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DaveSchmidt said:
The Cardinals would have been 4 games ahead of the Padres in divisionless standings.
I was kind of surprised that the MLB didn’t reseed the NLDS after the wild card series, pitting the No. 6 Phillies against the No. 1 Dodgers and the No. 5 Padres against the No. 2 Braves. There’s probably a specific reason that I’m missing, but I haven’t gotten around to looking for one.
Travel ?
rhw said:
Travel ?
Plausible because of the way things turned out, except the divisional series follow the original brackets, which were determined by standings, not proximity. If the Mets had won, they’d have played Los Angeles, and St. Louis would have played Atlanta.
DaveSchmidt said:
jfinnegan said:
I just brought it up since the Mets ended up facing a better team than the Phillies did despite having 14 more wins.
The Cardinals would have been 4 games ahead of the Padres in divisionless standings.
I was kind of surprised that the MLB didn’t reseed the NLDS after the wild card series, pitting the No. 6 Phillies against the No. 1 Dodgers and the No. 5 Padres against the No. 2 Braves. There’s probably a specific reason that I’m missing, but I haven’t gotten around to looking for one.
With the new everyone-plays-everyone schedule and more and more playoff rounds decreasing the likelihood that the best team during the season wins the World Series, I wonder if MLB will borrow a page from soccer leagues around the world and formally honor the team with the best 162-game record. Maybe they could get the Willie Mays Award or something.
DaveSchmidt said:
Though I guess the argument may be that a balanced schedule would have lifted the Padres by giving them more games against the current Central teams and fewer against the West? (The Padres were .656 against Central teams and .539 against the West. The Cards were .632 against the Central and .594 against the West.)
If they went based on record the Mets would have faced the Phillies, though facing Nola and Wheeler would have probably knocked them out anyway.
jfinnegan said:
If they went based on record the Mets would have faced the Phillies, though facing Nola and Wheeler would have probably knocked them out anyway.
Seems impossible to predict this sport, and especially the Mets. So who knows how they would have done against Wheeler and Nola? They did pretty well during the season.
Never did I ever think Scherzer would have had that bad of an outing in a playoff game. I’ve gotten used to the Mets not hitting, but that caliber of pitcher not performing - no.
He hasn’t made any excuses, but it must be a lingering injury. That’s what you get with older pitchers.
Given that, as much as it pains me, I don’t think you can break the bank for deGrom. I’d be shocked it the Braves sign him, as they seem smarter than that.
I haven't seen yet, has Strider complained about the Phils hitting some cheap shots over the wall off of him? Good job Philly!
jfinnegan said:
I haven't seen yet, has Strider complained about the Phils hitting some cheap shots over the wall off of him? Good job Philly!
Heh. Had a hunch and looked it up.
https://nypost.com/2022/08/08/braves-spencer-strider-not-impressed-with-mets-a-lot-of-luck/
Mystery playoff batting line.
8 AB, 1 R, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K
DanDietrich said:
Looks like a typical Dave Kingman line.
Except it’s missing something. There’s always tonight.
While he was not doing much Rosario and Gimenez helped win the game.
DanDietrich said:
The Seattle game is something.
It sure is. Worth missing two runs against the Yankees for.
It’s a damn shame that MLB doesn’t want us to see games like this during the season.
DanDietrich said:
The Seattle game is something.
Not a bad finish in Cleveland, either.
The Seattle game ended right when my son's game ended in Freeport LI. Ugh.
Holy cow, that was a long day of watching baseball, all of it quite satisfying.
There was some interesting discussion of the Dodgers’ defensive strategy in the seventh. Game tied (three runs already in) and two outs, with Kim on third and Soto on first. Soto breaks for second, Nola doesn’t throw, Soto stops, Nola continues to hold the ball and Soto skips into second, another runner now in scoring position. On a two-strike single by Cronenworth, score Soto does, behind Kim, for a two-run lead.
Most teams apparently opt for indifference in that situation because the go-ahead run is already in scoring position and they don’t want to expose a hole by covering second. If I have to choose my poison, I think I’m covering from the oppo side and taking a shot at ending the inning with a CS, either at second or at home if Kim breaks. Should a ground ball get through the hole, I’m down 1, which to me is markedly better than being down 2 (the risk of the other poison) so late in the game.
Of course, it ended up moot, since the Dodgers couldn’t manage even 1 more run.
It’ll be fun seeing what the two $300 million 2018 free agents do for their teams, head to head, in the NLCS. At least, I hope it’s fun.
Looks like maybe it wasn't just inept hitting from the Mets' hitters in the SD series.
ml1 said:
Looks like maybe it wasn't just inept hitting from the Mets' hitters in the SD series.
Playoff pitching is good. Hitting is hard.
I think another reason to not throw to second in that situation is that a few things can go wrong resulting in a ball in the outfield and the runner scoring.
DanDietrich said:
I think another reason to not throw to second in that situation is that a few things can go wrong resulting in a ball in the outfield and the runner scoring.
True — and even if the throw is accurate, taking it short or pivoting from a rundown if the runner breaks from third requires sharp execution. Still, best case I’m out of the inning vs. best case I now face 2 runners in scoring position. I think I’m having my Dodgers-caliber infield give it a shot.
I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but I wonder if players have gotten so used to having a runner on 2nd in extra innings that they have forgotten how to string a couple of hits together.
Train_of_Thought said:
https://twitter.com/Phillies_Muse/status/1582058467292217345
”Sike.” Love it.
Back atcha.
Most Philly thing ever #RedOctober @philly_captain pic.twitter.com/483bwJoR25
— Barstool Philly (@BarstoolPhilly) October 14, 2022
Caught on a mike from behind the plate at Petco Park last night:
“This son of a bitch is throwing a two-hitter. He’s shaking me off. You believe that sh!t? Kyle, here comes the deuce. And when you speak of me, speak well.”
DaveSchmidt said:
Caught on a mike from behind the plate at Petco Park last night:
“This son of a bitch is throwing a two-hitter. He’s shaking me off. You believe that sh!t? Kyle, here comes the deuce. And when you speak of me, speak well.”
Not from Petco Park but you're forgiven for quoting a line from one of my FAVORITE movies EVER!!
Can Kevin Costner make a bad baseball movie? While For Love of the Game did not get good reviews, I liked it. If you have ever pitched, you know the crazy thoughts that go through your head while pitching. 90 percent is half mental.
RobertRoe said:
Can Kevin Costner make a bad baseball movie?
I wouldn’t call Field of Dreams bad, but I enjoyed the book, Shoeless Joe, so much more a few years earlier. (Partly because a college pal pulled a used copy from a dusty shelf at an off-campus store and said it was just the book for me.)
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Though I guess the argument may be that a balanced schedule would have lifted the Padres by giving them more games against the current Central teams and fewer against the West? (The Padres were .656 against Central teams and .539 against the West. The Cards were .632 against the Central and .594 against the West.)