titanrick

Just so I understand, if Sanchez starts at DH and Contreras gets hurt, we can put Sanchez at catcher, but then the pitcher has to hit for Contreras? But we could still pinch-hit for the pitcher with a bench player? I never fully understood this.

This is kind of a depressing thought, but are we seeing a fatigued version of Miz due to the most IP in his career and still being relied on as an ace in mid-October? Or were the last two starts just bumps in the road and we see the dominant version of him again this series, or the next? It's certainly strange that two different teams were able to foul off a lot of his FBs when he was getting mostly whiffs in the regular season. Thinking ahead, I believe a game 5 start would be on normal rest. I almost wonder if the series is 3-1 at that point, do we give him two extra days of rest and his home mound for Game 6? I want the best version of him if we're trying to slay the dragon, not the version that slips on the mound every pitch.

This feels a lot like asking me to grade the dot-com stocks in February of 2000. He has value, and I certainly don't miss Mona or Siegler. But I'm very happy we have more prospects coming up at IF positions for the next couple years.

I'm not sure if you're being serious. The human being umpire isn't going anywhere. He just wears an earpiece that tells him instantly if the pitch is a ball or strike. He still makes the call so the rest of us know. Nothing looks different to the viewer. I agree with you that umps are generally pretty decent at it. But if all that changes is they now call every single pitch accurately the first time, how can anyone be against that? I've never sat down to watch a game thinking, "I can't wait to see which pitches the ump will miss tonight." This isn't some nostalgic part of baseball - it's an annoyance that we always put up with because we had no other choice. Now we do.

May have to splurge for one of these.

I don't know about that. Duran only had one multi-inning effort all year, and then Mattingly wants him to go three? In game one of a three-game series? Was anyone else warming up in the 8th? If the plan was for Duran to get through the "meat" of the order, he had already done that. Riley was hitting 7th. I know you have to think outside the box in the playoffs. And the rest of their bullpen is bad. But that seemed a bit too much to ask and for me, it was a predictable result.

I'm curious what you mean by a negative unforeseen impact on how the game is enjoyed.

I still would love for them to go full ABS and do away with all the missed calls. No one would even notice a difference because the ump gets instant feedback in an earpiece and just calls every pitch correct the first time. But I fear that "baseball" is infatuated with the strategy aspect of this current system and it will probably be years before they go full ABS.

Fair point. I honestly hesitated to add him but decided to do it anyway. Agreed he's a tier below Yount and Uecker.

I can see both sides of this. His at-bats most of the year have been dreadful, between swinging through center-cut fastballs and chasing every slider low and in. When he finally connects, it's a rollover 4-3 putout. It's really hard to watch as a fan who hangs on every at-bat. So, this late in what has been a dreadful offensive year, heading to the post-season with WS ambitions, we suddenly decide to put a C on his jersey? Feels like a cheap ploy to somehow motivate him out of his prolonged slump. Definitely would have looked much better in March. But the other side to this is I've always been frustrated that the players care less than we do. For almost all of them, it's a job and they could be on a different team next year. I'm 54 and live and die every year with the Brewers. So, although I've never swung a bat or caught a ball for them, I'm way more invested emotionally than they are. Look no further than "Greg" Counsell for proof that even the most die-hard Brewer "lifers" can turn on you if the money is right. But I say all this to bring up that it seems like Yelich might be the exception to that rule. You can just tell from his comments and body language that it is KILLING him to not be able to help this club more than he has. The scene with Uecker (who truly was a Brewer lifer) confiding to Yelich his cancer diagnosis must have had a profound impact on him. I also think back to the emotion Yeli showed early in the year when he hit the walk-off home run - very out of character for him. He seems to have started out 8 years ago as "this is just my next stop in my career" and transformed into doing everything he can to give back to the Brewers and the city of Milwaukee. Kind of like he's choosing to be the next Brewer "lifer" in the mold of Yount, Braun, and Uecker. That's extremely rare in this day and age and should be appreciated and celebrated.

I do find that encouraging. Hopefully, he gets one more crack against the Cards, and we see results that match the stuff. It's nerve-wracking thinking of May and Harrison pitching in the playoffs, but I'm not sure what other choices we have. We're going to have some question marks, but so does every other team.

I hope Lake Bachar isn't renamed for his dismal performance.

I'm guessing Murphy's thought process was that the lead was large enough to take a chance there and see if Sproat could right the ship on his own. If he can somehow reset himself, and get out of the inning, it would only help him in the future. Obviously, that didn't happen. But if Murph was taking that chance thinking we can still win the game, he was ultimately correct in that. No way he leaves Sproat in that long if the game were closer.

The 80's baseball cards give me a nice dopamine hit.

Still younger than both NL ROY candidates this year: Stewart and Wetherholt

I hate to harp on his defense, but what is Bunty doing here? He's about three steps away from the base with the ball heading directly to the base. If he stays back and lets the ball travel, we may get Suzuki before he even gets to the bag. It worked out, thank goodness. But this guy's defensive instincts are really lacking. I don't want him playing D in the playoffs at all.

This team has bounced back well before. The 22-0 shellacking didn't help us the next night against the Mariners. I don't trust Gasser, but I'm still optimistic we can split the series.

I think my graphic got cut off. I can't see PCA's name on it. I kid! I kid!

I'm a sucker for the retro-70s look...

Hard to believe Chourio (3/11/04) is a full year and a half younger than Wetherholt (9/10/02), who is the odds-on favorite for ROY in the NL. And this is Chourio's third season! I think the RISP numbers this year could be that he's pressing more in those situations. When he's chasing pitches outside the zone, the only chance he has is if the pitcher makes a mistake. When he's patient and laying off the junk, he is a real force. I think that will improve as he matures.

I just hope they ruled it a hit so I can keep hearing Vinny tell me that Hamilton has been good defensively!

Are you basing that on defensive metrics or the eye test? I have a healthy respect for analytics, but I gotta say - I watch almost every game and cringe when the ball is hit toward him. Way too many terrible throws, botches some easy plays, just seems like a wreck sometimes.

Agreed, I thought Adames was the quintessential "clubhouse leader" which is why I was somewhat worried when he left. All we've done since is have the best record in baseball. When one leader leaves, someone else steps up to fill the void. Teams have "lead by example" guys like Yeli and "rah-rah leaders" like Adames was, and Contreras seems to be now. All the top teams spout cliches constantly... we're playing for each other... we never quit... we're a family. All that is true, but it's true for almost every team that has a winning record. And as Jopal pointed out, it's not even a necessity for title-winning teams. Mostly just something for the media to write about.

There goes my theory that Sanchez wanted to pitch so he could waste our final challenge.