LOS ANGELES — On Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, Blake Snell took the mound with his team down 2-0 in the NLCS and made one of the best postseason starts I’ve ever seen. For six scoreless innings, he was nearly unhittable. At one point, he set down 14 Brewers in a row, striking out nine of them. Read the rest of this entry »
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about ALCS Game 2, nominate (13:52) the five Rays-iest players on the current Rays roster, discuss the Dodgers’ decision to start Shohei Ohtani in NLCS Game 3 (and the matchup between the Brewers and Blake Snell), react (57:00) to news about the Phillies’, Astros’, and (maybe?) Mariners’ managers, and pick (1:10:51) the likeliest 2026 non-playoff teams to be 2027 playoff teams and the likeliest 2026 playoff teams to be 2027 non-playoff teams.
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If you’re searching for a metaphor for how differently the 2026 NLCS has gone than last year’s version, look no further than Blake Snell. In 2025, the two-time Cy Young winner humbled Milwaukee in the series opener, allowing one hit over eight strong innings, a prelude to the drubbing the Dodgers put on the Brewers in a sweep. This year, Snell got the start in Game 3, attempting to keep his team in the series after two Milwaukee victories, but the Brewers proved far more formidable this time around. Last year’s series was all about dominant Los Angeles pitching. The current edition has been about back-and-forth games and a resilient Milwaukee offense, and Wednesday’s contest — which the Brewers ultimately won 6-2 to pull within one win of their first World Series appearance since 1982 — delivered on both counts.
In last year’s NLCS start, Snell faced the minimum, erasing the only Brewers baserunner with a double play. This time, his brush with perfection lasted all of one pitch. Snell eased a fastball down the middle to Jackson Chourio to start things off, and Chourio tattooed it, a line drive missile that screamed out to right field, landing in the Dodger Stadium seats before many of the fans did. (This being Los Angeles just after 5 PM local time, only about a quarter of the spectators had arrived.) Snell recovered to retire the next three batters in order, but the tone was set: This iteration of the Brewers wasn’t going to go meekly into the L.A. night.
Snell has been spectacular when available since joining the Dodgers, and he had it all working in the early innings of Game 3. His curveball fizzed with menace, he located his changeup near perfectly, and playoff adrenaline had him up a few ticks on his fastball, which turned an already-good pitch into a monster. He used the curveball to clip the bottom of the zone and the fastball to bully the top of it, a combination that Milwaukee hitters had few answers for over his first six innings of work.
Snell’s counterpart, Robert Gasser, didn’t have the same dominant stuff, but he too gave the opposing lineup fits. He managed as many strikeouts in his five innings of work as Snell recorded in the first inning. He let the leadoff runner reach in three of those five innings. The Dodgers racked up a pile of loud contact; when Gasser departed, seven of the eight hardest-hit balls of the game had come against him. Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the NLCS games today. Chat with fellow readers as we watch the Brewers play the Dodgers! 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.
Hey everyone! It's almost 5PM in Los Angeles. We have some polls for you. Including the stadium chants poll that came up during the ALCS yesterday.
We got a lot of Brewers fans here already.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha
Baseball rules
BOOM!
Also hi
All this and every adage about wanting to score first (in every sport).
Sounds like something A-Rod would say
He had a quote about Bobby Fischer that didn't quite land.
So it seems I missed something.
Only if you blinked when the game started.
edited
I do tend to blink several times a minute.
He can't watch the game from an underground bunker, so he must be furious.
What do we think Ohtani is going to do here?
Tucker on! Setting up that two-base runner grand slam.
Yeah. Sometimes it's like he's behind on everything, but most of the time he just looks like he knows he can't go out and get it, so his plan is to stay back and hit it the other way.
Apathy, work is just ending. Plus an 0-2 series coming home for game 3 is never good.
Ticket prices did drop a lot.
Snell's high heat is about as good as I've seen it in a while. He's getting guys to chase 97 well above the zone and they look like they should be so obvious to lay off. He's making it look easy
Gary's post-Yankees career has been fascinating. He was a reliable backup catcher/platoon DH this year
They scapegoated him, IMO. Whenever he was healthy, he was a productive hitter. I know they were ahead of the curve on framing and they wanted to go in that direction, but he could always hit and I wonder if they didn't have Stanton clogging the DH spot if they would've kept him around in that role
Volpe is nowhere near as good as Gary was
Hi everyone!
I picture some sort of deep sea vent.
Anyone else annoyed that Joe Davis is spoiling the ABS graphic for us by telling us whether the call is going to be overturned as soon as he announces the challenge?
I haven't loved that either.
I like Buck on baseball
omg I just tweeted that
I don't like the strike zone lighting up strikes either
TBS' doesn't
This is a fun question!
Sounds like a Mailbag question for Davy to answer this week!!!!
I did not like how Mailbag stalked me and stole my passwords while I slept
He kinda looks like DeNiro with the weird de-aging technology in The Irishman (2019)
Freeman’s gotta be Gasser’s last hitter if Senzatela’s ready in time, that was smoked
Talking about the Dodgers offense falling off. Their xwOBA is 3rd this postseason and wOBA is 9th. A .057 difference.
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&stats…
Also crazy to see those numbers for the WCS teams that lost.
Did anyone else just see that Polymarket commercial about predicting whether an incumbent would win re-election and then his staffer walking in on him having an affair? Or did I hallucinate?
what's your half pr?
Nice! The half is a really good distance. And you are definitely right maintaining that is quite the chore. Good luck on your next race!
That is a very perplexing sequence from Murphy
Dave Roberts has the chance to do the funniest thing ever by leaving Blake Snell in too long
Wish I could take credit, but it was all Baumann to me over slack
This is a Dodgers Stadium thing and it drives me crazy. I'm sure they have a reason for it, but I don't know what it is.
RAKE BAUERS
MITCHELL
Do you have WS tickets?
That's 3D chess.
It just made me think I should do a roundup of the most satisfying short hops of the postseason.
The CLE/TBR game got moved up tomorrow? Guess we are going to be back here earlier than I thought.
Oh wow, look how mad Roberts got!
Should we make a mad manager meter for the WS? Or even later this series?
Ohtani’s single registered 113.5 mph — that's the hardest hit ball of the night for either team.
I love it when the hardest-hit ball of a whole game is just some random routine grounder that Yandy or someone pounded straight into the ground at 250 mph.
Lockout article idea.
Yeah, this is great.
Saeder. That's amazing.
Might it even get Babe Ruth?
Alright! We'll see everyone tomorrow for that 1PM ET game!
Direct link to application (please see job details below):
Senior Software Engineer (Baseball Systems)
Milwaukee Brewers – Senior
Milwaukee, WI
Baseball Operations · Technology · Software Sales
Overview
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Core duties for this role include, but are not limited to:
The ideal candidate will have experience across the full web stack. They will have a bachelor’s degree (B. A.) in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field from four-year college or university; and five years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Hands-on experience in baseball (team, league, or related organization) strongly preferred. Experience utilizing Large Language Models.
Our Team
Baseball Systems is the software backbone of Baseball Operations. We provide data and decision-making tools for analysts, coaches, and front office personnel to help win a World Series. Our department consists of a team of data engineers and a team of software engineers who work across all different aspects of Baseball Operations providing support and tools relevant to each group. We work directly with stakeholders in every department of Baseball Operations to ensure every project we work on drives value to the organization and helps us win more games on the field. We help drive technical innovation to find new ways to solve baseball problems.
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You come here to make a difference. We are a purpose-led organization, focused on building an inclusive and engaging culture that fosters excellence, collaboration, and ingenuity. We strive to be a model employer and cultivator of talent, empowering our teams to drive innovation through the inclusion of diverse thoughts, ideas, and perspectives. We operate at the highest standard of excellence, investing in the development of our staff across all levels and embracing differences through a culture of respect and understanding.
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When you manage a big league ballclub, life is unfair. You’re always one bad season, maybe just one really bad month, from getting fired. Even when you’re doing a good job, a vocal contingent of your fellow citizens is likely still agitating for your ouster, mostly because they just kind of like the way they sound when they’re agitating for someone to lose their livelihood. Writers you’ve known for years will one day fire up their laptops and pen a thousand words about why you no longer have what it takes. And on top of all that unrelenting judgment, whenever you’re out there doing your job during the game, a camera is trained directly on your face. Any time you react to what you see, you’re likely to wind up on television, often in slow motion, slamming your hand in frustration or launching an F-bomb.
For that reason, managers tend to at least try to maintain a stoic front. Some are better than others, but I’ve always enjoyed watching Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy in particular. He seems to feel the game more than most managers. He’s constantly checking his notes, or scribbling more notes, or retreating a few steps into the tunnel that feeds into the dugout to think things through. Also, he tends to snack a lot. But on Monday night, as the Brewers took care of business against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLCS, I noticed that one emotion seemed to show as clear as day on Murphy’s face every time the camera found him. All night, it seemed to me, no matter how well things were going on the field, Murphy looked pissed off. Read the rest of this entry »
During the regular season, Tampa Bay’s defense ranked fifth in runs scored, while Cleveland’s offense ranked 24th in runs allowed. After giving up seven runs to the Guardians in Game 1, the Rays entered Game 2 at risk of dropping both games at their home ballpark in Florida.
So I did my best to lay to rest
All of the bodies that have ever been on my body
And in my mind, they sink into the swamp
Techniques for moving on from a humbling loss vary from person to person, but whether the Rays took their nightmarish Game 1 and visualized it as gator food or chose to hit the reset button in some other way, they bounced back with a 3-1 win in Game 2.
Rookie Parker Messick got the start for the Guardians on Tuesday. After posting a 67 ERA- over 186 1/3 innings during the regular season, Messick made two starts during the divisional round. The lefty allowed two earned runs in both outings, but his command was shakier his second time out and he was pulled after 2 1/3 innings in which he walked four batters and threw 65 pitches. In his first ALCS appearance, though, Messick bested both of his prior postseason starts by pitching five innings and striking out three while allowing zero runs. Well, zero earned runs. Read the rest of this entry »
Boston Smith emerged as a prospect to watch this year. Notably, he did so while spending the latter portion of the campaign with his third organization in just his second professional season. Selected in the sixth round of the 2025 draft out of Wright State University by the Washington Nationals, Smith was subsequently swapped to the White Sox the following March in exchange for Curtis Mead, then dealt from Chicago to Seattle at this summer’s trade deadline. The Mariners acquired the 23-year-old left-handed-hitting catcher, along with Seranthony Domínguez and Nolan Jones, in exchange for Luis Castillo.
Smith’s 2026 performance was quite promising. Playing at three levels, primarily High-A and Double-A — he also appeared in eight games in Low-A — Smith slammed 31 home runs while slashing .274/.424/.566 with a 158 wRC+ over 493 plate appearances. Unranked when our White Sox Top Prospects list came out prior to the season, he is now ranked 13th in the Mariners system with a 40 FV.
In our Arizona Fall League preview — Smith is currently suiting up for the Peoria Javelinas — Eric Longenhagen described the Dayton, Ohio native as “a pull-oriented catcher” who “isn’t a good defender yet.” Our lead prospect analyst also offered an interesting comp, pointing to how “that had been true for Liam Hicks, who as a prospect was likewise “a small school, undersized guy who had outlier pull data.”
Smith discussed his player profile, as well as what it was like to catch one of baseball’s top pitching prospects upon joining a new organization, during the first week of the AFL season.
———
David Laurila: You caught Kade Anderson almost immediately after coming over in the trade. What was that experience like?
Boston Smith: “I don’t get too nervous anymore, but I was very nervous to catch him. I obviously knew who he was through college, he was the third-overall pick [in 2025], and then there was the year he was having. So yeah, I was nervous. I wanted to be trustworthy and help him succeed, not be catching him for the first time and having no idea what to do if all of a sudden he started struggling.”
Laurila: That didn’t happen. Looking at the game log, he pitched very well.
Smith: “Yes, and he was by far one of the most mature human beings I’ve ever been around. He was very generous, very helpful, helping me be calm before the game. He even brought me waters. Then, after the outing, the next day, talking about it.
“When he got the call to The Show — I had only known him for two weeks — he hugged me and said, ‘Hey man, thanks for everything you did for me,’ You just don’t see human beings like that too often, especially ones who are so talented. He’s a big league human being as well as a big league pitcher. It was really, really special to me to be able to catch him and know that I was a part of his minor league career for that little bit.”
Laurila: Those qualities aside, what was it like to he behind the plate for him? Have you ever caught anyone who approximates his combination of moxie and stuff? Read the rest of this entry »
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the end of the all-AL-Central ALDS, what the future holds for the White Sox, the ALCS opener, the Brewers’ 2-0 NLCS lead, the contrast between postseason Shohei Ohtani and José Ramírez, the difference between the Rays and Guardians, and more, plus postscript follow-ups.
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Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the ALCS games today. Chat with fellow readers as we watch the Guardians play the Rays! 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.
Hello everyone! We got a few polls for you. The likability ranking from last night, we'll let that ride for at least another day. Then we have the standard who ya got for the game and the SP poll.
Bob Gibson in the 1968 World Series is the all-timer
Also Chase Utley in 2009
Caminero just got the wind knocked out of him, DeLuca was fine
Hi everyone!
Who else is doing Star Wars Legos during the game?!? I assume the answer is just me.
What are you making?
My son kind of wrecked the AT-AT Walker so I'm rebuilding it. I just got the Tantive IV in the mail yesterday
Jon, what do you think about this camera angle? For the pitcher-batter matchup?
Didn't Tropicana have an almost perfect straight on angle before the hurricane? I could be wrong. Maybe I need to replay MLB the Show for the answer.
Pretty good but it's perfect in the regular season, yeah
G'evening
Phil, it would definitely hurt, but the problem is the actual data itself.
I've always wondered if there's something that can be done here, such as sudden change in playing time over a seven-day-period, but I haven't really dug into it
errr, it woudl definitely HELP
Maybe some day AI can figure that out, but that day is not now!
Oooh, I should check my 2023 Guardians prospects
From ZiPS Top 200
Bo Naylor
Brayan Rocchio
Logan Allen
Tanner Bibee
Gavin Williams
Daniel Espino
Angel Martinez
George Valera
Juan Brito
Gabriel Arias
Tyler Freeman
That’s an impressive list.
This won’t be one though
That seemed fast even for Simpson
It looked like he ran through first by liek 50 feet too
Bucknered
Bucknered
Oh my – rough two plays for J-Ram
Buckner's wasn't hit as hard!
4? Did the message send 4 times?
lol, scared me that something was more wrong than just client sending twice.
The Megan Fox commercial leaves it kind of ambiguous if she's trying to sell us the drug or she's actually the drug
J-Ram kinda has to wonder how come that's an error and the other 750 bloopers not by the Yankees are hits
Oh hell yeah Junior
☝️😏☝️
I liked the competent inelegance of the Caminero catch as he kinda just threw his body in the general direction as a reaction and then caught it
I don't know how Sarah does it, she's way faster and more productive than 99% of us that don't need health aids.
I was always told to not get out of the way in Little League tand that was 35-40 years ago
I looked away for a second and not sure why you'd waste a challenge on that. At least it's not the first 3 innings.
And I didn't. I was an overcompetitive kid. I would lose my s%#@ about the mercy rule even if we were on the bad side of it
That sounds like investing in herself.
We had Messick and Peralta going 5 IP for the median, and almost 5 IP for the mean. We were spot on for Messick. And short for Peralta.
Guardians bats gotta do better than pop on toast
not so great for J-Ram's D!
Arby's commercials always make me a little sad because I'm reminded of my cat Galileo
"I put my hand on the stove because it feels so amazing when I take it off!"
He LOOOOVED Arby's. I couldn't eat Arby's for a year after he died. I mean, he was 20, so he was a really old cat, but still miss the guy because he was the cat who was invariably around me when I was working, including all ZiPS work from origin to 2019.
I was gonna dispute the factoid, but I didn't realize that Kwan was THAT good total in the second half. 155 wRC+
I mean, he turned it on, but I didn't see the number
I like when they mention Booser, because it's always in a situation where saying boozer sounds funny
THERE'S A BOOSER GETTING WARMED UP
OH geez, I didn't know that
Not a convenient name to have
My dad drank himself to death, but he didn't have an ironic name.
"Call a lawyer?"
Seems like it's a story i should have remembered. Good story
Man, Adell looked horrible on that changeup
I want to see another Jo Adell triple
That was not a good at bat for Adell
Yes, I'm still here – just went down a deep rabbit hole looking for the best World Series performances from players on losing teams
Yes, Dykstra is on the list
A 6-inning rabbit hole
Send it as a mailbag question!
Don't get me started on Lou Gehrig!
We’ll do a stadium chant poll tomor
I'm grumpy and never ever participate in fan things, even as a kid
I would go see a band called Bryan Baker's Primal Scream, though the actual band might be unhappy
NIght!
