Members-Only Game Thread: World Series – Oct 28, 2026
Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the World Series game today. Only Members can participate, and unlike our usual staff Q&A chats, your messages will be posted immediately.
Our Member community is made up of thousands of incredibly knowledgable baseball fans, and we think this is a great way to follow a game with like-minded baseball enthusiasts. We might even have some FanGraphs Staff drop in and join the fun. Please be courteous to your fellow Members, or you may find your chat privileges revoked.
Go Rays!
go baseball
Good evening, everyone!
Let's go Brewers!
I am about as bored with the current narrative (pressure now on the Brewers) as I was with the previous one (Rays were done after game 3 and the sweep was inevitable). We assume the players are as emotionally unstable as the fans.
Fanthropomorphizing?
I like that word!
The reality is that there were 3 close games and one blowout. A few different 9th innings and it could be 3-1 Rays, and everyone is talking about how the Brewers keep blowing it even though they have performed better.
NLDS was the same way. Padres could have easily swept that. It’s crazy how close it’s been for the Brewers
Genuinely curious: What do the markets have on the velo of Miz’s first fastball?
not sure about the markets (screw those losers) but I think something like 104.5 is possible
I'm fascinated to see how Cash navigates this mess he's made of his available pitching
Welcome to steal it, cus it happens a lot.
Im getting drunk for the first time in months. If any Mets hate comes out of me, I apologize in advance.
what did we do to deserve that : (
For the sake of BrewersBiblio… Mets AKA Smoltz for the remainder of the chat
They’ve hurt hurt me with both of my teams.
Never apologize for Mets hate. Sincerely, a Phillies fan.
Let's go Rays
MIZ MIZ MIZ MIZ MIZ MIZ
That the game's brightest young star (personal opinion) is starting the potential last game of the season can only be a good thing.
Sorry MLB commercial, it's not darkest right before the dawn, it's typically darkest at solar midnight, usually in the wee hours of the AM long before sunrise
What do you expect from the same folks who think it's impossible to know how many days October has?
It’s saying something that FanGraphs is the only place sufficiently nerdy for me, and I play on the U Chicago math department softball team.
Good evening everyone! Gonna try hard to just enjoy baseball and not yell at my team!
I feel like BK is super throwing Chef whats her name under the bus.
If BK is admitting their chicken nuggets have sucked, shouldn't they be offering us some free new ones as compensation? WHY WERE YOU SELLING THEM TO US IF THEY WERE BAD
Lack of double-blind randomized experiments?
You'd think they'd check to see if they sucked
BK as a company only hires people that lack taste buds.
Oh man if they randomly released different Beta versions to different markets and didnt tell anyone, Props.
Read this as Brian Kenny at first
I'm on an actual TV Fox rather than stream tonight, so maybe the commercials I see will match more than a minority of you
"OK, we need to advertise MLB. How about Bill Hader losing his mind slowly?"
I still love Bill Hader
Jackson’s never seen a pitch he didn’t like
We all know that Drew Rasmussen isn't related to Dennis Rasmussen, but what my book suggest is that maybe he is?
Am I the only one who remembers this 1992 Dennis Rasmussen start? https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL199209290.sh… I am? Okay cool.
We back! Hello everybody
I have a theory that all baseball players are related
I like Chourio first to put the pitcher in a false state of belief that the Brewers are going to swing at whatever he chucks out there
Genius
Im surprised more people aren’t wanting the Rays to win. If I were an outsider, I’d avsultely want them to win, just to keep the series going
We’re a passionate bunch
Bauers on a roll! Of not hitting I mean.
Puyallup, WA’s favorite son, Drew Rasmussen
I'm rooting for the Brewers to win in 7, so rooting for the Rays to win today and game 6
second
I want to root for Game 6, but I also don’t want to tempt fate.
I made it 3 minutes with Smoltz's commentary, but the part where he started saying Rasmussen was pitching better because he's more tired broke me
Rasmussen looking good
You just wonder how long he’s good for
I just want it to go back to Wil so the Brews can hit some homers
Jumanji Part 3: The Search for More Money
Jumanji: the FLAMETHROWER
The kids love this one
My rooting interests: Manfred Getting Eaten by a Hippo> Brewers in 7 > Rays in 7 > Brewers in 6> Brewers in 5 > Brewers in 5 and the broadcasters mostly talk about the Yankees and celebrities
What other Burger King products are we going to find out have been terrible all along??
I don't understand how you can have new Jumanji movies with the same cast. HOW ARE YOU PLAYING THIS GAME AGAIN
"OH, here are the lousier players in the lineup too"
If only there was some non-verbal way to communicate with someone. I dunno, like “hands” or something.
trash can, but a legal one that does morse code
I want to see someone get Jumanji'ed into a worker-placement Eurogame.
“You’ve been transformed into a bushel of wheat”
Have yall been following the AFL outfield adjustment results? Insane.
I heard offense was up, but I didn’t hear any specifics about it
33% increase in hits and runs. Over 200% increase in triples.
I could go for some more triples
Those flies piss me off in MLB the Show. You hit the Perfect/Perfect window and it's precisely hit to the CF who doesn't move a millimeters
Hello all! I am going to try to remember to stick around here for more than a few messages
It appears Misiorowski's IVB is back to (and actually better than) normal so far
Dome at sea level causes craziness
Is this true?
Hey Jon!
Mound problems again?!
Just make it out of concrete!
I think the conspiracy of road mound Miz has actually gotten to him.
Did not expect this much feet chat this early in the game
I've never seen so many mound problems in a dome.
I feel like that’s a bald joke.
What if you got extra fractions of a win for winning longer extra inning games? The series would be 3-1.33, and the Rays would only need to win 2 more as long as they play 6 more extra innings
Insert “that just might be crazy enough, TO GET US ALL KILLED” squidward meme
Are we allowed to talk about hard toes?
Should have stuck with the slippery mound.
I think the worst feeling for any pitcher would be something forearm related. Or family tragedy
Or maybe having a soft toe.
Line drive to the…?
Existential dread
I will allow a hit to Caminero only because I have his RC
That might've been the fastest first inning of the series by a good ten minutes
Don't jinx it! I'm hoping I WON'T be exhausted at work tomorrow.
Back to business: hitting it right to Turang.
As a truck driver, GTA is such a stress reliever. I get to live out all my road rage fantasies. Can’t wait for 6 to come out.
Have you ever played Just Cause?
I have not, nor have I heard of it. Should I?
I played Spy Hunter in 1982 on my Apple II+, does that count?
It's a more destructive open world GTA-like game. It's older at this point.
BeamNG
Why have more people claimed the Brewers are gonna win, than that the Brewers will win in five?
Hahaha, I noticed that too.
That was me. Silliness
I really appreciate them using the slow mo camera to show him walking with the trainer there. Helped me really make sense of the action.
Hello everyone. What is happening with Cooper Pratt?
MVP
Great read (or great guess) by Turang there
I think the first/third base coaches are on crack
Pooper Cratt.
Out of the basepath…. Drink!
We have basepaths again!
I think you should be able to run to home in that situation
Love that high home replay.
That was inside
Only one run there feels like a big, well not mistake, wasted opportunity.
I forgot the downside of watching the game at the bar is everyone here believes they are experts at coaching. It’s inexcusable Frelick didn’t run home on that rundown, according to the people here
Tell them the fangraphs chat guy says that you are correct and they are wrong and stupid. That will fix it!
Im wearing Chicago Cubs shorts, so I’m not trying to draw attention to myself…
Ur killing me BBphile. Tickets to G6 and Cubs shorts? Bile rising. ;)
What is inexcusable is Pratt not stopping at 1st. 1st and 3rd with 1 out is optimum in that in that situation.
I feel like the rookies show their rookiness in the post
edited
Was that a combo Polymarket/election ad? Two of everyone's favorite things!
That one feels extra gross.
It’s quite impressive that gambling has found a way to make politics feel even more disgusting
That Polymarket ad shows the entire problem. She needs to bet everything he'll lose and THEN blow the whistle
Tampa can’t sell out a World Series game and they can’t have a decent mound that doesn’t require in game service. Embarrassing for a franchise.
That mound looks like they just dumped rubble on it
And now I'm looking at the pitchers' feet. Thanks, Miz.
So how many pitches before Miz throws something other than a fastball?
When it fails?
who is the largest shoe size (avg) : listed height
i have a suspicion that shoe size might be very slightly positively correlated with velocity
Whats the record for consecutive fly outs in a ws game? Either/both outs recorded by fly out and consecutive batters who flew out
but getting a height-independent measure for that sounds difficult (longer levers apart from foot)
Literally everything Smoltz says is in service of trying to deny the reality that baseball has been revealed as a game of strength and power rather than finesse and strategy. Everything.
True, and ironic considering he was successful mostly because he was one of the foremost power pitchers of his generation
The Pat Murphy angry smile
I wonder if Jackson would swing at a bowling pitch.
More research/public availability for whatever pain drugs they used to "fix" Jr's foot for this game. ?
At least they caught it this time, but is it that hard for them to communicate?
Yes. There are no ways to communicate.
Overcorrection from last night.
At this point I can only assume Caminero has a fetish for running into his teammates.
The replay showed Caminero screaming for it several times. It also showed neither looking at each other after the play…
I wonder if it’s because so many catchers wear the ear piece and an earplug in the other ear
edited
Really interesting of Fox to go to commercial with "Rockin' in the Free World," which is very much in the news right now.
I think Fox is semi aware that they are just highly paid trolls at this point
Semi?
How much credit for self awareness do you want to give them?
It's also a song up there with "Born in the USA" that will be played completely ignorant of the context of the lyrics.
FOX usually plays a lot of jam bands going into commercial. Lots of Phish, lots of Grateful Dead. This series has seen First Tube and Tweezer.
it's been tweezer reprise this series, not tweezer
It's not like FOX is a big single entity deciding top down to troll, it's mostly Jacob Ullman likes jam bands and picks what to play.
Need a poll for most mistakes we’ll see tonight: running into each other, running too far, or misthrowing to first
edited
New rule. Everybody dives twice on every play.
Jeez. Your feed is significantly ahead of mine.
I'm using an antenna. Much faster than cable and streaming.
You can set the chat to delay to match your feed in the settings
Gameday is almost a minute ahead of Direct TV. I wish I could find a way to use that advantage.
Bar bets?
Has there been any data about how much slower pitchers' average fastball velocity is in the postseason compared to the regular season? And is it different for starters and relievers?
edited
I think I've written about this. Pitchers throw harder in the postseason. Adrenaline. And shorter outings.
Huh. Even by the end of October?
They also pitch better when tired according to the expert in the booth
Here's Eno from a couple weeks ago: "The average postseason adrenaline velocity bump is just over one mph. Gavin Williams was up 1.9 mph today and Freddy Peralta is up 2.5 ticks"
Oh, here's my article: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/reaching-back-for-a-little-somet…
Vilade diving into the lava pit
Wow
The Brewers pitching coach is named Hook? And he's not the one who pulls the pitcher?
And their manager is named Murphy and, so far as I know, he never gets folded up into an apartment wall.
Wait until you find out his rank in the military
He probably doesnt even listen to Blues Traveler either
No dives. B-
Why is it so hard to convince players that running through first is faster?
Instinct is awfully hard for logic to override in a split second.
Going to go against the grain here and say that I think there is a specific way to dive and get there faster, though most people don't dive into first that way.
I believe I read somewhere that if you dive in such a way that you launch yourself forward and touch the base before touching the ground you are indeed faster. But standard baseball slide is slower and (a) no more propulsion from legs and (b) friction with ground
i am also appealing to the logic of the "layout" or "bid"
If the sideline is yelling "bid for glory" I'll allow it
yes i will shoehorn in frisbee things. no i will not attend a tournament or even my local pickup group.
(i might attend a tournament. health and homework willing.)
the once and future frisbee player
I think that Cooper Pratt baserunning blunder is going to come back and hurt the Brewers
I wanna see Yandy hit the ball with his arm
Super Mario Sluggers Donkey Kong style
Is Murphy rubbing off on Miz? He looked pretty pissed off there.
If true that seems like an HR issue.
I’d love to see Murphy get called into an HR meeting
“So the reason we called you in…no, I don’t want a pants-pancake. What even is that.”
Never let them know your next move
Yandy has one cheek with triple-wide eyeblack and one with single-wide. What?
You wouldn't get it. Yandy is deep into postmodern eyeblack art.
His ever evolving war paint is one of the things I love the most about him.
It’s almost like it it isn’t really there for the stated purpose.
I coach little league. It’s never there for the stated purpose.
Diaz and Frelick competing for most injured?
Frelick hurt Diaz delay of game.
Oof
Tampa Bay delay of games.
That the broadcast did not use their AI tokens to show me a comparison between Yandy and Miz biceps should get them all fired.
I like how they squeeze ads into any possible break
I wonder if it's even possible for Yandy to fully button his jersey
This whole “let’s experiment with telepathy” thing isn’t working
Is it just insanely loud in the dome and nobody can hear each other?
That’s my assumption
Not the fans, the crumbling of the mound.
Everyone seems a bit on edge as well
OK, how many of you were betting three innings, Brewers winning, and count them zero strikeouts for Miz?
They need to summon Pat Morita to visit Yandy in the locker room.
Miyagi…. My KK lore needs updating
I don’t know how a hitter can even see these pitches
Was it Adames or Paredes who famously could not?
Adames couldn't see pitches in Tampa
See in Milwaukee I bet that’s an HR
HR in 19/30 parks
Hit the weight room JC
more bat speed training
Been really impressed with Simpson in this post
No no no announcer man… infield in=bad
Keep your eye on the ball. Baseball 101.
Someone I know said that Simpson fella can really fly
I had been thinking the devil rays jerseys were holding TB back. They should know better than anyone that they’ve really only ever had success with the true Rays jerseys
I didn't want to believe this, but I can't find any evidence to counter.
Miz is done
After another two innings.
That was close.
Trying to imagine blocking a 102-mph fastball from Miz with a runner on third
Again with the throws to first. I just can’t.
Please put someone else at third.
Palacios is available if you are willing to play him at 3rd
Make a good throw to third base challenge: impossible
Can’t blame them for getting their payday but I didn’t think Parquet Courts would be the type of band willing to sell out to Starbucks
Nm
Cash thinks he's got 5 bullpen innings tonight?
I think it’s more about Rasumssen than the bullpen.
I'm sure you're right, but 48 pitches seemed pretty light to me.
I’d like to think he could’ve gone more, but I won’t pretend to know that for sure. It’s making the Game 2 start look a lot worse though.
Cooooop!
Cooper. Man.
This could be the dagger inning
I keep on getting confused with the crowd cheering for what just happened was good for the Rays or the Brewers.
I saw a game in Denver like that when they played the Cubs. It was wild because no matter what happened half the crowd went crazy.
Don't the Rays know we need to squeeze every ounce of baseball out of this series because we don't know when we'll have it again?
Just enjoy it we are all going to die next week anyway.
Is that when Grand theft Auto comes out?
#6 is in the real world
Smoltz must be soooo disappointed that they scored with a hit rather than a bunt.
Ashby comes in when and for how long?
Was Williamson drawn really far in? Shouldn't they have been at double play depth?
Infield in=bad
I think the rule is you can’t be good at defense AND offense
Here we go again…
If Ashby comes in and gets some big outs is he the WS MVP? Leads the team in +WPA to this point.
Feels like Pratt maybe has the inside edge at this point? Think they'll always give it to an offensive player over a reliever.
If Ashby gets like 6 outs, I think it should be him
Of course, I thought Ashby should have been NLCS MVP, so YMMV
I'm still on Contreras
Pratts best game was in a loss. Unless he gets another 2 hits tonight.
If an offensive player gets it, it should be Chourio. Ashby should be the MVP though.
Rays need the Brewers to bring Shane Drohan in for some inexplicable reason
Chourio RISP master
What would it take for Kyle Harrison to finally get into a game?
Spring Training to start.
10 run lead 2 outs in the 9th
Probably a blowout or another long extra inning game. I think Woody would be trusted more.
Gangsters to pay Pat Murphy.
They should give out a postseason mvp award and Ashby would get that
Need to DH for Bauers
Not with the lead he’s the best defensive option at first
I've been watching the playoffs for a month now and still don't know what a self-driving network is
It’s a network that drives itself.
Not just self-driving, self OPTIMIZING
Self optimizing
That clears it up even more
willem_dafoe_forehead_slap.gif
I assumed it was a network that could identify all the stop signs, busses and motorcycles in the captchas.
The day I learned that users were unwittingly training self-driving cars by filling out those CAPTCHAs was the day I knew we were doomed.
Wait…what?
Is google trying to turn people off of sabermetrics? These full moon stats cant be real…
Contreras challenging pitches has been my favorite part of the World Series.
Gary Sanchez challenging every PA has been my favorite part of the season.
You had me at Contreras
And being mostly correct.
And threatening to do it before the ump even makes the call.
Hi guys, missed you all silly me socializing with real humans at a bar instead of on the internet
Im at a bar!
Are you at the same bar?
Are you at an Irish bar?
are you at True Laurel in the mission in SF? IF so…
I am not
Food just showed up for me, and I forgot I even ordered
That mound legit looks like you could BMX on it
I did drink a pickle beer in honor of Milwaukee
https://www.totalwine.com/beer/specialty-styles/specialty-be…
Told ya Miz is done
73 pitches and a slightly tired BP? No way. One more inning at least.
I refuse to let facts and data get in the way of my sincerely held deeply flawed belief
Nasty K
That felt like Miz taking credit for Yandy making a bad swing
What is best in life Miz? "Blowing fastballs by injured DH's and hearing the Lamentations of their fans "
You win the chat for using the word “lamentations”
apparently getting half swings at cutters in the waste zone?
Conan rules
Still feels crazy to me that he has no runs in, 15 outs, and only two by K.
The Miz, contact manager
Our Mailbag is a little light on submissions for this week. Anybody have any World Series related questions to submit?
What World Series had the most beer consumed per capita?
Are the brewers the greatest team in American history, or world history?
I need a full write up on the Strunk and White of when its Our Mailbag v Mailbag v The MAILBAG…
We don't know they play baseball in other solar systems.
What year will the Padres win a WS? The Rockies?
What player has had the most injuries in a world series? The most HBP?
Seems like consensus is that Ashby won't win MVP this year. When has a reliever deserved it most?
Run environment-adjusted best RP playoff performances
Is there an acronym for successful/unsuccessful/bullied ABS challenges by a catcher? Can we backronym something for Wild Bill?
Everyone in here send your questions to mailbag@fangraphs.com!
that seems like a lot of work
I think it’s Balls Eyed for Low Pitch or Hit
Im a paid subscriber, this should be good enough! /s
But Mailbag (re: Davy) is hungry!
What has a bigger impact on World Series ratings: the popularity/market size of the teams or the competitiveness/excitement of the games/series?
1982 suds series.
Mailbag, how does the mound at the Trop taste different from the mound in an open-air ballpark?
Back in the McCarver days, I used to successfully predict what he was going to say before he said it. That made announcers seem useless.
Yeah, I'm going with this ballgame is over. 3 runs feels like a mountain right now.
This feels insurmountable.
It is
Never say never. I mean until the game is over.
Found the guy who didn't have it tonight. How many more do Tampa have in their bullpen?
Chandler took a bad route. Probably wouldn’t have caught it but it was a bad route.
Already not a fan of Floridians and now the poor Rays getting no home game support. No redeeming qualities
They are like baselines… only real sometimes.
The Sanibel/Captiva area is nice. Mostly harmless retired Midwesterners. Still hasn’t fully recovered from Hurricane Ian, from what I hear.
I worked in Tampa for two years. I went to the mall one time and went to the sports store. 90% of what they sold was Yankees stuff. It was honestly embarrassing.
Are there a bunch of empty seats I'm missing or something? I feel like the whole "the Rays have zero fans" thing is a little overblown
I'm guessing it's more so that the stadium seems filled with Brewers fans who traveled over.
Huh. I really haven't gotten that vibe watching on TV
I have. They booed Diaz’ injury delays, the “Coop” for Pratt has been loud.
The Rays had the lowest playoff game attendance since 1919. Game 1 of the ALCS felt like a home game for Cleveland. Florida just doesn't care about baseball.
Oh wow
Interesting decision there
Had to let it drop. How could he give up another run???
Is letting it drop actually the right decision?
In this situation, it is the only decision.
I think let it drop is correct here.
When down already? I think so.
Cooper Pratt, stealth WS MVP candidate?
Up to .62 WPA for the series.
4-0 seems so much worse than 3-0
And 3-0 was already very bad
And the marginal difference from 4-0 to 5-0 or 6-0 (the risk of a big inning if you let it drop somewhat worse) doesn't seem as bad as the 3-0 to 4-0 jump.
Take the out. He has a chance to throw out Contreras. Drop it and Pratt might hit a double
What's the win probability difference if the RF lets that drop? I understand it's not really feasible to conevy that in the moment but would love to know, feel like the extra run's a killer.
It could have been 5-0 if Pratt gets a hit though
Difference between 3 and 4 is more important than the difference between 4 and 5 especially for a team that's struggled to score all postseason
That makes sense.
Should've let it drop. The Rays have only scored 5 or more three times this postseason
And they're running out of time to do it
Guy had 6 hits in last 6 ABs
WE bump there was only 1% so we may be wrong
dropping by to say go brew crew!!
I think WPA is underestimating the gap – who the hell knows, but 4 runs against this bullpen feels like it would be D-Backs vs Mariano level shock
Even before seeing that "teams are 27-4 when they score 4+ runs in this postseason" stat I was just thinking Game 2 was the death blow, brutal for the Rays to score 4 with their ace pitching on full rest and still lose
Here comes Vaughn
A slightly better throw and that sac is a double play and no runs score
Anyone have insight on the relevant arm?
The right one.
Just got home! How'd Miz look? The line's a bit confusing
….good? Mostly?
5 Ip and 0 ER IS pretty darn good
was talking to a non baseball fan coworker (whos also a data scientist) and we were brainstorming an idea to take the derivative of WPA to measure how fast the "vibes" can change
We might be 3 innings from no baseball for who knows how long. We desperately need a Rays comeback.
No we’re gonna do a Fangraphs winter league watch chat! Hopefully
If this goes the way it looks, the Pads and Rays should play for 2nd place.
Dodgers-Guardians for third place, like in the World Cup
I’ll be attending Puerto Rican winter league from November 7-15. Anyone who wants to find me on Bluesky is welcome to join the unofficial official chat!
They will play baseball in March.
Hope springs
Why is Matz coming in? Your season's already on life support and you absolutely cannot give up any more runs here. Is Matz really the most likely to get out of this with no more damage?
Unless Martinez is somehow available, I'm not sure who else they're supposed to use in the 6th. Sulser? Missing-fastball Baker?
I figured this would happen at some point. They don’t have enough pitching they trust and this is what happens when you wear out your whole bullpen.
Has Baker been that bad Matz is the best option here?
Chandler is the slowest fast-AF left fielder in history
Matz .574 vs lefties 873 vs righties no idea why they didn’t PH Vaughn there. That could have been the dagger.
Gotta keep Hamilton in for his defense
I am Mailbag and Matt Martell has advised me that I should solicit questions. I am hungry. For questions. Though I also enjoy Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
my Q: is baseball the "vibiest" of all sports? is there a way to measure that?
Which players have dyed their hair?
There’s a stat called BLEPH that measure that
Is this the lowest salaried World Series (relative to league average pay) in the modern era? If not, which series were lower? Were they more even in outcome?
1. Best RP post season performances. Adjust for run environment of that year's playoffs. 2. See how much better Mike Trout's career would be if he played in Babe Ruth's…environment (add in as many AAA and AA players as you'd need essentially)
If you had another player to place on the field where would you put him?
Best estimates of actual MLB revenue and the current distribution there of?
What is the absolute optimal pitch mix (assuming, say, you get 4 pitch types) within reason? Give a pitcher an ideal arm angle for theoretical stuff and play around with it/
If the Crew holds on, has their been a World Series champ that's been so close to losing most of their wins?
Is this the worst FA class ever?
I go the other way. Would baseball be more interesting with 8 on the field? And would you play 3 in the OF or 5 in the IF?
what WS is this one the most like in terms of similar teams?
I never think of good questions. But y'all do a fantastic job with the mailbag
I’m gonna miss baseball if this is it.
Is Smoltz cautioning Misiorowski on getting addicted to… pitching well?
Look, you're not going to be good forever kid, so start learning to be worse now.
Bwahaha
I'm watching in Canada where Sportsnet has its own announcing crew, so thanks for mentioning Smoltz by name. Occasionally people in this chat start complaining or riffing about totally random stuff, and I just have to assume that Smoltz must've said something crazy.
Smoltz is terrible, and I say that as someone who cheered for him so hard as a child.
Some of that is also just us.
Mailbag Q: can you build/develop more Ashbys (or further back, Andrew Millers)? If so, how?
How can you not mention Mariano?
I think you definitely can't create another Mariano.
Mariano was great, but he wasn't used the way Ashby has been this year (regular season and playoffs), or the way Miller was in his great playoff run. No shade on Mariano to ask about how to build/develop a guy who's used differently than Mariano was.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…strikeouts bad, radar guns bad…🙄
Only I am allowed to throw it fast and bendy too… how do you think I stood out enough to get to the hall of fame?
I got one for the mailbag: give us an analysis of Smotlz and quantify his claims to measure how wrong they are
A bottomless source of Mathemadage posts for Ben.
Miz is still not pitching “old school” enough for Smoltz, even though he has allowed zero runs with very few strikeouts. The guy still just seems to hate baseball.
He got really excited about football though on that Lions promo
Calf cramp. Calf cramp!
Oh cramp
FireJohnSmoltz dot com is available…just sayin’.
How many more "worst things for a pitcher" does Smoltz have?
Cramps are the worst thing in the world! But have you ever had space cramps?
I love me some pickle juice
That's a bummer of a way to finish this start for Miz
Oh man that's a bummer. For him and the team.
As someone who gets cramps all the time, it's so annoying. And yes, do the pickle juice.
Just the kind of advice I'd expect from a briny scientist
disc knower
At least it's not an elbow or shoulder injury
Pretty sure those are actually the worst things that can happen to a pitcher.
I mean he got them almost six innings. That’s awesome.
More than I expected
He said he wanted to throw 120 pitches. I expected 6 out of him.
If they hold on here, Miz WS MVP? 2 wins, 1 run in 10.2 innings
Aaron Ashby would like a word.
Gotta be Willy C right?
Would be especially fitting in first year of ABS!
If like to see a orthopedic surgeon who's never seen baseball watch that slo-mo of Miz' pitching motion and give their thoughts
“Give that guy my number”
Kyle Boddy kinda used to do this when Driveline was in its infancy… He nailed Strass sadly.
Does MLB oversee the home team groundskeepers in the playoffs? If this was the '50s the Rays would've def tried to make the bottom of the mound as soft and loose as possible to screw with Miz's stride.
I don't know for sure, but probably nothing special. The umps can make them do things, though.
Sad for him to come out like this – but I think if you had asked the Brewers if they could get 5 2/3rds from him with 0 runs, they would gladly have taken it
I have no idea who MVP will be. Chuorio 10 hits, Pratt 6 straight hits, Miz 2 W.
Ashby is my vote. Chourio is my likely to get it.
I'm confident it won't be Bauers at least
These things are all narrative, so Chourio seems most likely. Ashby has been pretty good too.
Pat Murphy would veto the Pratt MVP because of bad baserunning if he could
How heavily does abs fit in? 🤣 id vote contreras
At least he wasn’t loafing!
Miz has .50 win percent added over the series and chuorio is actually only + .02!
Pratt + .61 wpa
they just said on the radio feed that contreras will challenge if he doesn't win it
Speaking of, I recently read the Pat Murphy anger level article and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Worst feeling in the world? Mmm no. Giving up the series winning HR.
So the secret folks is get good players and have a good coach.
And a good clubhouse vibe
I recommend scoring more runs than the other team, preferably every game if you can manage it
Monkey never cramp. Just sayin
I started eating bananas before I went for walks, and I’m not saying it worked for my leg cramps, but in my mind they worked.
It’s crazy how every team that is about to win the World Series always seems to have a great clubhouse!
Contreras has contributed with the bat , the arm and his eyes. He leads IMHO
I second this. Contreras' double today pushed him ahead of Chourio
dj khaled voice
ANOTHER ONE
Bauers continuing to make his case for MVP
Bauers for the loss
Driving, game on radio. Need an update on how pissed off Pat Murphy looks.
He’s the kind of pissed off where the guy who ordered after he did got his food first.
No you don't, you knew before you asked the question! He's eternally curmudgeonly
"No you don't!” — Nathan Fielder
Maybe if Ashby shuts it down from here he wins MVP? Otherwise I don't see a way it could happen
would need TB to rally to at least one run game if not tied, then have Ashby slam the door for couple innings
Uribe, Megill.
Smoltz on that bauers DP ball with xBA of .420 “that’s about as easy as a play you’ll ever get as a first baseman”
To be fair xBA doesn't account for fielder location. That was smoked but right at the 1B who was playing on the line.
Had to make a nice throw too though!
F**king hiccups. I hate drinking
Nice back door there by JoJo
Smoltz talking about people who "have no business talking baseball…"
Yeah ironically this was his best take of the night too
Apparently I have no credibility. I talked about it in the, this would be fun and I want it to happen sense… but definitely am guilty.
Why did it take so long for Simpson to take off for 2nd?
Had to go back and touch 1st base
Holy crap he didn't touch first
Smoltz says *anyone* who thought Miz should come in last night has no business talking baseball… wait until he hears there is a guy out there who would rather give up a HR than walk the leadoff hitter!
He’s not wrong about that.
Ump cam during reg season great!
Playoffs no thanks
I'm good without it any time on anything but select replays
Ugh…cue up “putting pressure on the defense.”
Yep. Nailed it.
If Contreras wins, is MLB really gonna tout all his ABS challenges? Do they really want to highlight that there's so many wrong calls to correct?
Yes. The Umpires don’t really have a say here. They’ll claim they “fixed it”
He should get to pie the ump whose calls he got overturned most
That’d be a great way to send off CB Bucknor
It’s baffling to me that ABS challenges are apparently so popular that MLB (and T-Mobile, of course) are building entire ads around them.
This is their idea of marketing the game, smdh
Smoltz wondering if the gloves are too large and should be regulated is probably his best comment this postseason.
The Roki photoshop still makes me cackle every time I see it
Guys… didnt we talk about whether pine tar is legal on the mitts? and regulating them?… Smoltz reads our chats!!!
In the spirit of being contrarian – who actually likes Smoltz? Is this just the case the average baseball viewer is 55 and remember him at his peak, and thus think highly of him? I'm willing to accept the case for him, but a guy who s**ts on the game doesn't seem like it helps to sell it
I’m 49 and I remember collecting his rookie cards and his peak very well. Can’t stand him in the booth.
I’m having to mute after every pitch. This DJ should be imprisoned.
He's trying to drown out Smoltz! He's trying to help!
I dunno, Crapshoot, I remember Smoltz at his peak (though I'm 48, not 55) and he kinda annoys me. During Mis's cramp was like his required one time per postseason when he's useful
I just don't get as mad at broadcasters as I used to. There's simply not for me.
I actually watched many games broadcast by Joe Morgan. Smoltz is just garden variety compared to that.
One thing I forgot to mention last night is how much I realized I missed extra innings without a runner on second.
at least we dont have to listen to rex hudler anymore
Honestly, if you're a serious enough fan to subscribe to an indie baseball website and spend what could be the final game of 2026 watching here with us, the broadcasters aren't really there for you, either.
I am with you 100% Dan, I haven't listened to an inning or missed more than a few here at Fangraphs.
That will not stop us from complaining!
Yeah, I sometimes read the comments at The Athletic – there is very much a market for “I reject everything we’ve learned about baseball in the last 30 years.”
I'm just complaining for the love of the game — I've had him muted since the first inning
Not over till it's over and all that but can't see this Rays lineup scoring 5 runs in 2 innings against Uribe/MeGill
Brian Anderson is a great help to his color men. He knows how to lead a horse to water.
I admit I kind of liked Tim McCarver, despite stathead scorn. My grandfather was a Mets fan so I grew up listening to him, and he had folksy charm. Plus it was kind of fun when he was instantly proven wrong.
Not impressed by Joe Davis
He's a lot better with Hershiser. I think he just doesn't trust Smoltz and tries to fill in more color on these national casts.
Sarcasm aside Smoltz is a bad broadcaster because his play by play guy can never trust him: either Smoltz trips over his words so badly you have no idea what he's saying or he veers off on some tangentially related rant halfway through. Davis has to constantly be on guard to jump in and save him
John Smoltz to FanGraphs readers is like Yelp food reviews for Andrew Zimmern.
I hope we get to see Palacios make another little league lollipop throw to first
Murphy would be great cast in a post apocalyptic movie where surviving a zombie outbreak is how he finally connects to his rebellious son.
He wouldn't be a great national broadcast guy because he's a huge homer, but I often miss Hershiser as the color guy during the playoffs
Mailbag: Who among the FGers would make the best announcer?
Eric Longenhagen and I don’t think it would be close
I'm going to risk a ban from Dan and unironically suggest Carson.
I've switched to the Brewers radio broadcast. not so hard to get it synchronized.
I’m a baseball on the radio fan myself. There’s something about it that is magical.
Absolutely right! I miss Joe Castiglione so much that I am having a tough time accepting Will Flemming.
I grew up listening to Jon Miller, then got Gary Thorne as an adult, and have Kevin Brown now. As a result, national broadcasters always felt underwhelming and I generally tune them out.
O's fans really have been blessed with announcers. Baseball players, less so.
I’m not really that old (29) but I still miss bob costas
Costas totally lost me with the Pedro Strop thing
I've also never made an underwear spreadsheet, for the record
I think this denial isn’t helping you.
I think they should have like 8 different booths, and you can pick based on mood.
Would love a permanant crowd noise option
Provided the DJ is imprisoned.
Brian, I'm not a mod status for the unstructured chats, so I cannot ban you being nice to Carson sadly!
Feeling goofy? Here's Bennetti. Want good color? Here's Darling. etc.
David, you know they'd figure out how to do it with AI
In last night's chat, someone posited an extra inning rule in which eventually Smoltz and Davis take over as pitchers. My question is, which would you rather have? Smoltz is almost 60 and Davis is 38, so Davis might last longer before breaking down, even if Smoltz presumably remembers how to throw a curveball.
Oh give me the Hall of Famer
Smoltz easily, as long as he can still physically throw.
When do the guys in the pregame show get involved? Jeter vs. Smoltz is more of a competition, but still not much of one
Not ph for walls?
Right? I am an ardent Walls defender, but not pinch hitting here is indefensible.
I looked at their bench Mullins would seem to be their best option. Not that much of an improvement.
And Joe Buck always gave the vibe that he felt we were there to watch him instead of the game.
Buck always sounded like he couldn’t wait to call football again.
Smoltz has inspired me to keep my Duolingo streak going. This time next year, I hope to be fluent enough in Spanish to be able to watch the ESP broadcast.
Bruh…why is this inspiring me???
Yeah, take the Hall of Famer
That may help for Chourio's MVP case
Joe Davis is a broadcaster's broadcaster; sometimes he isn't necessarily a fan's broadcaster
Let us save a few reproachments for the Arod/Papi/Jeter trio who are incapable of expressing anything that wouldn't show up in a comments section. Is it that hard to find a thoughtful player? Can I not have a panel of Joey Votto, Sean Doolittle, and Brent Rooker?
The crew for Phillies-Braves wild card round was fantastic
The Wheeler Proclamation notwithstanding
And add Pedro and Rollins so we can get the hilariously awkward "who is Pedro's daddy tonight" segment.
Another idea was Manfred vs. Bruce Meyer–I think Manfred's probably likelier to be able to get one over the plate.
does this mean that Ashby is closing?
That feels a little too cute, Megill's fresh and can go two innings
But Ashby is WAY better. Megill has been sketchy in the postseason.
Yeah but he threw 31 pitches yesterday, he's been dominant but he's still human
Ashby human? Citation needed
Hit the gym Yandy. Too weak.
I've noticed that throughout this series. He keeps thinking he hit one out.
Im obviously biased as a giants fan but I think Jon Miller doing national stuff is utterly amazing. Him and Dave Flemming (another awesome person) are so so good
Jon Miller is a top 3 broadcaster left in today’s game.
Yeah up until now it didn't matter what booth you got for a Giants game, it was gonna be good
Megill is a notorious bunt hater so maybe it should be oops all bunts here on out for the flappy bois
Stop, you’re making Smoltz aroused.
I've got so many (bad) ideas for TV booth combos by mood now. Banned announcers, for the anti-woke, manned by Thom Brennamen and Curt Schilling.
John Rocker for on field reporting I assume?
Rocker and Jose Canseco locked in a cage for two minutes instead of the 7th inning stretch.
Paired with Lenny Dykstra.
One more inning until lockout abyss :(
I don't care. Being this happy for Milwaukee will sustain me for a while. It feels so good to see an organization do everything right and get rewarded. Plus, their fans are so likeable.
If this is it, a huge thank you to Sean and everybody who had a hand in putting these together! It has been great meeting so many of you, I hope we get the chance to do this again soon!
Thank you Sean & staff we love you and appreciate all you do! 🫶
I would definitely recommend these chats as one of the innumerable benefits that make membership worth it–worth mentioning in the whatever marketing you guys do.
@brewersbibliophile on Bluesky. Anyone wanna add me would be appreciated. I’ve enjoyed these chats.
Thanks everyone for being here with us.
I also have a suspicion that the labor stoppage won't be too long. The owners know that the MLBPA will never budge on a salary cap under any circumstances, so presumably they have something else they want to get out of negotiations.
Let's hope!
They will never budge on something every other major American professional league already has on? I am not so sure. Will be about making sure the players get their earned piece of the pie I think.
A union is going to generally be more unified than 30 different owners, many of whom don't have the stomach to lose that much money with a long strike.
They’ve seen how it works. You can’t unpop that cork. I’d bet those other unions are jealous of MLBPA. They know they’ve lost.
As a Brewer fan who's been frustrated by the economic disparity in baseball for years, I am quite fine with a WS win followed by a lockout.
Even if you’re not Christian I think the Jesus commercial is best. That or Sweeney. I mean basically the same ad.
Did I miss the ad where Jesus tries to get me to gamble on sports while wearing nothing but catcher gear?
Do his dads switch off weekends having a catch?
It's nice that the Brewers get to win the title in front of their fans.
Need a booth from All the Smoke (except N Swisher)
Cash's pitching decisions will be rightfully questioned (Seymour here???), but at some point your offense just has to score runs
Yeah this is mostly on TB’s bats. TB pitching held up pretty well outside of G3
Cash will be questioned, but the real story is, he ran into a buzz saw. It would take the ‘27 Yankees to stop a team like this.
Certainly the last two games have not been good.
I wouldn’t go that far but I don’t think there is any question which team has more talent here. The Rays are just outgunned.
And Peralta's blowup was extremely predictable, to the point that I said it would happen immediately after Game 2. It's too bad that I'm so philosophically committed to never betting on sports that even Sweeney couldn't convince me.
JD, now you're *really* jinxing it, unless my feed is 10 minutes behind
Though I do like the joke
Another good WS question would be who has won the MVP with the lowest cWPA for the series?Would presumably be like here, one without an easy winner.
Livan Hernandez sucked in the 1997 WS and I hate you for making me remember that.
One more half inning <3
Did the bottom of the 6th take longer than 7-8-9 combined if this ends quickly?
Feels like it!
Yes
My receipt says I have 10 beers in me. Do I have an 11th before the end of this inning??
Spotted Cow?
Guinness
this is very milwaukee
If you are capable of typing the question without grammatical mistakes or spelling errors then the answer is yes.
Get home safe
If my wife don’t answer, then I’ll be walking the half mile home 😅
I don't like commercials that feel like someone didn't want to just pay NBC for the rights to use Ron Swanson
Dammit! Beat me to the store-brand Nick Offerman joke!
If the Rays actually come back and win this they still have no rested pitchers for game 6. Cash really has not managed his staff well this series.
🍻
Two hits through eight innings after the extra innings last night is crazy. Can't say enough about Milwaukee's pitching staff.
Not a save situation, so I guess they don’t bring in Rollie Fingers. Maybe Dan Plesac.
John Axford!
I always like going against A's Rollie Fingers in MLB the Show because it looks like Luigi is on the mound against you
Harsh but fair.
Caminero has a plane to catch
Cancun is calling
The Mario Brother, not the murderer
The less cool Luigi
Sure, if we want to just erase Goomba lives like that
At what point do the Mets (or Phillies or Yankees) raid Milwaukee of it's front office?
Mets tried!
The Mets won't be able to figure that one out.
Mets bashing and it was not Biblio. Chat complete!
My last comment may not get approved, so *expletive* the Mets
I'm excited to see if Pat Murphy actually stops looking like he's annoyed during the celebration
I think he just has Resting Manager Face.
He's allowed to smile but ONLY if he looks like a proud father as he does so
Luckiest hit EVER
Wow.
This looks and sounds like a home crowd, my goodness
I’m not sure if I’ve ever met a Rays fan, and I went to watch a couple games at the Trop.
Jason Collette is a hardcore Rays fan.
The only Rays fan I know of is Dick Vitale.
Never met him
That reminds me to praise Hicks. I was skeptical about him being full-time catcher for a playoff team but his defense has been much better than I expected and his challenges have been nearly perfect as well.
Let’s just hypothesize that the Rays come back to win the Series after that. Best baseball story ever?
Don't think so–the story would be the collapse.
But that particular play would be more infamous than Buckner, right?
I want the Rays to threaten enough to get Ashby in the game
Shoulda bunted smh
Pitching out of the zone the right call here
It's not quite over yet…but it’s been a fun postseason. I’m really glad all of you chose to be here with us this October.
Hopefully this lockout is quick. We will have editorial coverage and some interesting payroll tools during the negotiations.
You all are why we are able to do what we do, and I know these chats have been something I’ve looked forward to. I’ve enjoyed getting to know a lot of you. We are going to find more places to build community on FG.
Thank you, Sean!
FanGraphs makes baseball better
I’ll be signing up for one of the MVP things or whatever they’re called if games are missed. I love this site and don’t want to see it go anywhere.
So Simpson get's his first HR here?
Simpson HR, calling it.
Gotta hit it to bring Ashby in
There is hope!
I've got Simpson for MVP
Ok -if you're Murphy – do you bring in Ashby here? Megill's longest outing of the world series, and even a HR isn't enough yet.
Yes!!!
Serious question, what is going on with Megill's pants?
They’re losing the battle with the rest of Megill.
Megill is not the man
Megill has one more hitter either way, yes?
I think he’s in until it’s tied
I'd make a change
He's hoping for a pop up
Richie's gonna homer
Of course it ends with Turang fielding the ball
Condolences to the diehard Rays fans who genuinely do love their team, but this is the happiest I have been about a World Series win since 1983.
There we go.
WOO HOO MILWAUKEE
Congrats Milwaukee
Congrats Crew! Mostly happy for Vogey lol
Former cubs Minor league legend!
“You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.”
BREW CREW *clap clap clap*
YAAAAAASSSSSSS
Thank you all and it better not be 18 months until the next game!
🍻Rounds of Spotted Cows all around!🍺
Ballgame
Man, I'm so sick of the Brewers.
Congrats Milwaukee
It's been over a decade since I lived in Madison, but I'll always have a soft spot for the Brew Crew. Enjoy it fans.
Finaafuckingly
Congrats to one of the sneakiest most dominant teams in MLB history.
Congratulations Brewers fans, you deserve this
That was a fun series, I wanted 2 more, but congrats MIL!
Man, i'm so not sick of the brewers
Good job August!
I enjoy Vogelbach following Murphy around in the hug line.
Congrats, Brewers!
Sorry to those who have tickets to Game 6 and 7!
Yo :( I wasn’t gonna tempt fate by rooting for Game 6 though.
Every body drink you beers *drink drink drink drink drink drink drink drink drink drink drink drink drink*
I’m a 12 pack in
autocorrect must be doing good work for you
Somehow, Pat Murphy still manages to look serious. Not quite as angry as usual though.
They're reading a statement thanking Rays fans, but most of the people there are Brewers fans.
I have some sympathy. I spent too many games at Camden hearing Red Sox and Yankees fans.
NEW JERSEY MENTIONED!!
Camden Yards.
Darn. I had guessed as Camden NJ is way closer to New York than Camden Yards is, lol. I guess most people in that area are probably Phillies fans, though.
Thanks for everything, Fangraphs people. Not how I wanted it to end, but was a great season in these chats nonetheless.
FanGraphs is wonderful
I got the subscription recently and I'm so glad I did
Only good place on the internet! So much better than… We are all going dateless!
How does anyone NOT love baseball?
I’ve never felt more pedantic about baseball.
I love you FanGraphs. @brewersbibliophile on Bluesky. Find me. Ill
Miss yall
Thanks Fangraphs for making this happen. Best community in sports.
Thank you Fangraphs!
"Almost a home game for us"
we should do this more often
chat for every week of FA/lockout
Thank you, FanGraphs team! Keep it up and hopefully we get a 2027 season!
Thank you FanGraphs!!
Congratulations to the Brewers – a very well-deserved title. And thank you to FanGraphs! This Chicagoan and Cubs fan couldn’t be happier for Brewers fans. Cheers!
I said the same thing about Counsell as I’ll say about Murphy. They’ve gone as far as they’ll go under him. Time to fire the manager and find the next guy!
The power of friendship!!
It really is all about the friends we make along the way.
lol. I love the ******* bleeps. *** yeah. Let's ******* go!
Rosenthal doing his best Mean Gene to Megill's Andre here
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! I'm out.
The unsung heroes of this post-season has been the Brewers fans who came in droves to Florida to bring their team the World Series Championship. 3 cheers to all the fans!
I still can't believe the crowd.
I was texting friends and we were talking about what do you do if you are the Rays to make the atmosphere better for you.
Move to a state that's not full of transplant octagenarians
Adios, friends!! See ya on the other side. Thanks for a great month
Well that was something. Congrats to the Brewers and their front office. Amazing accomplishment
I had the volume down, can someone tell me whether the crowd booed Manfred?
Congrats Brewers,, well deserved
Goodnight yall! See ya next year.
They brought the Brewers fans on the field? That's cool!
I think that’s just the brewers employees. They flew 400 of them to the game. Took 3-4 planes.
Chatting with yall has been a highlight of my year!
“We’ll recognize the team in a minute, let’s talk to the head of HR! Get up here!”
A guy who should, but maybe doesn’t, realize nobody cares what he has to say.
And I work in HR so I can say that
you work in… home runs…?
Lolol I wish. Human Resources.
In how many parks would you work in HR though? For the rest of your career, how much xHR do you project?
Yay!!!!!!
Bill trying to give away the hardware to Ashby, gotta love it.
Class move by Contreras calling Ashby up to the podium.
It was, guy is so emotional right now. Wonderful to see
Imagine what it must feel like for a player like Contreras, to work your entire life at the sport and then not only to win your team’s first championship, but to be named MVP of the series.
How wild is it to even be where he is right now. He was a random throw in for a much larger trade.
Early reports says Zips has brewers at 79 wins next year, 4th place finish. /s
thats not bad for an 80 game season
Any podcasts or alternative post game shows out there?
I don’t get to see my nephew very often, but him texting me throughout these playoffs has been a highlight of my life.
Alright, I'm going to close this down. Once again, thanks everyone for a good season.
I build things here.