It's supposed to be in the mid-80s (F) here tomorrow. It was 60-something today. If this game keeps going, the weather will heat up and the ball will start flying out. We will go from a very surprising 1-1 to a 10-10 game. haha. But in all seriousness, I am shocked by this scoreline.
I've been jumping between this game and a watching the Gremio-Tucuman game on Fanatiz on demand. Mostly I've been with this game, but I didn't see why Maddon removed Hammels. That was obviously a mistake. I like Hendricks a lot. I think I wrote early in this thread that I thought he could compete for the Cy Young. That didn't happen, but it seems stupid to remove Hammels unless he was due up to bat.
Cubs bats have gone cold at the wrong time of the year. Sympathies, UA. The plus side is that the team is still young and a lot of high quality players are still under contract.
Gah, even had the tension of finding out the long way ruined by MLB.tv showing the bloody full game box score underneath the game replay. I suppose we can take comfort from the fact that we led the division for pretty much the entire season without our WS MVP or our expensive pitching pick-up. Not to mention Javy's great season. There's still plenty to build on.
It will be interesting to see if Buck lands somewhere else this offseason. He had a reputation for being overly controlling, but seems to have mellowed in a lot of ways since he was fired by the Diamondbacks. I get why the Yankees let him go in 95; it was time for a new voice. But I like him as a manager.
Cubs news continues to get worse. Russel with a deserved suspension for violating the domestic abuse policy. I think it's 40 days, which is crazy to me. Less that PED suspension. The Cubs have handled things well, supporting MLB but also noting that they have a responsibility to work with Russel to help him become a better person and to work with his ex-wife to make sure she has access to resources. In terms of on-field stuff, there was a sense that 2016 was the beginning of a dynasty for the Cubs. I don't see that happening, but I also think there is so much talent at the top of both leagues that it is hard to win back-to-back. We will see what happens with the Astros.
Severino was on fire in that first inning. Definitely a much more mature start compared to last season.
The Reds are interviewing every conceivable manager candidate except the people’s choice, Barry Larkin. Reportedly he has said he wants to stay in his current role or roving instructor etc for a while longer and wait until he’s “ready” to manage. That may be true, but I wonder if the organization had made some promises.
Duquette was not good about making use of international signings but beyond that I think he did a good job with the O's. They were in the mix for a few years with a pitching staff that had no business being anywhere near the playoffs. The owner seems nutty, which wouldn't have been news 20 years ago, but now most owners seem to make the money and stay quiet. Perhaps Angelos thinks they are going to suck either way for a few years so why pay big money to Buck and Duquette.
The Yankees infield defense is proving that there will be some extended innings during the playoffs if they get past the As tonight.
I'm sticking with Yankees-Red Sox for now and then will jump to Braves-Dodgers. I missed a bit of this last half inning because storms cut out my satellite signal. But that half inning showed why I fear the Yankees won't go far: bases loaded with no outs and the Yankees only score one run. There are just too many bashers in this lineup who can't hit for average. The trade for Stanton, as I wrote upthread, was a huge mistake in my mind. That's a lot of money tied up for a guy who is all or nothing. And he struck out to be the first out. You can't chase Sale early and then let bases loaded with no outs get away against a weaker bullpen (compared to all of the remaining teams across both leagues).
Brewers are looking good. Astros clobber Kluber who looks to be having his second post-season in a row hat is well below his standards. Given Cleveland's lead, they should have skipped his starts a few times down the stretch and gone with bullpen games or brought up kids from AAA.
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