My Chinese business law students (the law isn’t Chinese, just the students) are now meekly taking a midterm exam. But I find I still have some unfulfilled exam-writing urges. And it’s been awhile since we have done an assessment of your mastery of all things EFLic. So put your notes away, turn off your electronic devices — well, except for this one — and keep your eyes off your neighbors’ papers. You can post your answers as a comment to this post.
| EFL Standings | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 39 | 20 | .663 | — | 315.0 | 224.5 |
| Haviland Dragons | 36 | 25 | .597 | 3.7 | 287.9 | 234.7 |
| Cottage Cheese | 33 | 27 | .554 | 6.4 | 257.5 | 229.8 |
| Peshastin Pears | 33 | 27 | .548 | 6.7 | 249.1 | 225.7 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 32 | 27 | .544 | 7 | 290.1 | 263.7 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 29 | 28 | .509 | 9.1 | 261.9 | 259.1 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 27 | 32 | .459 | 12 | 310.9 | 336.9 |
| Kaline Drive | 28 | 33 | .451 | 12.6 | 244.0 | 269.9 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 21 | 39 | .353 | 18.4 | 232.6 | 317.2 |
Old Detroit: L, 3 – 8. .255, .296, .333; 8.7 ip, 8 er.
1. Old Detroit’s prize from the May draft, Brandon Morrow, was on the disabled list when the Wolverine’s drafted him (unbeknownst to the Wolverine “brain” trust). When is this embarrassing situation is expected to be resolved by Morrow’s return to MLB action? (CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER, ONLY)
a. Morrow left his final rehab start with discomfort in his shoulder, and will not resume baseball activities for at least two weeks.
b. Morrow is expected to be activated by the end of the month.
c. Morrow will be activated in time to make a start on Sunday.
2. According to a reliable internet source, Jackie Bradley, Jr. is still in the minors despite batting .325, .384, .465 because: (Circle All That Apply, If Any)
a. He went 0 for 11 in a brief May call-up.
b. He needs to work on improving his 3.6 OF defense.
c. Boston GM Ben Cherington hates him for some reason.
Haviland: “L”, 6 – 3. .286, .318, .500; 8.7 ip, 3 er.
3. Where does Paul Goldschmidt rank in the Triple Crown categories in the EFL?
Average: ____
HR: ____
RBI: ____
4. What is Chris Archer’s ERA in June? (CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER ONLY)
a. 0.60
b. 1.60
c. 2.60
Cottage: W, 9 – 0. .382, .447, .559; 8 ip, 3 er.
5. The Cheese went all out for Cubs in the last rookie draft, picking Jorge Soler over Joc Pederson in the first round, and kicking off the second round with their stunning steal of Arismendy Alcantara. Where are Soler and Alcantara today? (CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER ONLY)
a. Both with the Chicago Cubs.
b. One is in Chicago, the other in Iowa.
c. Both are with the Iowa Cubs — but hey, they’re still Cubs!
6. Both Soler and Yasiel Puig have appeared for the Cheese in June. How does Puig’s June OPS compare to Soler’s?
a. Puig’s is over 1.600 points higher.
b. Puig’s is about .160 points higher.
c. The two are about the same.
Peshastin: W, 5 – 3. .205, .308, .455; 1.3 ip 0 er.
7. According to Fangraphs, the EFL has all five of the top five pitchers in terms of fWAR. How do individual Pears pitchers rank among those top five?(Circle All That Apply, If Any)
a. First, at 3.0 fWAR.
b. Second, at 2.9 fWAR
c. Third, at 2.8 fWAR
d. Fourth, at 2.4 fWAR
e. Fifth, at 2.3 fWAR
f. None in the top five
8. Last winter the Athletics traded Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays for Brett Lawrie. I know there were others in the deal, but if we treat this as a straight up trade, which one is having the better June?
Flint Hill: W, 7 – 5; .321, .440, .477; 13.3 ip, 7 er.
9. The Tornados have three players OPSing over 1.000 in June so far. Who are they? (Circle All That Apply, If Any)
a. Xander Bogaerts d. Joc Pederson
b. Jason Heyward e. Dustin Pedroia
c. Kevin Kiermaier f. A. J. Pollock
10. At the rookie draft, the Tornados drafted Mike Foltynewicz and then traded him for Evan Gattis in a move planned about -0.2 minutes ahead of time. How did this work out? (Circle The Best Answer Only)
a. Great! Gattis has 12 homers. Folty served up 5 er in 5.2 innings last night.
b. Okay. Gattis’ OPS is only .711 on the season and he can’t play defense, but Folty’s ERA is 4.72 and last night he served up 5 er… oh, yeah, I already told you about that.
c. Not so great. Gattis’ fWAR is slightly below 0, while Folty’s been worth half a win so far.
Pittsburgh: L, 4 – 5. .256, .319, .349; 7 ip, 4 er.
11. Which of the following debutant pitchers has most helped his EFL team this month? (CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER ONLY)
a. Noah Syndergaard, P: $6,000,000 (June draft).
b. Lance McCullers, P: $4,250,000 (June draft).
c. Chris Heston, P: $500,000 (May draft; trade effective 6 / 1).
12. In these golden days of enlightened Wolverine leadership in the standings, those who pine for the dark days of Pittsburgh despotism must be entirely: (Circle All the Apply, If Any)
a. innumerable.
b. incurable.
c. in the Allegheny front office.
Canberra: DNP 4 – (-3). .343, .395, .486; 17.7 ip, 12 er.
13. Which of the following pitchers got shellacked last night?(Circle All the Apply, If Any)
a. Canberra first-round pick Shane Greene, by the upstart Cubs.
b. Canberra reject Erasmo Ramirez, by the powerful Angels.
c. Wolverine Trevor Bauer, acquired in trade for 2014 first round pick Danny Salazar, by the lowly, wimpy Mariners.
14. According to Fangraphs, the EFL has 9 of the top 11 offensive players in terms of Wins Above Replacement (fWAR). The overall leader is the Kangaroos’ Bryce Harper, with 4.1 fWAR. Where does the second-best Kangaroo rank among batter qaulified for the batting title? (CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER ONLY)
a. Second in the EFL, third overall, at 3.7 fWAR.
b. Fourteenth in the EFL, thirty-second overall, at 2.0 fWAR.
c. Twenty-ninth in EFL, sixty-fourth overall at 1.4 fWAR.
BONUS QUESTION: Who is this second most valuable Kangaroo hitter, according to fWAR?
Kaline: “W”, 7 – 8. .447, .500, .526; 8.7 ip, 7 er.
15. How has Mark Trumbo done since coming over to the Mariners? (Circle All That Apply, if Any)
a. Okay. He’s hit a homer and a double and is OPSing about .700.
b. Pretty good. He won a game with a walk-off blast, and has lifted the M’s offense by about a half-run a game all by himself.
c. Great. He’s been pounding opposing pitchers, leading to the M’s 9 – 3 win last night.
BONUS QUESTION: No really, how has Trumbo done?
Answer: Ummm. He’s 3 for 25 with 8 strikeouts and no walks.
16. Ok, then, let’s set Trumbo aside. Who have been the three Drive hitters with OPSes over 1.000 in June so far (min. 10 PA)?
a. Nori Aoki d. Mitch Moreland
b. Yoenis Cespedes e. Travis Snider
c. Kelly Johnson f. Justin Turner
BONUS QUESTION: Who has been the worst Drive hitter in June (min. 10 PA)?
ANSWER: Come on, get off poor Trumbo’s case. He’ll improve on that .176 OPS.
Portland: W (-1), L 2; 2 – 8. .108, .128, .135. 0 ip, 0 er.
17. Which dominant EFL team got MLB’s first no-hitter of the season? (CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER ONLY)
a. Pittsburgh
b. Old Detroit
c. Haviland
No? Well then how about:
d. Cottage
e. Peshastin
f. Canberra
Not even them? Well then surely it must be:
g. Kaline
h. Flint Hill
Still not right? OK, then, I give up.
18. Where were all the Rosebud pitchers last night? (Circle All That Apply, if Any)
a. At the Rose Festival, partying with sailors.
b. Being treated to dinner by no-hitter pitcher Chris Heston at the best place he can afford: Wendy’s.
c. On the bus to the Rosebud’s minor league club, the Pendleton Petals, to join former ace Mike Wright. That’ll teach ’em.
Hey man, you didn’t tell us any of this stuff was going to be on the test. I studied the wrong things!
By the way, has the name of our league changed? Or is it Christmas and I didn’t notice?
Perhaps it was just your eyes playing a trick on you. Maybe you should double-check…
Ha Ha. I see your trick. But I have proof. Check the URL…