MLB 2018

[Poisoned Youth]

Nice team effort by the Sox last night. Kardiac Kimbrel closes out another one.

[ronmac]

Papelbon is an ass and deserves to have his ass kicked a few times.

Yeah, that, too.

[NogbadTheBad]

Nice team effort by the Sox last night. Kardiac Kimbrel closes out another one.

Yeah, was Price 'good enough' or was he bailed out by the bats getting some runs? If he'd left the 4th inning 4-1 down having pitched exactly the same way he'd have been getting killed as a choker this morning. Red Sox bullpen (not inc Kimbrel) were great & Porcello has made himself a role he may not want but Kimbrel is giving me fits.

[DocProgger]

Price 11 postseason starts without a win, tied for most in history. Even when his team bails him out with a 5 spot, he still can't get through the 5th to get the W. Its his DNA at this point. In fact, his teams had been 0-10 in the previous 10 starts he had--that was actually the first time his team ended up winning one of his starts.

[JAMOOL]

Didn't Harper punch out one of his fellow Nationals in the friggin' dugout once?

it was Jonathan Papelbon, who doesn't want to kick his ass

[ronmac]

Price 11 postseason starts without a win, tied for most in history. Even when his team bails him out with a 5 spot, he still can't get through the 5th to get the W. Its his DNA at this point. In fact, his teams had been 0-10 in the previous 10 starts he had--that was actually the first time his team ended up winning one of his starts.

Yep. Not sure what the standing ovation was for beyond charity and team spirit. He sucked, as usual.

[ronmac]

Is Papelbon even working these days?

[Poisoned Youth]

Yeah, was Price 'good enough' or was he bailed out by the bats getting some runs? If he'd left the 4th inning 4-1 down having pitched exactly the same way he'd have been getting killed as a choker this morning. Red Sox bullpen (not inc Kimbrel) were great & Porcello has made himself a role he may not want but Kimbrel is giving me fits.

In spite of the stat line, he pitched better than he did last week. My feeling is that he was trying too hard to paint the corners and wasn't trusting his secondary pitches. Either way, they'll have to come up with a better plan for game 6, should it come to that. But they are limited with their options. This could mean having E-Rod or Joe Kelly start game 6 with the intention of Price coming in as a reliever. Considering the issue with Sale and the stomach flu (still curious if there was any link between that and his game 1), you hope to have Sale for game 5. I get the feeling the longer the series goes, the better the chances for the Astros.

Kimbrel does concern me though. Between the diminished control and the quality of the contact made by the Astros, it's going to be a storyline the rest of the way.

[ronmac]

Right now, Evaldi is their best pitcher until Sale can show he's healthy. Is Evaldi scheduled for game 3? I would have had him pitch games 2 and 5 with Sale getting rest for game 6.

[per anporth]

Eovaldi is starting game 3, Porcello game 4. I heard a stat recently that, on his return from Tommy John this season, there is a significant divergence on Eovaldi's numbers depending on the length of rest - on 6 or more days rest, his ERA drops below 2.00.

I wonder if we see ERod again - Cora has called him out for his lack of hustle, & despite the quality of his stuff, too often he seems reluctant (or incapable) to really attack batters. By contrast, Barnes, Brasier, Kelly & Porcello have all shown how they can revel in high pressure, high stake, situations. For a long time, I had thought/hoped ERod might be a cornerstone of the Red Sox rotation - now, the combination of his apparent attitude & his propensity for injury makes him a potential trade candidate.

One quirk in this series pertains to homefield advantage. I always thought the Red Sox would struggle to take both of the first two games at Fenway, up against Verlander & Cole, & given how good the Astros lineup is. But, apparently, the Astros were only 11 games over .500 at home, while being 33 games over .500 on the road during the regular season (the Red Sox were 21 games over .500 on the road). In some ways, the possibility of taking two from three at MMP is slightly less daunting than having to take three from four at Fenway...not least, given the pitching matchups - & especially if Sale is fit to start Game 5.

[ronmac]

So, who would be slated for a potential Game 7, Evaldi?

[per anporth]

So, who would be slated for a potential Game 7, Evaldi?

Good question! - I'm guessing they'd cobble together innings from a series of openers.

In such a scenario, do you go with half an eye on the WS, or do you do whatever it takes, then worry about the consequences later? The latter course, which I guess would probably be more likely, is made more complicated by the fact that the WS is scheduled to start the day immediately following a putative Game 7 in the ALCS - so there's even less recovery time..

[Poisoned Youth]

I wonder if we see ERod again - Cora has called him out for his lack of hustle, & despite the quality of his stuff, too often he seems reluctant (or incapable) to really attack batters. By contrast, Barnes, Brasier, Kelly & Porcello have all shown how they can revel in high pressure, high stake, situations. For a long time, I had thought/hoped ERod might be a cornerstone of the Red Sox rotation - now, the combination of his apparent attitude & his propensity for injury makes him a potential trade candidate.

One quirk in this series pertains to homefield advantage. I always thought the Red Sox would struggle to take both of the first two games at Fenway, up against Verlander & Cole, & given how good the Astros lineup is. But, apparently, the Astros were only 11 games over .500 at home, while being 33 games over .500 on the road during the regular season (the Red Sox were 21 games over .500 on the road). In some ways, the possibility of taking two from three at MMP is slightly less daunting than having to take three from four at Fenway...not least, given the pitching matchups - & especially if Sale is fit to start Game 5.

My impression from various moments in time this season is that Cora's method is to be publicly transparent with issues regarding the players and the team. He even called himself out in game 1 which I respect. He called out Devers a month ago, for example. E-Rod has lingering injury issues, but I'm sure if he believes in him, he will play him.

In regards to "home field advantage", I think it has its place, but these two teams can both overcome such things. I think Houston has the edge in this series on paper, but anything can happen.

So, who would be slated for a potential Game 7, Evaldi?

That seems to be the mostly likely outcome.

[ronmac]

Good question! - I'm guessing they'd cobble together innings from a series of openers.

Here's hoping for extra innings, then, because, that's where this whole start-by-committee novelty can fall apart.

Actually, I'd like to see the 'stros take it in less than seven.

[DocProgger]

Last night Pats and Red Sox on during prime time at same time, tnite, it's the Brew Crew and the Pack both on. I bet there's some ol Geezer up in Cheeseland trying to rig his DVR system to somehow watch 2 games comm. free tnite...Me, I'll just make frequent use of the ol reliable Previous Channel button on the remote and watch both in real time

[progeezer]

Last night Pats and Red Sox on during prime time at same time, tnite, it's the Brew Crew and the Pack both on. I bet there's some ol Geezer up in Cheeseland trying to rig his DVR system to somehow watch 2 games comm. free tnite...Me, I'll just make frequent use of the ol reliable Previous Channel button on the remote and watch both in real time

Required way too much grey matter, so I just finished watching the NLCS live (wincing all the way thru commercials), and just turned on the beginning of the SF-GB game, so I won't be opening the NFL thread tonight.

[JAMOOL]

pretty much completely forgot about the Packers, I mean nothing's more important than a Brewer playoff game imo. plus they should've manhandled the 49ers. what actually happened was cool too though

[progeezer]

pretty much completely forgot about the Packers, I mean nothing's more important than a Brewer playoff game imo. plus they should've manhandled the 49ers. what actually happened was cool too though

Which is why I chose to watch that live & record the Packer game.

I couldn't do both since I was also recording non-sports stuff at the same time.

Any Yeastie Boyz respect outside WI yet?

[DocProgger]

Counsel is pressing most of the right buttons so far (except keeps bringing in Hader w 4 run leads instead of high leverage situations). Would never have thought the Brewers pitching, esp the starters, would be on an extended roll like this. They also play cleaner more fundamental ball, which always is a Dodgers Achilles heel.

[Poisoned Youth]

Which is why I chose to watch that live & record the Packer game.

I couldn't do both since I was also recording non-sports stuff at the same time.

Any Yeastie Boyz respect outside WI yet?

I’ve always had it.

[JAMOOL]

4 run lead in a NLCS game feels like a "high leverage" situation to me. a lot of people have been criticizing Counsell's bullpen use but the fact is the Brewers have only trailed in like 4 innings these playoffs so far. who knows what he'd do if the Dodgers jump out early - there are several pitchers in his pen that haven't been touched yet

[Poisoned Youth]

4 run lead in a NLCS game feels like a "high leverage" situation to me. a lot of people have been criticizing Counsell's bullpen use but the fact is the Brewers have only trailed in like 4 innings these playoffs so far. who knows what he'd do if the Dodgers jump out early - there are several pitchers in his pen that haven't been touched yet

The times, they are a changin'. Situational pitching, "openers", and multi-day appearances from relievers is something that could very well find itself the norm over the next few seasons.

Here's an interesting article on the matter.

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2018/5...in-cash-opener

[JAMOOL]

Joe Posnanski has been blogging on that subject for about a decade. I think it's pretty clear that just letting your starter go until he runs into trouble is not the best way to win baseball games - yesterday's NLCS game was sort of a testament to that, no?

one thing I'd definitely like to see is a move away from the traditional 'closer' role - while it's good to have a lights-out reliever who can protect a 2-run lead in the 9th I think it's much more valuable to send that guy in to get you out of a bases loaded jam in the 6th. especially when you've got someone like Hader with a K/9 of nearly 16. any pitcher can close games!

[Scott Bails]

one thing I'd definitely like to see is a move away from the traditional 'closer' role - while it's good to have a lights-out reliever who can protect a 2-run lead in the 9th I think it's much more valuable to send that guy in to get you out of a bases loaded jam in the 6th. especially when you've got someone like Hader with a K/9 of nearly 16. any pitcher can close games!

That's pretty much what Gabe Kapler did for most of the season - to the utter disgust to all of the old-school Phillies fans.

[ronmac]

I'm curious to hear how the players' union feels about the impending marginalization of the traditional starting pitcher role. This would clearly mark the end of the $25 million/year pitching contracts and I'm guessing the union might feel threatened by this new model. Not that contracts aren't being approached differently right before our eyes, anyway, in light of so many disastrous long-term signings. I expect it to play out a lot more in the off-season and we might hear some whining.