formerlybis

This is thought-provoking, actually. n the regular season, Vilade was .818 OPS vs, lefties and Aranda .837 vs. righties. Their HRs/AB are very similar, too. Where there may be a difference is defensively, but I don't know there, either - Vilade is usually an outfielder, and Aranda is not great, as we've seen. Ergo, it doesn't seem like worrying about who's at first should factor into pitching decisions, at least not early in the game. The other thought here is about who's in what role out in the bullpen tonight. We are pretty sure it's bullpen tomorrow, so holding back some long guys would be advisable,

I'd love to not see him, either, but because Gasser goes 6 and departs with a 5+ run lead. But if it's a 1-run game in the 7th? We will see him.

Aranda, Simpson, and Caminero had 6 of their 7 hits plus their two walks - so, 8 times on base. Given that they were consecutive batters in the order, it's a little surprising we kept them to 2 runs. That makes me a little nervous for the upcoming games...

I'll let him do that - you kind of have to see it in motion to see the barely perceptible scrape of the bottom of the cleat after his foot had been in the air when he caught it. It was not obvious at all, and if they had called him safe on the field, they wouldn't have overturned it - but... you're supposed to let the call stand if it isn't an obvious error. That, plus the blown check swing call could have been very costly. Glad it worked out.

One thing we probably won't hear is "The Bears still suck" ...

The Dodgers' pitchers have more pedigree and name recognition, but honestly, the best starting pitcher the Brewers faced this postseason was King, and no casual baseball fan even knows his name. Rasmussen is an ace, Freddy is very effective, and Martinez was 15-6. They're very, very good. Where we beat those other pitchers was hiking up their pitch count and getting into their bullpen - they were still quite effective when they were in the game. Let's see how this plays out - the Rays are capable of beating us rather than the Brewers losing...

Martinez was 15-6 this year - for comparison, Miz was 16-5. I think "inferior", while it's technically accurate compared to Rasmussen and possibly Peralta, gives the impression we're going against a tomato can. We're not. There is a tendency to focus on the SP matchups, and I'm as guilty as anyone, We should know by now that the bullpen matters as much or more. That really should be a checkmark in the Brewers' favor, but the Rays go about things more like us than the Cubs/Padres/Dodgers offensively, so I am nervous about that, too.

I don't see any desperation - seems like a solid move to me. The point is to win more games than the other team, and this kind of makes them a favorite to win 2 of the first 3, I would think, Unconventional, perhaps, but thoughtful.

The main thing to worry about is hold back a designated pitcher or two for an extra inning game - the postseason does not put a runner on second to start the inning, so the possibility of several extra innings is greater. So, even though they didn't end up using Patrick or Harrison in either series, they did serve a purpose. It's almost impossible to believe Woody could fill that particular role in his first appearance. But, you could move Drohan or May to that role if Woody is rostered.

Why? I am a complete sucker for this thing from an emotional standpoint. Then again, my head knows it's a low probability of usage in a high-leverage situation and that we're really not gonna get THAT Brandon Woodruff,,, But, man, I really would love to see it...

First things first - get 2 more against the best team money can buy. If that happens, I don't like how hard it looks to play in the Trop - I mean physically. In addition to losing track of balls in the ceiling and the more often ricocheting, I also don't like the bullpens being in play in foul territory. And oh yeah, the Rays are a little scary as a baseball team, too...

Already being done: Proposed Tampa Bay Rays stadium - Wikipedia - proposed to be open in 2029 with capacity of only 31k

Be patient. Snell was inefficient last time out against the Braves. That didn't translate into a lot of scoring, however - only one run given up despite 3 hits and 5 walks over 3 and 2/3 innings. He's a 2-time Cy, so can't really expect a repeat of that, but getting him to throw a lot of pitches might be doable.

All this commentary and only one post with the letters b-u-n-t in it, and it came in the first one. Everyone's dancing around it - say it - he's one of the better bunters (at least one of the more practiced ones, anyway).

Well, if you look at Hamilton vs, Monasterio, there's an argument there (and I think you're underselling Monasterio a little), But we also have to look at Hamilton/Ortiz (and perhaps Rengifo) vs Durbin, Not as clearcut