October 3, 20206 yr Author The Marlins shut down the Cubs... with Brandon Kintzler! Because everyone has a really good former Twins reliever!That's wild! If you count Nick Anderson, 5 teams closed out their series wins this week with former Twins pitchers on the mound. The only ones who didn't: ATL, NYY, SDP
October 5, 20206 yr Author Baseball is back! Monday Oct. 5 ALDS Game 1HOU at OAK (in Dodger Stadium)McCullers vs Bassitt3:07 PM CDTTV: TBS ALDS Game 1NYY at TB (in Petco Park)Cole vs. Snell7:07 PM CDTTV: TBS
October 5, 20206 yr I have pretty clear favorites this round, and I hope they all go 5 games: Oak, TB, SD, and Miami.
October 5, 20206 yr Author I have pretty clear favorites this round, and I hope they all go 5 games: Oak, TB, SD, and Miami.You've got the AL favorites there, and the NL underdogs (at least per Fangraphs): https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds/post-season-zips?&series=ALDS1 Of course, being the favorite did no favors for the Twins in the first round! I too am hoping for 5 game series, although the pitching matchups (or lack thereof -- bullpen games) could get pretty tedious by the end.
October 5, 20206 yr Author 4 outs into game 1, Oakland has matched the Twins run total across 2 games vs Houston. (A 2-run “bomba” by Khris Davis.)
October 5, 20206 yr Author ...and 6 outs into the game, Oakland has exceeded the Twins run total. Solo bomba by Sean Murphy (the good catcher named Murphy), 3-0 Oakland.
October 5, 20206 yr Author Well, either the Astros are still pretty good, or they're taking full advantage of playing 21st century cursed teams this postseason. (Or some combination of the two. ) They take game 1 vs Oakland, 10-5.
October 6, 20206 yr That's wild! If you count Nick Anderson, 5 teams closed out their series wins this week with former Twins pitchers on the mound. The only ones who didn't: ATL, NYY, SDPBraves do have Huascar Ynoa in the bullpen.
October 6, 20206 yr Author Braves do have Huascar Ynoa in the bullpen.They didn’t in the first round, but it sounds like they might add him for the NLDS. Padres have Austin Adams who shares a name with a different Austin Adams who pitched for the Twins very briefly. And the Yankees have a pitcher named Nick Nelson, that’s close enough for me.
October 6, 20206 yr They didn’t in the first round, but it sounds like they might add him for the NLDS.Padres have Austin Adams who shares a name with a different Austin Adams who pitched for the Twins very briefly.And the Yankees have a pitcher named Nick Nelson, that’s close enough for me. He's definitely going to be part of the NLDS roster. If not, it would be an absoltue shame as he and Wilson paired together was an excellent fourth starter...and he alone would work as a very good opener for the fifth starter, if needed.
October 6, 20206 yr They didn’t in the first round, but it sounds like they might add him for the NLDS. Padres have Austin Adams who shares a name with a different Austin Adams who pitched for the Twins very briefly. And the Yankees have a pitcher named Nick Nelson, that’s close enough for me. Some pitcher we faced recently was named Luis Castillo. That confused me a bit. Pretty sure they got knocked out, seeing as all central teams are gone. With so many balls leaving the park between A's and Astros, maybe Twins would have been better served playing the first series on the west coast...
October 7, 20206 yr No team that made the postseason looked worse than Houston going in. Now they outpitched the Twins and are 2/3 of the way to outslugging the A's. Do they have all-black alternate uniforms that they can wear, because they are the "bad guys" of this postseason.
October 8, 20206 yr Author Thursday October 8 Four games today! All potential elimination games, so it is likely the last 4-game day of this postseason. 1:08 pm CDTAtlanta Braves at Miami Marlins (ATL leads 2-0)TV: FS1 2:35 pm CDTOakland Athletics at Houston Astros (HOU leads 2-1)TV: TBS 6:10 pm CDTTampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees (TB leads 2-1)TV: TBS 8:08 pm CDTLos Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres (LAD leads 2-0)TV: MLB Network
October 8, 20206 yr Author Yesterday (Wednesday Oct. 8), Liam Hendriks threw 3 shutout innings with 37 pitches to keep Oakland alive. Is he available today, if they need him again to stave off elimination? Brusdar Graterol only needed 7 pitches to record 4 outs for the Dodgers, before Jansen & Kelly *almost* blew the lead in the 9th vs the Padres. Maybe Graterol will get the 9th inning next time?
October 8, 20206 yr Yesterday (Wednesday Oct. 8), Liam Hendriks threw 3 shutout innings with 37 pitches to keep Oakland alive. Is he available today, if they need him again to stave off elimination? Brusdar Graterol only needed 7 pitches to record 4 outs for the Dodgers, before Jansen & Kelly *almost* blew the lead in the 9th vs the Padres. Maybe Graterol will get the 9th inning next time?Then again, Graterol was the pitcher who surrendered the fly ball that would have been the go ahead HR that Bellinger robbed from Tatis. Also, John Curtiss came back tonight and got five outs against the Yankees after their starting pitcher left the game. If Tampa Bay and LA advance, it will be an exciting bullpen bracket the rest of the way
October 8, 20206 yr Author Then again, Graterol was the pitcher who surrendered the fly ball that would have been the go ahead HR that Bellinger robbed from Tatis.I went to bed early, so I only knew it as "Flyball: CF (Deep CF)". Here's the video for anyone like me who missed it:https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2020/2020-10/07/1e7d21a2-7ce5c512-05a7f176-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 A heckuva play by Bellinger, for sure, but seeing how many no-doubt HR have been hit this postseason, maybe there is a little bit of skill involved in only letting them hit one with a lot of hang time and a trajectory coming down just over the fence. But yeah, not all outs in the boxscore are created equal.
October 9, 20206 yr Can someone explain to me why on earth the Padres would use ELEVEN pitchers in a 12-3 blowout that eliminated them?
October 10, 20206 yr Can someone explain to me why on earth the Padres would use ELEVEN pitchers in a 12-3 blowout that eliminated them?Why not
October 10, 20206 yr 2-1 TB.HOU - TB in the ALCS.I only watched one at-bat in this game and only saw the last five or six pitches of it. My wife had the game tuned in and I just happened to be by the TV. Fortunately for me it was the AB that won the game. After seeing many (many many) AB's in my life it's still amazing to me that major league hitters can even make contact with an upper-nineties fastball, much less hit it over the fence in fair territory.
October 10, 20206 yr Author Can someone explain to me why on earth the Padres would use ELEVEN pitchers in a 12-3 blowout that eliminated them?You sort of answered your own question there: elimination game. And it was only 8-3 through the first 10 pitchers. (And 6 of the runs were given up by the first 2 pitchers — after that, they were just trying to stay alive.) Padres games were a little tedious this postseason due to all the pitching changes, but in fairness they were down to 2 starters.
October 10, 20206 yr Author it's still amazing to me that major league hitters can even make contact with an upper-nineties fastball, much less hit it over the fence in fair territory.There is a theory that hitting it over the fence is about the only thing teams can try to do with that kind of pitching, aside from taking it (or swinging and missing, of course). Emphasizing the “three true outcomes” style of play. https://twitter.com/mike_petriello/status/1314748748824752130?s=20
October 10, 20206 yr There is a theory that hitting it over the fence is about the only thing teams can try to do with that kind of pitching, aside from taking it (or swinging and missing, of course). Emphasizing the “three true outcomes” style of play.https://twitter.com/mike_petriello/status/1314748748824752130?s=20I get this, and it's certainly a legitimate viewpoint, but it only applies to major-league-level batters. Hitting a home run requires nearly perfect contact and there are tons of minor leaguers who simply are not capable of doing that.
October 10, 20206 yr Author I get this, and it's certainly a legitimate viewpoint, but it only applies to major-league-level batters. Hitting a home run requires nearly perfect contact and there are tons of minor leaguers who simply are not capable of doing that.Agreed! I wasn’t trying to counter your post, just going off on a tangent — sorry that wasn’t clear!
October 10, 20206 yr Agreed! I wasn’t trying to counter your post, just going off on a tangent — sorry that wasn’t clear!I don't think it was a tangent at all, just a complementary perspective.
October 10, 20206 yr There is a theory that hitting it over the fence is about the only thing teams can try to do with that kind of pitching, aside from taking it (or swinging and missing, of course). Emphasizing the “three true outcomes” style of play.https://twitter.com/mike_petriello/status/1314748748824752130?s=20This approach can also be described as follows: Swing hard in case the ball hits your bat!
October 11, 20206 yr I'd like to thank the Rays for advancing to the ALCS so that I didn't have to decide who I hated less between the Astros and the Yankees.
October 11, 20206 yr I'd like to thank the Rays for advancing to the ALCS so that I didn't have to decide who I hated less between the Astros and the Yankees.I would extend this to the Dodgers and the Atlantas.
October 11, 20206 yr Author Sunday Oct. 11 6:37 PM CDTALCS game 1: Astros at RaysValdez vs SnellTV: TBS
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