The Rosebuds, 2.5 games out in fourth place yesterday, surged into a very close second place by taking advantage of their competitors’ lapses. I have some rosebushes. I pruned them (very late) last weekend. Maybe I’ll just go and prune them again. Harder.
EFL Standings for 2018
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Brookland Outs | 29 | 20 | .602 | — | 258.3 | 212.6 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 29 | 20 | .591 | 0.5 | 230.4 | 190.6 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 26 | 19 | .582 | 1.3 | 188.8 | 160.7 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 26 | 21 | .549 | 2.7 | 210.5 | 190.4 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 24 | 21 | .529 | 3.7 | 190.7 | 179.8 |
| Kaline Drive | 25 | 24 | .502 | 4.9 | 215.3 | 214.5 |
| Cottage Cheese | 24 | 25 | .486 | 5.7 | 251.9 | 259.5 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 22 | 24 | .479 | 5.9 | 240.1 | 253.5 |
| Haviland Dragons | 23 | 26 | .469 | 6.5 | 203.5 | 217.1 |
| Peshastin Pears | 22 | 27 | .439 | 8 | 206.9 | 237.1 |
| D.C. Balk | 20 | 27 | .417 | 8.9 | 185.3 | 219.5 |
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Brookland: W (-1), L 2; (-2) – 6. Even though Jose Bautista rose from the dead again to go 1 for 3 with a double; even though Jeremy Hellickson turned in 5.3 more improbably good innings (1 earned run, for a 1.69 ERA but a 4.18 FIP); and even though both of Brookland’s third basemen had great days (Anderson: 1.167 OPS; Andujar: 1.250 OPS); the Outs in 55 plate appearances could only muster a .135, .182, .250 batting line. That’s almost two games’ worth of only about one run created per game. Put that up against their 5.62 era (Mychal Givens’ triple-chulking 1 ip, 3 er being the capper), and the Outs experienced their worst day in quite a while. Badly timed, too.
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Portland: W 2, L (-1); 10 – (-2). (.375, .432, .575 — Happy Edgar Day!; 15.3 ip, 1 er). Chris Sale gave a gift homer to the debuting Willy Adames. Despite the generosity, Sale and Kevin Gausman combined for 14 ip, 1 er, good enough to go back and revoke some prior runs allowed. This is one of the unique beauties of the EFL! Redemption is possible. Jonathan Villar will need some redemption on the offensive side since he was the only Rosebud (out of 11 who appeared) to not reach base safely Tuesday. On the other hand, four Rosebuds had matching 1.750 OPSes yesterday. Mookie Betts and Gleyber Torres took the same path (2 for 4 with a homer) while Welington Castillo went 3 for 4 with a double and Jacoby Jones did it with 2 for 3 with a double and a HBP. Gleyber Torres is beginning to resemble Jose Altuve from the Wolverine point of view. Had we been awake we could have nabbed him in the last monthly draft. Had we been quicker we could have nabbed him in a trade last weekend. After that I’m pretty sure he is going to lead the Rosebuds to EFL glory.
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Odd Detritus: L, 3 – 3. (.209, .306, 326 — Happy Mario Mendoza Day!; no pitching). Missing out twice on Gleyber Torres is only part of the picture of Woeverine brilliance on display yesterday. Here’s another: the W’s best hitter in terms of RC/G yesterday was probably Dan Vogelbach. The only hitter who appeared yesterday and was benched 100%: Dan Vogelbach. The W’s have stuck by Vogelbach ever since they stupidly used him in the last week of the 2016 season, hoping he would push the team into the EFL championship (which his .083, .154, .083 line somehow failed to do), thereby burning the entire 2021 season. Someone should trade something to me to free Dan Vogelbach so he can carry the Mariners on his back until August.
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(Editor’s Note: this is actually a misuse of Mario Mendoza’s name. The real Mario Mendoza ended his 19-year career with a .215, .245, .262 line. I suppose a Mario Mendoza day would be when your team batting average barely clears .200 while your team OPS hovers right around .500. The W’s OPS was clearly too high to merit a Mario Mendoza mention.)
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(Did you know there was another Mario Mendoza? He had a 17-year career from 1999 to 2016, all of it in the minors or the Mexican League. The pinnacle came in 2002 when he made it to triple-A Salt Lake City for 7 innings. The good news was his FIP in SLC was 6.88. His ERA there was 10.29. His career culminated in 2016 when he appeared in 21 games for VAQ — apparently in a Mexican league — where he pitched 18 innings in 21 games to a magical 5.50 ERA with 23 hits, 11 walks, and 6 strikeouts.)
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Canberra: L, 2 – 9. (.229, .325, .400; 9 ip, 9 er). The hitting would play this season but not with a 9.00 ERA built on exactly 9 earned runs in exactly 9 innings. Brock Stewart contributed 2 of those runs in his 4 innings. Andrew Suarez provided 5 more in his 4 innings. And then came the Kangaroo’s closer, Greg Holland, who contributed 2 more earned runs (3 hits and a walk) in 0.0 innings. Drafting Greg Holland was another boneheaded move by the Woeverines. But trading him to Canberra just before Opening Day kind of makes up for it.
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Flint Hill: W, 5 – 5. (.385, .393, .462; 11.7 ip 7 er). The Tornado offense was raring to go, ready to follow the Rosebuds as they ripped past the W’s and the ‘Roos. But the pitching staff had to stop and tie its shoes. Actually Trevor Cahill was read (7 ip, 2 er) and so was Corey Knebel (1 ip, o er). The unready one was Domingo German (3.7 ip, 6 er). And/or maybe Tornado management? Jackie Bradley Junior is on the bench these days. He went 2 for 4 yesterday.
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Kaline: “W”, 2 – 4. (.205, .244, .385; 2 ip, 0 er). Ian Desmond homered and singled in 4 at bats to salvage a “win.” Right now the Drive has 250% of allocations for first base. Desmond is there 100%, and three others are there 50% each: Todd Frazier (DL), Steve Pearce (DL) and Howie Kendrick (recently added to the DL). See? That’s how it’s done. You foresee who will go on the DL and you allocate to cover it.
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Cottage: L, 3 – 8. (.182, .280, .364; no pitching). An almost precisely replacement-level performance on both offense and defense looks like this. The Cheese were in first place at the beginning of May. I remember hearing the Head Cheese about that time make comments showing apprehension about their future. And now they have sunk all the way under .500. Even their conning tower is underwater. Boy are those Cheese fans lucky to have such a clairvoyant GM! Also Mike Trout who, even though he went 0 for 3 yesterday, is still OPSing 1.080 on the month.
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Pittsburgh: W, 3 – (-1). (.271, .280. .333; 13.7 ip, 3 er). Lance Lynn has been much maligned this year. He is running a 6.34 ERA, so it’s understandable. But yesterday he pitched 6.7 scoreless innings, with only 5 hits and one walk allowed. Combine that with Luke Weaver’s 7 ip, 3 er and you have a very nice day even with mediocre offense. Mark Reynolds went 2 for 4, so he’s not slowing down. And even Jurickson Profar is contributing: 1 for 4 with a homer.
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Haviland: W, 8 – 4. (.281, .415, .563; 5.7 ip, 1 er). Vincent Velasquez struck out 9 in only 4.3 innings. He also surrendered 6 hits and 3 walks. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen in the EFL a case like that: a WHIP and a K/9 both over 2.00 in the same game. Only 1 earned run scored. Yasiel Puig belted a homer walked twice for a perfect 5.000 OPS to lead the powerful Dragon offense. All that fire and fury and the Dragons are still in 9th place. But 9th place and moving up is a lot better than just plain old 9th place.
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Peshastin: “W”, 3 – 6. (.276, .333, .448; 9 ip, 6 er). If only Jameson Taillon could finish putting everything together. His 6 ip, 6 er performance sank Pear hopes for a real win Tuesday. Taillon’s May ERA rose to 4.12, and his season-long ERA to 4.56.
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DC: L. 2 – 5. (.129, .200, .258; 1 ip, 0 er.) Kyle Barraclough is a stud. Once again he produced an outstanding inning. His May ERA is 0.90. His season ERA is 1.59. That wonderful inning; Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s 2 for 3 with 2 walks; and Scooter Gennett’s 2 for 3 with a homer and a double: these were the only highlights of the game. The only other good thing was a walk drawn by Aaron Alther in his one plate appearance. The other 7 Balk hitters went 0 for 4 (except Kole Calhoun, who went 0 for 1).
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Combined MLB + EFL Standings for 2018
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Boston Red Sox | 33 | 15 | .688 | — |
| New York Yankees | 31 | 14 | .689 | 0.5 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 26 | 19 | .582 | 5.3 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 24 | 21 | .529 | 7.7 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 23 | 25 | .479 | 10 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 22 | 24 | .478 | 10 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 15 | 33 | .313 | 18 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Atlanta Braves | 29 | 18 | .617 | — |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 27 | 19 | .587 | 1.5 |
| Washington Nationals | 26 | 21 | .553 | 3 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 26 | 21 | .549 | 3.2 |
| New York Mets | 24 | 20 | .545 | 3.5 |
| D.C. Balk | 20 | 27 | .417 | 9.4 |
| Miami Marlins | 18 | 30 | .375 | 11.5 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Cleveland Indians | 23 | 23 | .500 | — |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 22 | 24 | .479 | 1 |
| Minnesota Twins | 21 | 23 | .477 | 1 |
| Detroit Tigers | 20 | 28 | .417 | 4 |
| Chicago White Sox | 14 | 31 | .311 | 8.5 |
| Kansas City Royals | 15 | 33 | .313 | 9 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 30 | 19 | .612 | — |
| Brookland Outs | 29 | 20 | .602 | 0.5 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 26 | 20 | .565 | 2.5 |
| Chicago Cubs | 25 | 20 | .556 | 3 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 26 | 21 | .553 | 3 |
| Cottage Cheese | 24 | 25 | .486 | 6.2 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 17 | 32 | .347 | 13 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Houston Astros | 31 | 18 | .633 | — |
| Seattle Mariners | 28 | 19 | .596 | 2 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 26 | 22 | .542 | 4.5 |
| Oakland A’s | 25 | 23 | .521 | 5.5 |
| Kaline Drive | 25 | 24 | .502 | 6.4 |
| Haviland Dragons | 23 | 26 | .469 | 8 |
| Texas Rangers | 19 | 31 | .380 | 12.5 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB |
| Portland Rosebuds | 29 | 20 | .591 | — |
| Colorado Rockies | 26 | 23 | .531 | 2.9 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 25 | 23 | .521 | 3.4 |
| San Francisco Giants | 24 | 25 | .490 | 4.9 |
| Peshastin Pears | 22 | 27 | .439 | 7.4 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 21 | 27 | .438 | 7.4 |
| San Diego Padres | 20 | 30 | .400 | 9.4 |