I appreciated Ron’s post yesterday. There is much to be said for temperance these days, especially in a culture that perpetuates and worships instant gratification. But it seems as though GMs outside of the EFL didn’t pay much attention to his post, though perhaps they should. Consider the fate of catcher Jacob Nottingham through the following visual representation:
The image is a bit blurry, so here it is in text form only:
April 22: Brewers activate Nottingham from 10 day IL
April 22 (same day): Brewers DFA Nottingham
April 29: Mariners claim Nottingham off of waivers from Brewers
April 30: Mariners activate Nottingham
May 1: Mariners DFA Nottingham
May 2: Mariners trade Nottingham to the Brewers for cash
May 13: Brewers DFA Nottingham
May 20: Mariners claim Nottingham off waivers from Brewers
Whew! Poor Jacob. How does one keep track of which jersey to wear? In which city he is waking up? Which pitchers he is catching? Which “M” hat to wear?
Nottingham Forest was the location for Robin Hood’s escapades, and perhaps these teams are enacting some type of LARP of said story? But who would be the rich in this story? The Mariners’ winning percentage is .477, while the Brewers’ is .488. Hardly rich.
Is this not an example of being unable to be temperate in one’s dealings? Do you like Jacob Nottingham or not, Brewers and Mariners? Is there some secret Nottingham is holding onto that each of you are attempting to draw out of him by sending him from boathouse to brewhouse?
Of course, if Jerry Dipoto or David Stearns had read Ron’s post yesterday, they may have decided to put a pause on the Nottingham shuffle, instead allowing him more than a day or two to prove his value to the team.
For Jacob’s sake, I hope temperance may prevail.
EFL Standings for 2021
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Peshastin Pears | 31 | 13 | .705 | — | 198.6 | 128.6 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 31 | 14 | .696 | 0.2 | 213.1 | 138.2 |
| Haviland Dragons | 30 | 14 | .691 | 0.6 | 207.6 | 139.2 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 30 | 15 | .660 | 1.8 | 255.4 | 181.9 |
| D.C. Balk | 25 | 12 | .684 | 2.2 | 192.9 | 131.3 |
| Kaline Drive | 28 | 16 | .640 | 2.9 | 215.0 | 160.8 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 21 | 16 | .558 | 6.9 | 205.1 | 183.1 |
| Cottage Cheese | 23 | 20 | .526 | 7.9 | 247.1 | 242.1 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 22 | 20 | .517 | 8.3 | 213.8 | 203.1 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 21 | 23 | .476 | 10.1 | 218.6 | 229.5 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 18 | 24 | .422 | 12.3 | 165.9 | 202.2 |
Peshastin: L, 1-3; 21PA, no pitching
| AVG: 0.056 | OBP: 0.190 | SLG: 0.111 | OPS: 0.302 |
The Pears are acting like hungry tigers – having days like yesterday where they lay around and do nothing, even beckoning their prey a little closer as they seemingly convince you they are friendly and not out to harm you. And then, bam! They’ll devour you whole with a day for the ages and leave us all once again running away in terror. How else can you explain this line compared to yesterday? 5 batters appeared, and only Willie Calhoun got a hit (a double). They didn’t even bother with sending a pitcher to the mound. And so we creep closer, hoping that today the Pears won’t devour us again and send us limping back to our hideaway.
Flint Hill: “L,” 7-3; 35PA, no pitching
| AVG: 0.290 | OBP: 0.371 | SLG: 0.387 | OPS: 0.759 |
The Tornadoes have been here before, sneaking closely to the Pears, and so we inch nearer, hoping he may not see us. No one else feels this way, I know, but I am grateful the Flint Hill offense is finally beginning to show some life this season. Losing a game when you outscore the opponent by 4 is a difficult pill to swallow, especially after scoring 7 runs, but in perhaps it provides a cloak of secrecy for another day as we take our chances approaching the Pears once again. Bo Bichette and Austin Meadows both collected 3 hits on the day.
Haviland: DNP, (-1)-(-8); 36PA, 10.3IP
| AVG: 0.258 | OBP: 0.333 | SLG: 0.258 | OPS: 0.591 |
| ERA: 2.62 | WHIP: 1.068 |
The Dragons, also sneakily approaching the Pears yesterday, were helped by the Astros taking over first place in the AL West. A good pitching day, led by Domingo German and his 7 scoreless innings, erased some replacement innings and a total of 8 runs from their Runs Allowed this month. Their hitting, though, continued to struggle. 8 singles in 31 PAs will not amount to much, and indeed it amounted to losing a run from their monthly total. If the Dragons want to continue to move towards the ruthless Pears, they will need fewer days like yesterday from their batters.
Old Detroit: W, 5-4; 28PA, 1IP
| AVG: 0.259 | OBP: 0.286 | SLG: 0.519 | OPS: 0.804 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 1.000 |
The Wolverines eked out a win, climbing to two games over .500 this month and to 1.6 games behind the Pears in the standings. After yesterday’s reveal of Phil’s collegiate kleptomania, I have to wonder if there might be some extra surliness being saved for OD. We will have to wait and see, I guess. Will Smith had two hits, including a go-ahead home run for the Dodgers, and Carlos Correa added two hits of his own, including a double. Josh Bell, in defiance of his benching, also launched a home run, but it was in the OD batting practice and didn’t count.
DC: W(-1), L(1), (-3)-0; 34PA, 6IP
| AVG: 0.167 | OBP: 0.265 | SLG: 0.200 | OPS: 0.465 |
| ERA: 4.50 | WHIP: 0.833 |
The Balk had a rough day yesterday, losing ground (but perhaps gaining favor?) on the Pears. They collected 5 hits in 30 PAs, 4 of them singles and one a double (Danny Jansen). Jose Berrios surrendered 3 runs in 5 innings, and the Balk fell to 2.2 games behind the Pears and behind the Wolverines in the standings.
Kaline: DNP, 1-0; 22PA, 1IP
| AVG: 0.333 | OBP: 0.364 | SLG: 0.524 | OPS: 0.887 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 1.000 |
The Drive took the day off from playing a game, but still managed to put together a solid offensive day. The two Red Sox, Bobby Dalbec and Michael Chavis, had two hits apiece – Dalbec’s a 3-run home run off the right field foul pole in Dunedin, FL (that’s a long home run, considering they were playing the home team Toronto Blue Jays). In what is perhaps the most amazing stat of the day for any EFL team, the Drive only struck out one time in 22PA.
Canberra: W(1), L(-1), 0-(-3); 31PA, 13IP
| AVG: 0.333 | OBP: 0.355 | SLG: 0.533 | OPS: 0.888 |
| ERA: 0.69 | WHIP: 1.000 |
Who knew that after the loss of Mike Trout for 2 months the Roos would suddenly become the hottest team in the EFL? Perhaps Ryan knew. Canberra is now leading the EFL in winning percentage this month, at .761 (8-3). They are also tied with the Alleghenys for the lead in runs per game, at 6.17. Yesterday’s hitting heroes were many, with every player but one getting a hit. Alex Bregman led the way, going 3 for 4 with a double and walk. More impressive was the pitching, though. Dane Dunning, who made a Neo-inspired play on a ground ball hit behind him to start a double play, went 6 innings with 0 runs given up. And Rich Hill did nearly the same, giving up one run over 6 innings.
Cottage: DNP, (-2)-(-4); 45PA, 12IP
| AVG: 0.262 | OBP: 0.311 | SLG: 0.333 | OPS: 0.644 |
| ERA: 4.50 | WHIP: 1.417 |
The Cheese led the league in PAs yesterday, and were second by one inning in IP. On a slower day in MLB, those numbers are impressive in terms of their quantity, if not necessarily in their quality. The main culprit was Steven Matz, who surrendered not only the first-inning home run to Bobby Dalbec, but also another 2 runs to make it a total of 5 runs in 6 innings pitched. Alex Cobb and Cody Stashak helped to correct things a little, combining for 6 innings and 1 run. The silver lining is that it appears Randy Arozarena has arisen from his early season doldrums, yesterday collecting another home run in addition to 3 singles. It was also a rare day in which Shohei Ohtani did nothing worth writing about (0 for 3 with 3 Ks).
Pittsburgh: W(1), L(-1), 8-1; 18PA, 5IP
| AVG: 0.625 | OBP: 0.667 | SLG: 0.938 | OPS: 1.604 |
| ERA: 7.20 | WHIP: 2.000 |
What a gift the Alleghenys received yesterday! It began with a bad outing from Will Crowe, who surrendered 4 runs in 5 innings – the kind of day which almost always means a loss. But not for Pittsburgh, because look at that offense! 4 batters appeared, and all of them collected either 2 or 3 hits. And, as though that weren’t enough, not a single player struck out yesterday. Dansby Swanson was the best of the best, going 3 for 4 with a double and a home run. Max Muncy chipped in 3 hits of his own, including a double, on a night when most Dodger hitters could not figure out Merrill Kelly. With 10 days left in the month of May, Pittsburgh has already matched their win total from the month of April (10 wins).
Portland: L, 3-4; 22PA, 5.7IP
| AVG: 0.158 | OBP: 0.273 | SLG: 0.211 | OPS: 0.483 |
| ERA: 3.16 | WHIP: 1.754 |
Portland took the loss yesterday, due to poor hitting. They had as many walks as hits (3), and Max Kepler was the only hitter to hit more than a single. The pitching was pretty good, though. Lewis Thorpe gave up 4 runs, but only one was earned in 4 innings, and two relievers combined for 1.7 innings and one run.
Bellingham: DNP, (-1)-7; 37PA, 2IP
| AVG: 0.138 | OBP: 0.324 | SLG: 0.207 | OPS: 0.531 |
| ERA: 31.50 | WHIP: 4.500 |
Tyler Mahle had a bad day, and the Cascades suffered because of it. Mahle gave up 7 runs to the upstart Giants, and the hole proved to be too big to climb out of for Bellingham. At least there are no Pears/Lions in the Cascadian den. Bellingham hitters proved to be very patient, amassing 6 walks to lead the EFl yesterday. But the bats weren’t working too well (perhaps the reason they spent so much time no swinging). They collected 4 hits, two singles and two doubles, in 37 trips to the plate.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2021
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 31 | 14 | .696 | — |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 30 | 15 | .660 | 1.6 |
| Boston Red Sox | 27 | 18 | .600 | 4.3 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 26 | 19 | .578 | 5.3 |
| New York Yankees | 25 | 19 | .568 | 5.8 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 23 | 19 | .548 | 6.8 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 17 | 26 | .395 | 13.3 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| D.C. Balk | 25 | 12 | .684 | — |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 21 | 16 | .558 | 4.7 |
| New York Mets | 20 | 17 | .541 | 5.3 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 22 | 22 | .500 | 6.8 |
| Miami Marlins | 20 | 23 | .465 | 8.3 |
| Atlanta Braves | 20 | 24 | .455 | 8.8 |
| Washington Nationals | 17 | 23 | .425 | 9.8 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Chicago White Sox | 26 | 16 | .619 | — |
| Cleveland Indians | 23 | 18 | .561 | 2.5 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 22 | 20 | .517 | 4.3 |
| Kansas City Royals | 20 | 22 | .476 | 6 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 18 | 24 | .422 | 8.3 |
| Detroit Tigers | 17 | 26 | .395 | 9.5 |
| Minnesota Twins | 15 | 28 | .349 | 11.5 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 25 | 18 | .581 | — |
| Cottage Cheese | 23 | 20 | .526 | 2.4 |
| Chicago Cubs | 22 | 21 | .512 | 3 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 21 | 22 | .488 | 4 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 19 | 23 | .452 | 5.5 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 18 | 25 | .419 | 7 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Haviland Dragons | 30 | 14 | .691 | — |
| Kaline Drive | 28 | 16 | .640 | 2.3 |
| Houston Astros | 26 | 18 | .591 | 4.4 |
| Oakland A’s | 26 | 19 | .578 | 4.9 |
| Seattle Mariners | 21 | 23 | .477 | 9.4 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 19 | 25 | .432 | 11.4 |
| Texas Rangers | 19 | 27 | .413 | 12.4 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Peshastin Pears | 31 | 13 | .705 | — |
| San Francisco Giants | 28 | 16 | .636 | 3 |
| San Diego Padres | 27 | 17 | .614 | 4 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 26 | 18 | .591 | 5 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 21 | 23 | .476 | 10.1 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 18 | 27 | .400 | 13.5 |
| Colorado Rockies | 15 | 29 | .341 | 16 |