Preparing for the 2017.5 Season

EFL Standings for 2017

Cottage: W 2, L 2; 22 – 17. (.306, .342, .500;  7 ip, 3 er).  Only the Cheese can absorb 4 games in a single day and do so well: win a little more than 2 of the 4 games, rack up only 4 replacement AB and no replacement innings, and still be in first place by the same margin as they were the day before. If the Cheese keep this up the season will be over June 17.  Hmmmm… Maybe we could do a second draft and run a season in 2017.5 — all the 2017 contracts having expired, including Bryce Harper’s.

Kaline: W, 2 – (-3). (.159, .229, .295; 14.7 ip, 4 er).  I suppose the Drive would be less inclined than most to accelerate the end of the season.  Sure, it would be nice to see the end of Bryce Harper ‘s Cheese career — but that would also mean the end of Yonder Alonso’s Drive contract (1.153 OPS in May) and maybe Kaline’s best chance yet to snag a pennant.  But what if we gave ourselves an extra season out of players on contracts going beyond 2017 (Kris Bryant (1.024 in May), Aaron Judge (1.122)…), would that fire up the Drive?

Flint Hill:  “W”, 2 – 4. (.207, .324, .345; 7 ip, 3 er).  Joc Pederson was the answer to one of my trivia questions yesterday: the EFLer who is currently 10th on the all-time career Three True Outcomes percentage.  He helped his standings yesterday by going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.  The Tornadoes have been doing do-si-dos with the Drive for possession of second place, so they, too might have trouble getting excited about an early end to the 2017 season.  I mean, John Jaso just got more playing time, and responded with 3 walks in 4 trips to the plate!

Haviland: W, 11 – 5.  (.379, .438, .621; 2.3 ip, 1 er).  Hey, Dragons: are you still trying to win? I believe you have an overdeveloped sense of vengeance. It’s going to get you into trouble some day. Zack Cozart (3 for 5 with a homer, bringing his May OPS to 1.033 ), Gary Sanchez (1.042), Neil Walker (1.019) — would you want to interrupt their attempts to bring the Dragons their league-record third straight pennat?  Or would you rather give them an extra season as Dragons?  Maybe we can’t really count on the Dragons’ support for calling the season early. If I were in their shoes, only 5 games back, I’d want a shot at three straight crowns.

Pittsburgh: W 1, L (-1); 1 – (-1).  (.3o8, .372, .538; 2 ip, 0 er).  Quite the off day for the A’s. Jose Altuve did something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before:  he doubled and tripled twice in the same game, compiling an .800, 800, 2.000 line for the day. Here’s another team probably not thrilled about an early end to the season.  They play a very long game, using the entire season to make slow, methodical comebacks and threaten for the title by the end of September.  They probably think they can do it again this year, undaunted by the early success of the Cheese — just another flash in the pan to geologic formations like the Alleghenys.

Peshastin: DNP, (-1) – (-1). (.239, .321, .370; 6.7 op, 8 er.) Jackie Bradley started his Pear career very slowly, but he’s been heating up lately, including yesterday’s 2 for 5 with a homer and a walk. Zach Eflin isn’t much of a substitute in the Zac department for the departed Zack Cozart: Eflin’s  4 ip, 7 er put a dent in the Pear’s off-day celebrations.  As for the idea of squeezing two seasons into one summer:  I don’t know how the Pear braintrust would like it. Although this would give the Pears their first finish ahead of the Wolverines.

Portland: DNP, 3 – 3. (.313, .371, .563;  6.3 ip, 5 er).  Thank God for days off, and their suppression of stats. Johnny Cueto’s bad day was blunted by the lack of a game with which to recognize it — but then, so were the great hitting numbers the team posted, including Chris Herrmann’s walk off homer (and his double and walk in 5 plate appearances).  As for squeezing in an extra season — I think the Rosebuds would be sympathetic. Why not give your star-studded roster another chance at a better start?

Old Detroit: L, 4 – 8. (.182, .206, .303; 1 ip, 1 er). Kolton Wong (3 for 5 with a double) and Josh Bell (1 for 3 with a homer) were the only offensive highlights yesterday. If a second season were possible, the W’s would jump at the chance. We might have half our rotation back by then — although we’d lose half of it, too, but who cares: every single 2017 starter I have is on the DL. Maybe Kyle Schwarber could get himself on track so he could achieve something more useful than breaking signs atop scoreboards… in batting practice.

DC: L, 4 – 7. (.258, .314, .290;  3 ip, 1 er). New seasons can’t come fast enough for expansion teams.

Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2017