An EFL Trivial Post

EFL
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB	RS	RA
Old Detroit Wolverines	43	25	.631	—	380.0	290.7
Portland Rosebuds	43	27	.608	1.3	356.2	280.3
Haviland Dragons	42	28	.597	2.1	344.5	286.6
Canberra Kangaroos	40	30	.571	4	341.9	292.8
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	36	32	.535	6.6	328.4	304.0
Peshastin Pears	36	34	.519	7.6	302.1	290.7
Flint Hill Tornadoes	35	33	.509	8.3	299.6	294.4
Cottage Cheese	32	35	.482	10.1	328.5	333.3
Kaline Drive	27	43	.382	17.2	315.0	402.2
D.C. Balk	23	47	.324	21.3	274.0	402.0

Portland: “W”, 2 – 3.  (.231, .273, .346;  6 ip, 0 er).  The Rosebuds have the best pitching in the EFL — even Tom Koehler (6 ip, 0 er) looks like a gold-ribbon-winning ace Rosebud in his red uniform. But they have only the second-best offense — a lineup comprising Mookie Betts, Carlos Correa and, frankly, no other heralded stars.  Maaaaaybe Ian Desmond.

Here’s a trivia question: Who are the three Rosebuds OPSing over 1.000 this month?  I bet you cannot answer that one — maybe not even the Rosebud ownership.  (Answer below) I’ll even help you: here are the three OPSing in the .900’s in June:  Betts (.939), Justin Turner (.938, no surprise to those who have had the pleasure of owning this exemplary EWIE), and Ian Desmond (.937). See that? .939, .938, and .937, for the 4th, 5th and 6th best Rosebud hitters.

Shall we list the 4 Rosebuds OPSing in the .800’s?  No, that might make the trivia question too easy.  How about the five “crummy” Rosebuds OPSing between .482 and .704 — ie, the rest of the roster? Ditto.

Of course, it IS June, and this is the peak month for Rosebuds. They’ll probably wilt before they subject the Wolverines to the harsh, thorny reality of being thrown into the rosebrier patch. Right?

Haviland: W, 8 – 2. (.306, .375, .583; 10.3 ip, 2 er).  A very nice Father’s Day, gaining on the league leaders, including a son — what more could you want?  Oh. Yes.  I did forget to activate Hank Conger as the injury replacement for JD Martinez. So this doesn’t count ALL of Conger’s 0 for 2 yesterday. And I still haven’t activated Desmond Jennings to replace Souza (DL).  Let me take care of that…

So — adding Desmond Jennings 20% unallocated time to the OF added 0.1 runs to Haviland’s team total runs scored — and removes 0.1 runs from their total runs allowed.  No visible movement in the standings.

Now let’s see what Conger does. I can only add 39% since Haviland asked for the move on June 18 with 13 days left in June (counting the 18th).  This will leave 1% of Conger unallocated, which I believe is the record smallest slice of unallocated time in EFL history.  Imagine if that’s the difference at the end of September… Anyway, Conger’s crummy defense adds back that 0.1 run allowed the Dragons saved with Jennings.  Conger’s slugging ways, however, increase their scoring by 0.8 runs.  The net gain for both  moves is an extra 0.9 runs scored, a .001 improvement in winning percentage to .598, and no doubt some improvement in the standings, although the D’s are still listed as 2.1 games behind the W’s.

Thanks, Haviland, for this opportunity to explore scientifically the impact of in-month roster changes.

Canberra: W, 5 – 0. (.314, .368, .400;  22.3 ip, 7 er)  The Kangaroos have leveled off after their late-May swoon that dropped them out of first place.  It wouldn’t take much for them to hop right back to the top of the pennant race.  Cleaning up the 5.7 innings of replacement pitching, for example.

Pittsburgh: “L”,  2 – 1. (.171, .255, .268; 16 ip, 5 er).  Not so much a real loss as a penalty for Pittsburgh’s paltry performance at the plate.

Peshastin:  “L”, 12 – 8. (.381, .441, .903; 5 ip, 4 er).  It only looks like a loss.  The Pears are on the move — and this time, it’s upward. They take the loss only because regulations require them to, eventually.  If they keep on going as they have been, they may give the loss back soon.

Flint Hill: “W”, 3 – 4.  (.152, .222, .364; 7 ip, 3 er).   According to EFL Storm-Tracker, the Tornados continue to move straight east along Interstate .500, threatening no EFL urban areas other than Flint Hill itself.  Teams needing to cross Interstate .5oo to get to their eventual destinations should watch out for everything from Tornados, Whirl Winds, Dust Devils, all the way down to Wafts.

Cottage:  W, 13 – 3.  (.400, 421, .800;   11.3 ip, 4 er.) Eventually the Cheese will be over .500.  If the Pears can do it, why not the Cheese?

Kaline: L, 0 – 3. (.154, .214, .308; 5.3 ip, 8 er).  It was a rough weekend for the Drive.  Michael Saunders (1.217 OPS in June), Kris Bryant (.981) and Yoenis Cespedes (.824) have been carrying the team’s offense,  including nine teammates with OPSes of .632 or below.  Pitchers have been unlucky, compiling a 5.17 ERA even though their FIP says they’ve really been over a run better — 4.09.

D.C.:  W 2, L (-1); 11 – (-2). (.419, .486, .710). The Balk’s great day compressed the league standings by 0.9 games, D.C. gaining the most on first place of any EFL team. It also elevated the Balkan winning percentage by .022 points, the largest gain on the day anywhere in major league baseball.  If you look at the standings tracker you’ll see that strong upward surge in what has been a definite trend of improvement for the Balk this month.

AL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Old Detroit Wolverines	43	25	.631	—
Baltimore Orioles	40	28	.588	2.9
Boston Red Sox	39	29	.574	3.9
Toronto Blue Jays	39	33	.542	5.9
Flint Hill Tornadoes	35	33	.509	8.3
New York Yankees	34	34	.500	8.9
Tampa Bay Rays	31	36	.463	11.4

NL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Washington Nationals	43	27	.614	—
Canberra Kangaroos	40	30	.571	3
Miami Marlins	37	32	.536	5.5
New York Mets	36	32	.529	6
Philadelphia Phillies	30	40	.429	13
Atlanta Braves	23	46	.333	19.5
D.C. Balk	23	47	.324	20.3

AL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Cleveland Indians	38	30	.559	—
Kansas City Royals	38	31	.551	0.5
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	36	32	.535	1.6
Detroit Tigers	34	35	.493	4.5
Chicago White Sox	33	36	.478	5.5
Minnesota Twins	21	48	.304	17.5

NL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Chicago Cubs	47	20	.701	—
St. Louis Cardinals	35	33	.515	12.5
Cottage Cheese	32	35	.482	14.7
Pittsburgh Pirates	33	36	.478	15
Milwaukee Brewers	31	39	.443	17.5
Cincinnati Reds	27	43	.386	21.5

AL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Texas Rangers	45	25	.643	—
Haviland Dragons	42	28	.597	3.2
Seattle Mariners	36	33	.522	8.5
Houston Astros	34	36	.486	11
Los Angeles Angels	31	38	.449	13.5
Oakland A’s	28	41	.406	16.5
Kaline Drive	27	43	.382	18.3

NL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
San Francisco Giants	44	26	.629	—
Portland Rosebuds	43	27	.608	1.4
Los Angeles Dodgers	38	33	.535	6.5
Peshastin Pears	36	34	.519	7.7
Colorado Rockies	32	36	.471	11
Arizona Diamondbacks	32	39	.451	12.5
San Diego Padres	29	42	.408	15.5