Juan Soto is off to a vivid start to his career. And Monday he did something that may be unprecedented in MLB history: he hit a major league homer before he debuted.
The Nationals finished Monday a game suspended on May 15. Soto was still in the minor leagues then. But Monday, when the Nats came to bat in the bottom of the resumed sixth inning, Soto pinch hit with a man aboard. He cranked a home run. Apparently, the game stats are all treated as if they occurred on May 15, even though Soto had never appeared in the majors yet. The box score lists it as his first homer, although I read somewhere that MLB will still count the one he hit on May 21, the day after his debut, as his first career blast.
Very confusing.
I suppose you’re wondering whether Soto’s homer will count in the June standings, or somehow be retroactively accounted to May, or just disappear into the ether.
- I am unwilling to let the game’s statss disappear.
- We can’t count it in May now, for technical reasons. May is closed to us.
- I don’t know if any of the stats prior to the 6th inning were counted in May. I will try to figure that out. If they were, I’m happy. We can leave them there.
- Whatever wasn’t in the May stats we got from BP I will count in June, even if I have to hand-enter the stats for the final June update. (They will not show up before the final update unless BP gives them to us, because I would have to hand-enter them multiple times in that scenario.)
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EFL Standings for 2018
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Portland Rosebuds | 43 | 29 | .597 | — | 368.1 | 296.8 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 42 | 29 | .593 | 0.4 | 318.3 | 263.8 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 40 | 29 | .587 | 1 | 299.7 | 250.9 |
| Brookland Outs | 38 | 30 | .563 | 2.7 | 359.3 | 318.0 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 36 | 33 | .526 | 5.2 | 291.1 | 275.7 |
| Cottage Cheese | 35 | 33 | .513 | 6.1 | 342.2 | 333.3 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 36 | 35 | .511 | 6.2 | 365.4 | 363.7 |
| Kaline Drive | 36 | 38 | .483 | 8.3 | 315.5 | 326.6 |
| Haviland Dragons | 35 | 39 | .475 | 8.8 | 312.5 | 328.7 |
| Peshastin Pears | 32 | 40 | .445 | 10.9 | 298.9 | 338.4 |
| D.C. Balk | 30 | 41 | .423 | 12.4 | 291.0 | 339.9 |
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Portland: W, 5 – 4. (34 PA, .258, .324, .484; 0 ip, 0 er). The Rosebuds cruised along at their winning pace, daring other teams to try to come and get them.
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Canberra: DNP, (-1) – (-1). (33 PA, .258, .303, .355; 7.3 ip, 2 er). The Kangaroos almost kept pace with the Rosebuds. Canberra put its improvement efforts into pitching Monday, getting 6.3 strong innings from Andrew Suarez and a shutout inning from Dellin Betances.
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Old Detroit: W 1, L 1; 12 – 7. (23 PA, .333, .478, .556; 0 ip, 0 er) Three guys who don’t play every day in MLB tried to show why that should change Monday. Nick Ahmed got to start and went 2 for three with a homer and a walk. Lewis Brinson also started, going 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. And Kolten Wong got a pinch-hit single. Together they forged a rare Wolverine Edgar Martinez Day.
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Brookland: W (-2), L (-1); (-22) – (-17). (37 PA, .161, .297, .323; 11 ip., 7 er). Brookland got hit with a quadruple whammy Monday: a negative triple header (the Cubs passed the better-travelled Brewers), plus a down day in terms of Out performance. Caleb Smith’s 4 ip, 4 er was probably the lowlight of the day, or maybe Jose Martinez going 0 for 5.
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Flint Hill: W 1, L 1; 9 – 9. (18 PA, .200, .333, .200; 11.3 ip, 6 er). The Tornados replicated the Outs’ pitching (Miles Mikolas: 5 ip. 4 er). Yoan Moncada tried to forge a better hitting line (2 for 3 with a walk) but only Carlos Santana showed up to help (1 for 3 with two walks). The rest of the Tornadoes either flopped (0 for 9 with 4 Ks, no walks) or failed to show up at all.
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Cottage: W (-2), L (-1); (-10) – (-4). (20 PA, .286, .476, .500; 10.3 ip, 9 er). Excellent hitting but thin. Mike Trout continued his recent “all-time best singles hitter” phase: 2 for 3 with 2 walks. But Baseball is a complex game. While you are doing great things over here, disasters can be happening over there — in this case, the pitchers mound where Jaime Barria coughed up 6 earned runs in 4 ip to lead the pitching staff into the maw of disaster.
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Pittsburgh: L, 5 – 6. (21 PA, .250, .273, .300; 0 ip, 0 er) Jose Altuve sits atop the Allegheny Monday stat sheet in every possible way: 3 for 4 with a double and a stolen base. It goes downhill from there. Fortunately it’s a short hill.
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Kaline: W, 4 – 0. (24 PA, .238, .333, .238; 7 ip, 0 er). Trevor Williams was on his game Monday, shutting out the Brewers over seven innings, allowing only 1 hit and two walks while striking out 7. Drive hitters struggled, but they did enough to secure a nice win.
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Haviland: L, 5 – 6. (34 PA, .324, .324, .588; 5 ip, 4 er). Dylan Covey’s 5 crummy innings, plus some replacements, undermined the good work done by Dragon hitters, especially Brandon Nimmo’s 4 for 6 with two homers. As a result the Dragons slipped behind the Drive into 9th place. Bryce Harper went 0 for 4, bringing his June batting line to .135, .224, .192.
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I mentioned earlier how complex baseball is. Here’s another example. Bryce Harper went for $17,000,000 for 5 years in our draft this spring. This was not a foolishly high bid. I was still bidding on him at $16,000,000, aware of my thin outfield. (What? Of COURSE citing my similar bidding behavior is conclusive evidence that John was not being foolish. No, I have never heard of Burch Smith. I have no idea what you are talking about.) Mike Trout fetched $25,000,000 a year ago. Surely a Bryce Harper is worth at least 66% of a Mike Trout. Trout’s June line: .439, .535, .772. Manny Machado got $17,750,000 this year. His June line: .245, .316, .367. Our fourth-highest player is Danny Duffy, at $15,750,000. His June line: 18 ip, 10 er, pushing his season ERA downward all the way to 5.55.
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I advise the gentlemen who own these superstars not to spend any time wondering what they could have done with all that money had they lost the bidding. There is no good to be gained from driving oneself crazy. And besides, you’d have probably blown it all on Shohei Ohtani. And I’d have Glayber Torres right now. And I’d be in first place instead of those “sweet” smelling Rosebuds.
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Peshastin: L, 3 – 5. (5 PA, .000, .200, .000; 0 ip,. 0 er). The Pears have mastered the zen approach to fantasy baseball. Release oneself from all material possessions. Do not strive. Relax, empty the mind, be at one with the world. Cool yourself in the breeze of Joey Gallo’s three strikeouts in four plate appearances. Detach oneself from the pain of Clint Frazier’s HBP in his one plate appearance. Contemplate the mound where Peshastin’s pitchers aren’t. Read the stat line: Point 5 OH OH OH. Point 2 OH OH OH OH OH OH. Breathe every OH. Repeat until your heart is at peace and you appreciate the motes of beauty to be found in 10th place.
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DC: DNO, 0 – (-1). (10 PA, .333, .400, .444; 1 ip 0 er). DC has apparently emptied its internal turmoil, too. Or at least it has figure out how to leave no footprint on the planet. The Balk did no damage, and healed from a little of the damage done to them over the season. In doings sol they kept perfect pace with the distant Rosebuds without causing as much damage to the environment.
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2018
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| New York Yankees | 47 | 22 | .681 | — |
| Boston Red Sox | 49 | 24 | .671 | — |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 40 | 29 | .587 | 6.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 36 | 33 | .526 | 10.7 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 33 | 38 | .465 | 15 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 33 | 39 | .458 | 15.5 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 20 | 50 | .286 | 27.5 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 42 | 29 | .593 | — |
| Atlanta Braves | 42 | 29 | .592 | 0.1 |
| Washington Nationals | 38 | 31 | .551 | 3.1 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 38 | 32 | .543 | 3.6 |
| New York Mets | 31 | 38 | .449 | 10.1 |
| D.C. Balk | 30 | 41 | .423 | 12.1 |
| Miami Marlins | 29 | 44 | .397 | 14.1 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Cleveland Indians | 38 | 33 | .535 | — |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 36 | 35 | .511 | 1.7 |
| Detroit Tigers | 36 | 37 | .493 | 3 |
| Minnesota Twins | 31 | 37 | .456 | 5.5 |
| Chicago White Sox | 24 | 47 | .338 | 14 |
| Kansas City Royals | 22 | 50 | .306 | 16.5 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Chicago Cubs | 40 | 28 | .588 | — |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 42 | 30 | .583 | — |
| Brookland Outs | 38 | 30 | .563 | 1.7 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 37 | 33 | .529 | 4 |
| Cottage Cheese | 35 | 33 | .513 | 5.1 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 36 | 36 | .500 | 6 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 26 | 45 | .366 | 15.5 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Houston Astros | 49 | 25 | .662 | — |
| Seattle Mariners | 46 | 26 | .639 | 2 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 38 | 35 | .521 | 10.5 |
| Oakland A’s | 36 | 36 | .500 | 12 |
| Kaline Drive | 36 | 38 | .483 | 13.3 |
| Haviland Dragons | 35 | 39 | .475 | 13.8 |
| Texas Rangers | 30 | 44 | .405 | 19 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Portland Rosebuds | 43 | 29 | .597 | — |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 40 | 32 | .556 | 3 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 37 | 33 | .529 | 5 |
| San Francisco Giants | 35 | 38 | .479 | 8.5 |
| Colorado Rockies | 34 | 38 | .472 | 9 |
| San Diego Padres | 34 | 40 | .459 | 10 |
| Peshastin Pears | 32 | 40 | .445 | 10. |
you didn’t mention an interesting part of the story:
On May 15 Soto went 3 for 4 with a double in double-A AND (according to the official record) hit a home run in the major leagues!
I judge that Soto is mayor.