Cool Hand Lucroy

That's cool, love stuff like that. Reminds me of JD Martinez, Miles Mikolas & Mike Fiers all getting drafted out of Nova Southeastern back in 2009. Those three have around 225 million in career earnings/future gurantees, Nova Southeastern only has a 170 million endowment. That is amazing. Definitely qualifies as a fun fact.

I totally just realized there are fans at the NLCS. Shows how much I've been paying attention. I get it, but, of course, I also just don't. I'm not surprised, but the risk-reward calculus just seems so clear in my head. As for the baseball, the AL has been much more exciting for me. Can't say I'm much into either of the NL clubs. Suppose I just hope the Rays win and cross another team off that "never won" list. Gotta be the Brewers eventually, right?

Yeah, this is a great thread. Great original research and great responses. I like the tennis analogy. I also think high-contact guys might be the new market inefficiency, especially if you have some internal, proprietary metrics that show high BABIP is a skill. I'm comforted by this: we've reached an extreme. If the ball isn't dense and flying, players will adapt quickly, I think.

Yeah, I disagree about Mark A. The guy is hyper-competitive. I don't think he's going to back off because the team's made 3 straight postseasons. The economic environment is going to be different next year, that's true. But there's also a lot of money off the books. The roster has a fair amount of good young pitching, and it's got a hopefully soon to return to form Yelich. I wouldn't be surprised if the team made a run at some pretty good FAs. In terms of looking back to look ahead, this is one of the easier autopsies. The team's problems are glaringly obvious. I think you have to just hope Yelich and Hiura find some more normalcy next season. Cain and Garcia are coming back and will get regular playing time, at least at first. Gyorko too. The rest of the infield is a question mark. I'm on the Hader trade bandwagon. I think between Peralta, Suter, Williams, Yardley, Topa, and Rasmussen you've got a decent bullpen core. Stearns is the guy who traded Thornburg for a big haul, and the BP is an area of strength. See if you can get a promising young bat or three. Josh has been awesome as a Brewer. But his value is about as good as it's going to be.

This is cool. Thanks! Melvin feels to me like a "bridge" GM, and someone who performed well in that role. There was a lot of talent on those teams from about 2006 on, really. A few bad years, some tough injury luck, but that tenure shouldn't be overlooked. As for the playoff structure and format, I've been thinking about that too. I think 12 (NFL-style) is the best number in terms of excitement, rewarding success, and balancing the actual bracket. So I'm on board. Two minor concerns I have with the 12-team bracket: 1) A division winner in a really tough division could easily be a 3-seed and have to go through a random best-of-3. Maybe that's no big deal. It's not in the NFL. But baseball is so different, and the idea of not rewarding a division winner doesn't sit quite right with me. When the league expands to 32, going with two divisions per league would fix that. That's probably what I'd like to see. 2) Scheduling might be an issue. As of now (pre-pandemic), season ends on Sunday, WC on T/W, DS on Th/F. That's 4 and 5 days off for division winners. I don't think you want them sitting around for any longer than that. You could squeeze those three games series in without an off day either before or after if you wanted. Maybe that's the way to go. Otherwise, one option is to actually shorten the season slightly to 158 games or something and let division winners play a few exhibition style if they want and start those 3-game series simultaneously with that. Everyone else can play for fun/gate/stats. Maybe you even just count those 3-gamers as regular season games if you want for stats purposes (really getting into the weeds here, I know). I think 12 is a good number. 16 is too many. 14 is hard to bracket.

Man. Can't get Barnes out. Have to be perfect.

Hader might be coming in in the 6th

If he can do 6, do you Hader for 3? I would.

There will be at least 2 games tomorrow. Hoping for three.

Bellinger is a really good hitter.

I feel like Freitas may have the best OBP.

It's just weird that the people who own a sports network do not understand the mechanics of televised sports.

So much feels like pitch selection. We must have just a massive chase rate.

Well, the Padres have forced Game 3. Let's join them!

Rosenthal has turned back into a pumpkin. Don't let this get away, SD.

True. Really nothing to say about the offense. At some point, it's like, yeah. We're going to have to shut out the best offense in baseball to win.

Woodruff’s wasn’t even off the plate. It was a strike straight-up. That is exactly what I meant. Phrased it poorly.

Kershaw got that pitch off the plate...

Better AB from Yelich. I feel pretty resigned to needing to score runs on HRs or outs.

It is a fun team, I’ve been able to watch quite a few of their games this year. If the Brewers lose this series to the Dodgers, I’ll be rooting for the Padres to make the World Series (assuming they get by the Cardinals). I'll take a seat on that train too.

Garcia is guessing.

They may as well call the hitting coach the designated scapegoat.

And with a deep bullpen, health pending. Lots of out-getters.

I never thought I'd see anyone swing harder than Carlos Gomez, but Bellinger cam close there. Amazed he kept his balance.

They are fired up in SD. Fun team.