Members Only Game Thread: LDS – Oct 7, 2026
Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the LDS games today. Chat with fellow readers as we watch four baseball games for the last time all year! 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.
We are going to open the chat up at 3:30 PM ET and it will remain open until the final out of the Brewers-Padres game.
Hi everyone! And for the record, my favorite Midwestern foods are cheese curds, Juicy Lucys, and buckeye candies
Midwestern-style pizza is underrated. There's Detroit-style, but there's also this generally square cut, sort-of-but-not-super-thin standard MW pizza that just hits the spot.
I would know, I have been a Midwesterner all my life
Have you gone to an Elvis game?
Which World Series Game in Chicago does the Pope go to?
Game 3 or 7? Feel like those are the most Catholic numbers. Unfortunately, there is no game 12.
What WHITE Sox celebrity I’d throwing out first pitch? Luis Aparicio… MJ ?
MJ in the red City Connect jerseys would be sick
Bumpy cake!
Dan's not in this chat, so I guess we can say Cincinnati chili
I had Skyline back in July. It definitely gets too much hate.
Is it called a casserole or hotdish?
As a child I used to get the little Skyline hotdogs, but without the chili. They came in sets of 2 or 3 and would have like a full block of cheddar grated on top of them. So good.
I'd say casserole. But I'm from Pittsburgh.
Also casserole, from Columbus
Sean are you adding features mid chat with the team flairs?
I added it this morning. But yes, team flair. Someone kept on saying "As a [TEAM] fan, I want this…". And I'm like we make that simpler.
The answer is hot dish (north dakota/minnesota)
Imo's pizza and frozen custard
I've hosted a few parties with Imo's that I had shipped in. Along with a block of provel.
playoff odds graphs has small fluctuations since october 5. is this a weather situation, starting pitcher or pure vibes?
It looks like it's like a 0.1% – 0.3% fluctuation. That's just randomness in all likelihood. We can adjust the playing time projections based on an injury or news. But there's always going to be some flux from run to run.
After googling 'popular mid western dishes' and clicking on an AllRecipes list i am going with Tater Tot Hot Dish as the best
Hot dish is a good choice. Hard to go wrong there.
So…who was the mystery first pitch thrower?
Also came here to ask. (And for, you know, the baseball chat)
After all of his injuries, it's so cool to see Daniel Espino starting a playoff game.
I love when teams do [color]-out games. Always looks so cool
Crowd really committed to that BlackOut
crowd sounds very loud on the radio broadcast
Someone named Belmont Cameli from "Off Campus" threw out the first pitch…no idea who that is
Thank you. I had seen that name speculated, but likewise have no idea.
Apparently a square-jawed actor from Naperville
It was a lobbed throw that would hit a LHH but did make most of the way there, catcher reached a little so might have landed at the back of the batters box
As a Cubs fan, I was very sad when Len Kasper left. He got a lot of mockery for leaving to be able to call playoff games on the radio because the team fell apart right after he switched. I'm glad he's getting to finally do it
the height of Midwestern food is the walking taco, an abomination of all cuisines involved
Skyline Chili has entered the chat.
skyline chili is known by all, walking tacos is not known outside of the midwest. people like skyline chili, despite it not being chili
Socktober may be inevitable
Wow, less than an inning
Pretty sure the plan was just for 1 inning.
Ah, ok. I thought Vogt was panicking haha
oh wait, you can add your team to your name? did i miss that
New thing today
Chat settings top-right gear
Are we in agreement, the White Sox are the team that everyone is rooting for if they don't have a dog in the fight?
That is when you challenge!
Darrin Jackson: umpire gave Peters the big ringy-ringy and has to take it back and apologize
Just early
i enjoy the new team thing. before i always wondered what team other people like. like who knows what team "bosoxforlife" is rooting for
huge bovine guy (bos/ox)
Hotdish. State fair fried food on a stick. Cheese curds
ooh, that was a silly little play
total aside, huge fan of the moomintroll series
I think this is the only series where the teams are evenly matched cuisine wise
really depends on your stance toward Tampa Bay-style pizza
You're going to say that one type of dish can make tampa better than the most diverse food city in the hemisphere? I've had great Southern barbecue in Brooklyn in my admittedly very limited experience of NYC
I don't think my sarcasm warning was quite high enough!
sarcasm is very difficult to detect in text, sorry.
I know it isn't midwest cuisine, but the Korean corndogs at Rate Field are delicious and I highly recommend them
The footlong Chicago dog at Rate Field is also very good
is it too late to say a giant tenderloin sandwich or a bowl of chili with a peanut butter sandwich on the side.
I will go for a sandwich alongside a sandwich.
I did a poor job of writing that sentence. The PB sammy goes with a bowl of chili. The tenderloin is a completely different amazing dish.
Anyone got some ballplayer food names? Ben Rice relevant today
Does Bryan Baker count?
edited
Boxberger was a good one.
Ooof, out of challenges this early.
Tim Salmon
first you send your Rice to the Miller, then it goes to the Baker, and then you have rice bread to go with your Salmon
You can eat it Fried too!
This is very advanced level stuff. Well done
Hank Conger (if you eat eel)
Or Trout
Pretzels Getzien
Also Zach Wheat is an old Brooklyn hall of famer (Lighting the Jaffe signal)
Salmon Fried Rice is a great dish
Sean, it looks like Brendan's chat from earlier today disappeared–it's not in the main feed (not sure it was even while going, just linked from the banner at the top of the page). Just thought you'd want to know in case there's a glitch or Brendan neglected to click something that needed to be clicked.
Thanks, here's the link: https://www.fangraphs.com/chat/brendan-gawlowski-prospects-c…. We didn't make a blog post for it. I'll remedy that.
Back to baseball. Fastballs away are not a good pitch.
Ben Clemens wrote that article earlier this year?
I'm curious what pitches in what locations draw the fewest swings – I figure it's stuff that never looks like a strike, like breaking balls above the zone or fastballs below it.
fried catfish hunter too
and he hunts rob deer?
Sox too confident?
I am loving the Hagen Smith/Grant Taylor/Ray Kerr bullpen surprise aspect of these playoffs
Smith's slider is *snapping* wow
He is unhittable if he can throw strikes which is still in question.
JOOOOOO
White Sox need the no triples defense that is being experimented with in the Fall League
That experiment is beyond the pale. I will stop watching if that is ever put in place.
Jo Adell should just try to hit triples every time
Let them load the bases again and finally got punished
fun fact: when jo adell hits it, its called a jriple
man, that oppo groundball down the line is such a killer
.280 xBA and probably not much more xSLG
It doesn't look like much to a computer but gets the job done more often than not.
white sox make an out by contact challenge
You don't see the dropped called third strike too often.
This has to be first in the history of baseball. Four different lefty pitchers in the first four innings of a game.
We back! Very cool touch with the team affiliations, thank you as always for putting these together!
Sean, how do I get my real team affiliation attached to my moniker?
Settings cog in the top right!
We didn't think you needed one!
Thanks!
(I am not Sean but I am helpful)
I'll admit I tend to be skeptical of former players hired in the front office, and was doubly so in the case of Getz, having come from the previous mess of a FO, but he has done a phenomenal job it seems
White Sox still have some life left in them!
Ha Ha, love it!
Double Challenge! 🚨🚨
These are total time sucks. MLB should be replaying the totality of plays when adjudicating challenges.
Agreed it's too legal system-ish.
double uno reverse card
What a silly few minutes
Is *runner at 2B turns his head to look at the bag* the universal sign for telling the hitter it's a FB?
@Jon – I have to ask, do you and Jason have automations set up to track roster moves and lineup projections, or are you glued to your computer at all hours F5ing ad nauseam
You should see them at dinner during Winter Meetings.
I'll take that double over catcher's interference!
Peters loves those long AB's. Not quite 18 pitches but he delivered again.
So Jazz Chisholm Jr. has likely played his last game as a Yankee
If you're the Yankees do you QO Jazz? If you're Jazz, do you accept?
I think they'll QO him and he'll decline it.
haven't followed him much, but at a glance I'd say yes and no – he's only 29 next year and looks like a 2+ win guy moving forward
Yes and yes but I am neither the Yankees nor Jazz Chisholm Jr.
jazz has to have a free agency market, in spite of everything. i could def see the angels go after him
I don't see someone who talks about having 50/50 season this year just accepting the QO.
It obviously will depend on what other offers are on the table, but I think the appeal of accepting it would be a chance to redo his walk year after this year’s performance
if I was a GM he is not someone i would want on the team. He seems to dance to his own drum and isn't so good that you want him around at the price he is going to ask for.
I wouldn't mind a high-value, shorter contract if you trust your organizational culture, clubhouse leaders and manager, but I wouldn't want to be on the hook for six years and nine figures.
I think that’s overrated, at least specifically in his case, but I do think the yankees are done with him. He objected hard to being benched for one postseason game in 2025, and now he’s going to have been benched for multiple postseason games in 2026, so they’re clearly past caring how he feels about it
if he has a QO attached to him I could definitely see him being one of those "unsigned into March" guys, let along the lockout playing a part
Not starting tonight is absolutely a ticket out of New York.
He's sitting against a RHP today. Not sure if that's happened before in the playoffs. Not a good look
Which is exactly why I made my comment.
Had me thinking about it so I just did the research and nobody has been stuck waiting until the season to take less $$ because of the QO since Keuchel in 2019- feels like it used to be 3-4 guys every year with the old CBA
Some of this is more guys accepting it too
Just a routine major league caliber play but still pretty nice.
Horrible way to allow the first run
That might've been even worse but I guess we'll take it?
The pitch of the year coming up
I can just feel the leverage.
and that is what great players do!!
did the ump rule that a catch? i couldn't see on the broadcast. not that it matters, i guess. what a recovery
I simply can't say enough about my appreciation of Jose Ramirez. He stayed with Cleveland when he could have got much more elsewhere. It is too bad that he didn't make that play in front of the home crowd.
I have an unreasonable dislike for Chase Meidroth for the sole reason that his name has terrible mouthfeel.
I still think J-Ram is the most underrated player of this generation and I hope he doesn't get shafted in the Hall vote
Meidroth pronounced sounds like the name of a demon in an Elder Scrolls game
Cleveland has been my AL team since the days of Albert “Don’t Call Me Joey” Belle, but it feels like a frontrunner move to add them as flair on my name.
They haven’t won a World Series since the Truman Administration. I think it’s okay.
J-Ram has an outside shot at 400 HR/400 SB, and maybe 2,500 hits if he really rebounds. I think he’ll get in.
Hey I'm writing up the LAD-ATL game tonight, so I'm just stopping in to say hi. Also, I'm glad you got that BOS tag next to your name, bosoxforlife. Now we'll finally know who you're rooting for.
I am very proud to have been a Red Sox fan since my first game at Fenway in August 1948 and am not afraid to show my loyalty through thin and, finally, thick.
ok i'm switching to the LA-ATL game
Asking for two innings from Cade Smith up four runs feels a little much
How many non-Grant Taylor relievers have attempted this in the last week already and gotten hit? Duran, Miller, etc
Hate it.
Also the correct answer for “favorite Midwestern food” is Italian beef ordered wet, hot and sweet.
Hotdish is my favorite Midwest food.
I am still trying to find a way to answer "neither" when asked who I want to win in the Rays-Yankees game.
I’ll try to remember for tomorrow.
walking ten and striking out 16 times (and counting!) is not a good way to win a baseball game
feels like the Dodgers hitting plan for today was "sit on the splitter and wait for a bad one"
This broadcast totally forgot about Tyler Anderson :(
So do GMs, most years
remember when he randomly popped for 4 WAR in 2022 and got way overpaid by the Angels? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
i was at his near no hitter vs the angels and its the one time ive ever been actively mad at shohei since he broke it up in the ninth
Smoltz says players will evolve in “when, how, and why they will challenge” in ABS. I want him to expand on this “how” element of the challenge system.
accidentally while adjusting their helmets
I was thinking maybe more taps? Like at least five or six.
Cleveland is Clevelandmaxing
Gotta sit Cade now, right?
I don't much want to watch him broadcast baseball, but I would absolutely watch Smoltz try to play a video game
He was proudly Smoltzsplaining how to get a big lead and force a throwover. I would watch that.
How fate twists and turns as life goes on. Early in the year Davis Martin was a leading candidate for the Cy Young and now he is relegated to mop up duty.
mop-up guy came in in the third
wow! still Cade Smith? with a 6 run lead?
Stephen Vogt is usually one step ahead but this is definitely a questionable decision.
Great response with the CLE/CHW poll! Most of you were wrong. But I like the participation!
Has Davis Martin made a start in the playoffs yet?
3 hard hit outs against Mahle that inning
the BABIP gods giveth, the BABIP gods taketh away.
Muncy hit a really good pitch 390 feet. Braves should be very worried about third time through but are very inconsistent about how much they consider that.
Could we *not* check in on the prediction trends, driven by Polymarket?
5 walks is bad and all, but ultimately 4.2 IP 1 ER from your #4 starter in the playoffs is perfectly adequate
Hello from Yankee Stadium
Here's a poll question:
Will the Yankees make more errors than I eat press box cookies tonight?
If I were there and this question were about me, it would be no contest.
For those of you who don't know, during last year's ALDS, Davy carried multiple plastic cup's worth of cookies out to the auxiliary press box in the right field upper deck stands. It was inspiring
Cookies are my favorite food.
Teoscar looks hurt
Can't believe that wasn't a triple. Did he not run out the box? Tbh I guess that's fair cause I *really* can't believe it wasn't a homer lol
He didn't go into his HR trot but he never hit high gear.
Feel like we should find a way to tax ad spend for gambling sites. Consider it a pigouvian tax.
So twice ATL wont score because a baserunner didnt get to 3rd when they should have
Wait, Harris scored on the first one.
Last night it was easy to find time to have dinner between games but I am befuddled by what I am going to have to do to fit my chicken alfredo into the schedule.
How was the pizza?
It was, as always, just right. Crisp and loaded with meats of all kinds.
Brandon Gaudin clearly saw the criticism of Joe Davis and didn’t want the same.
Well, time to watch the judge yankees die
they gave fried schlittler’s numbers in the tv graphic
I was so confused by this
It looks like Fuentes is beginning to show some fraying around the edges.
I think it was 47 pitches and then two days rest. That feels like a lot of pitches to only rest two days.
i think he was safe
Yeah, but seriously Teo, come on
Too close to overturn.
Closer than it needed to be though. Would've been a total tootblan
I'm happy anytime there's a chance to say TOOTBLAN
What was that, 6 pitches?
New lineup fixed everything
Keys to the game. Don't walk guys with 2 outs
The Dodgers are just absolutely mocking that conventional wisdom this series.
F*** the Dodgers! That is all.
Wow
What type of cookies? I am partial to rea Toll House.
They're very much cafeteria cookies. Usually chocolate chip (but those go fast) and oatmeal raisin.
Pages should have ran through second there.
One of my favorite baseball-isms is guys throwing "the kitchen sink." I just love the idea of people who don't know the sport blinking at the idea of a "kitchen sink guy"
Say what you want about Smoltz
Why is Acuna batting 2nd?
Where should he be hitting? He was fantastic in September. If we are moving guys down based on the postseason, are we moving Olson and Baldwin down, too?
Has Acuna even hit a ball hard? Olson, Baldwin, and Albies have at least made hard contact
Yes, he has hit a ball hard.
Edit: his hard hit rate coming into today in this series is 50%, tied for highest on the team.
Fried’s hurt
Fried still out there. Any source on the injury?
Acuna a non-factor….tough to see.
What happened to Fried? Watching Braves game….
Unclear but Cole just jogged out to the bullpen
As much as I hate the Yankees (I'm an Orioles fan), good to see Lombard post up since his call up.
He’s been bad
That changeup for strike three by Martinez was pretty
Fried back out for the third.
Lombard making a mistake on the field again. That throw was both futile and wide and could’ve given deluca an extra base if garcia didn’t bail him out
Are you guys watching Yankees exec Mike Pinsky on Survivor 51?
No, I’m watching Dua Lipa in the second row
Maybe Lombard is too
"dula peep" "i can't [field a ground ball]"
Playoff baseball, and we have someone invading the chat who's watching Survivor….LMAO!
could a player theoretically go on the injured list for insomnia
the basis for this question is that i felt my game iq slide into the negatives as i attempted to play frisbee on 30 minutes of sleep last night
for sure, right? I think I can recall some sleep apnea diagnoses helping players get right
Rays win
What's happenin', hot stuff?
As much as I'm frustrated by not having a dining table at hand when I go to a baseball game, I find the Chop House slightly offensive. It feels antithetical to the communal peanuts-and-cracker jack mode of live baseball
if you aint balancing an aggressively laden tupperware and thermos of scalding soup precariously on your lap you aint livin
i think the only viable solution is a lecture hall style desk that folds out from in between, and is inevitably covered in gum et cetera
atlanta would never have an offensive chop
Diaz again. Do the Dodgers think he’s back?
rice is nice!
Well damn, maybe he is.
He was pretty good to close out the season
Popping back in just to celebrate!
:)
alas, my "hometown" "team", the cobb county hatchets, have fallen
nice George
The funny thing about the Yankees is that they *can* play good defensively. Great even, at times. But they can also look like a DSL club some nights.
That was some great defense right there
Congrats to Ryan Vilade, former Indianapolis Indian
Scorebug got fooled there
How do we feel (aesthetically) about the moment of ambiguity when it's not clear whether it's a home run or a robbery? Extra fun 'cause suspenseful, or annoyingly anticlimactic?
I'm a fan
It's super fun when they actually catch it and play it cool for a second or two
I only like it when it's a catch
i'm not a huge fan bc it feels like doing the pitcher dirty
but im sure lots of pitchers are chiller than i imagine. i'm just socially anxious and a mess
lombard feels like a bwj type situation to me. he might grow into ss really nicely
at least that's my hope, bc i find defense aesthetically pleasing
TBS messed up and put up a third out on that HR. Oops.
Ben Rice deserves to be on a better team
wheelhouse deserves to root for a better team
ftr i think it's like a law of nature that wheelhouse must be a yanks fan. like fermions having half-integer spin. if you put another hat on their head they become a non-wheelhouse
The Yankees had the best run differential in the league this year by a lot. This isn't a bad team. I wish for the day when the Yankees have an actual bad team
I didn’t say they were bad, I said Rice deserves better
rice deserves a whole bibimbap of accompanying characters
rice deserves to be the staple grain of entire continents and their diaspora
i'm so hungry.
the yankees are certainly a very frustrating team i will grant
Is this one of those injury replacements that really isn't 'cause they were going to take him out anyway? And does the reliever still get the extra warmup pitches in that situation?
extra warm up pitches feels almost… counterproductive to me. if the guy's already warm, save his bullets, i guess? i don't know how arm health works, though
Why would you be playing jones shallow
i am sure aaron boone has seen 10^23 times more baseball played than i have, and has billions more neural connections related to it than i have, and knows subconsciously more than i will ever consciously know about the sport. but every so often he makes a decision that's a real head-scratcher, even to me
did you know that neutrinos change flavors. i didn't even know neutrinos had flavors until today. what do you think they taste like
I heard it was considered as a secret ingredient on Iron Chef but producers worried that it would be the most disappointing and confusing reveal.
Should Boone pull Fried for the sixth
Hey everybody, just filed my Dodgers-Braves gamer. What'd I miss in New York?
Rice is a good hitter. Kevin Cash has a quick hook.
ben rice is still the goat
some yankees fans might hate the yankees more than i do
Wasn't a quick hook. Martinez left after getting hit by the Volpe line drive
He seemed to be on the ropes anyway, but I think that prompted it.
another hard hit lineout for trent grisham. i will not be looking at the average social media take on trent grisham
Boone should pull Fried, right?
i am trying to use the new flairs to create words instead of watching real baseball. the psychologists continue to insist that this constitutes normal behavior.
I love this for you
"i'm creating value for society!" i scream, while they drag me back to the basement
Fried’s back out there
if you stitched fried and rodon together do you think they'd be injured more or less frequently
not sure, but theyd make a great circus act
BAAANG
Oh my goodness, the way Mesa watched that ball.
Hey Boone should’ve pulled Fried
That was awesome
God I hate being a better manager on my couch than that numbskull
Did something happen between Mesa and Wells bc that was aggressive
I thought he was looking at his bench
I uh don't think that's where Fried wanted that sweeper.
I uh don’t think that the mound in the sixth inning in a win-or-go-home game is where I wanted Fried
i remember him melting down in the atl/sdp wild card in… '24? i think it was yom kippur as well; idk if he's observing still
my friend's cat bernie is not impressed.
Victor Mesa is a very fun Rays Magic story.
I have rarely been so shocked by a HR. Might be the worst pitch I've ever seen Max Fried throw. I wonder if the Caminero hot shot back at him messed him up
Good hitter third time through the order
Not better than Aranda or Diaz. And not a better hitter than Fried is a pitcher. And Fried was cruising until the the liner at his face
“He was cruising”? Are we in pre-SABR times?
The first 2 batters of the inning were sat down easy. And the previous inning was 1-2-3 with two nasty strikeouts
good guy fried wanted to make sure he could be home for his new kid
Is Fried really that bad of an option there? He's a top 10-15 starting pitcher in the game and he had the platoon advantage over Mesa. I love to rail on Boone as much as the next guy but this one wasn't an obviously bad call
clearly, because he gave up a homer /s
I didn't think it was obvious, but I'm generally skeptical of the 3rd-time-through orthodoxy (and I wanted Gray to be left in, so it would be hypocritical to say Fried clearly shouldn't have been).
It’s the third time through the order, against the top of the order, in a tied win-or-go-home game, with a fully rested bullpen. Inexcusable
Oh, and Fried has been on the IL twice this season and hasn’t regularly gone deep into games
Wasn't Jax going to start tomorrow? If there's a game 4, who starts?
I guess we’ll never know
it aint over til, uh, what was it?
Mr. wheelhouse the odds of max fried giving up a left on left homer to victor mesa are like 0.1%. This series is just hell
Fist LvL home run Fried's given up this year I think.
Put the ball girl at third
actually kill me
Go Rays! defeat the evil empire!
you're all invited to my funeral
Nice challenge by Hicks
evil empire you're stuck in the 90s brotha
AHHHHHHHH|
I love it when the ball girl makes a nice catch. It's one of my favorite bits of baseball mundanity
wow
ANTNEE
oh my
Volpe, of course.
Where the heck did that ball go? Live, it didn't look like the fans got it either
Hit the roof
Mesa had an odd reaction there
If this gets overturned I'm excited to watch Boone get tossed
bout to def wasn't over
i cant wait for it to get overturned plz
I think that's a double
If they can split the difference there
Definitely not a homer
Jeffrey Maier is looking old
Yea no way where does Lombard go
It looked good head on but the guy in the jacket was clearly way over.
edited
I’d call him out.
if its a double Lombard definitely would have score no?
I’d call him out.*
Over/under on items thrown on the field when this is overturned?
Two beverages, a container of popcorn and counting.
they will always be the evil empire to me! Although now the dodgers also qualify.
Right call, imo
edited
Really just out of spite for the fan that reached into the field of play.
Literally everything is going against us today. I hate this
Boone asking for an explanation for a perfect call in which the run scored is interesting
Eyewash
We might need a poll for that
Maybe he wants Volpe on third?
Also, come on, we're at least another 75 years from the Yankees not being the Evil Empire
Being a yankee fan who wasn't alive for the dynasties is odd
I feel ya. It's got to be unsettling to be the Nebraska football of baseball
Go Rays!!! Tampa needs some love!
holy changeup Jesus
They've been a normal big-market team for at least 15 or 20 years now but the metaphysical inertia they built up from 1920 to ~2009 is the size of a planet
For Twins fans it continued into 2010, 2017, 2019. I will never not despise the Yankees
As someone born in 2000, I do remember 2009. But fans of other teams really underestimate the sense of how fans of my age feel just like any other team. We genuinely feel we have seen barely any success. Yes we appreciate being good every year. But a lot of other teams are good every year (or most, we are abnormally consisten). But at some point we want WS titles, and we just feel like we consistently fail in the playoffs. Because we don't remember the 90's. It not relevant
No we have it so much better than most. The bad thing about the past few years is how uniquely humiliating the losses have been.
Try living through one losing season then we'll talk
Exactly we got it good but the laugh factor of the recent losses sucks a lil
As I am also a fan of sports teams that miss the playoffs I can say id rather them miss the playoffs than lose to a huge rival because they make 5 errors in a game with the cy young winner on the mound
You get to pitch Cy Young pitchers and see home run champions every year. Have the Yankees ever traded away at the deadline?
They were very stupid not to in 2023
They got Gleyber Torres from the Cubs for Aroldis Chapman in 2016
They did not know it was an option probably
hey you kids get off my lawn! /snark
The Yanks definitely aren't the same Evil Empire to the rest of the league anymore, but respectfully, a Pirates fan born in 2000 has seen 6 playoff games in their lifetime and they lost 4 of them… there's levels to it is what I'm saying
Thank you Michael I am stealing metaphysical inertia. this is why I subscribe to this service
Manny Machado did WHAT
At minimum the consequence needs to be that they confiscate the ball, right?
(he bunted for a hit)
I know a few METS fan who still think the Yankees are evil. They will always be evil. Baseball is more fun when you hate or love the Yankees.
Now imagine if that third run had been to take the lead, instead of not being enough to make up for Mesa’s HR
I take it personally that the Red Sox were denied an opportunity for another World Series because John McGraw refused to play them in 1904. A few mildly underachieving years for the Yankees are not going to change how I feel about them.
Okay Boston sports fan experiencing literally the most sports success ever of all time and still complaining
Not being a football fan changes things a bit, but point taken.
Fair fair
The Red Sox have completely dominated the Yankees for most of my living memory
Didn't the Yankees just obliterate them last week in a playoff "series"
That was AI
Even as a Red Sox fan it kind of feels that way with what so often happens to the Yankees right after they beat the Red Sox soundly (in the regular season just as much as the playoffs, it feels like)
Can we get a flair for team entropy? I just want every series to go to the last game. Maximum baseball.
What would it be? ΔS?
Ω_max(Baseball)
ΔS is really good i appreciate this (currently in thermodynamics)
Yeah, I was wondering if you got your homework done when I wrote that.
Does Yankee Stadium even have parking lots?
for once!
That was a nice last Yankee AB for Jazz
Well we got to see Jazz Chisholm
He was in there to homer or walk and took a good aggressive homer swing just missed it
The Yankee fans seem nice.
Would you be
TBF the Dodger fans would have left already to beat traffic
Now a nice last Yankee AB for Grisham, and Bednar’s warming up for his last Yankee innings, right after Blackburn’s last Yankee inning+. Considerate of Boone to get everyone in the game so we can all say goodbye. Maybe he’s not so bad of a manager after all
Yankees fans booing their own team is so Yankees fans
idiot fans
I have always felt Jazz Chisholm was a great name.
its a one run game stop booing
So true
Could’ve been a one run game the other way if Boone had pulled Fried when he should’ve
Brother if you want to play the odds game the odds of mesa hitting that homer are so slim. if Diaz or caminero hit it id get it but he mowed down Diaz and Aranda to start the inning
At worst, it should’ve been batter-to-batter with a reliever ready as soon as one reached base.
If its batter to batter you're absolutely leaving him in against a lefty with a runner on first
damn Jax so nasty
Jax is nasty. Can't be too upset at Grisham or Rice
Curveball averaged 86 w -16 tn
I love that MLB doesn't stretch out the playoffs games ridiculously like the NBA does, but is it too much to ask to avoid overlapping games?
I love the overlapping games. Feels like March madness
I went to a night dodger game at the end of a spring break road trip and we were in the parking lot until midnight and then had to drive all night up I-5 to the Bay
It is honestly the worst postgame experience
public transit >>
In full agreement that public transit is the way to go to a ballgame
there's this song called "LAX" by vulfpeck. the hook goes "i love my baby, she's the best / she picks me up at LAX". it sounds like a love song, and it is, but even more it's a condemnation of lax as a feat of extreme endurance
I haven't been to a Dodger game, but have spent enough time in LA to say I don't think you want to take public transportation there.
Car dependency + NIMBYs = awful everything
I believe Tampa Rays are the best run team in sports. Go Rays!
Them and MIL. Rays strategy of getting a bunch of scrappy guys and elite pitching seems to get them a legit run every 5 or so years. Can't ask for much more when you don't spend
Only one 90 loss season since 2008. In the last 10 years they haven't had a 90 loss season or finished last. So they do this without long periods of high draft picks…in the AL East
Victor Mesa Jr. had reverse splits this year btw, just fwiw. 146 wRC+ vs. LHP
Yeah but it's max fried who famously does not give up home runs. I get taking him out but its not like leaving him in is bringing in Nestor cortes to face Freddie freeman
Bringing in Nestor there was more defensible than leaving Fried out there here
Victor Victor Mesa Mesa
victor "victor mesa" mesa
vick table
I'll bet the Marlins miss Mesa
Clean shaven gerrit Cole jumpscare
i wish for a midwest funfest world series
If that happens, we are going to have so many Midwest themed polls in here.
I hope its finally the brewers year
I hope your right, but the dodgers exist!
He wasn’t hit there
Weird one because it sounded like it did but didn't look like it
That won’t be overturned and Boone should get himself tossed
Aranda's elbow guard didn't move and the spin of the ball didn't change. Don't like that call.
If he doesn’t he’s quiet quitting
That's terrible. Pretty clearly didn't touch him
Junior is so scary
Not a HBP
i am somewhere within a day's round trip of the twin cities, so i went to kramarczuk last time i was down there. good soup. excellent soup.
Looked like the ball changed direction slightly
I wonder whether Bednar gets the QO. Velo was down from his peak all year
between bednar and r. iglesias who do you figure is the better true talent closer
it'll be interesting to see. velo down but splitter took a huge step forward. doubt they give a reliever that money
I'd guess Bednar
Bednar but they’re both in the great, not elite tier
i think they are very similar. one could even say close.
can Adrian Morejon close as well as them?
I think they either trade for a brand name who hasn’t hit FA and gotten paid yet (there was so much noise around Miller), or sign someone who’s gotten saves for someone to go into a competition with the likes of Headrick and Lagrange for the spot
in my mind, based on exactly 0 data, morejon feels like a better closer candidate than either
Morejon will also get paid as much or more than either
My gut feels the same
I believe that was Volpe’s first-ever putout at 3B in the majors
Red Sox legend Cam Booser
That story on him on mlb.com was really cool
RARE RAYS DEFENSIVE MISCUE
a win for team entropy
Not an awesome throw but Aranda's got to pick that. Caminero did a pirouette for God's sake
They called it an E5?
everyone knows that the more you spin the more obligated the 1b is to pick it
I would not have, obviously
i think TΔS works maybe? being part of the thermodynamic identity if you swap d for delta
Lombard actually swinging at a first pitch fastball strike for once in his entire career. He missed it
Great time for an ad break
Hated it
Makes me mad
you know I just really wish it was a gambling ad
They are prediction markets
u right u right my bad
Nice for Stanton to get one last AB as a Yankee.
lighten up, Francis
I said it’s nice
Hope he doesn’t strike out
Whelp
It was still Nice
0.7^3 is a shockingly small number, and i wish people who bet on parlays understood that better
What are we talking about here
sorry i meant to reply to the thing about gambling ads. parlays preying on a "near miss" fallacy etc. the more legs to a parlay, no matter how good the chances of an individual leg hitting, the worse the chances get, invariably.
Stanton up. This is cinema. Does a HR here materially effect his HOF chances?
giancarlo "notnats" stanton
legendary social media presence
i was trying to show my friends photos of his batting stance and came across his nude photoshoot. that was an interesting day
Interesting…. but not bad
He should lay down a bunt
Hold on doing a parlay on that
Dang we both lost money
Thanks for nothing G
the cleveland series was legendary though. i wish he could have kept hitting nukes forever
g. stanton > 0.5 bunts, g. stanton > 0.5 hrs, g. stanton > 3 Ks. surely that'll hit
Ugh. A HR would have been so crazy. Wasted chance
kelly was a brutal matchup. no homer off those bowling balls
7, 8, and 9 in the order up in the ninth against Baker
they yankees have them right where they want them
Rays would have been so flummoxed by the bunt attempt that they'd throw it away. Yes I am available to manage the Yankees, if only they'd ask
Would you have pulled Fried prior to the sixth? If so you’re disqualified for knowing too much ball
I would not have cause I only learned about the reverse splits after the fact when the announcers mentioned it
Can I get a fact check on there having been no new options for motion sickness in the last 40 years
I mean, I know they had Dramamine in 1986 so….
i wasn't aware i even had options! i've just been carrying my plastic-lined bag around in case…
Phoebe Bridgers is new as of the past 40 years
tbf so am i
Fried couldn't have done THAT??? 😔
muk frid
mac feed
You're tellin me a Max fried this rice??
srimp
Oh Tatis Tater to tie it up, nice
word?? I gotta turn that game on
Are Singles Tater Tots?
infield hit has to be, like, a single shred from hash brown
So Kelly finished the inning and can now be removed from the game. If he comes out next inning can he be removed after facing a second batter if he's previously finished an inning? Or does he then have to face a third hitter?
Three batter minimum is only waived to start an inning
I.e. the latter
If that’s the last we see of Bednar I would like to congratulate him on having been A Good Yankee. Rare these days
Not that rare. Hit-and-miss for big trade acquisitions maybe.
Love Bednar. Though going to commercial with him on the mound and coming back with Baker on the mound made me think the aspect ratio on my TV had gone off
2
Baker does not look unbeatable tonight, which is a start
Throw strikes
Can we get a Yankee GIDP to end it all
So close
Jones should steal here
Babe Ruth 1926 World Series Game 7 caught stealing would ruin me rn
i concede
Future Pirate Jazz Chisholm Jr
Ooooooh almost
1
Another rotating Rays infielder, another botched pick by Aranda
Ah thought that was it
Are all you Yankees fans gonna come back the rest of the playoffs after tonight?
Which would you prefer
Absolutely not
probably gonna have to use tomorrow to weep
Whoever said a spin should oblige the first baseman to catch better, I don't care if you were being sarcastic: It should
more spins more better was my thesis. i am unprepared to defend it
Oh, it’s over
WOOOOOO
I’m less upset than I was after game 2 by far
Congratulations to the St. Petersburgians!
Go Tampa!
I take it Junior Caminero doesn't use a broom very much in his day-to-day life.
Is that what he was doing?? I thought he was golfing for some reason
edited
Ninety-nine percent sure it was a sweep, but yeah, he shouldn't take up miming.
the children yearn for the mimes
Is the roof the series MVP?
Maybe the turf?
Boone “shaking up the lineup” meant that Grisham took that AB instead of, you know, Ben Rice btw
tactical genius Aaron Boone
Should have just slapped a fake mustache on Judge and sent him up. "Yea I uhhh had a growth spurt"
People really think it’s yankee fan overreaction to say he’s terrible at the job. I don’t see one thing he’s good at
What a terrible at bat from Grisham and Jazz after a game full of them. Mind boggling that Boone thought putting Trent first instead of Rice was a good idea. Imagine Rice taking that at bat instead…
what happened to grish even
Oh, this one’s easy: they bit hard on an outlier year and ignored concerning trends w.r.t. his defense and general athleticism, and then sunk-cost fallacy meant they kept playing him
There's a little more to this one. He looked great, then he strained a hammy and didn't hit as well afterward. And some of the advanced numbers say he just got unlucky even after the injury.
i know last year was kind of an outlier but he just totally cratered
The Rays' radio guy is suddenly complaining that the Rays don't get enough love from the "national writers." Is that true? I thought everyone agreed that the Rays are the most efficient franchise in baseball?
I would assume they're talking more about ESPN/FS1 types not Fangraphs.
I can't speak about the media. But I can say TBR didn't receive as much love from the bettors. Going into the season, even though the Rays had won more games than NYY and had home-field advantage, more money was put on NYY than on TBR.
That’s because bettors bet for their team and there are more Yankees fans than Rays fans in the country. That’s all that is
And that is how smarter bettors make money.
Sure, but dumb bettors are not a demographic whose respect I’d care about
I dislike the implication that I'm obligated to "love" anyone
It's why I don't have a dog
they are a bit tricky to root for tbf. churn etc
so Yankees fans hate dogs?
How long do you have if you want to get to the bottom of what Yankees fans do and do not hate
yanks HATE bark @ the park
My son Is a rays fan. Keeps needing new jerseys bc all the players get traded
hopefully caminero is around for a long time
just get him a Wade Boggs devil Rays Jersey. He is in the hall of fame.
That's like buying a Pete Rose Expos jersey!
zobrist? longoria?
He’s off the payroll he buys his own jerseys now. But in 2020 we went to the WS together in TX and it was great. ( for me the Dodger fan)
I know
Erasmo Ramírez
Will Boone be back?
no comment on his game iq but i personally find him a bit unpleasant
Yes
Chat, I have an important update from Matt Martell: The Yankees made zero errors and I, unfortunately, ate zero cookies.
Boone made several errors on their behalf
davy, i used to work at a place known for its purportedly unlimited cookies. i'll invite you someday somehow
There are few things I wouldn't do for cookies.
funnily enough i am not a very good baker of cookies. i mostly made bread.
You still have my attention.
Obviously the Yankees have a ton of faith in Boone, and I would imagine this isn't quite what it takes to break it, but it does seem at some point you'd have to give another manager a shot to win a WS in the Judge era.
Talking about winning a WS in the Judge era is approaching the same meaning as saying the Nationals won the WS in the Ryan Zimmerman era.
Is it Boone, who was, I read, credited with completely outmanaging Tracy in the previous series, or does it start with Cashman? Do the Rays outplay the Yankees because they have better players, or are the players better prepared?
Yeah, you're right it's more a general staleness. Not sure what the solution is or if it's enough of a problem to need a solution. But most teams do eventually make change even if just to make it.
Bradgley Rodriguez is an early contender for this year's postseason Louis Varland. Will he pitch in every single game? I'm leaning yes.
This is the 4th time in 5 years that a rival team has celebrated eliminating the Yankees from the playoffs on the field at Yankee Stadium. The only respite was missing the playoffs entirely
Like it’s getting boring
congrats on being bored of watching your team in the playoffs?
So you would prefer to lose
Would you have found that series enjoyable
They just lost
Yeah, I just watched it, it wasn't a very good series. Not worse than watching your team suck all year.
I'll feel sorry for you if you go through 7 consecutive 95 loss seasons and sell at all 7 deadlines.
Eh, it sucks to lose, regular season or playoffs. I get it.
then you finally get a winning team and they sell at the deadline!
You guys, Junior Caminero just did the Vladdy "Theeeeee Yankees lose!" thing in the clubhouse.
Oh no. Cursed 2027 season incoming for Junior.
Sterling will live to be mocked, forever.
Checking in late night to celebrate the Yankees being swept away!
And to watch the best series
If Miller and Morejon are healthy and available, why are they not getting these next 12 outs?
asking miller to get 6 outs didnt go well last time, not sure stammen is going to try that again
Seems like the Padres using their high leverage arms in every game in this series is finally coming back to bite them
Do not abuse Morejon! i want him to be a healthy National next season.
Man, I’m sorry but Wainwright adds absolutely nothing to this broadcast. Pierzynski is annoying and has a terrible voice, but at least he sounds like he’s got more than two synapses to rub together. Continues to be the worst booth in this postseason.
It's a shame. Nobody was better at following Molina's commands.
the FOX booths both suck despite basically fine play by play. would be happy to see Peacock expand it's playoff portfolio when the rights all get renegotiated.
Best way to avoid an underwhelming booth? Watch the game from a bar loud enough to drown it out.
The name checks out.
Yankees lineup in 2027 is probably:
1. Rice DH
2. Judge RF
3. Garcia 1B
4. Bellinger LF
5. Lombard SS
6. Jones CF
7. Volpe 2B
8. Wells C
9. McMahon (lol maybe it’ll be Caballero) 3B
That sucks
Yeah woof. Probably only top 3 in runs scored. With a top tier pitching staff. Tough times
5 down is terrible
You mean like Yankees fans that complain about have two of the best power hitters in baseball leading off and batting second followed by a guy that will slug over 500 against rhp?
Whoa. Boo birds are out in San Diego. Who do they think they are, Yankee fans??
Yankees must upgrade at third, but there aren't many options out there
They need two infielders
I'm sure you could get my Nats to trade you YoYo Morales 1b/3b. We are planning on giving him hundreds of at bats next year.
i know it's mo-re-hon but i keep reading it as "more jon"
There are so many ways in which I cannot relate to professional athletes, but watching Mason Miller pitch here with a baby whose age can be measured in hours really makes the comparison stark.
I took zero time off 22 years ago when my daughter was born. Not because I wanted too.
If he’s anything like I was after my first kid was born he’s probably seeing three catcher’s mitts while he’s standing up there.
my sincere condolences. parental leave should be a guaranteed right.
i seen dansby swanson throw frisbees as part of his hitting coaching thing. i seen pitchers throw footballs, javelins, etc for their warmups. do you think pitchers should throw frisbees
Baseball has a lot of food-related slang – cookie, meatball, can of corn, cheese, cup of coffee, oppo taco, grand salami, ribeye… as someone who doesn't watch a lot of other sports, does this also exist in them? Or is it a baseball-only thing?
Uber Eats had that commercial last year with food terminology in football
Tom Brady just added meatball sub to the football lexicon this year. In hockey the puck can be referred to as a biscuit, flowing hair is lettuce, teeth are chiclets as in spittin' chiclets. I think humans are just pretty food focused.
ben rice
Every time they cut to a closeup of Miller, I think, "Now there's an exhausted facial expression I definitely made in the first 24 hours of my daughter's life."
i've been asked "baby now or baby never" more times than i can count of recent. i love kids but at this stage of my life i think i would actually perish if i had to take care of a small child in addition to full-time studenthood
a crash course in thermodynamics as your life melts down before your very eyes
Just become the best reliever in MLB and apparently someone else will take care of them for you?
unfortunately that someone else is almost always "wife" and she's almost always stretched way too thin
Those wives are better paid than mine was
True, I guess you need to hit FA first and get that guaranteed contract.
similar to more-john, i always read it as brajlee and not brad-gley
Well i do not think i can stay up late enough for the game to end. As long as the dodgers lose, I'm fine with whoever they play. Goodnight!
i must take my leave as well. i have to be in class at 7:30 tomorrow (not thermo this time). goodnight all
Has there been any thought about a live score tracker on Fangraphs? Or do you have to pay MLB to license that?
This might be a question for earlier in the night tomorrow. I'm sure Sean will have an answer.
Back-to-back curveballs is super gutty
I loved it.
Moments like that I really miss Vin's "Like a house by the side of the road."
And with that, I've got to head to bed as well. Goodnight, all!
This game makes me wonder how Ashby didn't stick as a starter.
Sadly, my two favorite teams both lost today, the Braves and Not the Dodgers. Thank goodness for Not the Yankees!
So everybody asleep? Is this when we get the good liquor out?
We can talk about the 2027 yankees’ dearth of bullpen options
Cubs are also in that bucket. I think Morejon is a free agent, and if so I think he’s going to get paiiiiid.
The yankees don’t pay relievers anymore
AJ just said Chourio's "gonna be" a star. Who wants to tell him?
That's like all the years Smoltz called Kyle Tucker underrated
Stammen isn't thinking of bringing King back out for the 9th right?
I'm pretty sure most teams go into the offseason with an incomplete bullpen
Contreras so mad.
That might be the first mound visit I've seen by a catcher who wants to cool down himself instead of his pitcher.
Contreras is mad he wasn't able to lose two more challenges
Machado thought it was gone
OHHHHH MY GOD
Missed it by that much
YOINK
I somehow didn't know there is a chat.. This series has been VERY enjoyable
We only started doing this very recently! Outside of the normal game chats of course.
Sean made this from scratch, unlike our Jotcast chats, so it should be more flexible and we can do more of these.
Morejon looks rough.
Does he have the flu?
I feel like he looks like he does.
Just your run of the mill shoulder "stickiness". Evidently.
I'm glad I didn't know there is a chat before Yankees lost – I might have started ranting uncontrollably
You wouldn't have been alone.
There was plenty of that here. It was amusing
It briefly turned into group therapy in here, which was clashing with the early innings of the late game.
Man I don't want this series to end
One more game, please??
Get Buffalo Wild Wings to rig the game
Yeah, was just wishing this was a 7 game series.
I feel like managers get their aces throwing in situations like this just to troll us
The Miz coming in would become the most memorable moment of the postseason
Just not sure why they would do that when Megill exists
Being lazy here – did anyone bring up the definition of insanity and Boone in a sentence?
Just you!
Thanks – As I said, I am glad I didn't know there is a chat until that abomination of a series is over
These two bullpens are nutty. Just a cornucopia of lab-grown mutants throwing 101 with breaking balls that make hitters regret their life choices.
Sounds like a quote from Bull Durham
Megill always amazes me. How he can throw such darts while his delivery makes it look like he's falling backwards always messes with my brain.
And now it comes down to a less-than 100% Holy Sheets. The run may be over.
I feel like AJ is flirting dangerously with Joe Morgan logic right now
ARod logic even
NO
Brewers-Dodgers should be fun!
MLB doing re-runs now?
IMHO with that ball hitting the roof in game 1 and Machado's ball today, Padres can be excused for feeling like they were robbed. – good night everyone!
I don’t watch the Brewers often, but my impression after watching this series is that there is a magical vortex that surrounds them that forces everyone to play “good fundamental baseball.” None of this walking and home run hitting. You might beat them at their game, but you are forced to play it.
Crap, ARod agreeing with me on this point is not a good sign,
I wanted a Padres-Dodgers NLCS for the higher likelihood of tempers and shenanigans but the Brewers deserved it. Helluva team.
I build things here.