FanGraphs Baseball

There Is No Defending Some of the Defense We Saw in Game 2 of the World Series

by
October 25, 2026
Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Playing professional baseball is so hard, and requires so much preternatural ability, that it borders on impossible for the civilian mind to comprehend. Hitting a 90 mile an hour pitch — let alone the 100 mph ones warping the fabric of the sport — requires a combination of hand-eye coordination, anticipation, and kinetic movement that most people straight up cannot attain. Whereas with other professions, the concept of achieving greatness is graspable — I have not, and never will, write the next great American novel, but I can at least formulate the thought of how to do so — watching a major league baseball game and trying to imagine oneself in that position is total fantasy.

That being said, if you were to take the three foundational elements of the game — hitting, pitching, and fielding — and force a rando from the local bar to perform one of them, I’d argue that fielding would be by far the easiest. No one who isn’t regularly playing baseball, or is at least recently removed from doing so, is rolling out of bed and getting bat to ball in a World Series game. And while getting an out from the mound might be doable simply because the fielders could help, the pitches coming from commoner arms would be deeply comical in comparison to the real thing. But catching a popup or fielding a grounder could be done, even if some of the participants in Game 2 of the World Series produced evidence to the contrary.

The miscues started early in Saturday night’s feverish game between the Rays and Brewers. Yandy Díaz, the very first hitter of the night, pushed a weak groundball to Milwaukee shortstop Cooper Pratt to get things going. Pratt ushered the ball into his glove and readied for a throw that some (though not all) slightly athletic normies could make. But, perhaps because this was a big, important baseball game that was on television and not just a hypothetical exercise for some guy’s blog, Pratt did not complete the throw and instead bounced it right into the camera well. One batter, one error. Read the rest of this entry »


Sunday Notes: Adam Ottavino Faced Paul Goldschmidt 32 times

by
October 25, 2026

Adam Ottavino matched up against Paul Goldschmidt more often than he did any other hitter. The now-retired right-hander faced the still-active slugger 32 times, surrendering six hits — including three home runs — and issuing half a dozen walks. He set him down on strikes 13 times.

What does Ottavino most remember about his battles with Goldschmidt, who over 16 seasons has logged 905 extra-base hits, a 135 wRC+, and 58.8 WAR in what is arguably a Hall of Fame-worthy career?

“He was usually the best player on his team, and because of my righty-matchup ability I faced him a lot,” said Ottavino, who has smoothly segued from data-savvy reliever to insightful broadcast analyst. “At the beginning it was as many sliders as I could throw, but then he kind of figured out that the best approach against me was to not try to pull the ball. If you look at his three home runs, they were all to the opposite field. I realized that I had to switch up from only staying on the outside corner and start coming inside a little bit.

“When I developed the cutter, I used it a lot in mid-counts, because I knew he wasn’t hunting that pitch,” Ottavino went on to say.” It became a lot more cat-and-mouse over time. I mean, it was never a comfortable matchup. He had a really good approach, and I felt like he was very calculated coming to each at-bat. Sometimes I was able to stay a step ahead, and sometimes not.”

As for the baker’s dozen strikeouts, the Northeastern University product recalls the majority of them coming on takes, mostly in their later matchups. When he sensed that Goldschmidt was looking slider on a two-strike count, and thus “open for a freeze,” he would throw a backdoor sinker.

A memorable punch out came on a swing-and-miss. Read the rest of this entry »


Small Is the Man Who Leads to Sal-Vation

by
October 25, 2026
Matt Marton-Imagn Images

MILWAUKEE — In the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 2 of the World Series, Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick dug in against Rays reliever Ian Seymour with his team trailing by a run.

Seymour’s first pitch, a sinker, landed right in the middle of the zone for a called strike one.

The Brewers had trailed 4-0 in this game before they’d even come to the plate, but they’d been in this position before. Read the rest of this entry »


Pratt Rise: Unlikely Hero Gives Brewers 2-0 Series Lead

by
October 25, 2026
Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

Most of the time, life isn’t a storybook. The problem in Act One isn’t tied up with a bow in Act Three. Yesterday’s villain doesn’t always become today’s hero; in fact, they frequently stay today’s villain. But the baseball gods must have been hankering for a redemption arc Saturday night. Cooper Pratt was the scapegoat for an early Tampa Bay rally in Game 2, and then the hero for a late Milwaukee response, as the Brewers persevered for a 5-4 victory that staked them to a 2-0 lead in the World Series.

Before the raucous Milwaukee fans had even settled into their seats, Pratt got an easy chance to open the game, a weak grounder off the bat of the lead-footed Yandy Díaz. But Pratt played himself into trouble by waiting too long to commit. He got to the ball late, rushed his throw, and chucked it into the dugout on a hop. Just like that, the pressure was on, and the Brewers were down – down by a shocking four runs, in fact. After consecutive run-scoring singles, Liam Hicks tattooed a Logan Henderson cutter right down Wisconsin Ave for a two-run bomb:

All October, that kind of lead had been more than Drew Rasmussen has needed. Tampa Bay’s ace has been automatic all month, the best pitcher in the playoffs hands down. But he was out of sorts on Saturday, and the Rays defense was just as discombobulated. With two on and one out in the first, Jonathan Aranda tracked a foul ball to the netting, but he couldn’t squeeze it into his glove. Given a second chance at life, William Contreras hit what looked like an inning-ending double-play ball – but Richie Palacios was charging toward second base to cover a potential steal, and he couldn’t change directions in time to get a glove on it. Garrett Mitchell tacked on with a two-out single that cut the deficit to two and brought Pratt to the plate. But Pratt’s redemption was not forthcoming. He struck out on three pitches, putting an unceremonious stop to the rally.

Henderson and Rasmussen were both uneven today. They struggled to miss bats, and thus to end at-bats. Henderson needed 64 pitches to get through the first three innings, and Brewers manager Pat Murphy didn’t need to see anything further. He turned to his bullpen for the last six innings of work, something he’s been unafraid of all year. Rays skipper Kevin Cash has been more patient with his starters this fall, but Rasmussen couldn’t hold his form. He briefly got into a groove, retiring six straight Brewers, but he couldn’t keep it going. Pratt, of all people, broke the streak. He worked a one-out walk in the bottom of the fourth inning, kicking off a bottom-of-the-lineup rally. Sal Frelick followed with a line drive single. And then the Rays continued their shocking streak of defensive lapses. David Hamilton hit a weak grounder to first, and chaos ensued:

Read the rest of this entry »


Members-Only Game Thread: World Series – Oct 24, 2026

by
October 24, 2026

Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the World Series game today. Only Members can participate, and unlike our usual staff Q&A chats, your messages will be posted immediately.

Our Member community is made up of thousands of incredibly knowledgable baseball fans, and we think this is a great way to follow a game with like-minded baseball enthusiasts. We might even have some FanGraphs Staff drop in and join the fun. Please be courteous to your fellow Members, or you may find your chat privileges revoked.

Sean Dolinar

Hi everyone! We had an interesting ending last night. Hopefully tonight will be just as fun! We got our standard polls and a redux of our Rasmussen poll with a little dash hindsight.

Jon Becker

Hello Sean!

Jon Becker

I have just Seen Everything

Sean Dolinar

I still need to watch The Rehearsal.

lzfreak

I've got a Brewers fan friend coming over for the game and he's bringing spotted cow. So I might be pulling for the Brewers tonight at least

Sean Dolinar

I'm jealous. I wish I had friends this good.

MattStats5

I know there's alot of baseball left, but if last night was any indication, this is gonna be a great World Series. Go Orioles! Wait….never mind. Go Baseball!

Seuss2004

The real winner this WS is Brat Rangoon

bosoxforlife

I have heard so much about spotted cow I had to do some research. Looks like it is tough to find here in CT.

crichar3

It's light but quite tasty. Made by a small brewery in SW WI.

Sean Dolinar

It used to be impossible or at least really hard to find outside of Wisconsin. I think it's still that way, but I haven't been there since 2023. When I did have to buy a Spotted Cow from the hotel, because State St. Brats closed early over Thanksgiving weekend.

lzfreak

Yeah my friend has family in Wisconsin and goes back periodically so presumably that's where he got it

Nick Smith

Whoops!

scottbot

What is a quintessential TB area thing?

Sean Dolinar

This is going to be hard. The closest I've been recently is Orlando.

Matt Martell

I saw everything the other night, and I cannot unsee anything

Phil

Saw it last week. My question is why we didn't get to see Nathan in the shower.

Rich Hill's Fastball

Pratt fall

raregokus

More like Pooper Cratt, am I right?

chasfh

You misspelled “Crapp”. 😉

crichar3

Pratt's defense was said to be superb in the minors, but he has been a downgrade defensively compared to Ortiz.

Brian Reinhart

Joe Davis calling the game from the future there saying "Tampa Bay unable to take advantage" with only 1 out

Rich Hill's Fastball

Must've been an alternate future, then!

Oneear

Do I have to be watching the game to contribute to the thread?

Brian Reinhart

I'm running back and forth while cooking dinner

BigHurtBeer

Chandler Simpson in the 3-hole pays off early.

chasfh

Chandler Simpson showing you can have success with oppo soft swings. Well, at least *he* can.

bosoxforlife

I wonder if a player with exactly 0 HR's during the regular season has ever batted 3rd in a WS.

Matt Martell

I really hope Simpson keeps getting better because he's so much fun to watch

Sean Dolinar

Simpson's stature reminds me of 80s/early 90s era baseball players.

BigHurtBeer

He's like a taller version of Lance Johnson, former ChiSox CF.

Sean Dolinar

Beautiful steal.

chasfh

I do like replays from the Umpcam. That shot down the LF line looked pretty awesome from it.

Sean Dolinar

Love the crowd reaction shots at the end of replays.

Jack Dorfman

Oh boy

Rich Hill's Fastball

Hicks hits it to the sticks

bosoxforlife

Thank you John Sterling.

BigHurtBeer

Oh man … that ball was destroyed

Phil

What is going on?

Jack Dorfman

And here I was ready for a pitchers duel

bosoxforlife

This one looks to be over early.

Nick Smith

Wow

chasfh

OK, who had Henderson going one inning? ‘Cause you might win that poll question.

Sean Dolinar

Hi Jack!

Jack Dorfman

Hey Sean!

Phil

Also, is it fair to take this into account in judging the Rasmussen decision? Could have won both, maybe.

Sean Dolinar

Exactly!

Sean Dolinar

They got some solid innings last night from Martinez and Matz. But one of those runs made a difference.

Sean Dolinar

Do they have a drone over the field??

moomin

love that this happened after I saw tons of comments complaining about Hicks after yesterday

chasfh

How’s this for a facile hot take: Henderson pitching like a rookie, Pratt fielding like a rookie.

Davy Andrews

Hey everybody!

bosoxforlife

He better be right, and he is.

Brian Reinhart

New Q. How many Kyle Harrison innings are we getting tonight?

bosoxforlife

Too many!!

scottbot

3?

chasfh

I do notice the mean for Henderson’s IP on the poll question has ticked down a touch.

Jack Dorfman

Was just wondering who’s gonna get mop up innings

Sean Dolinar

Woodruff?

Phil

I am more convinced than ever that this thing is going to 7 games.

Jack Dorfman

I’m guessing they go drohan? they at least trusted him against the dodgers and they probably rightly believe they can still come back

BryanB

Excellent, my secret plan is working

crichar3

Cooper's "prattfall" set a bad tone for that inning. Ortiz makes that play with ease. They lose some offense with Ortiz, but he's a nice boost to run prevention.

Jack Dorfman

Liam Hicks and the Hot Licks

Davy Andrews

Chourio not ambushing that one!

chasfh

As a Tiger fan I get all 🤬thinking about how Liam Hicks was in our system and was allowed to walk just last year, and then I remember, oh yeah, Dillon Dingler

Sean Dolinar

There's still a lot of baseball. A lot can happen.

Nick Smith

Sure, it's an early lead, but it's an even-numbered lead.

Rich Hill's Fastball

That Hicks homer killed the rally!

BryanB

Also, it’s not a prime number

Jack Dorfman

Love descriptive statistics

Jack Dorfman

Wow here we go

Phil

Chourio is quite good.

chasfh

As Ernie Harwell would say, “The Brewers are kicking up their heels!”

Arathorn

When was the last WS game where both teams scored double digits?

Rich Hill's Fastball

I can't think of any game since 2017 game 5

chasfh

Date Game Score
Oct 20, 1993 Game 4 Blue Jays 15, Phillies 14 (at Philadelphia)
Oct 21, 1997 Game 3 Marlins 14, Indians 11 (at Cleveland)
Oct 20, 2002 Game 2 Angels 11, Giants 10 (at Anaheim)
Oct 29, 2017 Game 5 Astros 13, Dodgers 12 (at Houston, 10 innings)

ChadT

I thought we agreed to never speak of that again.

BryanB

My wife was like what’s up with the Brewers and I was all, that’s the team that’s led the AL all year

Phil edited

Thought the Brewers and Rays were known for defense. . .

crichar3

They were, but Pratt isn't living up to his MiLB hype in that regard.

BigHurtBeer

Hicks is gonna want to use an ABS challenge here

Sean Dolinar

He really wanted to challenge there.

Sean Dolinar

Old school baseball!

Jack Dorfman

Wow the hit and run

BigHurtBeer

Man, Contreras is dialed in situationally.

bosoxforlife

That looked like am inning ending double play off the bat.

crichar3

Brewers doing Brewers things.

Patrick Burke

Anyone else not able to find this chat in the app?

Sean Dolinar

It's in the newest iOS version released yesterday via a banner on the home screen. Android is still being worked on.

Sean Dolinar

That atmosphere looks amazing.

fishnchips

These pitchers aren’t fooling anyone

crichar3

They are fooling me — I thought they were both pretty good.

chasfh

Turang wasn’t fooled on that 109 mph second out.

bosoxforlife

How much I miss the hit and run. It was such a part of the game when hitters could be relied upon to make contact.

chasfh

I bet it comes back to the game again, and probably sooner than we think. Game is always evolving.

chasfh

When they finally go to 100% robot ump calls on pitches, will catchers still frame out of habit?

Nick Smith

I hope so: "Nice try, meatsack. Beep-boop!"

Rich Hill's Fastball

These offenses are really, really fun

Phil

Different sort of game than yesterday.

crichar3

Pratt can now atone for his error…

chasfh

Is Rasmussen knuckling his changeup? Looks like that’s what his middle finger was doing on that run-scoring single just now.

Davy Andrews

No, pretty sure he's taking it off, which is what you do for a kick change.

chasfh

Looked like it was tucked under the ball was why I asked

BryanB

Pratt going for Most Suckee Player

chasfh

Oof, the hubris of Contreras

bosoxforlife

The very word a had in mind.

Rich Hill's Fastball

For anyone unable to watch on TV: Brewers have JoJo Romero warming

Oneear

The start to this game makes me wish I was in a bar in Milwaukee watching all the miserable Brewers fans.

AdvantageSchneider

Brewers fans maybe a lot of things but miserable in a bar they are not.

BryanB

Henderson really doesn’t like an 0-2 count

bosoxforlife

A sacrifice bunt with no outs is taking this small ball a little bit too far.

kingharbaugh

in the second no less

Oneear

Maybe that's what my wife meant when she called me a sadness vampire.

Jack Dorfman

Game feels like a pre pitch clock slog I love it

Sean Dolinar

I'm more ok with this in the postseason. 4-hour games during the 162-game marathon was too much.

fishnchips

Both of these teams take absolutely gnarly ABs

Nick Smith

Anyone else think maybe baseball should actively try to reduce foul balls?

Sean Dolinar

How would you do that?

BryanB

What are ya thinking?

Rich Hill's Fastball

I suppose this is a good outcome, but how in the world would you achieve that besides increasing infield popups?

kingharbaugh

make fair territory bigger

Nick Smith edited

Maybe, on the 2nd out, 2 fouls for free and the next one is a strikeout?

Kenny

Change the in-play angle from 90 degrees to 360 degrees, like cricket 🙂

chasfh

The only way I can think of to reduce foul balls would be to replace the wizards pitching today with normal mortals.

bosoxforlife

Then we wouldn't get to see Tristan Peters and Jake Bauers wow us with their long, and terrific, AB's.

BryanB

Loves me some Tristan Peters

Nick Smith

Maybe the foul lines don't have to precicely coincide with the basebaths? Have them angle out a bit?

Sean Dolinar

We're a numbers site, so I should have something to back this up, but I feel like the vast majority of foul balls are tips/to the backstop or dramatically in foul territory.

Sean Dolinar

You'd definitely would be moving things at the margins if that's what you are going for.

Nick Smith

The margins *are* where interesting stuff happens…

g4

Pitchers need to figure out how to pitch to squarer contact, but not toooo square. Sounds hard

sb4321

TIL William Contreras is only 0.1 fWAR behind his brother in terms of cumulative performance this decade.

BryanB

My fav Kalshi commercial and I hate Kalshi

BryanB

Pat Murphy is a leader

Nick Smith

Re: making pitchers mortal, maybe moving the mound back a few inches is a way to go?

BryanB

Yah or down

g4

I've thought so for a while. Less guess hitting should lead to more contact w/o necessarily spiking HR

kingharbaugh

I think they tried that in the Atlantic league and it had the opposite effect. Walks went up, but so did strikeouts.

Nick Smith edited

Nuts! It's almost like better-motivated peple than I have worked on this issue.

g4

That was a garbage experiment that gets cited as definitive way too much. Of course guys struggled after playing their whole careers at 60'6" — move it back a foot now and reap the benefits in years 10-50.

kingharbaugh

Yeah it was pretty short lived. The extra distance does give breaking pitches more time to move, though. It makes sense that it didn't just make hitting easier.

raregokus edited

Yeah it's the kind of change that can't be evaluated in a single season or even a few seasons, and MLB seems so concerned about unintended consequences that they won't implement something they can't just throw minor league (or indy ball) games at

Nick Smith

Makes sense. So many of these changes depend on how long it takes for players to adapt.

g4

I also liked a commenter's recent idea to make the rubber narrower. Such an easy fix that doesn't change the fabric of the game yet mitigates the extreme arm angles

kingharbaugh

I like this a lot!

g4

No one would even notice!

Nick Smith

The best kind of change! Like the pitch clock.

raregokus

Good idea, but now I wonder what we can do with the plate. We made the bases bigger, we're making the rubber smaller, maybe we start having opposite day games where the plate is pointed the wrong direction

Matt Martell

Hi Sean! ABS spon con is weird

Matt Martell

My last five messages are "awaiting review," which is a bit on the nose for messages about ABS

Sean Dolinar

I was just looking up how T-mobile actually powers ABS.

raregokus

Surely it's some garbage about how their network is used to transmit the results, right?

Sean Dolinar

Google AI was really getting some stuff wrong.

Sean Dolinar

I might be missing something, but I'm not sure why ABS needs a private 5G network to work.

Rich Hill's Fastball

It needs a 5G network to get sponsored!

raregokus

They're allowing them to use the emergency network for ABS actually, 911 calls won't go through in Milwaukee if Contreras taps his helmet

JohnThacker

T-Mobile owns basically all the 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum for North America and they set up a private network inside stadiums reserving a slice of the band. Wi-Fi would be a bad idea because it's public so theoretically it could get congested.

Jack Dorfman

Oh boy aranda

Sean Dolinar

"The ABS challenge workflow relies on players (batters, catchers, or pitchers) tapping their helmet or cap directly on the field to trigger a review. A physical wire tether to a player or an umpire would be dangerous, cumbersome, and impractical during active play."

Alright, thanks AI.

Sean Dolinar

This is trying to answer the 5G question.

Sean Dolinar

From my cursory research…it's better solution than WiFi or other wireless solutions. And it looks like it simplifies the infrastructure build out for the operation of it.

Rich Hill's Fastball

Oh no Aranda 🙁

Nick Smith edited

Daaaaaang!

BryanB

Wow

brewersbibliophile

Just finished my shift, I miss anything?

Sean Dolinar

That was not a strike.

BryanB

Agree

BryanB

Should have been a walk

BryanB

#replaceUMPs

Rich Hill's Fastball

Was only listening to that Rhapsido commercial and could've sworn they were advertising Rapsodo

fishnchips

Do you think about Vaughn at all here?

brewersbibliophile

Im always thinking about Vaughn

raregokus

The Aranda play finally convinced me, the Brewers are inevitable

BryanB

maxRISP

Sean Dolinar

SP poll is closed! Rasmussen didn't go 4 IP, but we had him at 5.2 IP mean and 6 IP median.

Henderson when 3 IP and we had him around 4.1 IP mean and 4 IP median.

BryanB

I would imagine SPs go fewer innings in the post?

raregokus

Trying and failing to think of someone whose stock has fallen further the last couple years than David Stearns

Phil

Clase

kingharbaugh

Alek Manoah

BryanB

Why?

raregokus edited

I knew I'd be wrong when I posted, I just didn't know HOW wrong (re: Clase)

raregokus

"Mets rich and bad Brewers poor and good" was the core of my thinking

JohnThacker

Wander Franco?

raregokus

Wow yeah I whiffed hard on this one lol

BryanB

Okay Pratt making up for his mistakes

BryanB

MLB can’t be surprised that players bet, when they’re forcing betting apps down our throats

BryanB

It’d be like if every other commercial was for steroids

raregokus

OK but tbh I'm very intrigued by the idea of steroid commercials

BryanB

https://youtu.be/5IZrYeUX3MI?is=-VkUDiH9suDByHmY

raregokus

https://youtu.be/37VebUxrbKI?is=MdubvOe6vwGuom8e

Kenny

Every other commercial *is* for pharmaceuticals. Odds are many of them are steroids.

JohnThacker

Surprisingly, that pharmaceutical that clears your skin but may increase your risk of infection that was just advertised is not a corticosteroid, even though it sounds like one.

Phil

Thoughts about using Ashby while losing, even by just a run, given his workload? Is he going to pitch multiple innings in literally every game?

Phil

Oh, I guess Ashby isn't actually warming.

BryanB

Cannot hit batters. Ever. In the post. Unless it’s intentional.

Solitaire

Palacios specs are no longer neon green??

raregokus

I was looking closely after someone mentioned it last night, I thought they looked different!

danorris101

I just found Waldo

kingharbaugh

That seemed very close

kingharbaugh

Didn't matter in the end.

raregokus

Fireable send

danorris101

Speaking of gambling…

Nick Smith

Oof

brewersbibliophile

Reminds me of the days of Wavin Wendell

Seuss2004

Has a 3rd base coach ever been fired in-game?

chasfh

Fire that 3B coach, Tampa.

AdvantageSchneider

Dumbest send in WS history

kingharbaugh

oh that was a dumb send

Rich Hill's Fastball

What in the Hicks?

Nick Smith

Fortune favors the bold, they say, but yeesh.

Rich Hill's Fastball

Fortune also favors the scouting report

BryanB

What was the dumb send the other day?

brewersbibliophile

Hamilton trying to extend a double to triple?

g4

Mesa trying to steal third

fishnchips

I guess if you sac bunt earlier in the inning you’re pot committed to the send with 2 outs *shrug*

crichar3

Bunting only works for teams that don’t strike out a lot and make a good deal of contact. TB is one of those teams. So is MKE.

BryanB

lol I was thinking the same thing about the umps guns

chasfh admin edited

Friend of mine says Eduardo Perez calling the game on the radio said it was a good send. Eduardo Perez is objectively a dumb s**t.

raregokus

Maybe Perez is calling the game blindfolded, it's not like you could tell by his analysis

Phil

Woah!!!!

Rich Hill's Fastball

No way

Brian Reinhart

that's baseball

danorris101

Maybe they are a team of destiny

BryanB

Woot!!!!!

Nick Smith

Brand new ballgame!

Sonny L

Lexington!

Alan Sherman

Brewers have a long lineup

Alan Sherman

Mitchell against the dodgers, frelick here, hamilton (not) triple yesterday

Sean Dolinar

This is good baseball.

Brian Reinhart

my partner's review of the Frelick home run: "Ohhh, he's so cute!"

Brian Reinhart

I'll show her the face he made during that nutty '25 NLCS double play

Sean Dolinar

That's the insight we need on these chats.

Sonny L

Sal Frelick will hold the door for you at Friendly’s and share his clown cone. America’s or at least the metro Boston area’s sweetheart

Solitaire

my partner: he looks kind of like Jerry Seinfeld. Unclear if this agrees or contradicts your partner's assessment

fishnchips

Fangraphs article idea, all time playoff series ranked by average number of two strike fouls per game

Alan Sherman

there's a cutie keeping score behind the plate too

Alan Sherman

love to see it

millvillemeltdown

alan thinks the hp umpire is cute !?!

chasfh

Front Row Amy. Quite famous in that area.

raregokus

alan and umpy sittin in a tree

Alan Sherman

umpires don't keep score

chasfh

Aren’t umpires actually the official arbiters of the score?

raregokus

Yeah but they aren't responsible for keeping a record of it, they let an entirely different guy screw that up

kingharbaugh

I just don't think I see it for the Rays right now.

Alan Sherman

we've got dave flemming calling the game in Canada, nyeah nyeah

chasfh edited

What, you’re not listening to Alain Usereau?! Sacre bleu!

BryanB

Ump needs to focus less on his guns, more on his eyes

Brian Reinhart

OK, let's make it a series. my partner's review of Chourio: "how does a 22 year old get that big?? I thought maybe he was 37"

Rich Hill's Fastball

Brian's partner should submit a community post about reactions to these guys

raregokus

lockout post!

BryanB

Chourio needs to focus less on guns more on strike zone

BryanB

I’ll just backseat drive all the players

Brian Reinhart

If I remember anything from age 9, it's that you're gonna walk guys if you look at third base while throwing the pitch

raregokus

For exactly one pitch in my last year of little league I thought "varying my looks" meant throwing a no-look fastball because a guy was on third

Rich Hill's Fastball

What the ****

Seuss2004

wat.

Nick Smith

Huh.

Sean Dolinar

That went from, oh crap, to WOW, to damn.

chasfh

lol FOX thought that ball was so caught in left they went right to “end of 5th” on the score box

brewersbibliophile

I caught that too

Sean Dolinar

I love catching broadcast goofs!

chasfh edited

Thank god there’s a pitching change so FOX has time to reboot the thing

Brian Reinhart

did they both get lost in the lights?

Solitaire

So Yelich's strategy this WS is to have outfielders drop his fly balls?

Seuss2004

I feel like im missing something here. Ball went in the glove, glove smacked the ground, ball popped out. Why was there not so much as a review?

Sean Dolinar

I don't think you are wrong, because they get a bunch of challenges in the postseason. But that was not a catch in MLB or the NFL.

brewersbibliophile

I believe that would have been Tampas last challenge. They lost one on that terrible send where they thought Contreras was blocking the plate

BryanB

If I remember anything from age 9 it’s that I thought Donruss and Fleer were cool

Seuss2004

Punp your brakes kid, those cards were a national treasure.

BryanB

I LOVED Upper Deck.

Brian Reinhart

now FOX saying that Taylor Walls is the batter against DL Hall

Seuss2004 edited

"Father McGrath! I thought you were dead!" "I was!"

Brian Reinhart

they took the scorebug down

kingharbaugh

It's back and still wrong

kingharbaugh

Third times a charm?

Sean Dolinar

They broke it!

BryanB

Someone’s getting fired

rudle

joe buck better watch his back

danorris101

Is it me?

raregokus

Hopefully it's Tampa's 3rd base coach

BryanB

RISPmaxed

moomin edited

Taylor Walks strikes again (balls again?)

BryanB

Yandy is a fun name

millvillemeltdown

i can't even make a joke that it's short for yandrew because it's pronounced with the long a

raregokus

bizarre parallel brain moment

raregokus

Abner is such an underrated name

BryanB

Wow I didn’t know that!

Brian Reinhart

first Abner in the majors since 1891

millvillemeltdown

oh man, i've been feeling so weirdly low today and not even the baseball is helping

BryanB

Kinda same, just one of those blue days

Solitaire

I hope your tomorrow is better

crichar3

That double might raise your spirits!

millvillemeltdown

every day is a roll of the dice, sometimes you come up empty, but most of the time it's chill

Sean Dolinar

glad to see ya here!

millvillemeltdown

it is always good to be in community, in meatspace and computerspace

BryanB

Ohhh that was close

kingharbaugh

Chandler Simpson is such a funny 3 hitter

NATS Fan

I finally get here. hi all

NATS Fan

Chandler Simpson is a genius 3 hitter. the top 2 slots go to big power nowadays. Simpson makes sure you do not get a double play.

millvillemeltdown

genius and comedy are not mutually exclusive

Sean Dolinar

Two dramatic hits!

BryanB

Doooohhhhh

raregokus

It's kinda felt like Milwaukee has been in the lead ever since the Rays were up 4-2

Rich Hill's Fastball

Every third at-bat of this game has had something dramatic

NATS Fan

Simpson does not walk enough to bat first. You dont care as much about the three hitter walking.

fishnchips

Peak Brewers-Rays-ball would be a suicide squeeze here

Alan Sherman

is Liam Hicks as good a fielder as contreras?

Alan Sherman

millville are you maximizing orange flair or still trying to spell something?

raregokus

nimble dethoosfg?

Solitaire

I'm hoping for a reveal that he is Dutch

millvillemeltdown

nimble looked fun, then i gave up lmao

millvillemeltdown

feel like i have to shake things up though

millvillemeltdown

i have happened upon something quite rude, oops

Solitaire

apparently changes are applied retroactively. I'm pleased to have caught the one this was posted with

raregokus

Still kinda shook from last night when Sean mentioned that viewership was 44.8 million in 1978 vs. 8 million this year. I knew it was bad but not THAT bad

Sean Dolinar

It seems like the statistical methods are sound for that 44.8 M number. But I'm still curious how accurate those ratings were back then.

NATS Fan

It is harder to watch a game nowadays cause you have to pay someone to watch. in 1978 it was free on one of the three channels.

chasfh

As accurate as any statistically sound large-sized sample would be.

raregokus

Right but I doubt the methodology has been consistent for the last 40 years. TVs were probably not as evenly distributed demographically in 1978 as they are now, even if we have no reason to question how the sample was selected. There are a ton of ways the numbers could be skewed in the analysis.

NATS Fan

My flare is the minimum. If its not the minimum change the rule.

BryanB

Oh good lord why did you swing at that

Alan Sherman

In 1978 no one was playing Mario or Call of Duty or binge watching anything

NATS Fan

I was playing pong for hours!

NATS Fan

bla beep kA blunk….. bla beep ka blunk

Phil

Pratt redeems himself!

chasfh

Sweet redemption for Cooper Pratt

Rich Hill's Fastball

Team of destiny, logic be damned

NATS Fan

I'm rooting for the series to go 7. Go Tampa!

rudle

huh, I guess my digital antenna set up is behind by almost a full minute??

Rich Hill's Fastball

You can delay the chat using the settings cog in the top right

Sean Dolinar

Really? I thought terrestrial broadcast would be the fastest!

Alan Sherman

Brewers stringing together ABs

Alan Sherman

Thanks for answering my question, Liam!

BryanB

I am LOVING all the SBs

BryanB

lol omg almost

chasfh

And just like that Cooper Pratt with the RTBLAN

Brian Reinhart

partner's review of the Frelick flyout: "he's just a little guy!"

BryanB

I thought that was going

Phil

Brewers radio has tricked me into thinking there was a home run twice this inning. In Boston we used to call this a "Trupiano," or, as a verb, "to Trup" (pronounced "troop").

Crapshoot

I thought that was long gone

Alan Sherman

Did you have home pong or spend a ton of nickels in arcades?

NATS Fan

I was the cool kid!

NATS Fan

home

g4

Someone please remind me how I add the team flair?

Phil

Click the little gear, top right of the chat.

millvillemeltdown

the flairs dont show in the chat replay, right

Sean Dolinar

I export a transcript for the blog post. But these persist on the chat url. We're still feeling out how to transition editorially.

millvillemeltdown

i fear i happened upon a crude flair combo that i would not like to be perma attached to , um.

g4

Thank you!

crichar3

Diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting? Yeah, I am feeling all of those right now…

raregokus

Symptoms suggest prolonged exposure to John Smoltz

crichar3

Hmm. A second inning from Abner? He didn't do this too much during the regular season.

BryanB

Caminero has a lifetime BELPH of .105 against RHP who pitch from the stretch on Saturdays.

millvillemeltdown

is belph correlated with bleph at all, or are they separate metrics

BryanB edited

BELPH is BLEPH standardized for park, weather, beer type, and amount of under eye

NATS Fan

I heard someone is working on OwBLEPH+

Crapshoot

This series is gonna be a great exercise in how much seeing a reliever multiple times in a series matters

Brian Reinhart

if I learned anything from this strategy being deployed in 2019, it's that eventually we'll get Surprise Fernando Rodney

Crapshoot

Yeah to be clear I have no idea but maybe it’s a versions of third time through the order?

Nick Smith

After seeing these short sleeve hoodies, I'm wondering if we've reached peak hoodie.

millvillemeltdown

fwiw i almost always roll the sleeves of my hoodies up, i don't fully understand why

David

Or if the hoody has hit rock bottom

Brian Reinhart

Ryan Vilade went to the barber and asked for the Bo Bichette

raregokus

Ryan Vilade taking an at bat in the World Series would've been a hilariously ridiculous thought like 3 years ago

NATS Fan

that last play had an xBLEPH+ of 42!

raregokus

But it had an xBLEPHCON+ of 156! Talk about unlucky!

Brian Reinhart

my partner's review of Front Row Amy: "I mean, if you pay for it, you gotta show it off"

crichar3

Good story about FRA in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She seems like a nice person: Married to her high school sweetheart and they have a few kids together and live in Oshkosh. Not what I expected.

Solitaire

These close games are amazing and great entertainment, but I hope there's one where the score gets wide enough that Woodruff gets to pitch. Just check and he somehow hasn't pitched in the playoffs since 2021?

NATS Fan edited

how about a 15th inning game?

Nick Smith

I've long thought Yelich looked like an 80s teen movie villain. Curious about Brian's partner's take.

NATS Fan

if its a ski movie, then I agree

BryanB

There we go. Just hit it.

BryanB

I have a man crush on Contreras and I’m not afraid to admit it.

fishnchips

What’s the record for 1 and 2 run wins over the course of a postseason?

chasfh edited

The record is 8 postseason wins by one or two runs.

Team 1-run wins 2-run wins Total postseason wins
1996 Yankees 5 3 11
2001 Yankees 5 3 10
2020 Rays 3 5 11
2025 Dodgers 5 3 13

Eight more teams are one behind at 7: the 1992 Blue Jays, 1997 Indians, 2000 Yankees, 2003 Marlins, 2005 White Sox, 2010 Giants, 2014 Royals and 2022 Astros.

JohnThacker

Notably, the Yankees were outscored in the 1996 World Series despite winning in six games.

chasfh

Chandler Simpson throws like a guy in a 45+ men’s amateur league.

Sean Dolinar edited

Almost slid past the base. That was closer that the real time looked.

raregokus

Almost looked like he threw his shoulder out trying to stay on the bag

chasfh

I and the fans of at least 27 other teams are so jealous of the fire in the Brewers team.

raregokus

We need to discover more Contreras brothers, they're like magic for a team's vibes

NATS Fan

NATS had that fire before the trade deadline. Then they didn't.

BryanB

Who was he throwing to? The 2B ump?

Jack Dorfman

Hicks getting some butterfingers for Halloween

Brian Reinhart

partner's take on Contreras: "he looks like he feels the weight of the whole world on his shoulders."

Matt Martell

I think his foot got in there

kingharbaugh

He looked safe live

Matt Martell

I think that was a terrible tag by Fortes

raregokus edited

Matz feels like an odd choice here right? lol not meant to be a reply

chasfh edited

He scored! It’s gonna be 6-4

EDIT: ehhh, win some, lose some

Eltneg

Wow, assumed he was out by a mile when that throw came in but looking at the replay that looks almost too close to call

kingharbaugh

oh I don't think you can overturn that

Sean Dolinar

It's the toe they have see? I haven't seen enough to overturn.

Matt Martell

I don't know if there's enough there, but in real time, I thought he was safe

Sean Dolinar

That's the right call.

chasfh

So interesting how Fortes appeared to move his foot to avoid blocking the plate, which surely led to the awkward tag.

NATS Fan

go Tampa!!!

Brian Reinhart

you're choosing Elijah Dukes over Junior Spivey, huh?

NATS Fan

point taken. I am retired, so i want it to go 7

Eltneg

Too close to overturn I guess but that's rough by Fortas to even make that play close

chasfh

I thought the Brewers had a better shot overturning the call on whether the runner tagged the plate versus the obstruction challenge.

chasfh

Raise your hand if you want the Rays to score one so we go into the bottom of the inning tied. 🖐️

Sean Dolinar

I just want more baseball.

ra1nyd9ys

I'm rooting for the Brewers in this match but I'd love to see more baseball

chasfh

Exactly!

raregokus

You mean the 12th right?

chasfh

@raregokus Sure, why not!

crichar3

There will be more on Monday and Tuesday, so let's just wrap it here, OK?

chasfh

Oh, yeah!

BryanB

RISPmaxxing

Eltneg

Using the last challenge on the first pitch of the 9th inning in a one-run game feels suboptimal

kingharbaugh

both of his challenges feel like they had weird timing

kingharbaugh

The lost ones, anyway

chasfh

When you’re feeling bulletproof like that guy is right now, you become more impervious to risk.

Sean Dolinar

Huh, this is interesting.

BryanB

Terrible pitch

Antonio Bananas

Bunting here is asinine

fishnchips

This series is awesome

David

How did he not take third there?

NATS Fan

victor victor mesa mesa jr is my favorit non Nationals or X Ntionals player!

NATS Fan

maybe not

NATS Fan

If I had played baseball in CUBA my hero would have been Victor Mesa.

Solitaire

I have no clue what a check swing is

David

Nobody does!

ra1nyd9ys

Just like knowing what a balk is.

chasfh edited

Dr. Baseball101 asks: what the hell was Mesa doing pimping at the plate after that strike three swing? He should have busted it to first to draw a potentially wild throw.

kingharbaugh

Contreras has been a mad man with his blocks

Phil

Does Ashby have a shot at WS MVP?

g4

Yes, but he keeps rightly crediting his primary competition, Wild Bill

Eltneg edited

There's nothing in any sport quite like a terrible bench bat coming to the plate in a critical playoff AB. I still remember the look on my roommate's face watching Michael Martinez come to the plate at the end of the 2016 WS.

chasfh edited

How wild would it be for Yandy to take strike three called out of the zone to end the game, and it stands because he has never challenged a pitch yet?

chasfh

Well, that was an equally entertaining strike three to end the game, wasn’t it?

BryanB

Please stop throwing into the dirt

Sean Dolinar

This sucks for the Rays. Down in the top of the 9th both nights. They make things happen, but then don't do much. I guess they still can tonight. But two meh outs here.

kingharbaugh

wow what a curve

raregokus

He checked his swing. What an awful way to end the game

Solitaire

I say again, what is a check swing?

Eltneg

I thought he went, gutty by Ashby to pull that out

Sean Dolinar

Replay of that swing?

chasfh

They are bound to showing the celebration sequence without interruption, because, for some reason, the celebration has become the top clippable and shareable moment of any sports event.

Crapshoot

Holy hell what an ending

danorris101

That was ridiculous

Seuss2004

Still waiting for the replay of that 'swing'

Sean Dolinar

Rays felt lost at the plate after DeLuca got on.

NATS Fan

NO HE DID NOT!

viceroy

Junior went further around than that

Solitaire

oof not even close

Nick Smith

Someone had to be somewhere tonight I guess.

joem1617

yikes

chasfh

Oh, yeah, he went

MyBloodyBallantine

Overhead view makes it look like a swing to me

kingharbaugh

I think the overhead view is misleading.

chasfh

I don’t. He went, by a lot.

Sean Dolinar

I think that was a swing, but I've seen that called not a swing plenty of times.

NATS Fan

I guess the owners want the larger market to win this one!

Kenny

Tampa is the larger market by a good deal.

Phil

Milwaukee metro population: 1.5 million. Tampa 3.1.

NATS Fan

higher salary

chasfh

Landing planes is hard 😉

NATS Fan

mil has way more wealth than Tampa per person I'll wager

Sean Dolinar

My theory is it always depends how the 1B/3B ump is feeling.

Brian Reinhart

or if he ate something dangerous for lunch

harrisry

Need a poll on whether that was a swing, interested in how it breaks down.

Sean Dolinar

If the ump has his hands in his pockets or more relaxed, he won't call a swing.

chasfh edited

I don’t believe this at all. I think umpires are quite good at getting check swings right, at least as currently defined, which is bat crosses the line perpendicular with the front edge of the plate.

Sean Dolinar

I'm being partly facetious. But you can tell the call by the umps body language before he signals. At least I think I can.

NATS Fan

I have herd pitchers called dogs more this season than any other.

MyBloodyBallantine

Maybe mlb should actually define a swing in the next cba.

Sean Dolinar

New poll. I'll leave that open until next game.

NATS Fan

good night

Sean Dolinar

Tight 45/55 swing poll so far.

BryanB

I don’t know if he did, but feel like the Brews deserved to win that game


Effectively Wild Episode 2548: Bullpen Blame

by
October 24, 2026

EWFI
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Ben Clemens banter about World Series roster and rotation decisions, the Fall Classic through a “styles make fights” lens, whether travel days are really rest days, and more. Then (31:50) Ben C. delivers a guest Stat Blast about whether bullpen games are really risky because the more pitchers you use, the more likely you are to run into a reliever who “doesn’t have it” that day, and Ben L. Blasts about players who played for three playoff teams in the same season and players who played for a few World Series winners in a row without appearing in the postseason. Finally (1:02:33), Ben and Meg banter about Angels turnover, Yankees non-turnover, Shohei Ohtani’s two-way future, NPB postings, a KBO breakout, a new baseball video game and K-drama, and a Yandy Díaz nickname.

Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic)”

Link to MLBTR on series rosters
Link to Woodruff story
Link to Cleavinger story
Link to Martinez news
Link to Rosenthal on Martinez
Link to Ben C. on starter timing
Link to Ben C. on Game 7s
Link to Yankees WC SP story
Link to Ben C.’s series preview
Link to ESPN series preview
Link to Ben L. on playoff trends
Link to Russell on “half days off”
Link to “Mathemadage” series
Link to Cooper post
Link to Ben C. on bullpen games
Link to FiveThirtyEight on hot hand
Link to Ben L. on bullpenning
Link to Sam on bullpenning
Link to Russell on “cruising” SP
Link to Curt on Brewers rings
Link to Henderson story
Link to three-peats sheet
Link to Feduccia request
Link to MLBTR on Angels GM
Link to MLBTR on Suzuki
Link to Goldman on Boone
Link to Cashman news
Link to Steinbrenner comments
Link to Attanasio comments
Link to Attanasio comments 2
Link to Xbox non-AI AI release
Link to Ohtani updates
Link to Selig first pitch
Link to Selig on EW
Link to Lyons on Hilliard
Link to Stove League wiki
Link to Stove League EW wiki
Link to Full Count announcement
Link to Call of Duty mission
Link to baseball RPG tweet
Link to Sato posting news
Link to Oda news
Link to Bartleby wiki
Link to Game 1 box score
Link to Baumann on Game 1

 Sponsor Us on Patreon
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00:26:38

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FanGraphs Weekly Mailbag: October 24, 2026

by
October 24, 2026
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

If last night’s Game 1 was any indication of the action to come, we’re in for a thrilling World Series. The Brewers jumped out to an early lead and barely held on to beat the Rays, 3-2.

The game had plenty of action. The first run scored on a Christian Yelich triple to center field. Jonny DeLuca laid out for it and nearly made a sensational catch. It was a fitting way for a World Series between these two teams to begin. There were two outs at third base, the first when Victor Mesa Jr. was caught stealing to end the top of the fifth, the second in the home half of the frame when Mesa cut down David Hamilton trying to stretch a double. William Contreras caught two Rays trying to steal. Junior Caminero scorched a 112.7-mph double in the fourth inning. Jacob Misiorowski casually and consistently threw 103-mph heaters, but only struck out three batters. The Rays loaded the bases against closer Trevor Megill in the ninth, and grounded into what was initially ruled a game-ending double play. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash challenged, and the out call at second was overturned after replay revealed that shortstop Cooper Pratt’s foot came off the bag before he received the throw from second baseman Brice Turang. The call at first was confirmed for the second out, but a run scored. Still, the drama was all for naught; Megill took the mound again and struck out DeLuca to end it.

For more on the fun in Game 1, check out Michael Baumann’s story from Milwaukee. He’ll be providing in-person reporting throughout the World Series, so be sure to follow along. And if you haven’t yet joined us for a Members-Only Game Thread during this postseason, I can’t recommend them enough. Conversations we’ve had in those threads inspired two of the questions we’re answering in this week’s mailbag, on the most heroic World Series losers and the fewest number of starts a pitcher would need to win the Cy Young. We’ll get to those questions and more in a moment, but first, I’d like to remind you that this mailbag is exclusive to FanGraphs Members. If you aren’t yet a Member and would like to keep reading, you can sign up for a Membership here. It’s the best way to both experience the site and support our staff, and it comes with a bunch of other great benefits. Also, if you’d like to ask a question for an upcoming mailbag, send me an email at mailbag@fangraphs.com. Read the rest of this entry »


The First Cut Is the Deepest: Buzzsaw Brewers Take Game 1

by
October 24, 2026
Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

MILWAUKEE — The 2026 Brewers aren’t your typical postseason buzzsaw. They’ve won with defense and relief pitching, and their eight postseason victories have come by a combined 13 runs. Half of those games ended either with a Milwaukee walk-off hit, or with the opponent’s tying run on base. Every postseason game the Brewers have played was a one-run game in the sixth or later; they haven’t scored more than seven runs in a game since their 101st regular-season win.

But they are a buzzsaw, and in Game 1 of the World Series — Milwaukee’s first Fall Classic game in 44 years — into the blade went the Tampa Bay Rays. The Brewers put two runs on the board in the top of the first, and they led the rest of the way, albeit not by much. Jacob Misiorowski allowed one run over five innings, tying the longest postseason outing of his career, and the Rays struggled to put a counterattack together until a furious but ill-fated ninth-inning rally.

Round 1 went to the home team, 3-2. Read the rest of this entry »


Members-Only Game Thread: World Series – Oct 23, 2026

by
October 23, 2026

Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the World Series game today. Only Members can participate, and unlike our usual staff Q&A chats, your messages will be posted immediately.

Our Member community is made up of thousands of incredibly knowledgable baseball fans, and we think this is a great way to follow a game with like-minded baseball enthusiasts. We might even have some FanGraphs Staff drop in and join the fun. Please be courteous to your fellow Members, or you may find your chat privileges revoked.

drplantwrench

i think the team that has the highest BLEPH is going to win tonight

BryanB

Please go seven games, please go seven games.

Sean Dolinar

We'll be chat while trick-or-treating!

Sean Dolinar

Happy World Series!

If people want to get nostalgic here are links to Jeff and August's articles from their time here…
Jeff Sullivan: https://www.fangraphs.com/blog-roll?author=7030
August Fagerstrom: https://www.fangraphs.com/blog-roll?author=43631

Might also influence your vote.

raregokus

Feels like August got an unlucky draw here, he's awesome but Jeff IS classic FanGraphs

Sean Dolinar

August was one of the first _writers_ to leave for a team. And definitely the first of many here. Because after him was Cameron, Carson, then Sullivan.

raregokus

lol shows what I know!

BryanB

Pretty special series here.

BryanB

Cmon clap for respect

Jon Becker

Hello folks!

Jeremy Fox

Need a poll on whether it's a good idea for the Rays to push Rasmussen back a day, or if they're overthinking it.

Rich Hill's Fastball

This is a situation where I defer to "the team has more information than we do." Ramsussen's feel, rest, etc.

lzfreak

I also wonder if there's wisdom in trying to maximize your chances of winning the non-Miz games. Probably getting a little too cute if that's the thought process, but it might play a role

Sean Dolinar

I'd come down on the side of too cute. I'd want my ace to be available as much as possible during the WS.

BryanB

No overweight players anymore 😂

Sean Dolinar

Those Brewers entrance LEDs/Barrels/CO2 machines actually looked really good. Most of the time, whatever the teams do looks bad.

BryanB

I can sing much better than this in opposite land.

g4

She crushed the anthem. Damn

BryanB

I wonder if the NPB is like, World? Really?

drplantwrench edited

theyre prolly more like "World?, 本当に？"

Phil

Is the roof open? I'm streaming the radio broadcast and they haven't mentioned while I was paying attention.

Sean Dolinar

I don't believe MLB allows it to be open. Or at least they are in charge of it. It should be closed to my knowledge.

Phil

Pity. If you have baseball in Wisconsin in late October, it should feel like it.

BryanB

Yah it’s closed

Michael Baumann

If they have a problem with it they can come over here and take it from us

g4

Too soon. lol

Phil

They sent Ohtani to take it.

drplantwrench admin edited

what in the AI bulls**t is this malarkey

comradeyurika

It sucks that the one time of year where there's amazing nationally televised baseball is also the one time of the year when commercial breaks are full of the most vile ads

Michael Baumann

I just realized that before tonight, I'd been to as many World Series, with as many wins to show for it, as both these teams put together

Sean Dolinar

Do they have cheese curds and Spotted Cow in the pressbox?

Michael Baumann

There's a whole curd stand on this level. That's where I took the now-infamous Brat Rangoon photo. But no Spotted Cow. They didn't even have it at the bar I ate dinner at last night

g4

Nearly all the other New Glarus beers are better than Cow … but you knew that

lzfreak

Any idea when this game will actually start?

Sean Dolinar

I was thinking 8:08, but looks like that wasn't the case.

drplantwrench

tomorrow afternoon

Davy Andrews

Hey friends!

drplantwrench

two batters, two relatively well hit balls

Davy Andrews

Baumann, how's Wisconsin treating you?

Sean Dolinar

He has had no spotted cow. I don't believe he's actually in Wisconsin.

Michael Baumann

One of my fellow writers just produced a two-pound bag of sausage from his backpack and offered to share, so things are going well here

drplantwrench

its too bad this cant also be streamed via mlb tv. im on fubo instead and gonna be like 30 seconds delayed

Jeremy Fox

Nothing but cheese from Miz so far

lzfreak

He's in the right state for cheese

Sean Dolinar

Just like the Woodman's cheese aisle.

Davy Andrews

What a delightful swing from Simpson. I love it.

Rich Hill's Fastball

Raysball right there

fishnchips

What’s our take on the lineup choices? Milwaukee tinkering with order a bit and someone with a Time Machine from 2005 would have a heart attack about Simpson hitting 3…

Jeremy Fox

It's hilarious how shallow the LF was and how quickly he got to Simpson's hit.

Phil

I do like that David Hamilton.

comradeyurika

Miz looking good so far

BryanB

Rays def not afraid of Miz

drplantwrench

brewers def not afraid of nick martinez

chasfh

That Simpson hit? 57.8 MPH.

Davy Andrews

Beautiful.

raregokus

Brings a tear to my eye

Jeremy Fox

Big spot already for Martinez. The Brewers feel like a bad matchup for him.

Davy Andrews

Wow, the green screen ad behind the batter is particularly egregious.

drplantwrench

it looks like the typical angels broadcast (derogatory)

chasfh

Yeah, I really miss charming local advertising in games. Happens on NHL dasherboards, too.

BryanB

Next year you will be forced to bet on the game in order to watch it

comradeyurika

Is Bauers okay? That was only six pitches

Solitaire

Yelich batting third? Why?

Solitaire

Welp

drplantwrench

Baseball Posts that Age Poorly

Solitaire

I need a forehead slap emoji

raregokus

Is it just me or does Smoltz trip over his words way more often than other color guys

Jeremy Fox

Slightly to my surprise, here in Canada Sportsnet has their own announcing crew I guess? I don't have to listen to Smoltz!

raregokus

Just like a Canadian to flaunt their superiority.

Davy Andrews

That's why.

NATS Fan

He missed the catch! hello everyone

chasfh

Man, I am so used to major leaguers making those catches that I am half-tempted to call for an error on that.

Phil

Can I change my vote on holding back Rasmussen?

Sean Dolinar

I'll make a poll tomorrow that has a choice: I regret my vote from yesterday.

Davy Andrews

My goodness. Both of those balls hit leather.

Rich Hill's Fastball

Scorched off the bat

NATS Fan

Looks like the Rays defense is not crisp today.

drplantwrench

xBA of .630 and .620 according to statcast

BryanB

Luck on Brewers side so far

drplantwrench

hard to blame the rays defense with those EVs imo

raregokus

Rays just getting all the bad luck out of the way inning 1 of game 1. It's strategic

Keaton Arneson

I've determined that I want Milwaukee to win. The thought of Chandler Simpson batting #3 on a world series team is too much to handle.

Davy Andrews

The guy who almost won a batting title?

Rich Hill's Fastball

FanGraphs batting title should be wRC+

Davy Andrews edited

Personally, I find myself leaning Milwaukee just because they had the Violent Femmes playing a pregame concert. You deserve to win when you do that.

Keaton Arneson

Simpson did beat Jose Ramirez by 1 wRC+ this year… But Cleveland is on another level strategically by batting him #2 instead

Davy Andrews

They made Chourio the Fonz. That works.

drplantwrench

rays should just get the bad luck out of the way for the next 4 games

NATS Fan

Simpson will get hits and never hit into DPs.

drplantwrench

i love chandler simpson, but why not bat him first and push yandy/aranda down a slot

Jeremy Fox

Not really a question quite yet but: if you're the Rays, how aggressive do you want to be using your best bullpen arms early if you're behind in this game?

chasfh edited

On the road in Game 1, maybe not so much?

SnakesAlive

What I'm curious about is how often Cash will turn to his top end guys while losing, he did it a lot against Cleveland, if Milwaukee gets 4-5 looks I'd be worried

Jeremy Fox

Yeah, same, but I've felt the same several other times in these playoffs only to find the managers disagreed with me.

raregokus

Definitely feels like the Rays bullpen isn't set up as well as the Brewers' for this type of situation. Tons of single inning guys with a reasonably well defined hierarchy, bad combination if you're trying to avoid giving too many looks

drplantwrench

or maybe 2nd if you still want yandy at leadoff

g4

As a Crew fan, live the Rays bringing the infield in 1st inning. Dubious

Jeremy Fox

Great challenge. Gotta be sure to challenge in a low-leverage spot.

chasfh

Miz tightened up pretty good in the second

jw757

Against Cleveland that was definitely not a swing. 🤣#miz perks

Jeremy Fox

Great piece of hitting by Frelick to go down and get that. Wow. His back knee was almost on the ground.

SnakesAlive

O/U 7.5 bunts tonight now that the first one is down?

raregokus

I want to live in a world where that over hits

Jeremy Fox

I only want to live in that world if they're attempts to bunt for hits

SnakesAlive

I personally don't think Hamilton will do anything other than attempt to bunt for hits

AdvantageSchneider

Ask Edwin Diaz about that.

BryanB

Is it just my TV or is the video stretched vertically?

Rich Hill's Fastball

I don't have that here

bosoxforlife

No TV problem here.

raregokus

Did it make Nick Martinez's muscles looked normal sized

chasfh

Pretty odd Savant pitch value profile for Nick Martinez: 97th percentile for fastball, 91st percentile for offspeed, 17th percentile for breaking

Michael Baumann

The changeup he got Mitchell on to end the first was absolutely gross

Michael Baumann

From ~200 feet, Sal Frelick looks enough like Garrett Stubbs when he's running I've done a double take whenever he gets on base

docgooden85

I'm Abed from Community and there are several plausible timelines where DeLuca and Walls catch both of those balls.

drplantwrench

are they the ones where everyone has goatees though

NATS Fan

your Pudi. hey! Loved that show back in the day

Rich Hill's Fastball

A lockout is the darkest timeline

docgooden85

I'm not Danny Pudi but did not have faith people would get the reference without me setting it up.

Rich Hill's Fastball

Misiorowski in the mooooorning

g4

Martinez actually looks super sharp

docgooden85

First guessing here – I always want the best pitcher in game 1 of WS to maximize the odds of using him thrice 1-4-7.

BryanB

+1 for using thrice

drplantwrench

fantastic band, and good baseball writers

Jeremy Fox

Rays have taken several middle-middle four seamers already.

chasfh

Can’t hit it if you can’t see it

Jeremy Fox

Has Miz thrown a good breaking ball yet?

moomin

must've heard you and obliged

SnakesAlive

Enjoyed the horizontal statcast view of the slider vs 4S. I feel like statcast never gets utilized in unique ways on the national broadcasts, would like to see some more of that

BryanB

Totally! No brainer.

NATS Fan

Who in the minors is the next Miz? if anyone

NATS Fan

Susana?

Phil edited

Was the Miz the next Miz in the minors? My recollection was that he was thought of as high ceiling, super high risk, potential future closer.

NATS Fan

that sounds like what they say about Susana

g4

His command jumped from below average to average just before he was called up. Tough for prospect raters to adjust

docgooden85

Yankees-Dodgers is clearly the darkest timeline from a World Series perspective

g4

The Miz cutter is working. More please

chasfh edited

I’ve been having a debate wit someone about what we think the TV ratings for this Series will be. He thinks it will be worst in history because of the small market teams. I think the various narratives around this Series will goose the ratings some and be reasonably decent considering this fragmented media era.

Sean Dolinar

This is interesting. 2023 was the worst per Wikipedia. And those are bigger markets.

chasfh

But also far less interesting teams. IMHO

Sean Dolinar

Crazy to think in 1978, we'd be watching with 44.4 million other people.

Sean Dolinar

In 2026, we might only have 8 million other people.

chasfh

I’m sure that many people will see clips.

joem1617

sounds like a waste of time unless one of you works for Fox. watch the games, who cares?

Patrick Burke

This is MIND BOGGLING!

BryanB

Curious how people are watching. I’m on YouTubeTV.

NATS Fan

I bought a one month fox subscription through Prime

Phil

Listening to Brewers radio via MLB app.

drplantwrench

Fubo…

Tom Rhoads

OTA local Fox station at the moment… might switch to stream (Sling) later

Michael Baumann edited

Yandy first time up: 99.9 mph exit velo, 347 feet the other way, F9
Second time up: 101.7 mph exit velo, .650 xBA, lineout.
Miz has handled everyone else fine but Yandy must want his money back

docgooden85

Yandy's LASER was a good example of why playing 3B is fun (if you have the balls for it, and protect them).

fishnchips

The brewers just put teams in the vortex

Patrick Burke

I'm rooting for the Brewers because I'm a Yankee fan, but also because I really want to see Yelich win one. Do the rays have anyone like that? Rasmussen with his injuries maybe?

Rich Hill's Fastball

But what was Yandy's BLEPH?

drplantwrench

yandy paying to hit against Miz is real sicko stuff

docgooden85

the man wears medium T shirts – those poor shirts!

NATS Fan

the MIA/Brewers trade for Yelich was armed robbery!

BryanB

Best Kalshi add I’ve seen. Still will never use that trash.

chasfh

Shane Gillis and Danny McBride doing a Kalshi ad together is excruciatingly on-brand.

Dana

This chat is cool on the app to use

BryanB

How do I get to it on the app?

Patrick Burke

Has any other team ever worn their alternates this much in the playoffs

docgooden85

Laying off all that 100 plus, half an inch off the corner was really impressive by Aranda

sadtrombone

I finally got here only to find out I missed a triple! That’s sad, I love triples.

docgooden85

With Yelich's original back it would have been a homer. It was a nice barrel (I assume).

raregokus

Sorry to be that guy, but it was a fake triple! It hit leather!

AdvantageSchneider

On a diving attempt

riffkey

I'm really liking new teams and players in the Series

docgooden85

Chandler SImpson batting 3rd feels a little "too cute" to me

Jeremy Fox

Ugh, Mitchell botched that one.

fishnchips

That was a screamer

lzfreak

That's a lot of hits on balls that hit the glove today

BryanB

Yah he wasn’t running

Tom Rhoads

Balls off CF glove 1 to 1

chasfh

I’ve played plenty of center and liners right at you are the worst

BryanB

I think Miz is done

chasfh

At low 50s pitches? You sure?

BryanB

Nope

docgooden85

Mitchell was an E8 (in a world where I'm official scorer)

Anonymous Member #46

The threshold is "ordinary effort," and he broke in the right direction and was at a full stretch. That's a hit.

Doug Lampert

I usually keep score when I'm at the park, and I largely ignore what the official scorer says.

bosoxforlife

It's a hit but a lot of CF's would have had it in their hip pocket.

docgooden85

You're probably right based on how it's done. But in my timeline, you're supposed to catch that ball.

chasfh

Some would, but I think a lot wouldn’t. That wasn’t a gimme.

Phil

There's a surprising amount of multiverse theory in this chat.

NATS Fan

In the other multiverse, no one is talking about the multiverse and the Rockies are winning.

lzfreak

Are official scorers allowed to use Statcast catch probabilities?

chasfh

The last thing I want to see on a World Series broadcast is the betting trend for who’s gonna win.

docgooden85

I'm going to be laughing about "Misiorowski in the Mooorning" for days to come. Thank you for that.

g4

Holy crap Aranda was off the line. Rays positioning I tell you what

docgooden85

that should count toward 2B eligibility

bosoxforlife

There haven't been many instances where I have seen a 1st baseman that far into the hole.

BryanB

There is a 98.9% chance that this chat is 50% more filled with stats than 90% of other chats.

chasfh

Was that an odd place for the first baseman to play Pratt 3-and-2, two out, none on? He was practically lined up with where second baseman plays.

goodmjim

I love you Jonathan Aranda

bosoxforlife

I am not surprised to see Murphy get someone up. Misiorowski is not quite the same tonight.

brewersbibliophile

He’s been off for a while now. The season has definitely worn him down a bit

Jeremy Fox

Miz down to 97

docgooden85

In the Miz vs Skubal game I couldn't stop looking at their enormous feet. That game might have had the largest combined SP shoe size of all time. (Someone research this please)

NATS Fan

John Rauch had the biggest feet I ever saw an a ball player.

docgooden85

also would accept ratio of combined shoe size to ERA

NATS Fan

Rauch did not win that

fishnchips

The foul balls are noticable

bosoxforlife

He can't put the hitters away like he usually does.

BryanB

Bauers!

Nate

That was a really impressive play on both sides

Jeremy Fox

Have the playoffs demonstrated a playbook against Miz, that all opponents will take up next season?

BryanB

Wait to hit him until the post

Nate

Seems more like fatigue than the scouting being especially better. The command on his breaking pitches has been abysmal so they can afford to sit fastball

David

Maybe, but it's always a game of adjustments, and if the strategy results in 5 innings of 1 run ball…

BryanB

See? Told you he’s done.

Jeremy Fox

Surprised Miz is still in there for Yandy.

Phil

What on earth???

Rosin Bag

!?!?

bosoxforlife

Bizarre play there with Yandy at the plate?

BryanB

Yaaaaaas Contreras!!!!!

Jeremy Fox

Why the hell are you stealing third there???

moomin

……….

fishnchips

Someone forward the Rays Ben Clemens resume

NATS Fan

I would rather he stayed here.

Nate

Contreras continuing to have an incredible postseason

docgooden85

I'm just an unfrozen caveman lawyer – your modern ways confuse me – but even I know that when the dude throws 100 on some level the scouting report is just like it says on Leslie Nielsen's tombstone: "Let 'Er Rip!" (true story – he put a fart joke on his tombstone)

BryanB

Is it just me or does Ariana Grandes eyes suggest demon possession

David

That was nearly Austin Wells trying for 3rd level of dumb

bosoxforlife

Quick poll. Does Miz come out for the 6th?

BryanB edited

No

chasfh

If the Brewers score a couple or more, for sure.

lzfreak

Probably not. Think he was emptying the tank in the 5th

NATS Fan

yes

docgooden85

TOOTBLAN alert?

chasfh

Throw so perfect too

Jeremy Fox

Given the way Cash has managed the playoffs to this point, I'm surprised Matz is up.

BryanB

I’ll take a veteran pitcher in the post

BryanB

Wow REALLY stupid decision against Mesa

NATS Fan

Victor Victor Mesa Mesa Jr

docgooden85

Catch-22 is my favorite book, and Major Major is one of the better characters (actually Major Major Major since that's also his rank)

lzfreak

Why not hold up after the stumble

reyrh

I wonder if he thought it'd be harder to turn back once he started stumbling

ra1nyd9ys

OOF

fishnchips

At least it was the second out at third

docgooden85

another out at 3rd, wow

raregokus

My favorite play in baseball, that was incredible

chasfh

Holy redemption, Batman!

Jeremy Fox

Stat from Canadian tv: in the expansion era, name the 5 starting pitcher seasons with the lowest BA against 3rd time through the order. List includes Miz this year, Pedro 1999, Ryan 1974, a Blake Snell season, and…another guy.

brewersbibliophile

Arrieta 2015?

Jeremy Fox

Clay Bucholz in 2013

Alan Sherman

dueling TOOTBLANs

Alan Sherman

good band name?

fishnchips

Drum and bass underground house duo

Anonymous Member #46

That's such an impressive relay by Williamson, who wasn't a second baseman until this season. That's not a natural throw for him.

BryanB

Don’t run against Contreras. Don’t run against Mesa.

Alan Sherman

If it's from Sportsnet, I'm gonna say Kevin Gausman or Cy Young Robbie Ray

Jeremy Fox

Buchholz in 2013!

BryanB

That may go down as the worst decision of the game.

Alan Sherman

Or maybe Halladay?

Alan Sherman

wow Clay Bucholz is a Remember Some Guys pull

NATS Fan

.8912 BLEPH! on that play

Alan Sherman

I love how single season baseball stats capture random dudes playing out of their mind for a season

docgooden85

where are you guys getting these team tags from?

ra1nyd9ys

good to settings then flairs

ra1nyd9ys

go**

bosoxforlife

This is the only game in 2026 that Miz didn't K at least 5 in a start of 5 innings or more.

Jeremy Fox

Chat settings button in the upper-right

docgooden85

Thanks! Do they have Black Sabbath or is it just MLB teams?

Jeremy Fox

Nick Martinez 5 Ks, Miz 3 Ks. Can't predict baseball.

Phil

Clay Buchholz is one of those guys for whom FIP-based WAR was created. In bWAR he looks like he's just great or terrible at random. In fWAR he's just a good-not-great pitcher with a fast decline.

Alan Sherman

they fired the BLEPH guy, let's get a better nonce acronym

Alan Sherman

top right of chat window, gear picture, chat settings

docgooden85

i bet nobody else has this combo

Phil

Sorry about the self-loathing; that must be unpleasant.

moomin

eugh

docgooden85

fwiw it's definitely in that order

Jeremy Fox

Contreras is awesome at challenges.

Alan Sherman

Contreras is awesome at baseball

Alan Sherman

i'll tell you my flair story if you tell me yours

drplantwrench

fangraphs member survey on the stories behind their flair

Alan Sherman

lockout article alert

Doug Lampert

Mine is boring, no teams close enough to home to count as hometeams while I was growing up, but my father was from Boston and we went up there a couple of times a year and occassionally caught a game at Fenway.

Phil

A lot of us single-team people will be boring. I grew up in New England, left for a job, miss it.

bosoxforlife

I was a multi-team fan until the Giants left NY. It has been more fun dedicated to one club.

Alan Sherman

who was more impressive to see live, mays or mantle or teddy ballgame?

BryanB

Contreras MVP

lzfreak

Tough looking double play there for TB

Phil

This is the throw-'em-out game, I guess.

NATS Fan

So many great arms tonight!

bosoxforlife

Contreras is awesome at baseball!

Alan Sherman

DO NOT RUN ON CONTRERAS

drplantwrench

perhaps simpson is not the best 3rd hitter

Alan Sherman

They don't have him batting there because he's the 3rd best hitter

docgooden85

I lived in all 3 places (and never once considered liking the Yankees)

Doug Lampert edited

My parents were in NYC in 1962, my mother had the Mets as her favorite team till the day she died because she was still rooting for the underdog from that year. She also claimed Mets games were better entertainment than other teams, because you never knew what would happen on a "routine" popup.

chasfh

Man, all kinds of runners getting cut down

lzfreak

I assume that one was a hit and run which isn't a bad call with Simpson's contact rate. Just looks horrible when it fails

Alan Sherman edited

BryanB is the Rays closer, he has changed sides and is now operating as a sleeper agent

docgooden85

It would be amazing if he was posting on his phone from the bullpen

BryanB

It’s an XK Red 27 technique

Solitaire

Dumb question: does the catcher get the WPA for a caught stealing? Do they get the negative WPA for a successful steal?

Sean Dolinar

There’s no defense in WPA just pitchers.

Alan Sherman

bosox for life with the age related flex

Anonymous Member #46

Really think Laurila should interview him in the offseason.

Alan Sherman

lockout article klaxon strikes again

lzfreak

Is it common for shortstops to wear the pitch com?

raregokus

Apparently all infielders wear them? Or at least some. There was a whole kerfuffle earlier this year when players on first could hear the pitch call on Nate Lowe's pitchcom because the volume was up too loud

Alan Sherman

I think several infielders do- I saw Freddie freeman holding his hand over his hat/ear in an earlier series

NATS Fan

I am fairly certain if you let pitch com reach the SS then the other team is listening.

bosoxforlife

Mays was the best because he was great at all phases of the game. Williams was in a class by himself as a hitter.

chasfh

If Willie Mays had a Statcast card, it would be blood red from top to bottom.

BryanB

It’s gonna end in a walk off?!?! Call Bowie!!!

Michael Baumann

I believe the broadcast missed an adorable side hug between Contreras and Aranda during that PitchCom malfunction. If I'd gotten a hug like that from a girl I liked I'd be walking on air for the rest of 9th grade

Michael Baumann

Just because we're throwing each other out doesn't mean we can't be friends

chasfh

11th grade for me.

docgooden85

Willy C has the largest eye black tape I have seen

BryanB

I love it

raregokus

He and Yandy need to have an eyeblack-off

BryanB

They should have a live face painting station before the game

drplantwrench

cant wait for bauers to have a unicorn on the left side of his cheek

Alan Sherman

LOLLLLLL

BryanB

I swear those pitch cons are made out of balsa wood and spit

docgooden85

Imagine Matz not throwing strikes, at his age

Alan Sherman

I think Harper also paints his whole face?

raregokus

Harper is at some point going to force us to have a serious conversation about when "a ton of eye black" turns into "doing blackface on the field"

Alan Sherman

No, spit was banned back when bosoxforlife was a kid

docgooden85

Try telling that to Don Sutton and Jerry Reuss

bosoxforlife

Lew Burdette's nickname was "Lubricated Lew".

BryanB

I think they should have a live face painting session before the game

raregokus

Miz in full tiger face paint firing 103 would be peak

BryanB

🦄

Alan Sherman

Baumann, during the lockout can we start a fantasy league of your 300 metros setup?

Michael Baumann

I don't know what this means

raregokus

I think this is referring to your mega expansion idea

Alan Sherman

Pan-American Municipal Baseball League, 150 franchises? sorry i misremembered the number

Michael Baumann

Ohhhhh yeah definitely. I'm not sure I want to administrate such a thing, but if someone else wants to hack OOTP and make it work that could be fun

Michael Baumann

Meg and Appelman keep me locked in a windowless room unless I come up with three insane ideas a week, I have trouble remembering them all

BryanB

RISP

fishnchips

Uribe – Hall – Ashby – Megill as needed to close it out

bosoxforlife

I think you can skip Hall.

BryanB

I’m telling you, next season pitchers will pitch one pitch each

lzfreak

Caminero has great vibes in all circumstances from what I've seen

Solitaire

I will always root for a guy in sport specs

raregokus

Richie Palacios vs. Ashby would be a real Sophie's choice for you

Solitaire

I'm sorry, but Palacios' glasses are too neon. Too neon by far.

Jonathan

Rec specs!

BryanB

Where’s Karim Abdul Jabar when we need him

lzfreak

I love Ashby but there's no way the "two innings every game" bit works for him again this series, right?

BryanB

I consistently underestimate him

lzfreak

The forehead sweat zoom in was pretty extra there by Fox

NATS Fan

I'm growing to loath Polimarket advertising

lzfreak

I actually like the Craig Robinson one but I just find him funny

NATS Fan

He sold out!

BryanB

Beginning to be a fan of the stay-in-radius OF proposal

lzfreak

Is it harder for a lefty to bunt off a lefty or does it not matter?

BryanB

MLB: if you want to turn away fans, keep advertising betting apps

fishnchips

Wonder where these gambling companies are getting all this money to buy adv—ohhhhhhh I get it

NATS Fan

I guess T Mobile wants fans to be mad at them every time a fan disagrees with ABS.

Alan Sherman

I do so love it when a team is punished for a leadoff walk (unless it's my team of course)

chasfh

Yet another run due to sketchy glove work.

Eddy

One day they’ll stop throwing a first pitch strike to Chourio

BryanB

Fox reduced all glove sizes by 20%

NATS Fan

this seems plausible to me

NATS Fan

Lachlan Murdoch: Baseball is boring. In cricket, men do not wear gloves. Can we get rid of the gloves?

lzfreak

I have no idea if that's fair

Alan Sherman

the wicketkeeper (catcher equivalent) in cricket does wear gloves!

Doug Lampert

Cricket does everything it can to make defense difficult. Of course, the fact that you can bounce the ball on the way to the wicket and that they don't replace a scruffed ball also make offense difficult, but a cricket bat is a much better shape to hit a round ball with.

bosoxforlife

They don't just not replace a scuffed ball, a single ball is used for hours at a time.

Alan Sherman

Yes, when you hit it over the fence they pause the game to get the ball back

Alan Sherman

also, south africa just beat australia in long form cricket and their captain batted for 9 hours of game time

Alan Sherman

(beating australia is generally difficult)

NATS Fan

I don't know it like baseball, but I have enjoyed the Cricket I have watched.

Alan Sherman

and you have to bowl the ball in a way that looks deeply unnatural to me as a baseball player. I was once playing catch in the Caribbean and some kids wanted to play with us. I wondered why their form was so weird and then I realized that they were "bowling" my baseball

Solitaire

In Australia, some pals tried to teach me to bowl. Felt like I was going to separate my shoulder

AdvantageSchneider

There is a chance the rest of the country finds this a very boring game and I don’t care

Alan Sherman edited

I will take multiple guys getting thrown out on the bases any time

BryanB

Great pitching there

Anonymous Member #46

A 93-mile changeup that does *that* is unfair.

bosoxforlife

The bowler cannot bend his arm at the elbow in the delivery.

Alan Sherman

with modern biomechanics they have realized that some bend in the elbow is inevitable, but it is indeed very limited

Alan Sherman

also, no foul territory!

BryanB

ADS! ADS! ADS! More ads! Always ads!!

BryanB

That pitch brought to you by Kalshi!

Alan Sherman

Emmanuel Clase, come get your 1 pitch payment

bosoxforlife

A single cricket match at the highest level lasts five days.

Alan Sherman

hence the 9 hours of batting by 1 guy!

NATS Fan

Novig has better Ads than polymarket.

Alan Sherman

Rays Raysing Vilade to second base

Eddy edited

Brewers mission comes down to “can we get the first four hitters out?” If so, it’s a wrap.

Last five in tonight’s lineup hitting .161 AVG, .429 OPS in playoffs. Really really rough.

BryanB

Ahh Reacher. Such a good show.

bosoxforlife

Uecker was just given a shout out. It is a shame he couldn't have been around for this moment.

NATS Fan

Just a bit outside

danorris101

Uecker, Yogi and… who are the other two on the Mt. Rushmore of humorous ball players?

Phil

Bouton

Solitaire

Fidrych?

Solitaire

Wasn't around long enough for a Rushmore spot, but everything Munenori Kawasaki ever did or said was comedy gold

lzfreak

I watch the "monkey never cramp" clip about once a year

Alan Sherman

Kawasaki still playing in lower-level Japanese ball, true baseball man

lzfreak

What role do we think Woodruff has in this series? Is he gonna get a start? Low leverage guy? High leverage bulk?

NATS Fan

bulk reliever

AdvantageSchneider

He hasn’t pitched since July. He ms max 40 pitches. Not a bulk reliever.

danorris101

Contreras is allowed to go into the dugout during a commercial break? I don't think I ever realized players could do that

NATS Fan

how do you think they pee?

bosoxforlife

I predict a bunt attempt.

Brian Reinhart

Well, uh, that was bad

BryanB

DOH

Alan Sherman

Bad bunt! bad!

danorris101

Prediction was good. Attempt was bad.

Crapshoot

This is such fun baseball – I'm sure there will be some ratings grumbling, but doing my part and I hope the baseball remains awesome

Brian Reinhart

Pat Murphy tomorrow: we had him do a bunt pop-up so they would give him a pitch to hit out

bosoxforlife

That didn't look like the technique of somebody who had ever bunted in his life.

Anonymous Member #46

Cleavinger ain't got it tonight

BryanB

RISPd AGAIN.

bosoxforlife

Lentz is going to have the plate tomorrow. i hope he gets his eyes checked before then.

lzfreak

I forgot about Gary Sanchez

AdvantageSchneider

Ask the padres about that.

BryanB

And the Brewers are going to counter by calling the Dodgers and bringing in Freddy Freeman.

danorris101

What a pick

bosoxforlife

Caminero flashing the leather!

brewersbibliophile

This might be the first time all season Sanchez didn’t use at least one challenge

BryanB

It’d be nice if they could have fewer commercial breaks.

NATS Fan

I was unaware of Polymarket personally

lzfreak

Sometimes when the game goes into a ton of extra innings they run out of commercials and keep it at the field between innings

viceroy

Furiously searching fangraphs to fact check the announcer's claim that Trevor Megill was a starter with the New York Mets

viceroy

The answer is no. Tylor is not Trevor

moomin

ah, they're mixing up their T Megills…

danorris101

Classic Megill mix-up

NATS Fan

you have high expectations from X ballplayers

jdbolick

I miss Joey Ortiz. Such a good defender and I still believe in his bat

lzfreak

Oh man this would be an incredible moment for the first Simpson homer

lzfreak

The Homer Simpson if you will

moomin

anyone giving up a homer to him would definitely think "D'OH!"

AdvantageSchneider

What is the over under for Ray’s garbage time outs?

Crapshoot

Uhoh

danorris101

Well this got interesting

BryanB

Shoulda caught that dude

chasfh

Man, this game is living up to the hype.

danorris101

Anybody know if there is a Junior Caminero Jr?

moomin

(haha imagine if Caminero pulls an Alonso here)

bosoxforlife

Moments like this are what separates baseball from the rest.

Crapshoot edited

WHAT A BALLSY MOVE – double steal with your best hitter up there??

Crapshoot

Oh man, I get not throwing Junior a pitch there, but on 3-2 to throw it in the dirt…..

BryanB

Not impressed with this pitcher at all

brewersbibliophile

This ain’t good

chasfh

Oh my gosh, is Megill crumbling?

BryanB

Giving away the game

Matt Martell

I've been following silently as I wrote the mailbag, but hi everyone!

lzfreak

That's not the worst walk

Crapshoot

And damn!

Matt Martell

And also, he didn't check his swing

BryanB

Totally agree

bosoxforlife

Please identify what a checked swing is.

Patrick Burke

This is great baseball!

chasfh

And just like that a classic ending. And we get another one tomorrow!

BryanB

THERE WE GO!!!

drplantwrench

its the worst walk given that he already struck out

Matt Martell

what a finish!

Phil

Well, this is a big challenge.

brewersbibliophile

My god

drplantwrench

HOLY GUACAMOLE

danorris101

Not over!

fishnchips

Wow! What a brewers way to win

Patrick Burke

Liam Hicks has been disappointing this playoffs, I had him as an X Factor to lengthen that lineup

lzfreak

I'm not sure he's out at second

brewersbibliophile

Oh no

Matt Martell

I think he's off the bag

Crapshoot

FWIW, this is where replay kills it – the game is over and if they bring it back now (even if it's close)

brewersbibliophile

Imagine Megill having to get back to the mentality to get the last out

BryanB

Yah that first throw sucks

fishnchips

Woahhh

AdvantageSchneider

Then review the check swing you fickers.

Bobo Polaroids

If this was an AFL game they could! (But with the AFL check swing rules it would still be a no-swing).

bosoxforlife

He is off the bag. This will eb overturned.

viceroy

Business idea: telescoping cleats that maintain contact with the base

BryanB

Yah all Turangs fault

chasfh

Holy Toledo, is this not the most monumental replay challenge in replay challenge history?

Phil

Ask me after the next batter.

Phil

Remember when there wasn't replay?

fishnchips

Wowowowow

drplantwrench

did we make a mistake by allowing reviews

brewersbibliophile

Yes (unless they help my team)

danorris101

Did they set off fireworks?

lzfreak

Is Andy Fletcher a guy who has ever been on tv before?

Solitaire

My exact comment to wife

chasfh

Wow this game man

lzfreak

Steal home?

Phil

Contreras can't throw him out at least.

Brian Reinhart

that's a perfect job for Joe West

bosoxforlife

The celebration smoke will blind DeLuca.

Phil

Well, that's not reviewable.

millvillemeltdown

i have been looking for a very poopy cat to give him dewormer and i forgot that there was a baseball game. i am not a real sicko, forgive me

Solitaire

Do they have more fireworks available?

Crapshoot

Baseball remains awesome.

chasfh

And we get to do this again tomorrow!

BryanB

Holy cow what a game

NATS Fan

Good drama there

Sean Dolinar

Delaying the inevitable.

Solitaire

Most entertaining 3-2 game I've seen in a while

fishnchips

Brewers playoff ball is entertainment at its finest

millvillemeltdown

this is a good world series between good and entertaining teams, if it doesn't beat 2023 i'll be upset

drplantwrench

thank god the angels arent in the world series cuz i would have to go to the ER if this happened to them

brewersbibliophile

Incredible opening act to this series. I really hope it goes 7 (because I have tickets 😅)

Sean Dolinar

Have a blast at the games you get to go to!

brewersbibliophile

Thanks!

bosoxforlife

In 1967 I had tickets to game 6 and had to sweat out game 5 because the Red Sox were down 3-1.

Phil

This is looking like a good series.

Tom Rhoads

Yeah that was pretty fun. I hope the rest of this series can be at least that good.

Phil

Sean, as always, thanks for having us over!

Sean Dolinar

Hopefully we have 6 more!

Anonymous Member #46

Ken Rosenthal doesn't come up to Jacob Misiorowski's shoulder.

drplantwrench

one bad thing when the WS being over is no more fun chats 🙁

brewersbibliophile

I’ll miss these

Brian Reinhart

"members-only Dominican League chats"

millvillemeltdown

hot stove fg chats: nothing happens for a very long time until passan himself drops ordnance on all our houses

brewersbibliophile

I’ll be at Puerto Rican league next month

millvillemeltdown

lidom could feed families

drplantwrench

we're essentially one step away from creating fangraphs discord

millvillemeltdown

i am traveling to aus but with the melbourne team leaving the abl i likely won't be able to catch any games

millvillemeltdown

what a crazy game though. pat murphy must be fuming (happy?)

danorris101

Megill definitely did not slam any doors shut

AdvantageSchneider

I’m fine if it only goes 4

Sean Dolinar

Great game tonight! See everyone tomorrow!


Contract Crowdsourcing 2026-27: Ballot 2 of 11

by
October 23, 2026
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent seasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract crowdsourcing project, with the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowd to better understand and project the 2026-27 free agent market.

In recent years, we’ve added a few features to these ballots based on reader feedback. You now have the option to indicate that a player will only receive a minor league contract, or won’t receive a contract at all. If there is a player option, team option, or opt out in a player’s contract, you’ll be able to indicate whether you think he will remain with his current team or become a free agent. Statistics are prorated to full season values where noted. Unless otherwise indicated, the projected WAR figures are from the first cut of the 2027 Steamer600 projections.

Below are ballots for 11 of this year’s free agents — in this case, a group of infielders, including one with a big opt-out decision looming. Read the rest of this entry »


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