For the month of May the Cottage team has decided to feature a daily burnt offering. Each day we will send a pitcher out for the express purpose of improving the various hitting rates of the other team’s batters. Some days, we will add a bonus pitcher, so that two teams can be blessed with our sacrifice of roasted Cheese.
We’re doing this solely out of love for our fellow EFLers, whom we wish to see prosper and rejoice.
The pitcher chosen for the burnt-offering-of-the-day could be anyone – a heralded prospect, last year’s young up-and-coming ace, a proven staff leader – any Cheese hurler (and I do mean hurler) is eligible.
Yes, it is difficult for our young pitchers to experience this adversity. Many of them had promising careers ahead of them, until they joined the Cheese. Most of them probably didn’t know what a generous, other-centered team we are. Tough luck for them.
We would ask you to remember two of our newest initiates into these rituals: Drew Smyly, who clung for several weeks to the idea of quality pitching and actually getting batters out, until he finally joined the ranks of the converted last night; and Matt Wisler, a stubborn hold-out whose May ERA is a miserable, self-centered 1.69. We will not let him continue to get away with this excellence!
Here’s a list of our Roasted Cheese Specials so far:
| Pitcher | Date | IP | ER allowed |
| Nathan Eovaldi | 5/1/2016 | 5.0 | 6 |
| Kendall Graveman | 5/2/2016 | 6.1 | 4 |
| Sonny Gray | 5/3/2016 | 7.0 | 7 |
| Sean Manaea | 5/4/2016 | 5.0 | 4 |
| Luis Severino | 5/8/2016 | 6.2 | 4 |
| Kendall Graveman | 5/8/2016 | 2.2 | 6 |
| Sonny Gray | 5/9/2016 | 3.2 | 7 |
| Sean Manaea | 5/10/2016 | 2.2 | 8 |
| Drew Smyly | 5/10/2016 | 5.0 | 6 |