Cubs (Gausman) vs Brewers (Henderson): 09/09/26, 6:40 PM

[Jim French Stepstool]

I was reminded of this after watching Turang being held at 3rd base last night on the Frelick hit. Third base coaches are a lot like offensive linemen in that you usually just notice them when they screw up. There have been some comings & goings there in the last decade plus, but to me Matt Erickson has quietly been very, very solid. I used to think he was going to have a career as a 'good soldier' w/o ever coaching at the MLB level. Great to see him doing a nice job in the show.

[HarryDoyle]

 

[Yaz]

16 minutes ago, HarryDoyle said:

 

Say what?!  The Reds and Brewers TBA all 3 games?  Come on now.

[Frisbee Slider]

3 minutes ago, Yaz said:

Say what?!  The Reds and Brewers TBA all 3 games?  Come on now.

I’m not a gambler, but I wonder how Vegas measures the betting odds for that series.

[owbc]

59 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

 

I know we were thinking "punt game" but we've got the A-lineup and our second-best starter going. Just need a bullpen sacrificial lamb if Henderson only goes 4 or 5. 

[liveforoctober]

I want 100 wins as much as the next guy because it would be really cool to check that box -

BUT

- I more so want the young starting staff to be feeling strong when we get to 162 so I wouldn't mind leaning on the 40man depth we are stashing in Nashville right now to cover as much of the next 5-6 games as we can after today.

Sproat getting a long assignment and then being sent down for Gordon to do the same and then he be sent down for Stallings, Koenig, etc

Use the extra arms while we can.

[adambr2]

1 hour ago, Jopal78 said:

Interesting lineup tonight, with Frelick in the 6 hole and Bauers and Lara on the bench against a right hander.

Frelick still must be washing Murphy’s car to get so much PT

Frelick is one of his dudes that he just loves, for whatever reason. 

But so is Hamilton and he finally saw the bench today against a righty for Ortiz, so progress is being made.  

[liveforoctober]

1 minute ago, owbc said:

I know we were thinking "punt game" but we've got the A-lineup and our second-best starter going. Just need a bullpen sacrificial lamb if Henderson only goes 4 or 5. 

 

[Sixtolezcano]

8 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Skipping a round of course matters, but baseball leaves you chronically exposed to random outcomes more than any other sport. Basically every part of your team can be neutralized on any night. Your great pitcher can throw 8 shutout innings and if you can't hit, you can still lose. Then he can't play for 4 or 5 days. Your great defense can get taken out by a couple balls that never touch the field. A blown save in Game 1 can take an entire series off the rails. This is much harder to do in basketball or something, when the underdog team has to pull off an identical task 4 times. You could drop the Athletics in the playoffs and it's quite possible they win a series. Much harder to do that with a random NFL/NBA team.

So the point of my ramble is really that I don't care too much where we land, whether that's 1 or 3. It'll be a very similar situation regardless, a strong roster that needs to be good and lucky and is of course susceptible to the randomness of the sport, forced to beat some very good teams this year. It has always been the least-hot-takey pro sport for me, where I just shrug and accept the outcome.

I think this is the best team they've ever assembled, the strongest mix of their analytical prowess + a big bit of just raw talent, legitimate superstars. But it doesn't mean they won't get swept in their first series.

I believe the Stanley Cup playoffs might have the WS playoffs beat for underdogs pulling off upsets. If you have a goalie standing on his head and shutting the door on the opponents scoring might be a little more random than a favorite(s) than the MLB playoffs. Also home ice seems to be of very little concern to the underdog teams in the NHL.

[yourout]

1 hour ago, HarryDoyle said:

 

Not on a pitch count limit apparently.