2019 MLB Postseason: NLCS & ALCS Series

[dlk9s]

That 1st inning was just... a thing of beauty.

 

They really let the Nats get in their heads when they agreed to cool it with the tomahawk chop. If it weren't for that, they wouldn't have been losing.

[PinaMadness]

 

[PinaMadness]

Get him outta there, Martinez.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

This is absolutely glorious. This has to be one of the worst LCS performances of all time!

 

Or one of the best!!!!!

 

Well, as of the 5th inning of Game 4, the Cards have just scored as many runs in the NLCS as the Brewers did in the Wild Card game.

[yfinn6]

I know the Nats' bullpen isn't good, but I'm a bit surprised Corbin is still out in the 5th. You can't let these guys hang around.

[PinaMadness]

I know the Nats' bullpen isn't good, but I'm a bit surprised Corbin is still out in the 5th. You can't let these guys hang around.

That and they aren't pouring it on.

[MadThinker88]

I know the Nats' bullpen isn't good, but I'm a bit surprised Corbin is still out in the 5th. You can't let these guys hang around.

 

Its game 4 of 7.... & Washington is ahead in the series 3-0

No need to play this like every out is extra important or a game 7..

 

IF somehow the Cards rally, Washington still has Annibel, Max and Steven for the next 3 games...

 

If its over today (or tomorrow), the Nats have a few extra days to get ready for the Astros.....

[PinaMadness]

You showed up for one inning this series. Thanks for playing Cards.

[Matt Breen]

Cardinals gone. Life is better.

 

I'm all in for the Nats - no matter who wins in the AL.

[Ennder]

Not even a tiny bit surprised by this. The Nats were a much much better team than the Cards. Only shot the Cards had to ever make it was for the Brewers to win the Wild Card and upset the Dodgers and then crap the bed like they usually do vs the Cards.

[young guns]

 

They made a short with that speech on it... the best part was the random replies from today making fun of it now that they got swept.

[hawing]

I won't lie. I allowed myself a little time to peruse the @BestFansStLouis Twitter account last night. Someone posts (admittedly cherry picks the worst) STL fan takes - not infrequently unkind things that the account guy manages to screenshot before they're deleted by senders.

 

The one that sticks in my head from last night is that MLB wanted the Nationals to win, so STL had no chance.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

The Nationals are a great team. With that lineup and those three starters they are a tough out for anyone in a playoff series, NYY and HOU included.

[BruisedCrew]

The Nationals are a great team. With that lineup and those three starters they are a tough out for anyone in a playoff series, NYY and HOU included.

 

If you look at the injuries the Nats had early in the year, and then look at how they played the last 4 months and their personnel, they are absolutely a World Series Champion caliber team.

 

On May 23 they were 19-31 and 10 games out of first place in the division. After that, they went 74-38 (!), the same record as the Dodgers over that span. They did (and do) have some bullpen issues that were exacerbated when Scherzer was hurt and Strasburg sometimes has to miss starts. But with Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin all healthy and Sanchez as a fourth starter, their pitching is well positioned to compete with the Astros or Yankees.

 

While the Brewers were within 4 outs of eliminating the Nats in the Wild Card game, the Nats are much better structured than the Brewers to beat a strong team in a 5 or 7 game series. The Nats and Astros are really showing the value of having multiple strong starters who can go deep into games. The Dodgers have that too.

 

I hope the Nats can take the Series now.

[BruisedCrew]

 

The one that sticks in my head from last night is that MLB wanted the Nationals to win, so STL had no chance.

 

That one falls in the same category as the Lions fans who aren’t satisfied saying that the bad calls on Monday cost their team the game. They have to go on to say that the Lions get screwed more than any team in the league and it’s because of a deep conspiracy in the NFL to help popular teams like the Packers at the expense of teams like the Lions.

[jerichoholicninja]

 

The one that sticks in my head from last night is that MLB wanted the Nationals to win, so STL had no chance.

 

That one falls in the same category as the Lions fans who aren’t satisfied saying that the bad calls on Monday cost their team the game. They have to go on to say that the Lions get screwed more than any team in the league and it’s because of a deep conspiracy in the NFL to help popular teams like the Packers at the expense of teams like the Lions.

 

This is said in every sport by every fan when their team loses on bad calls. Even fans of the "popular" teams.

[MrTPlush]

The Seattle Mariners are officially the only team that has never been to the World Series.

[BruisedCrew]

 

The one that sticks in my head from last night is that MLB wanted the Nationals to win, so STL had no chance.

 

That one falls in the same category as the Lions fans who aren’t satisfied saying that the bad calls on Monday cost their team the game. They have to go on to say that the Lions get screwed more than any team in the league and it’s because of a deep conspiracy in the NFL to help popular teams like the Packers at the expense of teams like the Lions.

 

This is said in every sport by every fan when their team loses on bad calls. Even fans of the "popular" teams.

 

Fans of all teams think they get screwed by officials, but only some take the next step to the conspiracy theory. Although I will admit that I stopped paying attention to the NBA about 30 years ago when I became convinced that the referees tilted games heavily to get a few favored teams into the finals.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

 

The one that sticks in my head from last night is that MLB wanted the Nationals to win, so STL had no chance.

 

That one falls in the same category as the Lions fans who aren’t satisfied saying that the bad calls on Monday cost their team the game. They have to go on to say that the Lions get screwed more than any team in the league and it’s because of a deep conspiracy in the NFL to help popular teams like the Packers at the expense of teams like the Lions.

 

This is said in every sport by every fan when their team loses on bad calls. Even fans of the "popular" teams.

 

That explains the Packers two championships in 50+ years. They also never get hosed by calls.

[RollieTime]

I wasn’t able to watch Game 3 between the Astros and Yankees, but did the TV broadcast discuss how the fans were throwing things on the field or show it while it was happening? I never heard anything about it until just a few minutes ago. Kinda surprising how something as serious as that wasn’t making headlines at all. I would guess it’s because it’s the Yankees and they don’t want to paint them and their franchise in such a negative light like that. If Brewers fans did that during the playoffs, it would be talked about for a week about how bad our fans are.

[trwi7]

I wasn’t able to watch Game 3 between the Astros and Yankees, but did the TV broadcast discuss how the fans were throwing things on the field or show it while it was happening?

 

They didn't show it but they talked about it as it was happening.

[Jaylyn]

I wasn’t able to watch Game 3 between the Astros and Yankees, but did the TV broadcast discuss how the fans were throwing things on the field or show it while it was happening?

 

They didn't show it but they talked about it as it was happening.

How can they top the Game 3 antics? Check this out! Yankees as a team, I have no problem with. It's the fans!!

https://sports.yahoo.com/yankees-fans-zack-greinke-social-anxiety-032417563.html

[RollieTime]

I wasn’t able to watch Game 3 between the Astros and Yankees, but did the TV broadcast discuss how the fans were throwing things on the field or show it while it was happening?

 

They didn't show it but they talked about it as it was happening.

How can they top the Game 3 antics? Check this out! Yankees as a team, I have no problem with. It's the fans!!

https://sports.yahoo.com/yankees-fans-zack-greinke-social-anxiety-032417563.html

 

Again, I never heard this mentioned at all yet after the game. Their fans are terrible. Good for Greinke for just brushing them off. Man would I love to have Greinke back pitching for the Brewers!

[rondoman]

https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/10/16/yankees-astros-playoffs-changed-baseball

 

MLB is becoming a joke imo. Something is definitely up with the playoff balls.

 

How can teams build going forward without knowing what kind of baseball is being used?

 

Im done with the NFL and NBA and I love baseball but this bs is getting to be too much. Are they really going to a 3 battle minimum next year? Manfred is ruining the game imo. The auto walk. 3 batter minimum. Aren't they looking at putting runners on to start an inning in extras?

 

The older I get the more I hate sports.

 

There, that's my get off my lawn rant.

[Fear The Chorizo]

https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/10/16/yankees-astros-playoffs-changed-baseball

 

MLB is becoming a joke imo. Something is definitely up with the playoff balls.

 

How can teams build going forward without knowing what kind of baseball is being used?

 

Im done with the NFL and NBA and I love baseball but this bs is getting to be too much. Are they really going to a 3 battle minimum next year? Manfred is ruining the game imo. The auto walk. 3 batter minimum. Aren't they looking at putting runners on to start an inning in extras?

 

The older I get the more I hate sports.

 

There, that's my get off my lawn rant.

 

I don't know - there's also alot to be said about most playoff games being played at night during a time of year when temps are cooling down and a stretch where humidity levels are higher than most evenings where there isn't rain in the forecast. Dodger stadium is notorious for killing well hit balls at night. There have been 67 HR hit over the course of 28 total MLB playoff games - that's roughly 2.4 HR/game, or 1.2 per team game. The record setting 2019 MLB season saw a HR rate of 1.39 HR/team game. While that is a marked decline from the all time high for such a rate, the datasets are not comparable. Why do we need to automatically go to blaming dead baseballs and not postseason pitching? Have you seen the pitching teams like the Astros and Nationals roll out consistently, the teams that have played the most playoff games this year?

 

For reference, the HR rate during the 2018 postseason was - 2.15 HR/game, or 1.07 HR/team game. For 2017 that rate was 2.73, or 1.37 HR/team game.

 

I have a hard time worrying about a decline or variations in HR rate this or any postseason compared to regular season averages, when the postseason sample size is a small fraction of games pitting the best teams in MLB against each other in pressure situations, and the regular season averages include plenty of dreg teams with horrible pitching and generally more favorable weather/park conditions for offense.