World Series Game 2, Rays (Rasmusssen) vs Brewers (Henderson): 10/24/26, 7:00pm

[Frisbee Slider]

1 minute ago, baseball101 said:

You think the Rays are feeling really good? They lost game one. 

The Rays can wake up this morning, knowing they have their best pitcher going against our second best pitcher. Their leverage arms are rested. Our leverage arms are not.

it might not matter, but they can definitely have optimism about splitting the first two games 

[sveumrules]

For whatever it is or isn't worth the ZiPS Game by Game Postseason Odds think the coin is still slightly weighted to our side with Henderson (52.6%) versus the Rays side with Rasmussen (47.4%).

[iKezims]

Hi gents. Off topic, but just chiming in to say how ***** great it is that we are having this discussion. IT'S GAME 2 of the WORLD SERIES in MILWAUKEE today. LETS GOOOOO BOYS. 

[82brewcrew82]

8 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

If I'm a Rays' fan I am a little distraught to be honest. They need to steal one from us, not the other way around. Last night felt like one to steal. 

Excactly, all the pressure is on the Rays tonight.  If they don't win the is little game 1 punt is going to look awfully bad and will probably cost them the World Series.  Even if they win, it probably doesn't materiallly cahnge much of anything.

[82brewcrew82]

9 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

The Rays can wake up this morning, knowing they have their best pitcher going against our second best pitcher. Their leverage arms are rested. Our leverage arms are not.

it might not matter, but they can definitely have optimism about splitting the first two games 

Sure, but they also wake up knowing they are down in the series and HAVE to in this game in order for that to come to fruition.  And they have to dit while facing a pretty damn good pitcher.  Henderson may be our number two but that doesn't make him second rate.  Why would the Brewers not be waking up with optimism about being up 2-0 after tonight?

[Frisbee Slider]

1 minute ago, 82brewcrew82 said:

Sure, but they also wake up knowing they are down in the series and HAVE to in this game in order for that to come to fruition.  And they have to dit while facing a pretty damn good pitcher.  Henderson may be our number two but that doesn't make him second rate.  Why would the Brewers not be waking up with optimism about being up 2-0 after tonight?

I suspect both teams have plenty of reason for optimism and concern after last night‘s game. I imagine all 52 players on the combined rosters believe they are talented and capable of winning today.

[Underachiever]

I am honestly confused with the use of the terms, blinder, binder and blunder in this thread. What are you trying to say?

[liveforoctober]

17 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

The Rays can wake up this morning, knowing they have their best pitcher going against our second best pitcher. Their leverage arms are rested. Our leverage arms are not.

it might not matter, but they can definitely have optimism about splitting the first two games 

I guess I would zoom out a little bit before using that phrase to anyone's specific benefit. Baker has thrown 3 innings in the last 7 days. Megill has thrown 1. Our leverage arms were slamming spotted cows down in the 3rd ward for a full week while those guys were throwing high leverage pitches. I actually wish our arms weren't as rested as they currently are tbh.

I know what you are saying though..

[TURBO]

47 minutes ago, Bernies Sponsor said:

Results oriented thinking is one way to look at it, but looking at it from the process perspective instead, the Rays were damn close to stealing game 1. They must be feeling very confident about their chances to win the series based on how each team played and the resources each used to get to the result.

Close to winning isn't winning.

Brewers up 1-0, I'll take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

The Rays can get as cute as they want, if they are close to winning games but lose, good for them.  That 2nd place trophy will look great in their trophy cases.

[82brewcrew82]

Just now, Underachiever said:

I am honestly confused with the use of the terms, blinder, binder and blunder in this thread. What are you trying to say?

Basically the narrative is that the Rays punted game one to have  better advantage in game two.  Some on this board think its strategy.  Others think it was dumb.

[TURBO]

27 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

The Rays can wake up this morning, knowing they have their best pitcher going against our second best pitcher. Their leverage arms are rested. Our leverage arms are not.

it might not matter, but they can definitely have optimism about splitting the first two games 

If they do split them, sure, 1-1 going home is great for them.

Going 0-2 heading home though...

[owbc]

7 minutes ago, 82brewcrew82 said:

Sure, but they also wake up knowing they are down in the series and HAVE to in this game in order for that to come to fruition.  And they have to dit while facing a pretty damn good pitcher.  Henderson may be our number two but that doesn't make him second rate.  Why would the Brewers not be waking up with optimism about being up 2-0 after tonight?

Their decision to play the binder in game 1 was mostly about optimizing for games 6-7. Games that might not even get played. 
 

From our perspective the narrative about seeing our relievers seems weird when we can just roll out our “B” guys and barely lose a step. And seeing Ashby every game hasn’t helped anyone yet. 

[MoreTrife]

3 hours ago, cragi said:

One little mind game you see from Contreras is the art of the “almost-tap”. I’m grabbing for my gun in case I need to use it here.

The ump hasn’t made his call yet and that delay gives Contreras the opportunity to let the ump know he thinks it’s a strike and that he’s maybe about to make the ump look stupid if he calls it wrong. Better call a strike.

Good observation. I subconsciously have been noticing it. You're right, a lot of immediate hand raising to helmet, could subtly influence ump.

[owbc]

3 minutes ago, 82brewcrew82 said:

Basically the narrative is that the Rays punted game one to have  better advantage in game two.  Some on this board think its strategy.  Others think it was dumb.

Yeah they pitched to Chourio with a base open and an unfavorable matchup in a one run game, then played it off as a “win” because we didn’t see Booser. 

I think the overall strategy to hold Rasmussen to G2 was smart but they needed to adapt to the game in front of them because stealing game 1 had huge reward potential. 
 

Not our problem though. 

[82brewcrew82]

13 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

I suspect both teams have plenty of reason for optimism and concern after last night‘s game. I imagine all 52 players on the combined rosters believe they are talented and capable of winning today.

Why would the Brewers be concerned?  It think the Brewers are pretty damn confident right now knowing the Rays MUST win this game.  The Brewers made plenty of blunders.  If Bunty doesn't trip himself or we get an extra hit there or there, or Mitchell catches that ball, or Turang makes a better throw the Rays aren't even in that game.  The Brewers wake up knowing they handed the Rays everything they had and offered up the game on a silver platter and still won.  The Rays didn't push the Brewers.  The Brewers pushed the Brewers.

[Bernies Sponsor]

4 minutes ago, 82brewcrew82 said:

Basically the narrative is that the Rays punted game one to have  better advantage in game two.  Some on this board think its strategy.  Others think it was dumb.

I think they’re also confused about the different terms themselves. As am I lol. “Blunder” I understand, but I’m not clear on the other two terms 

[82brewcrew82]

5 minutes ago, Bernies Sponsor said:

I think they’re also confused about the different terms themselves. As am I lol. “Blunder” I understand, but I’m not clear on the other two terms 

No, the binder/blinder stuff is another way of saying they punted the game.

[Bernies Sponsor]

Just now, 82brewcrew82 said:

No, the binder/blinder stuff is another way of saying they punted the game.

Yeah I figured that much from context, I’ve just never heard the term. Could anyone fill me in on the etymology?

[craigharmann]

3 hours ago, cragi said:

One little mind game you see from Contreras is the art of the “almost-tap”. I’m grabbing for my gun in case I need to use it here.

The ump hasn’t made his call yet and that delay gives Contreras the opportunity to let the ump know he thinks it’s a strike and that he’s maybe about to make the ump look stupid if he calls it wrong. Better call a strike.

I saw that a few times last night as well.

[TURBO]

2 minutes ago, 82brewcrew82 said:

No, the binder/blinder stuff is another way of saying they punted the game.

I have never heard those terms used like that until today.......ever in my life.  lol

[owbc]

2 minutes ago, Bernies Sponsor said:

Yeah I figured that much from context, I’ve just never heard the term. Could anyone fill me in on the etymology?

In Mariners fan land this has been the criticism of Dipoto/Dan Wilson. Had their plan before the game even started and refused to adapt. Made the decisions from the “binder” in the dugout, no actual thinking. Easily out-maneuvered by an opposition that can see it coming and adapt accordingly. 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

13 minutes ago, owbc said:

Yeah they pitched to Chourio with a base open and an unfavorable matchup in a one run game, then played it off as a “win” because we didn’t see Booser. 

I think the overall strategy to hold Rasmussen to G2 was smart but they needed to adapt to the game in front of them because stealing game 1 had huge reward potential. 
 

Not our problem though. 

This is such the key point. To play aggressive, for the Rays, meant using Booser for one hitter. Three at most. That's one reliever. For one batter. To give your team its best shot. That they didn't even really consider that tells you something about their strategy (there's a parallel here in that, even in the playoffs, the Rays basically refuse to let their hitters challenge until late in the game--they want to keep the challenges for run prevention). I think it's admirable to operate on principle, like the Rays do. I genuinely respect their willingness to stick to their process. I also think (and this is something the Brewers of the last decade have been GREAT at), choosing when to depart from your principles, when to be flexible and not get locked into a philosophy, is the biggest thing that helps smaller-budget teams win baseball games. 

I also think the "reliever fatigue" narrative is both real and overrated. It's real in Games 4, 5, and 7. But the off days in the playoffs are helpful, and it really doesn't make sense to go from "These guys haven't pitched in over a week!!" to "These guys are now overworked" in the span of 9 innings. It doesn't happen that quickly. Maybe the Rays feel good about trading a WS win for 20 pitches from Megill, 20 from Ashby, and 0 from their top leverage arms. If so, it's a trade everyone's happy with, because the Brewers are fine with it too. I doubt Tampa makes that trade again at any point this series, but, like certain sacrifice bunts, I'll absolutely welcome it if they do.

[willie key]

If I was the rays I wouldn’t play caminero today.     don’t want the brewers  pitchers to be able to get a read on him

[Bulldogboy]

I was concerned about the long layoff. Any scenarios where the Brewers shook off the rust and got a win is a major victory in my book.

[AKCheesehead]

Remember when Cash jerked Snell versus the Dodgers? I’m not worried about whatever they want to scheme and plan. Win Today. That’s our philosophy. 
 

Side thought: I bet a person could get some great tickets for southern cal vs Badgers today for next to nothin’