25 | 15 | .625 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 24 | 15 | .615 | 0.5 |
| Minnesota Twins | 25 | 16 | .610 | 0.5 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 20 | 20 | .498 | 5.1 |
| Detroit Tigers | 17 | 20 | .459 | 6.5 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 15 | 25 | .365 | 10.4 |
| Kansas City Royals | 14 | 26 | .350 | 11 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Chicago Cubs | 23 | 17 | .575 | — |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 16 | 15 | .516 | 2.5 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 18 | 20 | .474 | 4 |
| Cottage Cheese | 18 | 22 | .462 | 4.5 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 18 | 22 | .450 | 5 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 12 | 26 | .316 | 10 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Oakland A’s | 23 | 13 | .639 | — |
| Kaline Drive | 21 | 15 | .588 | 1.8 |
| Haviland Dragons | 21 | 15 | .570 | 2.5 |
| Houston Astros | 21 | 18 | .538 | 3.5 |
| Seattle Mariners | 17 | 22 | .436 | 7.5 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 16 | 25 | .390 | 9.5 |
| Texas Rangers | 13 | 25 | .342 | 11 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 30 | 11 | .732 | — |
| San Diego Padres | 24 | 17 | .585 | 6 |
| Colorado Rockies | 19 | 20 | .487 | 10 |
| San Francisco Giants | 19 | 21 | .475 | 10.5 |
| Peshastin Pears | 19 | 22 | .457 | 11.3 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 15 | 25 | .375 | 14.5 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 14 | 27 | .331 | 16.4 |