Members-Only Game Thread: LCS – Oct 12, 2026
Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the LCS games today. Chat with fellow readers as we watch the Dodgers play the Brewers and the Guardians play the Rays! Only Members can participate, and unlike our usual game 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.
Poll results have 0 faith in the Dodgers' bats to disappoint
Even after losing Game 1, Fangraphs has the Dodgers at 53% to beat the Brewers (and an implied 76% to beat whoever comes out of the AL). Surely this is crazy right? Even with the Dodgers rotation? More likely the Dodgers win 4-of-6 than the 103 win Brewers win 3-of-6?
Having a 53% of taking at least 4-of-6 implies ~60% of winning for each game. 60-40 is an awful lot for a single baseball game and all its randomness. The Dodgers had a 61% win rate against all teams. Surely you expect that to be more than a single percentage point lower against the strongest opponent?
I've been meaning to ask, is the poll question for the game, or for the series?
Welcome everyone! I'm excited we get two games tonight. We got some polls today, including the SP poll I wish I had yesterday with Misiorowski not getting through the 5th.
Game.
Thanks Sean, and thank you as always for hosting these chats, excited to talk baseball for the next 8 hours!
Thank you all for being here (these chats would be quite lame otherwise) and being Members.
I think it makes sense when you line up the pitching matchups, especially with the Miz looking vulnerable (though projections probably don't take it into account). The Brewers are essentially doing a long opener into bullpen game for games 3 and 4 while the Dodgers get Snell and Glasnow, not to mention that the Dodgers have a deeper bullpen.
Is it just me or did MLB somehow manage to time these games to get the lowest possible ratings? I live on the west coast and I’m going to completely miss the Dodger game and probably miss half or more of the Guardians game before I get home from work.
I'm guessing MLB is about as happy about this as you are.
These broadcast schedules for the LCS are setup and released in August.
If the Dodgers lose this series, how much falls on Ohtani? He's been underperforming for awhile now
Isn't this the part of the movie where the superhero loses his powers and you have to find a way to prevail anyway?
Man, he really has lost his powers :(
Interestingly, this is the only two-game day that has the Dodgers-Brewers playing the early game.
Also hi
brutal
Seems weird that they wouldn’t be able to talk to the networks and get consensus on moving game times. A 6pm EDT start for CLE vs. TBR and 8pm EDT start for LAD vs. the amoral deviants should work for everyone.
perhaps because it's a holiday for some?
You know what, I didn’t even consider that. I don’t get it off so I wasn’t thinking of it. You’re almost certainly right.
i think it's my first time off, to be sure
edited
I don't think TBS wants to lose a prime time game.
I'm not off with the holiday. No one tell my boss I'm here!!
Random thought: how fascinating would it be to see these two managers switch dugouts and have to manage the other team
This is a fun thought. I think Roberts could manage the Brewers, but I don't know if Murphy's schtick would fly with the Dodgers' superstar roster
Where do you think Roberts ranks on all-time managers list? My personal feeling is that managers pretty much never add victories (even Francona couldn’t make the Reds a winner), but they absolutely can remove them (early-2000s Cubs eg). Roberts seems to be able to at least keep the egos all pointed in the right direction.
I think he's one of the best there is. I think his job is significantly more difficult than it seems, beyond just the egos. It's also the expectations the team has every year, the mixing and matching his lineup requires, the dealing with injuries, etc. He also is the best around at criticizing his guys publicly and privately when they need it. He doesn't coddle
He also has more press personnel to manage on a daily basis, just due to the media market
Yes, and from my experience (only covering him on the road), he's very good at that compared to other major market managers/head coaches I've covered
One thing that this (bad) camera angle does show really well is Yamamoto’s step back as part of his delivery
I'm gonna see Brice Turang in my nightmares
It is Spooky Season
Lol Contreras checked his challenge
Got me. I thought he committed to it.
How did he hit that?
Smoltz describing competitive two-strike pitches as “putting pressure on the umpire” was a very interesting way to put it, gotta give him credit where it’s due
For all his [many] faults, Smoltz is a good pitching analyst
Some players described it to me earlier this year with ABS similarly, oddly as a reason to hold onto challenges for later in the game. I thought that was funny but didn't think that would last as a strategy
seeing yamamoto give up any runs in the postseason feels strange
Given all of your flair, this must be an incredibly exciting development for you.
And immediately thereafter Smoltz makes me roll my eyes by saying the art of pitching is declining
It's hard to imagine Tampa or Cleveland going toe-to-toe with either of these teams (especially Cleveland), this kinda feels like the de facto World Series. At least it's the two best teams this year
Been having severe gastric issue the past few days, But at least I have baseball to watch while I am in the hospital. It make my day!
Hope you get better soon!
Does anybody like Smoltz?
I actually think he did a pretty good job in last year's World Series when he was enjoying the baseball in a fantastic series. And he's good at breaking down pitching mechanics. But 95% of the time he's either making things up, complaining about the modern game, or both.
Tangential, but I muted the pregame because I'm tired of the Yankees and Red Sox players.
Does he have high approval? Not even trying to hate, but how has he held on to the top job for so long while being so obviously ill-equipped to everyone who watches?
But I'm slightly indifferent to Smoltz. There have been a few times, though.
he's putting up ba'athist party numbers in front of older gen x/boomer focus groups
idea for poll: who are the most and least likable teams left in the playoffs?
Maybe we don't need the "least likable team?" 😆
doth thou protest too much? (actually think dodgers are underrated in their likability)
Compared to the Yankees team that ruined baseball, the Dodgers are extremely likable.
Let me see if I can build out a ranked choice poll.
not having A-Rod helps.
I mean, on a player-by-player basis it’s hard to be less likable than these Brewers. I realize I’m heavily biased, but almost all of them come off as classless jerks. Contreras, Miz, and Uribe in particular.
this is my main *gulp* pro-dodgers argument – all their top talent and stars are nearly lovable (shohei, betts, freeman, yamamoto, teo, etc.) personally i dont like will smith and max muncy but thats about it really
Agree on Smith, he just never seems to be having any fun. Muncy however is kind of a lovable weirdo.
Dodgers are doing a good job of making these Brewers starters throw a lot of pitches. Could pay dividends down the line this series even if they aren't putting up big runs scored totals yet
i really like JRAM
glasnow and snell are a hoot
I don’t know if there’s a bigger delta between perception and reality than Snell. He looks like he should be selling meth behind a 7-11 in Redding CA, but by all accounts (specifically from Eno) he’s a wonderful guy.
totally agree. i didn't think he'd be someone i'd find compelling. turns out he's just a video-gaming rapper bro down to get weird with adolescent humor.
i of course am the self appointed Mayor of Jo Island, so its gonna be hard for me not to say the Guardians are the most likable with Jo and Jram. but i think its actually closer across the 4 teams than one might have assumed
JRam is probably my favorite non-Cub in the game (assuming Scherzer retires). And I like him a fair bit more than most of the current Cubs.
Where does Yamamoto rank among all time Japanese baseball players already?
already 11th in all time bWAR just in front of angels legend Shigetoshi Haegawa. more seriously, everyone in the top 5 has played for almost 10 years, hes on year 3. i think hes got a good chance of being top 3
but right at this moment, maybe 5 thor 6th?
As a frequent radio listener, Tom Hamilton is my most likable Guardian. I’d be really conflicted as to which broadcast to tune into if it came down to Guardians and Brewers
I think Nicole Kidman should do one of these sincere prose ads
We come here to find out how many days there are in October
Heartbreak does feel better in a ballpark
Back to the manager swap question: Doc would do fine with the Brewers. The Dodgers would beat Murph to death with hammers by Memorial Day
WOW!!
Nice catch Sal
my annual reminder that Sal Frelick exists and can blow my mind
Does that count as smallball? /joke
The smallness of the ball is inversely proportional to payroll
Tommy and Mookie are playing diminutive ball
why would you even try that
Me, watching on the couch after recently dropping the remote while trying to turn up the volume: Bauers should've caught that
good thing for the Brewers it's Ohtani up here (/s)
Shohei seems so compromised (injury) that I want JDP to start…which is wild
I kind of want that, both because JDP's approach has been fun to watch and because I would love to see pinch-runner Ohtani
I've felt that JDP is such a weird fit on this roster. Is his defense really bad enough that he's completely unplayable in a corner outfield? If so he almost has to get traded or improve considerably. The dude can hit!
I have a feeling the Dodgers will move Teoscar over the offseason
I get he's Shohei but at what point do they have that uncomfortable conversation if he doesn't show up somewhat in this series? If ohtani's 3 for 23 with 11 Ks after this series and the Dodgers move on, do you really sit him down and tell him he's coming off the bench in the world series? probably not
I think that will be difficult and they will have to take a beating value wise.
is that a spike lee thing? do the right thing?
Why is this game on so early!?
the simple solution is for the dodgers to move off of shohei. simple solution is to trade him back to the angels (unbiased take)
I really enjoyed David Hamilton when he was on the Red Sox. Jus ta little more offense and would have been a very good player.
what is the reflector on the forehead of the catcher's mask? i've never seen a catcher pull down a visor?
Solar panel to charge the pitchcom
Turang is going to get quite a bit of down ballot MVP votes. I see him around 5th-7th overall.
Think I'd have him around 3rd
got curious and saw the Vegas o/u on this game is 6.5. Maybe an overreaction to all the low-scoring games this year, this game could blow the lid off that
>2 base runners
> nice catch to prevent damage
time for yamamoto to throw the ball away on a pick off
Almost!!
He almost did lol!
i am nostradamus
When I first saw ABS in AAA there were several pitcher challenges. Yamamoto wanted to challenge ball 4 to Turang so badly but they are as rare as a unicorn.
who benefits more from having to go to the bullpen early? id assume brewers?
is that woman with the spiral notebook the famous front row amy?
Yamamoto proved he has a rubber arm in last year's WS but at 70+ through 3 he isn't long for this game.
What an at bat!
bauers is making yamamoto work, and also muncy work (chasing down foul balls). genius move
Do pitchcom replacements count as a mound visit? They should
Blatant stalling like this especially.
They do not and I strongly suspect pitchers feign a pitch com issue to get a break/mound visit pretty frequently
the pitch calling device failing on the 414th pitch of this at bat might be strategic…
I see what you did there
That solar panel failed!
Our SP IP poll isn't looking great.
That was an incredibly exciting walk
major
Are we sure swear words aren't allowed in this chat? (/s)
This matchup is what we come to see and Yelich wins.
That walk was huge.
this is the least yamamoto game he's pitched in awhile… sign..
I love these lead changes.
Man this series has the juice!
Wow, what an inning
(Just a reminder, you can delay the chat using the cog/gear icon in the top right corner. If you a lot of latency on your streaming source.)
Same number of outs as his game 7 relief appearance…in a start
Wow
We had Yamamoto Med: 6, Mean: 6 1/3, Real: 2 2/3.
I know what everyone is thinking after that hit…why is Yelich's captain C squeezed in above the Nike logo when there's plenty of room on the other side?
I think this Brewers team is the best Dodgers postseason opponent in quite awhile
I got home from work 20 minutes ago but I feel like a lot has already happened since then
Would it be exaggerating to call that a career-defining hit for Yelich? There's something magical about the team captain guy whose prime was years ago becoming the guy who steps up.
do you throw Roki for multi innings?
A 36-pitch 2/3 of an inning for Yamamoto
18 pitches per out.
This game, and potentially series, changes a lot if Teoscar or Muncy catch one of those foul balls
Turang could have had called strike 3 in both at bats if ump/or Will Smith had made the call. All 3 runs have scored because of those.
Or Yamamoto who clearly indicated he wanted to challenge but apparently is not given the opportunity.
have the dodgers struck out in this game? i'm probably jinxing something by asking, but…
Ohtani struck out in the first
Ohtani struck out
Wow, this is my first time seeing Sasaki's clown glove. I do not like it
That is pretty wild
It looks like he stole it from Bernie Brewer himself
Is it the same as the massive red glove Gausman had at the end of the season? I’m at work and can’t look.
muncy is best fielding gnome in baseball and gardening history
Even if they don’t hold on to this lead, really fun to see such resiliency from MIL. Will really make LAD earn it
Just got here. What's everybody talking about? Baseball?
my goodness
Bulworth, actually
Small ball!
Alright, it's been fun everybody.
Henderson should only be throwing the ball toward home plate.
i guess i guessed right about Henderson. 4+ is the same as 4IP. certainly didn't guess right about YY going 7
Pitchers throwing to 1st is an adventure in and of itself.
This game is drunk already
So all 3 Dodgers runs are the result of Henderson's throwing errors/wild pitches
"watching baseball" – jon bois
baseball rules
I would like to see a stat on the percentage of bad throws pitchers make on bunt attempts.
sometimes I idly wonder how well a strategy of "bunt to the pitcher every time" would go
We were high on Logan Henderson too. Mean 4.45, Median 5, and actual 4+.
We were influenced by yesterday. Had that game been higher scoring we would have expected a messier game today.
do Roki and May count to the SP innings?
Who is starting Game 3?
Gasser for the Brewers.
I'd think about an IBB here
That fist-pump was incredible
SMOL BOL
Didn't seem that close, but you get two challenges in the postseason.
You gotta try
That last angle shows the foot on the plate. Looks safe to me.
As much as I think of the production quality as cheap, the ACC football review system with the audio between the ref and the command center is great to learn about their process.
I want to know what these umps are talking about. And see the relevant angles, just not just multiviewers in their room.
I’m guessing this won’t be the last lead change tonight
Are you at the game again?
Unfortunately not. I’ll be back Sunday if it goes that long
is smoltz thinking of Weird Science?
I don't understand the earned run rule. Henderson has three ERs. But the errors influenced more than one run, yes?
Pretend like the error hadn't occurred and it was just a groundout. Tucker scoring is considered earned, because he likely advances to third on the grounder to Henderson, then scores on Mookie groundout.
what is a baseball
i'm still supposed to be doing thermo homework. i am pretty bad at this student thing
entropy?
All I know is you're not allowed to have perpetual motion machines.
first week on cycles! i love me some heat engine
imho one of the great skills of academia is learning when to delegate time to doing your homework and when not to (im just advocating for baseball really)
it's due in 2 hours, i'm afraid i'm well and truly cooked
then another greak skills of academia is to face the music and accept failure
At least you can measure and calculate how much you are cooked.
ΔHvap of a millvillemeltdown is… not very high as it turns out
Does any part of the glove count for the tag? Like the strings? Or just the main body of the glove?
oh hello ichiro, big fan of your work. i heard about the statue though, what a shame
Strings don't count.
Yep.
This game already feels like it's been 3 games
BAAANG
Every team should have a Contreras brother.
What a fun game! One of my favorite ballparks to watch on TV.
the Rays lab scientists are building the Contreras cloning machine as we speak
i think yama having such trouble this time out is enough of an indictment of like. "grr starting pitchers these days" like
This was the first year since 2022 that Willson had more fWAR than William. On the other hand William looks really good right now. Who would you rather have next year?
Sorry, I'm too busy coming up with names for the 28 other Contreras brothers. Willton, Willbur, Willgernon, Willnando…
willyer for extra confusion
angels would be the team to end up with the Wilbur…
Willenium
I tried to get tickets to this game from his brother Willcall
willsmith
Willians?
Willt Chamberllain
la tortuguita!!!
There is only one Willians.
and he's a stud, illo
is he in npb? i feel like i heard he was playing in npb
Looks like only until 2023. Since then Astudillo has played in Mexico and Venezuela.
I covered Willians Astudillo' major league debut when the Twins were playing the Cubs at Wrigley during a crazy weekend heatwave on Saturday, June 30, 2018. He only entered the game because multiple Twins left the game due to heat illness. He replaced Eddie Rosario in LF and later had to move to CF when Max Kepler left the game. He started the next game at 3B.
Willians Astudillo is the perfect Immaculate Grid answer for Twins/center field
I was at this game! Miserably hot
That whole weekend and the days after were also brutal
My friend and I were at the Lincoln Park zoo a couple days before the game and it was a survival battle just to find shade. It was a dangerous few days
if the rubberiest-armed guy, known for having rubber arm, cannot do the thing where his arm is rubber for 5 innings in the post season, maybe the hitters have just gotten better to the point where 200ip is just not that common anymore
And also, would William have a similar hitting resurgence to Willson's if he quit catching?
also, like, huge credit to the brewers, but still.
@Baumann This has got to be the headline of your gamer.
oi, i don't work for free
i want press box cookies
Matt didn't get any!
They were gone! Such a tragedy.
I left the stadium at 3:15 AM after filing my column, and stil no cookies. I was destraught
edited
this was Yankee Stadium not Am Fam? (I feel weird calling it that, I didn't even get the name right on my first try.)
That first pitch looks like the best one Frelick will get in this AB.
As I was saying.
this would be a good time for a ball to hit a bag or some such nonsense
welp
Ohtani looks unwilling or unable to pull the ball. Surprised they're not going inside more often.
thanks Tom, I forgot which band did "Hey Jude"
Wings?
recently learned that if you get "Hey Jude" stuck in your head, your head will never fade the outro
paul mccartney is riffing "jooo-jooo-da-joo-da-jooo-joooo-da-" into oblivion
Yeesh Ohtani looks really rough.
Boo hoo
tbh to my untrained eye he seems like he's… not having fun this year
idk if it's a pain thing or a home life thing (having young kids can do things, so i hear) but i'm just used to ohtani displaying a bit more joie de vivre
Can we all just take half an hour and have a neutral third party put on some PFPs before we restart the game?
I do love a good interference call.
tough night for pick off throws
Walk to get to the guy who hit the home run? Interesting…
Yeah that was dumb
Well, that IBB didn't really work out.
I wonder if this series gets William over the hump to become the most famous Contreras brother
i remember being excited for sean murphy (he of the ass hbp) to join a larger-market team but man. will the younger really is a helluva ballplayer huh
Will Vaughn pinch hit for Yeli after Bauers?
I can't fully accept William until he gives back one of the l's his family stole for Willson. Either Willson has to be Wilson or he has to be Wiliam.
consider that two Ls make a W and When you're a Will* Contreras You Gotta Win
Well Willson is on the Red Sox this year, so the 2 straight L's must have been contagious
i think i may be a bit delirious
this is stressful
The entire brewers postseason has been played within 2 runs up or down.
Dodgers offense is iceeeee cold
abner uribe one of the better name tools in the league. ratings, 20-80?
This may seem harsh, but I'm only at a 60 because it doesn't scan all that well.
i was gonna give 65, it's certainly unique/outlier but as a package i'm not selling the farm for it
Hey, at least that one Polymarket commercial shows that parlays don't always hit
in an ad for 20-combo bets
wild
Betting site ads = 1950 commercials for cigarettes.
i'm going to put one cent on a 10^23 leg parlay and pray
you're gonna want to do your thermodynamics homework too, just in case
hey, chances of me hitting are better than (checks paper) the air in my room configuring itself such that half of it is vacuum
I like those odds!
The WS starts on mol day!
That was about two inches away from a hospital stay.
They're calling it the most Brewers hit in the history of the Brewers.
I am loving how pissed off Pat Murphy looks during this game.
He should be pissed. Wind sprints for the entire team after the game. Should be a 5-1 laugher.
i think pat murphy would only be happy if his team literally never made an out
I just don't care for gambling. I'll put something down if see a real +EV opportunity, like I did two over/unders this year, putting a tidy sum on over 72.5 for Twins and over 69.5 for Cardinals. But I don't get any adrenalin rush for gambling; I don't care apart from making the numbers in my account go up
But the dizzying highs! The nauseating lows! You're missing out.
Just kidding. I don't gamble either, so I can't back that up.
Maybe you should start betting the brewers over.
feels disloyal to zips
Ashby for Ohtani or does Megil come in?
Oh, good, baseball stats filtered by lunar phase. Can we get some "mothers' basement" jokes ready while we're at it?
Is this a splits leaderboard request?
Goodness no! Just a reaction to a Google ad.😆
Thank you Red Sox
I'm on the Rays-Guards game tonight, so I'm likely done chatting for the night. Nice to be with everybody!
Hamilton is not throwing away his shot
Related to Billy Hamilton?
Squeeze!
COME ON SQUEEZE BUNT
or base hit, that's good too
wow. this brewers team
How many do the Brewers have to get for their closer to sit down? 2 more? 3 more?
More. Day off tomorrow.
Bauers pushing for that NLCS MVP award
I honestly thought this would be a tight, well-played game.
I’m happy with this rock fight.
Finally!
Daaaaaaaaaaang!
Pages with a pretty casual-looking basket catch on that fly ball. Did he get a bad read and have to basket catch it?
So yesterday we were talking commercials, today I’m hoping we can talk about the proliferation of bad haircuts
I miss the playoff mountain-man beards.
Brandon Marsh got knocked out in the wild card round.
It used to be that every team had a guy who looked like he had strong opinions on who really ran the banks. Shame.
I, too, would wipe Biberty off my windshield
Here in Canada I'm watching ads for Konto Furniture and an Italian grocery store in Calgary.
Might as well leave Ashby in there to face the pitcher
Leaving Ashby in to face Will Smith? I guess it's Ashby's game until someone reaches?
brutal. gg
I'll watch nothing but Biberty ads if it means I dont have to see these political ads (I live in Texas, so just imagine)
Governor Bovernor? Senator Benator? Congressman Bongressman?
Congressman Bongressman would have my vote
As a guardians, I love the TB sac bunt. But even 12 year old Billy Heywood in 1994 wouldn't have done that.
Love seeing America be introduced to this wonderful bullpen I've been watching all season
ChiSox be like “maybe we dodged a bullet”
I just switched over to Guardians/Rays…and I missed something.
Listening to the ALCS on radio while I watch soccer practice, anyone have a rec on which team’s broadcast is better?
Cleveland's broadcaster is a recent Hall of Fame honoree.
Tom Hamilton is the absolute best! His calls reverberate over the airwaves like none other.
I find the Cleveland play-by-play guy to be an acquired taste.
Rays radio guys are excellent
I just logged in to say I hope the Dodgers keep losing purely since I think it will improve the odds of an earlier post-lockout start to baseball next year. (And Dodgers suck)
It is rare to see the batter surprised when the umpire has tot ell him he was hit by the pitch.
Getting clipped in the loose part of the jersey on a 1-2 count is good living
A Yankees-free ALCS is a breath of fresh air too. Baseball is so good. I wish there was more.
International leagues?
I am not above watching some Caribbean winter league when I can find it.
The TBS app crashed for like 1 minute with one runner on, and now the bases are loaded??
I was watching on the Spanish network.
I cheated on the poll because it was already 2-0 when I saw Sean had posted the new one. Sorry.
Someone answered the pitcher IP poll for Henderson as he was being pulled.
Mesa Jr just showing off with that throw. Cannon.
Lineup thoughts: 1. Vilade cleanup is Very Rays. 2. I don't think I would have batted Rocchio after Bailey and Halpin with 184 career ABs. 3. Bottom half is light on both sides.
Guards getting surprisingly good swings.
Petey Halpin sounds like a baseball name from the deadball era.
Why do catchers not put their throwing hand in a fist behind their back the way I was taught in Little League centuries ago, to prevent taking a foul tip off the hand?
I was wondering about thay. The answer to all such questions is "framing," but I don't see the advantage in this case.
His nickname should be Second Halpin' (this might only to be funny to me because I'm fat)
That looked painful! My hand hurts now.
No one has ever been happier catching a routine low leverage foul pop than Jose Ramirez just now.
You know a throw is good when they show multiple angles of a cutoff throw that didn't even produce a tag play. I gasped out loud at that throw
(little delayed on the reaction, I had to get to my phone)
Hi Ben!
Can I just say how much better this chat is than MLB Discord? Holy cow.
Is there an official MLB Discord? I know there are a bunch of places that have them.
Yes, and there are chats for each game.
Hi Sean! Just dropping in briefly, I have dinner plans tonight, but I had to say something about that throw
I watched a ton of Victor Mesa Jr. tape for fielding bible voting this year. He's electric, but I don't think I saw a throw that good
It's not quite playoff Randy, but really fun debut-into-postseason-success arc
It's not too late for him to do some pushups and eat some chicken.
I can't articulate why, but Brian Anderson is easily a top 5 pbp announcer imo. He's just… really good? (Benetti, Davis, Cohen, Shulman up there too)
Joe Davis? I find him utterly forgettable. But all those other guys are great. Shulman and Benetti are elite.
It's so weird that there's a big puff of dirt every time a ball lands in the outfield.
I think it's little pieces of rubber, or something like that.
Used to be rubber, the new turf is a mix of coconut husk and sand apparently.
Yup. Having played a lot of soccer on turf like that, I can tell you that those little pieces of rubber get in your shoes and stick to your socks forever.
Oh, artificial turf!
I thought the field was just perpetually wet!
That’s only when Brandon Marsh is playing.
The Manual is a pretty good nickname. No Second Halpin, though.
It's a good nickname except that it implies he's not Automatic
Why was Espino warming up without his hat?
I see this surprisingly often. I wonder if it's because somebody's busy putting the PitchCom in their hat.
This reminds me of when I was in high school and I used to help coach my little cousin's little league team and one of his teammates hated wearing his hat. He'd be standing in the outfield mid game and just take it off, then would demand that we show him where in the rule book it said that he had to wear a hat when we'd ask him to put it back on. And like… we definitely didn't have a rule book handy nor knew where the hat clause is so it was hard to argue with this 11 year old.
I think that's exactly it. But the number of times a reliever comes into the game and motions to the ump before throwing a pitch that he can't hear anything leads me to believe they are not very skilled at doing this.
Wow, Cleveland's defensive positioning cards are enormous. They're the size of bingo cards.
printing my defensive positioning cards in dyslexia fonts (legitimately not terrible idea)
All the ads for Google Cloud "insights" are such overfitted small sample nonsense that if I were in charge of buying web services for some big company I'd go with AWS instead.
Agreed! Did we learn nothing from Fire Joe Morgan?
Anyone want to go in with me on FireJohnSmoltz.com? IP reboots are all the rage these days…
Smoltz has improved, I think. I used to find him unlistenable, and now I think he's ok. Curious what others think.
The biggest thing for me is how he constantly positions his aesthetic preferences (contact, small ball, yada yada) as facts of good strategy.
He's a good analyst. But if he gets going, his back-in-my-day nonsense is a killer.
If Smoltz isn't hating on something about the modern game by the 2nd inning I start to worry that he's been replaced with AI.
Also that he will without fail start talking about “slow heartbeat” by the third inning.
Jose Ramirez is great, but his green glove is terrible. Your glove should either be brown, black, or your team's color.
Wait, the Rays have a tank of rays at their ballpark? How did I not know that?
I am dumbfounded that you didn't know that. The team was the Devil Rays for years and there have been rays in the tank since the franchise was first organized.
Yeah it's the one fun thing the Trop is known for
What causes a comment to get hung up in review?
Weird website urls.
That url is available for purchase.
Juuust a bit outside.
It seems like a decade ago when Daniel Espino was the #1 pitching prospect in the game. Then his arm fell off and the doctors had a tough time reattaching it.
I know this is the whole “Ship of Theseus” problem, Bur How many surgeries before we admit a player is just fundamentally different? Where is the line? We surely can or will just invent a better ligament. Wouldn’t that be a huge issue?
Can't wait for a fight over PEL clauses (performance enhancing ligaments) when the CBA is up in 2032.
I didn't know Rasmussen was allowed to give up a run
Speaking of players whose career has been disrupted more than once by injury, Chase deLauter certainly fits that template.
Wait. Is it possible for a park to be difficult to go opposite field regardless of which side of the plate you hit?
i think it is harder to go oppo *in general* because the spin doesn't help you as much. don't know if there's an "uphill both ways" way to do it though…
Got that most likable and least likable poll. You'll probably have to refresh this page / reload this page for it to work.
Did you invent that ranking thing just for this poll? We will have to think about other things you can do with it.
That worked. When I first saw it with the checkboxes I thought it was a trick question.
i'm still shocked that someone thinks the miz gives bush league vibes… he's literally a small, 6'6 child chewing a wad of gum the size of my fist and throwing harder than anyone in history. he rips packs of pokemon on road trips.
Yeah, it was a good suggestion, so I made it tonight. It can do ranked choice voting, too, and that's like rounds eliminating the lowest vote getting. This is just an MVP-style voting with 4,3,2,1 points given out.
But yes, I want to have it used for a lot more things!
I'm going to reuse that poll through out the week.
It would be insane for any pitcher to drop that bunt on purpose to try to get two.
Really proud of Ramírez for sniffing the baseball just now. I think he read my article.
I, for one, am a fan of Ramirez’s glove. It’s Christmasy!
We need a poll on whether Ramirez's green glove is good or bad.
Bye bye Walls
Everly Brothers deep cut.
I am such a big fan of Ramirez that he could play with a cesta and I wouldn't complain.
I think it's bad but it's Jose Ramirez so he's earned the right to have a mismatched glove
Funky glove colors are an inalienable right.
Did Bazzana forget how many outs there were for a moment? Or did he think he had time to get the third out at second and then think better of it?
Thought he could beat the runner.
I like Abner Uribe’s electric blue model too.
I know I’m asking this on the every stat is available site but is Carson Williams that much worse than Walls right now? Rays seem to think he’s not ready to go C Montgomery for them w a 30 HR/220k season.
Blue is a Brewers color tho.
Not that blue!
does jram get a pink glove now :) i hope he does :)
We have an entirely new ballgame!!
Ah yes. Noted slugger Patrick Bailey.
Huh. Just checked and surprised he had 10 this year in just 345 PA. That's one more than Vlad Jr!
Sorry Blue Jays fans
Wow
clutch is a skill, this is known
I don't see what's so hard about hitting Rasmussen if Patrick Bailey can do it.
Patrick Bailey, AL Kiké Hernandez.
This is why the Guardians traded for Bailey.
has bailey even seen a postseason before
Maybe on tv
"Do you know the postseason? " "….I know of it."
More Scott Pilgrim references.
every time i have a hunk of a really good bread in my hand, i take a big bite and scream around it "BREAD MAKES YOU FAT!?!"
speaking of, my roommates just made some incredible bread. i'm over the moon with the crumb texture.
Thought Rays were going to run away with this thing the way they handled Griffin in the first, but he settled in nicely. Aces not doing their usual seems to be a theme in this round. Is it possible that hitters on top teams are catching up to the pitchers?
I'm always suspicious of tipping with starts like Yamamoto's today where he got just 4 whiffs.
LA had Miz’s grips whenever they were on 2nd yesterday. Helped foul off pitches but he was still Miz :shrug:
We need an article on the most shocking long home runs/hard hit balls of the season. Bailey's HR just now, Bryson Stott's 464 foot jack earlier this year…
i don't know how i'd optimize it but i want to see, like, minimum bat speed, maximum tank, optimally squared up and backspun and pulled
@Sean if you're implementing changes based on this chat, maybe a show results button for polls? Could cut down on the votes in the who will win polls after there's already been scoring.
I could do that. Though I don't think responding later is necessarily bad…like it's tied right now.
oh did i miss the most and least likable team vote
Yes and no. I shipped that about 20 minutes ago, but you can still respond!
it says "This question is unavailable" fwiw
You might need to reload the page.
Ope, that worked thanks!
I watched Cam Booser pitch for Worcester a couple of years ago as a 32 year old never-will-be and here he is in a high leverage situation in the ALCS at 34. "Don't give up, don't ever give up".
It's weird seeing a Rays series where the other team has more Lowes
Not sure that slide got him there faster.
slide was for style not for speed
aura farming, slidemaxxing, dirtmogging, etc.
Maybe he expected a bad throw and a swipe tag?
Is there a way for new polls to trigger a message? When you add polls mid chat, it can be hard to notice right away unless someone points it out
i think sean has been manually doing that, idk if it necessarily wants to be automated? could be wrong, i have been somewhat tuned out/foggy
I've thought of making them louder. Like I can have it expand on its own or have NEW! tag in bright red on it.
And yeah, I did send a message about the ranked likability poll.
i am strongly considering logging off, walking into the forest, and calling it a night
my top two likable are the bottom 2 vote getters …….
You know what? Ramirez should use a green bat too. That would be awesome.
Players Weekend allowing hitters to use funky looking bats is delightful . Ernie Clement's pencil bat is 80 grade.
not because the baseball has been bad but i should probably take care of myself and my deliverables
good night all, the forest beckons
Question for the Fangraphs writers who are way smarter than me: would it be fair to say there's a little Vlady Guerrero, Sr. in Jose Ramirez? It's been on my mind since Jose hit that homer not even a foot off the ground
as a huge vladdy sr fan, i feel like theres some similarities, but i always thought vladdy's approach was a little wild whereas JRam is under control
but maybe i was too young and its just nostalgia
You could run a Baseball Savant query, filter for chase/waste pitches on contact and xwoba (or stat of choice) to maybe get a rough idea of guys like Vlad Sr?
Nice outcome for the infield positioning
Wow I did not realize the 2B was standing there off the bat
Contact play on now?
Man on 3rd – one out, you go on anything on the ground.
These pitching decisions are interesting. Cash not going with his A relief team yet
It's very funny that MLB is running a pro-salary cap ad talking about how small market teams can’t compete during the Rays vs Guards ALCS
They have zero feel
THE GUARDIANS ARE UNSTOPPABLE
0-2 and he gets a pitch in the zone? Not good.
It'd be hilarious if Bailey went yard again here.
Successful catcher ABS challenge after a backpick!
I don’t understand that defensive playcall on that Lowe at bat
Like playing in or the way they shifted? I thought it was standard for the situation.
Shift was standard for sure but both MI’ers were way in on the grass. If they’re playing normal thats a soft lineout to SS
Gotcha. Seymour isn't a ground ball pitcher either so I get your point. It's the Rays so I'm assuming the percentages still say that's the best alignment given all variables.
Yea it just felt like peak getting too cute with it
Playing the MI way in on nothing but pitches above the zone??
Many events in this game.
Cedriiiiiic
If Mesa were to go long and tie the game here his bat flip might hit a roof ring.
Alas.
Cedric Mullins against a tough lefty is just the match-up the Guardians would want so………boom. Nobody ever said it better than the late John Sterling.
Who wants to be the millionaire, ask the audience was the true #1 lifeline… The poll tonight says 91% think the Rays will win. I thought wisdom of the crowd was king?
There's a decent chance we get a central division team to the World Series for the first time since 2016
To paraphrase a great philosopher "It ain't over till it's over".
Woah.
Oh nooooo
Oh this is bad
oh no
oh no
Ouch.
Edit: Oh no
Oh no
Shoulder to the ribs and pretty solid contact.
Wow what an epic miscommunication
Whew!
Honestly feels like that could've ended way worse
Caminero could still be compromised. He has to be hurting.
I don't understand the Rays decisions this game: Aranda bunting in the first, Ras going back out for the 7th, where is Kevin Kelly (one of the best Rays relievers all year), using a rusty Tyler Walls and Cole Sulser in a tight game.
Anyone else think this new “oooh, we’ve got two strikes on the batter” sirens and whistles etc. thing has gotten a little out of hand?
Generally yes but it is the post
Welp.
Challenge here but where was he going? [Edit: never mind.]
I was rooting for the White Sox and now I'm rooting for the Rays, but Jose Ramirez getting hot at the right time is pretty cool to watch
I think this is getting overturned
A good Ramirez is so much fun!
His loyalty to Cleveland when he could have left for a lot more money has endeared him to me.
If he left the bag he was pushed off?
The Guardians can win the World Series, they still won’t be the best team in baseball.
To me, the Dodgers' creakiness, particularly Ohtani's, show what a contingent definition that is. The Dodgers are the best team in general, but they don't seem like the best team right now.
Good point
Baseball is so wonderfully unpredictable!
I suppose…or it’s gonna give me a heart attack.
These pitches in the dirt are really disappointing.
I'm lightly rooting for the Rays, but still disappointed he didn't get that triple.
Ramirez seems to be enjoying himself
I did not expect this.
14 hits. That feels like a lot of hits! #analytics
And I really don’t get Cade Smith here. Why give the Rays extra looks at him, plus put inning on his arm?
You'd have to have him warming anyway to back up whoever else you brought in.
Yeah, Vogt’s refusal to adapt to changes in leverage is a surprising postseason storyline.
Eventually this guy is gonna get tired from pitching so much
Good night, folks!
Or not
G'night!
Game’s over, guys. You don’t have to talk into your gloves now.
It's just a defense against Jomboy
I guess he was already up before the insurance runs, but still
I like baseball.
Great chat everyone! See everyone tomorrow!
I build things here.