League Updates

One Quarter After Today…

Today marks one quarter of the season for many teams. What does that mean for our teams? As it stands currently, 6 teams are on pace to win 100 or more games. That would certainly be something for the EFL record books. Of course, there is a lot of season left in which anything could happen. But right now it appears it is more likely we will have a competitive re-balance draft at the end of the season since our league record at the quarter mark will be somewhere near 235-165 – a winning percentage of .587!

EFL Standings for 2021

EFL
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA
Flint Hill Tornadoes 27 12 .691 174.7 115.0
Peshastin Pears 26 11 .695 0.2 160.7 106.7
D.C. Balk 21 10 .688 1.6 163.3 110.3
Haviland Dragons 25 14 .641 1.9 181.0 141.0
Old Detroit Wolverines 25 14 .637 2.1 212.8 156.8
Kaline Drive 25 14 .637 2.1 179.5 137.4
Portland Rosebuds 19 18 .520 6.7 188.9 181.7
Canberra Kangaroos 16 15 .510 7.1 165.0 163.1
Cottage Cheese 19 19 .489 7.9 207.9 220.8
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 17 18 .486 7.9 169.4 171.8
Bellingham Cascades 15 20 .435 9.7 139.2 168.6
 
Flint Hill: W, 9-4; 26PA, 16IP
AVG: 0.364 OBP: 0.462 SLG: 0.636 OPS: 1.098
ERA: 6.75 WHIP: 1.438
When you look at that daily ERA it seems like there should not have been a Tornado win yesterday. But 7 of the 12 runs given up sat nicely on the bench, affecting nothing but the morale of Sean Manaea, and making me, a Red Sox fan, happy that my Red Sox won despite my EFL pitcher pitching. The other three pitchers combined for 12 innings and 5 runs given up, all by Zach Eflin and all in the first inning of his outing on two home runs. And the Tornado hitters perhaps started to wake up, with a team OPS over 1.000 on the day. Austin Meadows led the way going 3 for 5 with two doubles and a HR. There was some good separation from the rest of the EFL teams except for those pesky Pears. 
 
Peshastin: W, 4-0; 30PA, 14IP
AVG: 0.231 OBP: 0.333 SLG: 0.346 OPS: 0.679
ERA: 0.64 WHIP: 1.000
The Pears climbed within .2 games of the Tornadoes, and currently have a higher winning percentage than them. And it was all due to that nearly perfect pitching line – which was done over 14 innings pitched! Jack Flaherty went 6 innings giving up 0 runs, and Trevor Rogers matched him in innings while giving up only one run. The Pears’ team ERA this month is 2.22, and it’s not even the best team ERA this month – that belongs to the Drive. The hitting was paltry, with 6 singles and one home run (Willie Calhoun), but you don’t have to do any hitting, really, when your pitching is that good. 
 
DC: DNP, 0-(-1); 30PA, 3IP
AVG: 0.357 OBP: 0.379 SLG: 0.536 OPS: 0.915
ERA: 0.00 WHIP: 0.667
The Balk and the Roos are in this weird limbo where they continue to accrue stats (and they are mostly good stats) but it doesn’t matter (yet) because the Mets, who have only played 5 games this month (compared to 11 or 12 which most other teams have played), continue to lead the NL East. The Balk have over 200 surplus ABs and 40 surplus innings. When those are released there could be some rumblings. For now, I imagine they are content to have jumped over the Wolverines to now own 3rd place by themselves, only 1.6 games back for the Tornadoes. Xander Bogaerts continued his hot hitting, going 3 for 3 with a double, home run and also a walk. Two relievers combined for 3 scoreless innings.
 
Haviland: L, 4-6; 30PA, 2IP
AVG: 0.240 OBP: 0.345 SLG: 0.320 OPS: 0.665
ERA: 0.00 WHIP: 2.000
The Dragon owner got to watch two losses yesterday – his own team’s loss and his grandson’s team loss. I imagine the Dragon loss was harder to take, seeing as his grandson’s loss was in a practice game, though he did have to drive for 45 minutes to watch the loss instead of listening to it on his back porch (which is how I envision the Dragon owner listening to his team during these summery days). Gary Sanchez went 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. Two relievers combined for 2 innings of scoreless baseball, but the Dragons slipped in the standings by .6 games. They are now in a three way tie with OD and Kaline who all have the same record but the Dragons are .04 percentage points ahead of the other two.
 
Old Detroit: L, 1-6; 29PA, 9.7IP
AVG: 0.120 OBP: 0.241 SLG: 0.240 OPS: 0.481
ERA: 5.57 WHIP: 1.340
I imagine Ron is grateful to not have to do the update today after his team’s performance yesterday. In one day the Wolverines dropped almost one whole game further back in the standings, and now have an identical record to the team they most recently praised, the Drive. The culprits yesterday were Ross Stripling and Jameson Taillon, who combined for that pitching line. Josh Bell hit one of the two home runs against Zach Eflin, but other than that, the Wolverines didn’t hit much (2 singles and 4 walks, which are now considered hits, if I am reading Ron’s updates correctly). 
 
Kaline: W, 7-2; 44PA, 3IP
AVG: 0.289 OBP: 0.386 SLG: 0.474 OPS: 0.860
ERA: 3.00 WHIP: 1.333
If you read the entire update (you better!), you’ll know that Kaline already made an appearance in it. The Drive own the month’s best ERA at 2.20, which is excellent considering they have thrown almost 100 innings already. But the Pears are nipping at their tires, and now the Drive have a team close enough to them (identical records!) to have some of their own heels to nip at. Garrett Whitlock actually hurt the team ERA, even though he only surrendered 1 run in 3 innings. The hitters took care of business, though, scoring 7 runs on the strength of 11 hits (4 doubles and 1 home run). Bobby Dalbec led the way, going 2 for 4 with the lone home run, and Kyle Lewis collected 3 walks in 4 PAs. After spending a week all alone in the middle of the EFL standings, the Drive are poised to begin their climb to the top.
 
Portland: W, 5-3; 43PA, 12.3IP
AVG: 0.275 OBP: 0.326 SLG: 0.400 OPS: 0.726
ERA: 2.93 WHIP: 1.545
Portland is playing a fun game of peek-a-boo with a .500 record. One day going a game above, the next returning to the mark, so on and so forth. I suppose that is the truest definition of .500 – win one day, lose the next – but I have to imagine Rosebud management is happy with how the team has performed with its young players. Spencer Turnbull was the star on the mound, going 6.3 innings and giving up one run. Andrew Benintendi and Luis Urias combined for 5 singles in 9 at bats. 
 
Canberra: DNP, 3-(-2); 38PA, 8.4IP
AVG: 0.182 OBP: 0.289 SLG: 0.212 OPS: 0.502
ERA: 1.07 WHIP: 1.310
Stuck in the repressed state as the Balk, the Roos are doing the best they can with no game to play yesterday. The managed to reduce their runs allowed by 2 runs through the great work of Rich Hill, who threw 6.7 innings and gave up 0 runs while notching 9 strikeouts. The hitting did not keep pace with the pitching, but it was enough to earn 3 runs on the day. Mauricio Dubon led the team with 2 singles. 
 
Cottage: “W,” 3-3; 28PA, .7IP
AVG: 0.240 OBP: 0.321 SLG: 0.400 OPS: 0.721
ERA: 0.00 WHIP: 0.000
The formerly hot cheese (nacho cheese?) have cooled a little. Randy Arozarena hit a home run (his 4th of the year after hitting 10 in the playoffs alone last year), and Yandy Diaz added a double to help his EFL and MLB teammate out. But 2/3 of an inning is not enough pitching and the Cheese earned an EFL “win” and now sit at .500 (well, .489 to be exact).
 
Pittsburgh: W, 8-6; 26PA, 5IP
AVG: 0.348 OBP: 0.423 SLG: 0.652 OPS: 1.075
ERA: 5.40 WHIP: 1.400
The Alleghenys had the second best hitting day of any EFL team, because every player who appeared at the plate (sounds magical, huh?) got at least one hit. And Jose Altuve earned two hits (one double) and Dansby Swanson and Garrett Hampson chipped in a home run each. Did you know the Alleghenys are leading the EFL in offense this month? Well, now you do. They are scoring over 6 runs a game without their star rookie, Luis Robert. 
 
Bellingham: L, 5-8; 33PA, 5.4IP
AVG: 0.258 OBP: 0.303 SLG: 0.484 OPS: 0.78
ERA: 6.67 WHIP: 2.037
The Cascades got some bad news yesterday (though maybe not as bad as it could be) as Ronald Acuna, Jr. went down with an ankle injury while running out a grounder after earlier leading off the game with a first-pitch home run. Tim Anderson added his own home run, but the pitchers had a difficult day, allowing 4 runs in 5.4 innings. 
 
 
 
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2021
AL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Flint Hill Tornadoes 27 12 .691
Old Detroit Wolverines 25 14 .637 2.1
Boston Red Sox 23 16 .590 3.9
Toronto Blue Jays 20 16 .556 5.4
New York Yankees 20 17 .541 5.9
Tampa Bay Rays 20 19 .513 6.9
Baltimore Orioles 16 21 .432 9.9
NL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
D.C. Balk 21 10 .688
New York Mets 18 13 .581 3.3
Philadelphia Phillies 20 18 .526 4.8
Canberra Kangaroos 16 15 .510 5.5
Miami Marlins 17 20 .459 7.3
Atlanta Braves 17 20 .459 7.3
Washington Nationals 14 19 .424 8.3
 
AL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Chicago White Sox 22 13 .629
Cleveland Indians 21 14 .600 1
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 17 18 .486 5
Kansas City Royals 16 20 .444 6.5
Bellingham Cascades 15 20 .435 6.8
Detroit Tigers 13 24 .351 10
Minnesota Twins 12 23 .343 10
NL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
St. Louis Cardinals 23 15 .605
Milwaukee Brewers 20 18 .526 3
Cottage Cheese 19 19 .489 4.4
Cincinnati Reds 17 18 .486 4.5
Chicago Cubs 17 19 .472 5
Pittsburgh Pirates 15 22 .405 7.5
 
AL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Haviland Dragons 25 14 .641
Kaline Drive 25 14 .637 0.2
Oakland A’s 23 16 .590 2
Houston Astros 21 17 .553 3.5
Seattle Mariners 18 20 .474 6.5
Texas Rangers 18 21 .462 7
Los Angeles Angels 16 20 .444 7.5
NL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Peshastin Pears 26 11 .695
San Francisco Giants 23 14 .622 2.7
San Diego Padres 21 17 .553 5.2
Los Angeles Dodgers 20 17 .541 5.7
Portland Rosebuds 19 18 .520 6.5
Arizona Diamondbacks 17 21 .447 9.2
Colorado Rockies 14 24 .368 12.2