Trend lines

I am watching the Mariners peck the Blue Jays to death with three straight ground balls through the right side.  The Jays weren’t shifted on any of them — had they been, all those ground balls would be outs. I am going to double check with the Wolverines’ fielding coach, to be sure we’re shifting suitably aggressively.

EFL Standings for 2016

Old Detroit:  W 2, L 0; 9 – 6. (.214, .320, .476;  11 ip, 2 er)   The Orioles retook first place from the Red Sox yesterday, giving the Wolverines and the Tornadoes a double header.  They used the opportunity differently.

Portland:  “W”, 1 – 2.  (.208, .269, .417;  23 ip, 7 er.)  All that good pitching stored up will come in handy over the next few days. Since June 15, the Rosebuds haven’t had a winning percentage worse than .604 nor better than today’s .632.  I doubt anyone else has been so consistent for so long. The W’s range over that period: .620 to .657.

Haviland: W, 3 – 2. (.219, .324, .344; 8.7 ip, 2 er).  The Dragons have been over .600 since June 25.  The Dragons have been over .600 since June 25, living in the .611 – .639 range since then  – the same breadth (0.028) as the Rosebuds, but over a shorter time.

Pittsburgh: W, 0 – (-2). (.208, .269, .417; 23 ip, 7 er. )  Since the Rosebuds passed the .600 mark, the Alleghenys have been as low as .527 (on June 25) and as high as .595 (on July 20).  With the three teams ahead of them tethered within a narrow winning percentage range, the trends are looking awfully good for the Alleghenys.

Peshastin: L, 1 – 3. (.222, .286, .311; 3 ip, 1 er).  The Pears first crossed the .500 line on June 14, but bobbed between .489 and .519 for the rest of June.  The Pears moved above .500 for good on July 1.  Their current .544 mark is the highest of the entire season for the Pears. Here’s another team whose trend line could lead to an exciting pennant race.

Canberra: L, 2 – 7. (.220, .289, .268;  5.3 ip, 4 er).  The trend line for the Kangaroos is not as promising. If you ignore the chaotic first month of April, the Kangaroos had the league’s highest winning percentage at .745 on May 4, and the second highest at .742 on May 16. They dropped under .700 on May 18, under .600 on June 1, leveled out in the .570’s from June 8 through June 17, and have drifted gently downward since then, with today’s .538 being the low point so far. The ‘Roos could continue on this slope the rest of the season and almost still stay above .500, I think.

Flint Hill:  W (-1), L, 3; 4 – 12. (.194, .237, .278;  3 ip, 2 er).  Since May 1, Flint Hill had its peak winning percentage (.572) on May 25.  They dipped below .500 on June 10. Since then they’ve held very steady, never straying higher than .521 (June 22), and never lower than today’s .488.  That 0.033 range is only .005 bigger than the sibling rival Rosebuds.

Cottage: W, 5 – (-1). (.237, .310, .368; 23 ip, 7). The Cheese emerged from April at .430, on the way down to a .364 nadir on May 14. By June 25 they had reached .500, and got to a peak of .507 on July 8.  Things have not gone as well since then, bottoming out at .472 Thursday.

Kaline: W, 6 – 2.  (.242 .308 .606;  15.3 ip, 5 er).  A very good day for the Drive, who haven’t been above .500 since the third day of the season.   After the Drive first regained the .400 level on May 7, they spent four weeks in the .400’s, reaching a high of .454 on May 26. They dipped below .400 on June  4, and stayed there for all but two days until they re-crossed the .400 again on July 5.  Their .422 mark today ties their post- July 1 high — so the Drive, too, have shown remarkable consistency.

D.C.: “W”, 3- 4. (.267, .324, .300;  3.3 ip, 1 er).  The Balk were in first place after the first day of the season. Their winning percentage went up to .877 the next day, but Haviland had exploded to an .885 mark to take over the lead. Two days later the Balk were all the way down to .251, and reached a .130 nadir on April 10. They got back above .200 on April 25, above .301 on May 10, but drifted back into the .200’s two days later. They surpassed the .300 mark for good on June 13, reaching a peak (so far) of .341 earlier this week.