THERE'S ONLY ONE POSTSEASON (thread for 2019)

it occurs to me that behavior such as tampering with the ball to deliberately modify outcomes as the league begins to invest itself into legalized sports betting is fundamentally the same sort of behavior that, when done by a player, gets them banned from the game for life https://t.co/FeVagdQwDh

— Nathan Bernhardt (@jonbernhardt) October 10, 2019

NYC Wednesday forecast looking thoroughly wet. Who if anyone benefits from a Game 4 postponement? No way they throw Verlander on 3 days' rest Thursday, but he gets a Friday Game 5 start surely.

security guard who was struck by the foul last night:

A statement from the Harris County Emergency Corp, who employs the gentleman struck by Michael Brantley's foul ball:

“He was immediately taken to the hospital, evaluated and is currently in stable condition.”

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) October 14, 2019

i would think that more off days makes the yankees' bullpenning more feasible. the big three astros are gonna get two starts each no matter what happens

I notice all the raves across the internet for Correa's theatrics today. I'm fine with his post-HR show--I really don't police stuff like that--but, as a Jays fan, I'm a little puzzled when set next to the reaction to Bautista's bat-flip, which was much more polarizing. Is it just the passage of four years? I used to have a whole speech defending Bautista, a list of circumstances that made it a perfect storm of a cathartic moment; Correa engaged in more for less.

having it come against the Yankees is the real difference here

4 years is a long time. like bautista isn't even in the league rn, nevermind the We Play Loud commercial, which I admittedly haven't seen on air since acuna didn't run out his double lol

#WePlayLoud now

also bautista's bat chuck is iconic now so all's well that ends well

yeah it's like the 2nd result for him on autocomplete

I'll put it down to the calendar then (and I realize Bautista already had a reputation).

538's current odds (they stuck by the Raptors the whole way last spring):

Nationals - 34%
Yankees - 32%
Astros - 30%
Cardinals - 4%

Obviously, you've-got-to-get-there-first is driving this--I'm sure they'll have Houston or NY favored over Washington, if it comes to that--but still noteworthy.

i remember people *talking* about bautista's flip, but i can't say i remember many people complaining about it (apart from the usual trolls)

man that jays-rangers 7th inning tho

If you google "bautista bat flip controversy," I think you'll find reactions on both sides. The smartest ones were defending him, but I remember a lot of negative reaction, too.

game 4 will be a bullpen game for the yankees (barring rain), suggesting that they'll need more than 2.1 from severino in game 3

Big news of the day: Mike Shildt reports that pitching coach Mike Maddux had TWO hole-in-ones today — the fifth and sixth of his golfing career!

— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) October 14, 2019

(holes-in-one)

RsBI

TOOTBLAN for Ozuna

Reminded me of the 2018 version of the cardinals. That was TOOTBLAN city

night to forget for Marcell

tho it's early

Nice double.

not as early now

HOFer Yadi gotta move off that knee

Maddux becomes the first Cardinal to make good contact twice during the NLCS. https://t.co/fATfPKcMCK

— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) October 14, 2019

they need a miracle

Nationals are unconscious right now. AL should hope they get all of these two-out hits out of their system this series.

At this rate they’re going to have a a whole week to cool off.

You're probably right--Scherzer and Strasburg could use the rest, but I bet they'd just as soon move right into the WS.

I like, I like.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/starting-pitchers-are-getting-more-work-this-postseason-they-deserve-it/

this is a little weird

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27846892/sources-forecast-rain-wednesday-alter-nlcs-alcs-schedules

Speaking of Correa/Bautista:

https://www.mlb.com/news/best-home-run-reactions-over-the-years

Posting that because of the Sam Miller quote in the Bautista entry: "ESPN writer Sam Miller called this homer 'the most psychologically violent' baseball moment he’d ever seen." The most word-perfect description of that moment I've ever come across.

I would tie fluctuation in starting pitcher usage for the next few postseasons to how good the staffs are. HOU & WAS frontline starters are among their bedrock strengths.

so, i trust that we are all rooting for the cardinals tonight so that the nats can stay a bit warmer for the WS?

i'm gonna double livestream the game and the dem debate so that i can really ruin my night

I'm torn between wishing a miracle for you and more realistically wanting a sweep so these guys have a few days to remember they didn't win their division and are playing above their heads

But even acknowledging the opposition, the Astros hitters have underperformed. When a hitter the quality of the aggregate Astro lineup faces off against a pitcher the quality of their aggregate opponent, odds ratio gives the expected outcome as a .313 wOBA. Instead, they’ve produced a .278 wOBA, which is as bad as it sounds; that was Mallex Smith’s wOBA this year, and he hit .227/.300/.335 in the year of the home run.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/houstons-offense-has-hit-a-bump-in-the-road/

SSS....

just because it's a small sample doesn't mean they haven't underperformed

October is a small sample! but if you go cold, you lose

Bad news for postseason broadcasters: Shadows DON'T appear to affect offense, according to @gschifman, who found no difference in strikeout/walk rates in shadow after accounting for talent, time, the position of the sun, and the orientation of the ballpark.https://t.co/C02PquUQTX

— Ben Lindbergh (@BenLindbergh) October 15, 2019

speaking of broadcasters, TBS' Brian Anderson is really getting on my nerves. in the first NLDS cards/braves game, he noted (accurately) that ozuna had won a gold glove, but that his days of being a good outfielder were behind him. then he repeated the same anecdote for every single game he has covered since. WE GET IT

the same anecdote in almost the same words every time, like he prepared an index card with only 4 talking points on it

is FS1 typically on standard cable these days, like ESPN or TNT? or is it in a more expensive tier?

it is no longer offered by sling (after a rate hike) and i don't care enough to sit in front of an illegal stream on my computer for four hours a night, so i have not been watching the ALCS. doesn't seem ideal

xxp This is paywalled so I can't read but it must be short on variables, right? I mean I'm not sure how suddenly not being able to see the baseball would not affect one's ability to hit it? Also today's "broadcasters" who testify to this are mostly color guys with extensive big league experience.

idk some of these "but wait!" bubble bursters seem a little try-hard

I don't mean to suggest ex-ballplayers aren't still buying into a lot of misguided old school assumptions but this one eh

genetically freakish eyes can see the baseball

i thought the shadows led to soto getting a bad read on the goldy hit that broke up scherzer's no-hitter

mookie, Fox and Sling reached a new carriage agreement last week! Fox, FS1 and FS2 are back on Sling and Dish, though the regional sports nets are apparently gone forever.

ooh excellent thanks -- i actually checked that on thursday and they were still missing

i thought the shadows led to soto getting a bad read on the goldy hit that broke up scherzer's no-hitter

that actually had to do with his cup, it needed a big time streeeetch and adjustment, but there wasn't time

Marly Rivera, ESPN Writer:

Several players told me that they've been told they will likely not play tomorrow due to weather. No decision has been made yet. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said: "We're watching the forecast. We're mindful of two things, We don't want to affect the competitive complexion of the series, and we wanna be mindful of our fans. We don't want to bring them here and we know we're not going to be able to play. Just too early to tell."

jose!