The other day I ran across an article discussing the Brewers’ five most under-rated heroes, keys to the Brewers’ unexpected level of dominance in the NL Central. Who do you think was the #1 under-rated hero?
The Portland Rosebuds’ Luis Urias.
According to the article, Urias “has developed into a super-utility player capable of starting at second base, shortstop, or third base… Urias has not been shy about flashing the leather by making some truly impressive plays on the third base line and throwing batters out across the diamond from foul territory… Urias is second on the team in runs batted in with 57 and is tied with Willy Adames for second on the Brewers with 17 home runs, giving the Brewers the power you would hope to see from corner infielders… and there’s still more growth to come from the young Urias.”
The article hurt. Last winter, in my fixation on getting the #1 draft pick so I could draft Ke’Bryan Hayes so he could ride the bench 50% in the last month of a tense pennant race, I offered the Rosebuds a massive trade. There were a lot of pieces in the trade, but the centerpiece was going to be one of two highly touted young infielders: either the Dodgers’ Gavin Lux, or the Brewers’ Luis Urias. Mark asked for Lux. I dithered for a bit, carrying on a little Lux/Urias debate in my head.
I was worried about Urias because the Brewers didn’t seem to be committed to him. After they got him in a trade from San Diego, they still went out and acquired other middle infielders. It was like they didn’t trust him. Meanwhile the powerhouse Dodgers seemed to be committed to starting Lux at second base.
So I counter-offered with Urias. Mark acquiesced.
Urias is now the Brewers’ #1 underrated hero. If Lux is an underrated hero, it’s for the Dodgers. The Oklahoma City Dodgers. I don’t know if they see him as a hero in Oklahoma, but it would be hard to underrate him. The last time he was in AAA, in 2019, he batted .347, .421, .607. Now he’s batting .276, .333, .379.
Sigh.
Well, Ron, it’s time to move on. Quit this Lux/Urias obsession. You have plenty to be thankful for.
EFL Standings for 2021
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 95 | 43 | .690 | — | 800.4 | 536.9 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 89 | 49 | .647 | 6 | 740.4 | 545.8 |
| D.C. Balk | 85 | 51 | .628 | 8.9 | 775.0 | 596.8 |
| Kaline Drive | 84 | 53 | .612 | 10.9 | 736.2 | 585.6 |
| Peshastin Pears | 84 | 54 | .609 | 11.2 | 690.9 | 559.3 |
| Cottage Cheese | 78 | 61 | .562 | 17.7 | 782.3 | 709.0 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 76 | 60 | .560 | 18.1 | 723.0 | 647.5 |
| Haviland Dragons | 75 | 62 | .546 | 20 | 710.3 | 670.8 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 73 | 64 | .536 | 21.3 | 683.5 | 634.0 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 71 | 66 | .521 | 23.3 | 588.0 | 564.4 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 66 | 72 | .477 | 29.4 | 729.2 | 772.0 |
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2021
OLD DETROIT: W, 14 – 4. (50 PA, .395, .480 .721; 7 ip, 3 er, 3.86 ERA). The Wolverines had their first really good day of September, which was enough to begin to set things back to rights in the standings. Marcus Semien homered twice, and of the W’s 11 hitters only one (Cal Raleigh, allocated very part-timely) failed to reach safely at least once. Jameson Taillon pitched well (7 ip, 3 er). I wouldn’t call the restored 6-game lead luxurias, but it’s at least comfortable.
FLINT HILL: (47 PA, .256, .319, .326; 0 ip, 5 er, ERA — the report says the ERA is 0.00, but it really means “infinity — and beyond!). That was Brad Boxberger walking 2 and giving up three hits for the Brewers yesterday, without retiring anyone. There are two MORE really interesting facts about that:
1) Boxberger served up one homer — to the first batter he faced. When he left the game (after walk, single, walk, single) he’d only surrendered 2 runs, but the bases were loaded. Two batters later Jean Segura hit a grand slam.
2) Remember that article touting Luis Urias as the Brewers’ most important underrated hero? Guess who was (until last night) the Brewers’ second-most underrated hero.
Brad Boxberger.
So the key isn’t acquiring underrated players. The key is acquiring them from Old Detroit, instead of Gavin Lux.
DC: DNP, 2 – 0. (25 PA, .318, .400, .727; no pitching) It was Labor Day, after all, and the Balk had it off — unlike the poor toilers for George Fox University. So Rob was probably too busy to notice the lack of pitching, and maybe too excited by that spiffy batting line to care. Bryce Harper and sidekicks Ryan McMahon and Pete Alfonso homered for the Balk, while Myles Straw — another candidate for the delux all-underrated team, up there in Urias territory — went three for four with a stolen base. Danny Jansen decided to show ME he wasn’t on the bench by going 0 for 4, so there!
KALINE: W, 6 – 5. (41 PA, .324, .390, .432; 2.3 ip, 2 er, 7.83 ERA). The Wizard probably wishes his pitchers had observed Labor Day somewhere else. Or at least Garrett Whitlock (1.3 ip, 2 er); newbie Adam Cimber did well (1 ip, 0 er). But at least there was enough good offense to snag a win on the day. No homers, but Jose Altuve went 2 doubles for 4, plus 2 walks, to lead the team. Altuve, you recall, is another de-Lux infielder the Wolverines let get away years ago, Urias-style. The blessing thereby endowed on Altuve endures all these years later, and has opened the door to possible Hall of Fame consideration someday.
PESHASTIN: L, 5 – 6 (20 PA, .250, .400, .313; 3.3 ip, 1 er, 2.73 ERA). Justus Sheffield pitched yesterday, covering 2.3 innings while the M’s were getting blown out by the Astros. Sheffield only allowed one run in what was otherwise a dismal day for the Mariners. But with so few innings, and the Pears’ pennant hopes beginning to whisper “Burias”, the Pears needed some pretty illuxtrious offense to get a win and keeping flickering hopes alive. They almost got it, thanks to 4 walks going with their 3 singles and a double.
COTTAGE: L, 3 – 4. (43 PA, .250, .279, .375; 6 ip, 2 er, 3.00 ERA). Cheese pitchers set the table for the offense by getting through three solid innings. There was a little bit of lux involved: the run Collin McHugh surrendered was unearned because it was scored by an extra-inning beginning ghost runner. However, the Cheese offense couldn’t step up far enough to secure a win. Yandy Diaz collected three hits, all singles, but Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 4. At least the Cheese escaped with out any injurias, as far as I know.
CANBERRA: DNP, 7 – 2 (46 PA, .455, .478,.705; 5 IP, 4 ER, 7.20 ERA). The Kangaroos largely emulated the Wolverine offense, coming up a little shorter on pitching. Kyle Tucker led the way, going 3 for 4 with two doubles and a walk. Wander Franco also did surias damage: 4 for 6 with a triple. And the hitting didn’t stop there: Mauricio Dubon and Vlad Jr. also collected three hits, Guerrero’s including a homer. It takes a ton of clux hitting to score 7 runs on an off-day, but the Kangaroos got the job done.
HAVILAND: W 2, L (-1); 11 – (-4). (46 PA, .467, .500, .533; 13.4 ip, 2 er, 1.34 ERA). The Dragons had a rapturias day on both sides of the ball yesterday: outstanding hitting plux great pitching, the kind we all dream of. They didn’t slug as much as the Kangaroos or Wolverines — no homers in Haviland yesterday — but they got on base at an unworldly .500 rate, every single one of the ten Dragons knocking at least a single single. That included Jose Iglesias, who got cut by the Angels but quickly resurfaced in Boston where he pinch hit — and singled.
On the pitching side, I suppose you’d have to say Tarik Skubal struggled (3 ip, 2 er). But everyone else was flawless: four other pitchers combining for 10.3 inning without a run scoring. The star was the newest Dragon, AJ Alexy, whose 6 shutout, 1 hit innings anchored the staff.
And look! With that big day, the Dragons slipped back ahead of the …
PITTSBURGH: W (-1), L 1; (-1) – 0. (20 ip, .211, .250, .421; 6.3 ip, 2 er 2.86 ERA) The actual score of the Allegheny off-day was (-1.5) – (0.4), so I think that isn’t quite as bad as it looks rounded off. Still, a win got lost in the flux, and a sort-of-spurias loss took it’s place. Garrett Hampson tried his best to resist this arrest of Allegheny progress, by hitting a homer, but there was too little help available from his teammates. Sonny Gray pitched okay (5 ip, 2 er plus one unearned one), but the day was too dismal for his effort to stave off the lost win and preserve the A’s advantage over the D’s in the standings.
BELLINGHAM: DNP< (-1) – (-1). (46 PA, .222, .239, .533; 8 ip, 3 er, 3.38 ERA). The Cascades blasted three homers on their off-day. Unfortunately, even with a triple and three doubles, there wasn’t enough there to sustain the C’s average runs-scored-per-game this month. A usurias surplux of strikeouts (11) over walks (1) didn’t help matters. Fortunately, the Belles kept their balance by also having some good pitching.
PORTLAND: L, (-3) – 9. (37 PA, .143, .189, .171; 12.3 ip, 8 er, 5.85 ERA). The Rosebuds gave back more than half of the giant step forward they took on Sunday. Logan Allen’s 5 er in 5.3 innings pitched undermined the better efforts of Bryse Wilson and Luis Cessa, who had combined for 7 ip, 3 er. And not even Luis Urias could salvage the offense. Urias was held to a walk in 4 plate appearances, which, shoot, Gavin Lux might have done. On a good day.
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 95 | 43 | .690 | — |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 89 | 49 | .647 | 6 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 87 | 51 | .630 | 8.3 |
| New York Yankees | 78 | 59 | .569 | 16.8 |
| Boston Red Sox | 79 | 61 | .564 | 17.3 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 74 | 62 | .544 | 20.3 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 43 | 93 | .316 | 51.3 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| D.C. Balk | 85 | 51 | .628 | — |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 76 | 60 | .560 | 9.1 |
| Atlanta Braves | 72 | 64 | .529 | 13.3 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 71 | 66 | .518 | 14.8 |
| New York Mets | 69 | 69 | .500 | 17.3 |
| Miami Marlins | 57 | 80 | .416 | 28.8 |
| Washington Nationals | 57 | 80 | .416 | 28.8 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Chicago White Sox | 79 | 58 | .577 | — |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 73 | 64 | .536 | 5.6 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 71 | 66 | .521 | 7.6 |
| Cleveland Indians | 68 | 67 | .504 | 10 |
| Detroit Tigers | 65 | 74 | .468 | 15 |
| Kansas City Royals | 62 | 75 | .453 | 17 |
| Minnesota Twins | 60 | 77 | .438 | 19 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 84 | 55 | .604 | — |
| Cottage Cheese | 78 | 61 | .562 | 5.9 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 73 | 66 | .525 | 11 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 69 | 67 | .507 | 13.5 |
| Chicago Cubs | 64 | 75 | .460 | 20 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 49 | 89 | .355 | 34.5 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Kaline Drive | 84 | 53 | .612 | — |
| Houston Astros | 80 | 57 | .584 | 3.9 |
| Haviland Dragons | 75 | 62 | .546 | 9.1 |
| Seattle Mariners | 75 | 63 | .543 | 9.4 |
| Oakland A’s | 74 | 63 | .540 | 9.9 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 68 | 70 | .493 | 16.4 |
| Texas Rangers | 49 | 88 | .358 | 34.9 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| San Francisco Giants | 88 | 50 | .638 | — |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 87 | 51 | .630 | 1 |
| Peshastin Pears | 84 | 54 | .609 | 3.9 |
| San Diego Padres | 73 | 64 | .533 | 14.5 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 66 | 72 | .477 | 22.2 |
| Colorado Rockies | 63 | 75 | .457 | 25 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 45 | 93 | .326 | 43 |