BruisedCrew

My picture was better when it came back for the second inning. I get Peacock through Spectrum and I’ve had issues with it before. I had no problems with the White Sox game.

The Peacock picture on my TV is a little choppy. It’s fine on my iPad. it’s only like that on the game, not on the ads

Sometimes a veteran player who had a lackluster season will deliver the key blow in a playoff game. Enter Austin Riley.

Isn’t it cherry picking to look at anything other than the full season? Thats what I am told when I start a statement of fact with “since”. Seriously, there have been discussions every year about whether being hot to end the regular season is predictive of how a team will perform in the playoffs and the conclusion seems to be that the results are mixed. I tend to ignore regular season head to head results because those games might have been played with significantly different rosters and pitching matchups than you’ll see in the playoffs.

In 2018 it was hard not to be a little optimistic because of how the team had finished with Yelich leading the way. But I do remember being concerned about the lack of starting pitching. They were able to survive the division series in part because the Rockies, were even more drawn out because of having to play both a game 163 and then the wildcard game against the Cubs. While the Brewers gave it a good shot that lack of pitching did finally become their undoing against the Dodgers. If they had beaten the Dodgers I think they would’ve been in trouble against the Red Sox who had a really strong team that year I think the most optimistic Ive been since 2011 was in 2021 because of the starting combination of Burns, Woodruff and Peralta backed up by a strong bullpen. But that was torpedoed by the offense going silent. That series against the Braves left a mark on me that was just reinforced by last year‘s NLCS. I’m hoping that the offense can put up runs more consistently this year, but I have a feeling that if the Brewers get knocked out early, it’s going to be because of another one of those power outages.

I note that every one of these projections gives the Cubs a higher chance of winning the World Series than the Padres There is obviously a significant difference of opinion between the projections and the posters on the board who feel that the Padres are clearly a more difficult opponent.

You’ve said no Patrick and no Harrison. Who are your picks for 12 or 13 pictures on the playoff roster?

I think they’re basically the same. Both close to 50-50 with the Brewers being a slight favorite.

For anyone who lived through the days when there was no such thing as wildcard teams, and only league, and then division, winners went to the playoffs, complaints about seeding seem really silly. If you think it’s unfair for a team with a better record to get a lower seed, imagine how you would feel when your team has a significantly better record than a division winner, but doesn’t get into the playoffs at all. The Brewers of the late 70s through early 90s had a few good 90 plus win seasons that got them nowhere while the winner of the AL West would get into the ALCS with a similar or lesser record. In some of those years the Brewers weren’t even close to the division title because someone like the Yankees or Orioles was winning 100 games or more. If the playoff arrangements in place today had been around then, the Brewers would’ve had a lot more playoff appearances between 1978 and 1992, and maybe even a World Series title.

Or it could have been no matchup at all. it’s no coincidence that that’s the series that they put into the prime time slot.

I can guarantee that they are not regretting a system that allows them to promote a Yankees – Red Sox series as part of the wildcard week.

I strongly disagree with this analogy. That might make sense if someone said “I’d rather the Brewers not make the playoffs than have to face the Cubs because losing to them would be so awful”. But because the Brewers have essentially owned the Cubs since Game 163 in 2018, beating them again doesn’t carry any special weight. Losing to them and having them celebrate on the home field with 10,000 fans singing “Go Cubs Go” would be hard to take I think analysis trying to choose a preferred opponent in a short series is generally working in a small range of difference, except when you’re talking about a proven, established team loaded with all stars and future Hall of Famers like the Dodgers. Forfeiting even a portion of the home crowd advantage is something I would like to avoid.I also don’t know any Padres fans so a loss to them would not involve any trash talking. Whenever someone refers to “fearing“ the Cubs or being “scared“ of them, I think they are missing the point.

Would the betting odds agree with the Brewers having a 70% chance of winning a 5 game series against either the Padres or Cubs. That seems pretty high to me.

This is where I am too. The Brewers are better than both teams and could lose to either team without it being a huge upset It’s not a matter of being afraid of either team, but just recognizing the reality that playoff baseball is a crapshoot and that in recent years most of the teams that have won 100 games or more have lost in the division series round. Losing in the division series round would be a huge disappointment, but losing to the Cubs would be especially hard to take.

But it probably does matter to them if they play the Padres at Wrigley instead of San Diego. That is still a possibility, though losing 2 today makes it less likely.