League Updates

Too late, but not too little

August 9, 2021
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Today got away from me – I had planned to write most of this over lunch, and then was invited to play tennis (which went horribly), and so it is now late in the day when you are seeing the scores. You should be happy, though, that I am showing you these scores and not my tennis scores (which, again, were horrific). 

What I divulge is how I was hoping the Chicago v. Chicago Sunday night game was going to get rained out/suspended so Old Detroit wouldn’t yet reap the benefits of Eloy Jimenez’s great night. But as David Ross said in his in-game interview, “This is Chicago, and the weather can change on a dime.” And it did. The game was finished, Eloy going 3 for 4 with a double and two home runs.

Sigh. What’s worse? Knowing I played horribly in tennis, costing my partner to lose all three games we played, or watching your opponent, whom you are chasing without much progress, continue to mash the ball all over (and out of) the yard? Both are pretty awful, if you ask me. 

EFL Standings for 2021
EFL
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB RS RA
Old Detroit Wolverines 78 34 .700 — 637.1 416.5
Flint Hill Tornadoes 75 37 .667 3.8 586.5 412.2
D.C. Balk 70 42 .626 8.3 633.8 490.8
Peshastin Pears 70 42 .626 8.3 551.4 429.3
Kaline Drive 68 44 .609 10.2 585.5 468.7
Haviland Dragons 64 48 .575 14 576.7 510.5
Cottage Cheese 63 49 .560 15.7 653.9 592.5
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 61 51 .547 17.1 570.0 517.2
Canberra Kangaroos 60 52 .538 18.1 571.4 549.4
Bellingham Cascades 59 53 .525 19.7 482.0 458.3
Portland Rosebuds 52 60 .466 26.2 577.8 625.0
 
Old Detroit: W, 7-3; 50PA, 6IP
AVG: 0.283 OBP: 0.320 SLG: 0.609 OPS: 0.929
ERA: 1.50 WHIP: 1.333
There is no other way to say this: the Wolverines had the type of day that a first place team has when they are hellbent on staying in first place. That might spell trouble for the rest of the league. Perhaps the one flaw was not getting a complete 7 innings of pitching on the day. Walker Buehler, my pick at the moment for NL Cy Young (though Zach Wheeler made sure he wasn’t forgotten about yesterday), pitched 6 innings and gave up 1 run. While he did hand out 4 walks, which isn’t ideal, he also garnered 8 strikeouts. At the plate, the best BR hitter on the day was ELoy Jimenez, who made Wrigley looks like a Little League field, smashing two home runs and one double in 4 trips to the plate. Carlos Correa and Ke’Bryan Hayes each added a home run, and Luis Garcia got two hits (though is he not currently allocated). It was a solid win, a no-doubter, the kind that makes the Tornadoes begin to lose hope of ever catching them.
 
Flint Hill: “W,” 5-5; 43PA, 1.7IP
AVG: 0.333 OBP: 0.442 SLG: 0.444 OPS: 0.886
ERA: 10.59 WHIP: 1.176
I have to admit, I laid in bed last night and thought that I would be more than 4 games back of Old Detroit when I ran the stats this morning. So being 3.8 games back might count as a victory worth celebrating in some weird universe. Hirokazu Sawamura was part of the reason the Red Sox blew their game yesterday, and also part of the reason the Tornadoes were only able to eke out a tie. He tossed .7 innings and gave up two runs on 2 walks – he looked awful. And last night Tim Anderson tried to keep up with Eloy Jimenez, Anderson hitting a home run of this own along with two other hits. But he isn’t allocated this month, yet, so those mean nothing. Tornado hitters collected 9 hits, all of them singles, and 6 walks, which is rare for us but helped. Today’s an off day, and we’ll hope to regroup and have a strong week!
 
DC: W, 3-2; 44PA, 14IP
AVG: 0.227 OBP: 0.227 SLG: 0.386 OPS: 0.614
ERA: 3.21 WHIP: 1.000
The Balk won a close game yesterday, getting just enough good pitching to lead the way. James Kaprielian and Dylan Cease both started and combined for 5 earned runs allowed in 11 innings. Cease notched 10 strikeouts in his 5 innings pitched while walking 3. Drew Steckenrider came on in relief and tossed two scoreless innings to help solidify the win. Bryce Harper continued his torrid streak, hitting a homerun in 3 at bats. Myles Straw, Xander Bogaerts and Sam Hilliard all contributed two hits apiece, one of Hilliard’s also a home run. The team was hampered, surely, but 0 walks in their 44 plate appearances, but the pitching was good enough it didn’t matter yesterday.
 
Peshastin: W(2), L(-1), 7-(-3); 33PA, 9.3IP
AVG: 0.296 OBP: 0.424 SLG: 0.556 OPS: 0.980
ERA: 0.00 WHIP: 0.753
It seems the Pears aren’t ready to give up the fight for third place just yet. A day after being nearly a game behind the Balk, the Pears roared back with a strong day to start the week in an actual tie for third – both teams with a .626 winning percentage. The Pears’ pitching was excellent yesterday, with Blake Snell tossing 7 shutout innings while two relievers added two more innings, giving up only one total run. New Pear Ryan ZImmerman went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, and young Pear Jo Adell added two doubles of his own, while Ozzie Albies added one hit – a homerun. The Pears were able to create a three game swing in their favor, and if they can continue to do that this month, the Wolverines might be in trouble!
 
Kaline: W, 4-2; 48PA, 7IP
AVG: 0.171 OBP: 0.271 SLG: 0.317 OPS: 0.588
ERA: 1.29 WHIP: 1.286
The Drive, like the Balk just above them, played a good game yesterday – well, they pitched a good game yesterday. Max Fried continued his hot streak, tossing his third Quality Start in a row, this time giving up 1 run in six innings while striking out 5 and walking 1. Mark Melancon rebounded from his last outing (3 runs in 1 inning) to toss a scoreless ninth in support of Blake Snell (Phil is thankful for your moral support, Mark and Tom). The hitting was pretty abysmal, with seven of the 12 batters getting 0 hits (an astounding 0 for 21). There was enough hitting, though, from Jesse Winker (2 for 3 with a double), Phil Gosselin (2 for 4 with a double) and Omar Narvaez (1 for 4 with a homerun) to earn a true win on the day. It’s fair to say that Kaline is firmly in the hunt for third place with DC and Peshastin – and they are perhaps close enough that a hot streak coupled with a cold streak by either Old Detroit or Flint Hill could make September interesting!
 
Haviland: “L,” 4-7; 26PA, 1IP
AVG: 0.333 OBP: 0.385 SLG: 0.583 OPS: 0.968
ERA: 0.00 WHIP: 2.000
Every Dragon starter but one (Jonah Heim) collected at least one hit on the way to a team OPS of .968, third best in the EFL yesterday. In fact, three starters collected two hits each – Jake Cronenworth and Maikel Franco (both 2 for 4 with a homerun) and Brandon Lowe (2 for 4 with a stolen base). With only 2 walks and only 4 strikeouts on the day, it was a strong day at the plate for Haviland. Only one pitcher appeared (Alex Reyes), but his outing was encouraging compared to his last outing. The lack of pitching was what did the Dragons in yesterday, and this month overall – carrying 13.2 replacement innings only one third of the way into the month will not often lead to a winning record. Which is probably alright with the Dragons, who have admitted to being out of the race. 
 
Cottage: W, 6-2; 31PA, 6IP
AVG: 0.240 OBP: 0.355 SLG: 0.440 OPS: 0.795
ERA: 4.50 WHIP: 0.833
The Cheese joined the chorus of those with convincing wins, cruising to a 6-2 victory behind Taijuan Walker’s 6 innings and 3 runs, and bolstered by Brandon Nimmo’s 2 hits, including a double, and Francisco Mejia’s triple (another one? How many does he have? It appears he has 3 this season…pretty impressive for a catcher!). The Cheese also, as a team, had more walks than strikeouts (5 to 3). Do you know the Cheese lead the EFL this season in runs scored? I didn’t, until just now. And that’s pretty impressive. Unfortunately they are second to last in runs allowed (which probably explains why they wanted Sean Manaea so badly…).
 
Pittsburgh: W, 10-4; 35PA, 2.7IP
AVG: 0.387 OBP: 0.457 SLG: 0.516 OPS: 0.973
ERA: 3.33 WHIP: 1.111
Wow! Another member of the convincing-win choir. So far it’s members are Ron, Phil, Dave, maybe Tom, and now Mark Weinert. That’s a stalwart group, though if they actually have to sing it might be more feeble than is desired (I only have faint knowledge of the singing voices of this group, and not all of them. Ron has told me his singing is awful, and I have heard Phil sing and it is fine. Mark and Dave? That, I don’t know – but they’d give it their all, I imagine). Half of their starting hitters earned 2 or more hits, with Kevin Plawecki leading the way (3 for 4 with a double and a walk). Andrew Vaughn, perhaps inspired by Eloy Jimenez, went 2 for 3 with a home run. Only three relievers pitched for Pittsburgh, and they did enough to aid in the win (though when your team scores 10 runs, your pitching can be a little more awful than it was yesterday).
 
Canberra: L, 2-4; 43PA, 3.7IP
AVG: 0.184 OBP: 0.279 SLG: 0.395 OPS: 0.674
ERA: 0.00 WHIP: 0.270
Canberra’s day was not great, and I suppose that’s not much of a surprise to Ryan who recently said he hadn’t been paying much attention to the Roos. However, Austin Meadows has taken kindly to his new surroundings, yesterday going 2 for 4 with a home run. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., the leading AL MVP candidate (ok, maybe Ohtani is the leader, though he has fallen into a little funk lately), went 2 for 4 with a home run and…wait for it…a stolen base (his 3rd of the season). Canberra’s main issue has been replacement innings (they lead the EFL this month), and yesterday was no different.
 
Bellingham: “W,” 5-5; 44PA, 18IP
AVG: 0.262 OBP: 0.279 SLG: 0.452 OPS: 0.731
ERA: 4.00 WHIP: 1.222
A voluminous day on the mound wasn’t quite good enough to earn a straight win, but it did earn a crooked one. Speaking of crooked, Michael Wacha put up a crooked number from the mound, giving up 5 runs in 5 innings. Without his performance, the Cascade pitchers went 13 innings with only 3 runs given up. Tyler Mahle did 7 of those, giving up two of those runs. Jorge Polanco continued his hot streak, smacking two home runs.
 
 
Portland: W, 11-4; 29PA, 6IP
AVG: 0.360 OBP: 0.414 SLG: 0.720 OPS: 1.134
ERA: 4.50 WHIP: 1.167
The best offensive day goes to Portland (again). Their batters combined for 6 singles and 3 home runs. CJ Cron led the way, hitting two of those home runs, and Max Kepler added in three of the singles. Bryse Wilson tossed 6 innings, giving up 3 runs, and the Rosebuds showed some promise for their fans who are surely looking forward to next year already. 
 
 
 
 
Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2021
AL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Old Detroit Wolverines 78 34 .700 —
Flint Hill Tornadoes 75 37 .667 3.8
Tampa Bay Rays 68 44 .607 10.4
Boston Red Sox 65 49 .570 14.4
New York Yankees 61 50 .550 16.9
Toronto Blue Jays 60 50 .545 17.4
Baltimore Orioles 38 72 .345 39.4
NL East
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
D.C. Balk 70 42 .626 —
Canberra Kangaroos 60 52 .538 9.9
Philadelphia Phillies 59 53 .527 11.2
Atlanta Braves 57 55 .509 13.2
New York Mets 56 55 .505 13.7
Washington Nationals 50 62 .446 20.2
Miami Marlins 47 65 .420 23.2
 
AL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Chicago White Sox 66 46 .589 —
Pittsburgh Alleghenys 61 51 .547 4.7
Bellingham Cascades 59 53 .525 7.2
Cleveland Indians 54 55 .495 10.5
Detroit Tigers 54 60 .474 13
Kansas City Royals 48 62 .436 17
Minnesota Twins 48 64 .429 18
NL Central
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Milwaukee Brewers 66 46 .589 —
Cottage Cheese 63 49 .560 3.3
Cincinnati Reds 61 51 .545 5
St. Louis Cardinals 55 56 .495 10.5
Chicago Cubs 52 61 .460 14.5
Pittsburgh Pirates 41 71 .366 25
 
AL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
Kaline Drive 68 44 .609 —
Houston Astros 66 46 .589 2.2
Haviland Dragons 64 48 .575 3.7
Oakland A’s 64 48 .571 4.2
Seattle Mariners 59 54 .522 9.7
Los Angeles Angels 56 56 .500 12.2
Texas Rangers 39 73 .348 29.2
NL West
TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT. GB
San Francisco Giants 71 41 .634 —
Peshastin Pears 70 42 .626 0.9
Los Angeles Dodgers 67 45 .598 4
San Diego Padres 64 49 .566 7.5
Portland Rosebuds 52 60 .466 18.8
Colorado Rockies 51 61 .455 20
Arizona Diamondbacks 35 78 .310 36.5