MLB published an article this morning listing the hottest player on each MLB team since the All Star Break. “Hmmm,” I thought. “I already did a post about projected WAR for the rest of the season. It projected the Rosebuds to still be the favorites to win the EFL race — a terrible article. What I need is some new, rock-solid empirical data to re-examine the question: who is going to win? And (while I’m at it) why? Wouldn’t the team with the most hot players be a near lock to win the race?”
“Of course it would,” I replied. “And also, it will be fun to see how we do as a league at acquiring the hottest players.” I almost said “identifying and acquiring the hottest players” but, frankly, I know from personal experience it is much more common to end up with good players without having identified them.
So — if MLB is listing 30 players for its 30 teams, we should each, on average, have one, and the EFL as a whole should have 11.
Portland: Jackie Bradley, Jr.
Not bad. We have 15 of MLB’s hottest players. Three teams don’t have any at the moment, but I am confident they’ll be bilking the Wolverines out of their excess momentarily. For the moment, however, this is great news for the W’s, since they have the most hot players, and are already in first place.
Except I suppose I just jinxed them all by mentioning it. But is Acuña immune to jinxing, since I already jinxed him this week and he didn’t swell up and need an epi pen?
But actually, I don’t trust the MLB writers to get this right. So I went through every EFL team to identify its hottest player since the All Star break.
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EFL Standings for 2018
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
RS |
RA |
| Old Detroit Wolverines |
77 |
45 |
.633 |
— |
591.8 |
441.3 |
| Portland Rosebuds |
75 |
47 |
.615 |
2.1 |
636.8 |
496.4 |
| Brookland Outs |
69 |
51 |
.577 |
6.9 |
632.0 |
543.1 |
| Canberra Kangaroos |
65 |
55 |
.541 |
11.2 |
544.6 |
503.7 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
65 |
55 |
.539 |
11.5 |
624.2 |
585.1 |
| Cottage Cheese |
62 |
58 |
.516 |
14.2 |
602.2 |
582.8 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes |
62 |
60 |
.510 |
15 |
557.3 |
544.2 |
| Haviland Dragons |
61 |
60 |
.504 |
15.7 |
561.7 |
551.9 |
| Kaline Drive |
61 |
60 |
.501 |
16 |
537.3 |
533.1 |
| Peshastin Pears |
56 |
66 |
.456 |
21.5 |
516.4 |
566.2 |
| D.C. Balk |
51 |
69 |
.422 |
25.5 |
510.0 |
596.9 |
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Old Detroit: DNP (-4) – 0. (48 PA, .222, .271. .267; 1 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA). MLB got one right, anyway: the hottest Wolverine is Ronald Acuña, who has batted .354, .418, .798 — an OPS of 1.216 — in 110 PAs since the All-Star break. Acuña survived Ureña’s assassination attempt and played last night — but he only went 1 for 4, so he’s a little less hot now. And let’s make this clear right now so I don’t have to keep repeating it for every team in the league: the Wolverines lost ground to just about everyone in the EFL.
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Portland: W, 7 – 2. (32 PA, .321, .406, .571; 16 ip, 4 er, 2.25 ERA). Chris Sale is really the hottest Rosebud since the All-Star break: 17 innings pitched, 0 earned runs. But that’s only half the innings Clay Buchholz or Jon Gray have covered. Mookie Betts has a ton of plate appearances (111) and is hitting .330, .414, .539 to lead the hitters with 1.012 OPS. But that’s actually slightly off his season stats (1.108 OPS). So how can you call him the hottest player on the Rosebuds, when he’s not as hot as himself?
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Brookland: “L”, 4 – 3. (18 PA, .200, .333, .200; 2 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA). The hottest Outs are Khris Davis (110 PA, .274, .345, .716; 1.061 OPS), mostly due to his 13 homers; and Carlos Rodon (37.3 ip, 7 er, 1.69 ERA). Which one is more valuable? I don’t know.
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Canberra: W, 7 – 5. (47 PA, .326, .383, .721; 8.3 ip, 4 er, 4.32 ERA). One might peg Jose Abreu (1.031 OPS over 109 PA) or Rhys Hoskins (1.058 OPS over 114 PA) as the hottest Kangaroo, but I’m going with Blake Snell (0.64 ERA) even though it’s only over 14 innings. The most recent of those innings were 5 shutout innings against the Yankees last night. That was after 5 shutout innings against Toronto in his previous start.
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Pittsburgh: W 1, L (-1); 3 – 1. (28 PA, .320, .357, .800; 4.7 ip, 2 er 3.86 ERA). Adalberto Mejia has pitched 19.3 innings with only 1 earned run since the All-Star break, for a 0.49 ERA. But JD Martinez has gone .352, .437, .739 over 103 PA in the same period. I don’t know which is hotter. Mark W probably does know. Let’s ask him.
Hey, Mark — who’s been hotter in the last month: Mejia or Martinez?
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Cottage: W, 5 – 5. (21 PA, .316 .333, .526; 1.3 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA). Franklin Barreto (1.333 OPS in 9 plate appearances) and Yandy Diaz (1.190 OPS in 21 plate appearances) might be the hottest — but neither Barreto nor Diaz has walked in the last month. They can’t be hot if they can’t take a walk. So let’s give the Golden Pear to Wilson Ramos. He hasn’t walked, either, but he went 6 for 9 with 3 doubles and a triple in his 9 trips to the plate.
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Flint Hill: DNP, 0 – (-2). (21 PA, .158, .238, .421; 3.3 IP, 0 ER, 0 ERA). The Tornados have no hitters OPSing over 1.000 since the All-Star Break, nor any starting pitchers with ERA’s under 2.00 (or relievers with ERA’s under 1.00). These have been my rules of thumb for considering a player “hot.” I could go with Miguel Andujar as the warmest Tornado (.984 OPS in 66 PAs), or I could tweak the timeframe a little. So, what was the biggest event after the All-Star Game? Yes, yes, the answer is obvious: my birthday. So: the hottest Tornados since July 30 are… Mike Trout at 1.083 OPS in 0nly 9 PA (before hurting himself and then also taking time off to deal with a family tragedy)? Not really all that hot — injury and tragedy. So, let’s try again: The REAL hottest tornado is — Miguel Andujar! With an OPS of exactly 1.000 since my birthday!! (70 PA, .299, .329, .672).
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Actually, this is all totally appropriate. Nothing in our league produces more entropy than the Tornados. Dragons maybe, if they existed. But they don’t. So the agency in the EFL most likely to spread entropy far and wide, and leave everything in a state of heat death where there are no temperature gradients (and thus no potential energy) is the Flint Hill Tornados.
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Haviland: DNP, 7 – 6. (33 PA, .448, .515, .759, 1.274 OPS; 4 ip, 7 er, 15.75 ERA). No, it only LOOKS like Haviland’s Ervin Santana was pitching to his own team. He was mostly serving up meatballs to the Rosebuds’ Nick Castellanos. Anyway… the hottest Dragon since the All-Star Break is hard to pin down. Lourdes Gurriel has the highest OPS (1.359) but in only 33 plate appearances (and only one walk). Alex Colome has a spiffy 0.00 ERA — but in only 14 innings. I think the award has to go to Bryce Harper. Harper’s 1.129 OPS isn’t as high as Lourdes’s, but it comes over 105 PA, and after being in a nasty slump most of the season. So he’s relatively the hottest Dragon. .
Kaline: W 1, L (-1); 3 – 0. (31 PA, .261, .419, .609; no pitching). The hottest Drive since the All-Star break is clearly Trevor Williams: 24 ip, 2 earned runs, 0.75 ERA. Aaron Judge’s OPS is eligible for consideration (1.024) but Williams is doing the most dramatic work.
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Peshastin: L, 2 – 3. (24 PA, .174, .208, .348; 6.7 ip, 4 er). Joey Gallo is the hottest Pear, clearly. In 98 plate appearances since the All-Star game, Gallo is hitting .265, .378, .675 — there are 10 homers in those numbers, and a 1.053 OPS.
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DC: “W”, 7 – 8. (22 PA, .350, .409, .800; 2.3 ip, 5 er). I believe the hottest EFL player since the All-Star Break is D.C.’s Matt Chapman (109 PA, .368, .440, .737) — featured in the photo attached to this post on the EFL website. Not only is he hitting like a superstar since the All-Star game, he is racking up MLB-leading defensive numbers at third base. Kole Calhoun (112 PA, .333, .420, .677) has been his super-trusty sidekick. And don’t forget Carlos Carrasco (33.7 ip, 1.60 ERA). How is this team not in the upper division?
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2018
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Boston Red Sox |
86 |
36 |
.705 |
— |
| Old Detroit Wolverines |
77 |
45 |
.633 |
8.8 |
| New York Yankees |
75 |
45 |
.625 |
10 |
| Tampa Bay Rays |
62 |
59 |
.512 |
23.5 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes |
62 |
60 |
.510 |
23.8 |
| Toronto Blue Jays |
55 |
66 |
.455 |
30.5 |
| Baltimore Orioles |
36 |
85 |
.298 |
49.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Atlanta Braves |
68 |
52 |
.567 |
— |
| Philadelphia Phillies |
67 |
54 |
.554 |
1.5 |
| Canberra Kangaroos |
65 |
55 |
.541 |
3 |
| Washington Nationals |
61 |
61 |
.500 |
8 |
| New York Mets |
52 |
68 |
.433 |
16 |
| D.C. Balk |
51 |
69 |
.422 |
17.3 |
| Miami Marlins |
48 |
75 |
.390 |
21.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Cleveland Indians |
69 |
51 |
.575 |
— |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys |
65 |
55 |
.539 |
4.3 |
| Minnesota Twins |
57 |
63 |
.475 |
12 |
| Detroit Tigers |
50 |
72 |
.410 |
20 |
| Chicago White Sox |
44 |
76 |
.367 |
25 |
| Kansas City Royals |
37 |
84 |
.306 |
32.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Chicago Cubs |
70 |
50 |
.583 |
— |
| Brookland Outs |
69 |
51 |
.577 |
0.7 |
| Milwaukee Brewers |
68 |
55 |
.553 |
3.5 |
| St. Louis Cardinals |
66 |
56 |
.541 |
5 |
| Cottage Cheese |
62 |
58 |
.516 |
8.1 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates |
61 |
61 |
.500 |
10 |
| Cincinnati Reds |
52 |
69 |
.430 |
18.5 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Houston Astros |
74 |
47 |
.612 |
— |
| Oakland A’s |
72 |
49 |
.595 |
2 |
| Seattle Mariners |
70 |
52 |
.574 |
4.5 |
| Los Angeles Angels |
62 |
61 |
.504 |
13 |
| Haviland Dragons |
61 |
60 |
.504 |
13 |
| Kaline Drive |
61 |
60 |
.501 |
13.4 |
| Texas Rangers |
54 |
69 |
.439 |
21 |
| TEAM |
WINS |
LOSSES |
PCT. |
GB |
| Portland Rosebuds |
75 |
47 |
.615 |
— |
| Arizona Diamondbacks |
67 |
55 |
.549 |
8 |
| Colorado Rockies |
65 |
56 |
.537 |
9.5 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers |
65 |
57 |
.533 |
10 |
| San Francisco Giants |
61 |
61 |
.500 |
14 |
| Peshastin Pears |
56 |
66 |
.456 |
19.4 |
| San Diego Padres |
48 |
76 |
.387 |
28 |
