MLB Playoffs

Discussion in 'Baseball' started by FWHORN, Oct 2, 2018.

  1. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Starting general thread for playoffs as wild card gets underway.
    I have Houston beating Boston and then beating LA again to win back to back World Series. October is finally here!
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
  2. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

     
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  3. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Cubs offensive woes continue as Colorado wins the wild card 2-1 and will head to Milwaukee while LA takes on Atlanta. AL wild card is tonight.
     
  4. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    That LA-ATL travel will be brutal. NL schedule clearly seems to favor winner of the MIL-COL series, although that series could take a toll on the psyche of pitchers.

    Same issue could come into play if it is OAK-BOS in the ALDS. HOU-CLE at least stays in the same time zone and is only a few hours gate to gate.

    HOU-LA series is the one least likely to see weather impacts. OAK is in that category as well, but they could also have sewage impacts given the history of their stadium...

    Saw a story yesterday that one of the major sports-books has liability on the Oakland A's if they win the World Series. $1K put down at 250:1 and another $1K at 125:1 earlier in the season...
     
  5. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Yankees beat Oakland (and I guess at least one casino breathes a sigh of relief) and now head to Boston while Houston gets Cleveland in ALDS.
     
  6. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    A two run dinger in the bottom of the first; strong pitching; and a big inning by the Yankees doomed the A's. Boston/NYY and LAD/ATL should be the better series', but it is baseball so anything can happen.
     
  7. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    Oakland really screwed the pooch by using the 'bullpen' strategy. Fiers had been lights out this year, even moreso after the trade from Detroit to Oakland. For a game that the season was riding on, they should have rode their horse...

    They will have the entire offseason to ponder the error of their ways...and the rest of the league gets to ponder what Oakland may well be next year.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  8. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Agree mb, but a RP-SP-RP-RP strategy seems to be the new rage. Of course the Rangers have been cutting edge and have move to a KP-KP-KP-KP-KP program.
     
  9. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    Oh don't get me wrong...I understand that it, like the shift, is the new rage. But to put your season on the shoulders of that new rage, you need to be built for it, and the reality is that few teams ARE built to run a game around the bullpen.

    If a GM tried to build around it, I could envision some true powerhouses developing given the number of pitchers that can throw awesome heat and other stuff for an inning or two, but then fold the second time through the lineup. The days of a true starter are long gone...I actually miss the complete game as a meaningful stat. There are some truths to the analytics destroying the game...or at least changing it for the worse.

    Where it could get interesting is to find more players like Ohtani...can you imagine a squad with three or four like him and then constantly rotate them to the mound for specific situations? Would not change the batting line-up nor would you lose a player for the balance of the game.

    A move like this (pen starts) will be interesting to watch since it ALSO has impacts on contractual trends. How will teams adjust. We have already seen how few try to adjust to the shift by beating it with a bunt...teams are just BEGGING to be abused in that manner yet nobody will do so.
     
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  10. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Brewers/Rockies good game yesterday. Braves/Dodgers over quickly last night with Kershaw on the mound today for the Dodgers.
     
  11. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Quadruple header is underway today as Astros host Cleveland. Meant to post my predictions yesterday for divisional series and nothing last night made me change my mind on two NL series. I expect Houston to win in 4. I think the Red Sox beat the Yankees in four also. Dodgers should sweep Atlanta while I think the Brew crew beats Colorado in 5.
     
  12. Denmark

    Denmark 500+ Posts

    Astros were disrespected by onle scheduling day games!
     
  13. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Well so far I have had right series winners but not right number of games as Brewers, Dodgers and Astros have advanced while Red Sox go for series win today. My NL pick is Dodgers in 6 now that we have those teams, I am thinking Astros in 5 over either Boston or New York but lets see how that series pans out before I finalize that prediction.
     
  14. NJlonghorn

    NJlonghorn 2,500+ Posts

    One of the pace-of-game changes a while back put a small limitation on this. A pitcher can be removed from the mound and stashed in the field at any time, and then can return to the mound in the same inning (or later). But if the player is removed from the mound then returns in the same inning, he can't be removed again during that inning. From the comments to Rule 5.10(d):

    If this became a regular thing, I suspect the league would change the rules again to limit it further.

    You should note that, once a pitcher moves to the field, the DH rule is dissolved for the rest of the game. But if all of the pitchers being swapped in and out are good hitters as well, this wouldn't be a concern.
     
  15. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Red Sox finished off the Yankees last night winning their series in 4. There was a debate on MLB network last night whether this Houston team is one of the greatest of all time. I am not sure they are the '27 Yankees but its hard to find any even minor flaws in their lineup, their starting five and their bullpen. I like Houston to beat Boston in six though I am not sure where Boston gets its two wins.
     
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  16. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    Odd to hear that said about the Astros.
     
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  17. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    Astros have had their share of talent through the years, but it often blossoms elsewhere because ownership was too cheap to keep that talent in Houston.
     
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  18. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

     
    • Funny Funny x 1
  19. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

     
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  20. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Chris Sale admitted to a hospital with stomach illness.
    Will be held overnight for observation
     
  21. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Both championship series see road team get a win and are tied 1-1. Hard to win 3 straight at home but both Dodgers and Astros have seized home field advantage.
     
  22. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    I can see how the Game 1 performance could have made him sick to his stomach...
     
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  23. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Longhorn ex Corey Knebel throws 1 2/3 scoreless with 4 k's and the Brew crew takes back home field advantage for Dodgers as they win game 3 and take 2-1 lead in series.
     
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  24. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Much like Milwaukee the night before, the Red Sox grab back home field advantage in game 3. I had picked Astros in 6, I should revise that now to Astros in 7 based on first 3 games. Dodgers also won last night to tie that series at 2, that series might also go 7 but I still like Dodgers there too.
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2018
  25. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin

    Can we get a competent catcher behind the plate tonight? Maldonado is terrible.
     
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  26. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    How about a competent ump?
    Joe West is about 80 years old and 300 pounds
    I bet he could not pass the eye test at the DMV
    He has no business being out there
     
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  27. FWHORN

    FWHORN 10,000+ Posts

    Astros got West'd last night, how he is still an MLB ump is a tribute to mediocrity and its ability to persevere. I still think Houston wins in 7 because the pitching matchups the next three games all favor Houston but winning 3 straight with 2 in Boston is no easy task and if Houston does it they will enter into that conversation of one of best teams of all time.
     
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  28. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Amor Fati

    Looking like a very tall order now but this would be a monumental statement
     
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  29. n64ra

    n64ra 1,000+ Posts

    The mandate is clear. Get the big name team into the World Series.
     
  30. Badass

    Badass 2,500+ Posts

    I went to the game last night. That Spectator Interference call was unbelievable at the stadium. Cmon Stros 1-0 tonight
     
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