FanGraphs Baseball

Job Posting: New York Mets – Software Engineer, Baseball Systems

Direct link to application (please see job details below):

Software Engineer, Baseball Systems


Software Engineer, Baseball Systems

Location: Citi Field – Queens, New York

Summary:

The New York Mets are seeking a full stack software engineer to join the Baseball Systems team. The ideal candidate would be an engineer with experience working in a fast-paced development environment, with strong engineering fundamentals, an eye for design, and a strong product feel. The role is in-person, based out of the Mets offices in Queens, NY. Prior experience in or knowledge of baseball is a plus but is not required.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

  • Collaborate with other members of the Baseball Systems team and the Data Engineering team to build full stack software serving the needs of various stakeholders across Baseball Operations
  • Handle ad-hoc requests from stakeholders in a timely manner to ensure smooth operations across the organization
  • Drive engineering excellence across the entire stack through areas like test coverage, improved types, better code re-use, and AI-assisted development workflows
  • Partner directly with Baseball Operations stakeholders to understand their workflows, identify underlying needs, and shape practical software solutions
  • Own features from problem definition and early prototyping through implementation, rollout, and iteration, balancing user needs, technical quality, and delivery speed
  • Use stakeholder feedback, observed usage, and product judgment to simplify workflows and improve the usefulness and usability of existing tools
  • Participate in an occasional on-call rotation to support critical baseball systems, with increased support responsibilities during the baseball season, including some evenings and weekends

Qualifications:
Required

  • A degree, or significant experience in, Computer Science or a related field
  • 3+ years of relevant work experience
  • Experience with component-based JavaScript frameworks, preferably React
  • Experience both consuming and creating APIs to integrate with data sources
  • Ability to rapidly ramp up domain knowledge
  • Strong product judgment and attention to detail, with experience translating ambiguous user needs into intuitive software and refining it through feedback

Nice to have

  • Experience with telemetry and monitoring suites
  • Experience working with cloud platforms
  • Knowledge of CI/CD pipeline best practices and patterns
  • A general knowledge of SQL and relational databases
  • Experience in iOS development, preferably using Swift
  • Experience using LLMs and AI-assisted development tools to build, test, and maintain software

The above information is intended to describe the general nature, type, and level of work to be performed. The information is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required for this position. Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. The individual selected may perform other related duties as assigned or requested.

The New York Mets value the unique qualities individuals with various backgrounds and experiences can offer the organization. Our continued success depends heavily on the quality of our workforce. The Organization is committed to providing employees with the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential.

Salary Range: $120,000 – $160,000

For technical reasons, we strongly advise to not use an .edu email address when applying. Thank you very much.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the New York Mets.


Effectively Wild Episode 2541: Division Series Theories

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a few days’ worth of Division Series action, including three series outcomes. Among other topics, they discuss clutchness, low scoring, scant starting pitching, paternity timing, pant tightness, fan interference, Yankees-fan frustration, postgame-panelist star power, Championship Series sympathy points, and MLB’s experiment in restricting outfielder positioning.

Audio intro: Moon Hound, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to postseason bracket
Link to carbon copy wiki
Link to Miller quote
Link to Miller usage article
Link to Lewis leave
Link to Vesia video
Link to playoff offense
Link to Ben on bullpenning
Link to Sam on bullpenning
Link to Dave on bullpenning
Link to SP% sheet
Link to Manny non-homers
Link to Hernández fun fact
Link to Hernández ADHD clip
Link to Paine on Yoshi/Hernández
Link to “acromioclavicular”
Link to “debridement”
Link to Apstein on Verducci
Link to Verducci author archive
Link to fan interference play
Link to fan ejection
Link to Latin phrase
Link to “clean hands” wiki
Link to Yankees offense stat
Link to Baumann post
Link to Boone’s record
Link to 2026 Yankees coaches
Link to Pedro tweet
Link to Atlanta RISP stat
Link to Machado/Verlander clip
Link to Contreras benching
Link to Ben on banning the shift
Link to Ben on pitcher limits
Link to Ben on foul lines
Link to EW episode on foul lines
Link to Eric’s OF report
Link to BA on OF positioning
Link to 2024 OF report
Link to EW Episode 2174
Link to Russell on OF defense
Link to Rob on playing deeper
Link to Rob on OF defense
Link to 1907 Unglaub arc article
Link to Bayesian umps article
Link to Sam on autostrikes 1
Link to Sam on autostrikes 2
Link to EW Episode 2097
Link to EW Episode 2532
Link to 2024 count splits
Link to 2025 count splits
Link to 2026 count splits

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 Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com
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01:43:55

Guardians Erupt for Nine Runs Again, Hang on in Jittery Finish

Matt Marton-Imagn Images

For four games, pitching chaos helped the South Siders reign. Armed with only one starter in his circle of trust, White Sox manager Will Venable leaned on his band of mostly young, mostly hard-throwing relievers. Who, and for how long, was dictated by circumstance. It worked early, as Chicago swept through Houston in the Wild Card Series and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the ALDS against the Guardians. Venable pressed all the right buttons — the staff allowed just nine runs across those first four games — and deserves a ton of credit for getting a dozen pitchers to embrace such a novel strategy on the fly.

All along, we’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. How long can the White Sox get away with throwing Grant Taylor multiple frames every outing? Will Hagen Smith finally pay for walking a batter per inning? What happens if Chicago needs an actual starter to eat a couple of innings?

The first cracks in the dam appeared Wednesday, when Chicago walked 10 and the Guardians exploded for nine runs. Water trickled through in the early innings of Thursday’s Game 4, too, and then burst through all at once as Cleveland, again facing elimination, defeated the White Sox, 9-5, to force a do-or-die Game 5 on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »


Members-Only Game Thread: ALDS – Guardians at White Sox – Oct 8, 2026

Welcome to our Open Game Thread for the ALDS game today. Chat with fellow readers as we watch the Guardians play the White Sox! 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.

Moves set in Chicago: The Man with the Golden Arm is interesting and worth watching. It is not as daring as the book. But Sinatra as a not especially likable character is very surprising casting that works pretty well in the end.

Hey everyone! We had some exciting games yesterday. Specifically the Yankees fan interference. I’m hoping this is almost as entertaining.

Can't think of any non-baseball movies set in Cleveland right now, though I'm sure there are some I'm not thinking of.

A Christmas Story?

Guess that was filmed there not set there.

Is that the one with their air rifle–"you'll shoot your eye out"?

Yup! You can’t miss it if you turn on the TV on Christmas.

Abe Froman

i don't see a lot of movies. i tried to go to movie nights but i kept getting spooked and overstimulated. shame, because they're a really fantastic artform

the word that comes to mind is "Gesamtkunstwerk"

I’d prefer to watch movie at home. Watch the NFL at home. Baseball is better in person. Postseason baseball is something else

Hi everyone!

For Chicago, my no. 1 is The Fugitive

Draft Day is set in Cleveland!

Kyle Teel, nooooooo!

2.2 inches is terrible

Doesn't Howard the Duck take place in Cleveland?

It does! I barely watched that. Can’t believe it’s a Marvel property.

I’d think everyone would be on point with ABS. Maybe all that pressure.

I just posted about this on Bluesky. But when I reported on the different strategies teams and players were using when deciding whether to challenge, the White Sox told me their strategy was to be more aggressive with them rather than waiting for a moment that might never come.

The challenge to Lowe aligned with that strategy, in that it made sense from a leverage perspective, especially in the playoffs when scoring first is so important. The problem was that pitch was nowhere near the zone.

I still remember when the Dodgers made Vargas go to the plate during spring training to get a feel for things when he was hurt and couldn't swing the bat in spring training, and Grienke just f'd with him by throwing eephus pitches and laughing. I miss Grienke.

Here's the link to that story, from June: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/to-challenge-or-not-to-challenge…

I can understand that strategy but continue to be stunned at some of the challenges. It makes sense to only use them in high leverage situations but, even after a full season, there seems to be no rhyme or reason in far too many instances

Was… was Jerry Reinsdorf smoking a cigar in his owner's box?

Reminder that Austin Hedges had a 100 wRC+ this season

The White Sox don't get enough crap for being one of the most historically terrible franchises

I remember people hating the Hahn years with the Star Trek 2 meme.

Sesn, I asked this last night and Davy said to ask you–have you looked into creating a live scoreboard in Fangraphs? Would it be hugely expensive? Just curious, though it would be useful since I often have FG open while watching a game anyway.

Live scoreboard? Like at the top of the site? Or just in general like our scores page? https://www.fangraphs.com/scores?date=2026-10-08

Yes, I guess I was imagining it built into the banner, like at a certain red-branded site that starts with an E. But the scores page is very cool! I should bookmark it.

We've kicked around having the scores in the header. It might be a customization feature, just so we don't force everyone to have a thicker header. I fought for about a year to get the header sized down back in 2017.

Doyle was definitely not looking for a fastball down the middle on 3-2.

Montgomery quickly pulled his hand back even though he knew it was a ball.

Teel's incorrect challenge earlier put Montgomery in a bind

Most definitely.

This has happened a few times this postseason.

The Blues Brothers is probably Chicago's favorite movie.

Does anybody else just pull up to the stats on those 90's Cleveland lineups every so often and nod approvingly?

MLB did an essay on those Cleveland teams, "The Dynasty That Almost Was".

Is Blues Brothers more loved in Chicago than Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

They’re both loved here. I don’t know if you could say one more than the other.

Something happened! Finally. What a hit!

I went to the game yesterday, and if you don’t love Seven Nation Army and the Cha Cha Slide, it is…not the place for you.

The men on MLB radio today were raving about Meidroth. That trade is going to be remembered for a long time on the South Side.

@Matt, I could probably use a new kneecap too.

The fan wearing the gaudy M&Ms bomber jacket and a giant, novelty-sized cap is a vibe I'm strangely jealous of.

I don't know how any catcher can make that play.

Some command issues in this game.

I kind of hoped that was going to go out and just clear the bases.

This is a good challenge.

Home Alone needs a shoutout for Chicago-set movies. Every couple years that's a holiday re-watch.

Can't believe this didn't cross my mind until now.

There are good fastballs and good sliders but the best pitch a pitcher has is the atom ball.

similar-sounding but unrelated: the demon core slider, which creates a little supercriticality event when the bat meets the ball. you may give up a nuke but the batter won't feel so good the next day

Good idea to actually get a hit

M&M jacket man has been at every game for many years.

Is this like Marlins Man but not at all?

Re: live scores in the header – this might make some people avoid your site sometimes, if they have DVR'd their game and don't want it ruined. If people want live scores they know how to find it

The best pitches are the ones from NES Baseball Simulator 1.000 that nobody can throw…yet

That game came out just as I was developing serious baseball fandom as a 9 year old. The number of hours I was allowed to play it is shocking in hindsight. That was straight up bad parenting, tbh.

it's a shame it happened before the advent of mainstream esports too.

Maybe a clicky option?

The Sting was mostly in Chicago

Chicago suburbs classics: Home alone, Sixteen Candles, Uncle Buck, some of FBDO.

Pretty in Pink , Breakfast Club

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation

They really don't make Midwest movies (or TV) like they used to.

i'm supposed to be watching a movie for class but i nearly had a panic attack so i'm calming down by checking baseball scores

unfortunately, i doubt The Hurt Locker (2008) is a midwest film

To me, a real Chicago movie has to have an L scene. The one in Blues Brothers is perfect. Fugitive also.

A new version of it would be awesome

Two weeks ago I watched Snow White with my 4 year old great-grand daughter sitting on my lap, Now that was a great movie experience. I am getting to visit her and her 2 year old sister again on Saturday

OH geez

Oh, Fedde's OK

From the reaction, I thought he had gotten it square in the face

It was funny, he watched the liner go past him into center, but then opened his glove to see if it might have also ended up there somehow.

Jose – Jose -Jose – Jose. !!!!!!

Turns out homers are good

I hope Keaton is watching and happy.

José is AMPED!

I was heartbroken back when he was coming up and found out his name wasn't pronounced Bibby

You mean Bibberty?

I'm too busy trying to replace our Meidroth/sistene chapel picture with Jose Ramirez

Do people not mind all these seven-pitcher games? I’m not a fan aesthetically.

I was looking through our articles from 10 years ago, because I know we advocated this idea more or less. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-al-wild-card-game-should-be-…

A little be careful what you wish for.

A little it becomes uncool once everyone does. Defensive shifts were the same way. Once everyone did it. It wasn't a competitive edge. It was just lame.

It'll be funny if the White Sox end up scoring 10 and none of them via hit

chase meidroth's name sounds like a very rude imperative

probably uttered by bart simpson or similar

joey bart simpson. is this anything.

d'oh. chandler was also right there.

Sabrowski games drive me nuts, because I have a reflexive reaction to every time his name is said because it's a common way people mispronounce my last name if they don't really read the order of the letters right

There is nothing that I find more useless than the 1st base penalty. There are two plays a 1st baseman has to do that no other fielder has to make. Scooping and avoiding the runner on the throw to 2nd. Murakami has surprised me with his deft fielding .

This game rules!

Yesterday I complained to Sean that I couldn't find a "neither" button when asked who I wanted to win between the Rays and the other team. Today it is a "both" button that is needed because I will be rooting for whichever team wins this series when they meet the Rays

I'm going to start just putting in teams that aren't playing in the game.

Good challenge by Kwan!

Used at the proper time.

This game is insane. I have lost track of the number of lead changes. Though some of that is I am not sure I know how to define a lead change. Does tying count? But does that mean tying and then going ahead counts as two? Hmm. (Maybe there won't be any more, though–this game is getting out of hand as I'm typing this.)

Yeah, that slipped away quickly.

Just made a poll for this!

I run the bathroom and hell breaks out

Unsurprisingly, the White Sox have run out of pitching.

Yes, the game feels wild. I told my wife "There's just so many hits!" which is dumb because it's a baseball game and hitting baseballs is kind of the thing they do. And Chicago doesn't even have that many hits! It just feels like there's so much happening on the bases. I'm know this easy easy to quantify, but I prefer "total base vibes" and the vibes are large

We need to add TBV to the leaderboards.

There's been 4 lead changes. One each inning that a team scored. I'd say tying doesn't count, but it doesn't matter, because it was never tied after the inning finished.

I think DeLauter is out

I called him out and did my little hand signal at my TV.

Thanks everybody. There have been a couple of late nights here on the east coast and this one is ovah so I will be heading off. Can't wait for Saturday night. Grandma and Great grandpa will be back from the family visit just about in time for the start.

I just went 1-1 in my kickball doubleheader, pitched very well in the second game, and I’m here and ready to party

10.242

3333333333333333333-6+

0

0

ack

Hello to Dan’s cat

Yeah, that was Justinian

The spam filter caught the repeated messages.

I thought maybe you were loading ZiPS data into the chat.

Justinian is good at Live Game Thread.

Do we have some analysis of RPs being overexposed in playoff series? I'm sure it's been done plenty of times but the Grant Taylor of it all this series seems like a fascinating case study

This is hard to watch….can't see the Sox recovering in Game 5 in Cleveland.

Bet ya didn't see them making the playoffs either

I've thought about looking to it, but I've never been able to pin down a good methodology

If Liberty Mutual really wants my business, they'll run a spoof ad of the Sydney Sweeny "sports" ad but with the himbo dude they have

But all the balls the himbo holds up is Bibberty

Haha amazing

There's also this article from SABR's Baseball Research Journal.
https://sabr.org/journal/article/balancing-starter-and-bullp…

Also, hello everybody.

Whats the scuttlebutt on how much the White Sox will be willing to spend moving forward now that the competitive window is open? Dark horse on Skubs?

Maybe if the Catholic Church is pitching in funds.

I don't have any intel, but I'm inclined to agree with David CHW.
(I'm choosing to believe that the team you root for is part of your name.)

So basically get the Vatican to sell off some of their art collection and see what they can get. Is Jeffrey Loria still around? Whats the surplus value of a Raphael painting?

You have to differentiate in the sea of Davids

There have to be some players in MLB who would sign a below-market deal if personally asked to do so by the Pope. I'm guessing quite a few.

I have lived all over America and never met anyone with an accent like the people in George and Mandy's First Marriage

If Grant Taylor just got the overwork penalty, Cade Smith may be due for his in game 5

Vogt certainly does not deserve big points for how he's deployed his guys most of this series. Back to back days in effective mop-up for Smith.

This is a crazy pitching decision

Cool

Man I love baseball

I blame Gavin Williams coming in and ruining game 5 due to Cade Smith pitching yesterday with a 6 run lead.

So now Smith is likely burned for game 5? Wild…

So give them more looks at your closer, exhaust your closer, have your do or die game starter use bullets 2 days before said game. That's the strategy

This pitcher usage has all felt so extreme panic button from Cleveland

Is Matt Festa hurt? He should have pitched the 9th yesterday and now today.

Festa must have kicked Vogt's dog or something

late to the game, but if the white sox come back i'll eat one (1) walking taco

Managering.

Pulled this chat up to complain about this bullpen management but looks like y'all have that covered

I think this is great. Pitchers should pitch!!!

Benintendi was just hopeless there.

Incredible curves. These guys can pitch more pitches and more often than they do, so let's see it. Go White Sox though

I understand you NEED to win tonight to survive, but you also NEED to win the next game to survive. I just can't believe 1 inning in a 4 run lead is better now than getting 5 innings the next game in another must win game.

Whatever happens here they should absolutely start him game 5. Ligaments are replaceable but flags fly forever

This is beautiful

It's not just a matter of injury risk, though – it's a matter of effectiveness in an elimination game.

These curveballs look pretty effective to me

Today, yeah…

Where's Emmanuel Clase when you need him?

House arrest? I think?

I was mad last night about Cade Smith in the 9th, and now I'm really mad. Also, I didn't love Smith in the 8th with a 4 run lead, but it's defensible.

They get a day off they'll be fine

Both these dudes are 27 years old, peak physical condition

Thanks everyone! Looks like we got another one of these on Saturday!


Fall Instructional League Notes: Royals, Giants, Padres

Taylor Rabe Photo: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

I just finished an extended trip to watch instructs and the Arizona Fall League, and I’ve got enough in the notebook for a few posts. We’ll start with some of the looks I got at Royals, Giants, and Padres prospects on the backfields and, in a few cases, during the AFL as well. Let’s hop to it.

Kansas City Royals

Angeibel Gomez, OF

We’ll start with the guy people will ask about first. Gomez is a tapered 6-foot-2. While he isn’t a freaky athlete in the Elly De La Cruz mold, he’s limber and has a fast bat for a kid his age. Facing some of the best stuff of his life, his feel for hitting stood out. Gomez is athletic in the box, and he was able to fight off above-average velo on the hands, turn around 97 above the belt, and flatten the bat and hit a line drive on a hard fastball up, all while holding his own versus spin. He fouled off a couple tough sliders and took one just beneath the zone. He wasn’t perfect — he expanded the zone a few times and chased a curve in the dirt — but it was a really impressive showing in context.

Where does this go from here? To my eye, Gomez doesn’t look like an early-mature guy, but he also isn’t someone who screams “physical projection” in the way that, say, Sebastian Walcott did at his age. Gomez already has average measurable power, and while there’s room for him to grow into more, my projection leans closer to “comfortably plus” than “80.” Read the rest of this entry »


Everyone Unclench: Brewers Beat Padres in NLDS Game 4, Set for Rematch With Dodgers

Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

At no point during the National League Division Series between the Brewers and the Padres did either team lead by more than two runs. The total runs scored in a game never exceeded seven. But neither fact should in any way imply that the series was a no-offense snoozefest.

All four games produced a disproportionate number of baserunners given the actual number of runs allowed, at least when compared to regular-season averages. During the 2026 season, the league averaged nine runs per game on around 24 total baserunners. The Brewers and Padres likewise averaged 24 baserunners per game, despite logging combined run totals between four and seven. Close games and that much traffic on the basepaths made this series a real booty-hole-clenching experience for fans of both teams, as well as the empathetic neutral observers. By the time the fans watching Game 4 could finally unclench, the Brewers had defeated the Padres, 3-1, to advance to the NLCS against the Dodgers.

Though both teams named a traditional starter for Wednesday’s Game 4, neither Walker Buehler for the Padres nor Robert Gasser for the Brewers was expected to pitch particularly deep in this game. Buehler was healthy enough to make 32 starts this season for the first time since 2021, but he wasn’t able to match his innings total (207 2/3 IP) or replicate the 60 ERA- he posted that year. Instead, he was a slightly below-average starter, with an ERA- of 115 over 153 2/3 innings. He also missed the first two games of the NLDS on paternity leave, which likely interrupted his typical throwing schedule, and any departure from routine has the potential to leave a pitcher feeling out of rhythm. Buehler wound up going three innings, allowing one run on a pair of consecutive singles from Sal Frelick and Garrett Mitchell. His command looked shaky from the jump and alternated between non-competitive pitches outside the zone and offerings that caught way too much of the plate.

For his part, Gasser covered four innings, and the only real blemish on his evening was a solo shot hit by Fernando Tatis Jr. to lead off the third. After spending the first half of 2026 on the Triple-A shuttle, Gasser was able to stick in the majors from July 11 onward, posting a 93 ERA- over 109 1/3 innings. A lefty with a low arm slot, he gave the Brewers the option to throw a slightly different look at the Padres than what they’d seen during the first three games of the series. He relied heavily on his sinker, using it to set up his changeup and sweeper. Because of how the pitches interacted with one another, he locked up hitters for 10 called strikes on his sinker, while getting hitters to chase his changeup and generate weak contact on his sweeper.

But with the starters out relatively early and the score knotted at one through four innings, the game would ultimately be decided by the pitchers entering from the bullpen. Both teams had used almost their entire pitching staff extensively over the first three games, making the hitters more familiar with their opponents on the mound than new dads Buehler and Mason Miller are with their newborn children. (Miller missed Game 3 for the birth of his first child.) Read the rest of this entry »


We’re Going To Have To Let You Go

Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Stephanie, you can send it in.

Come on in. Thanks for coming all the way up on short notice, and, uh, sorry about the mess. I really should’ve saved Mr. Splash for later in the day. I’d never seen him fire that water gun in anger before, but he is remarkably accurate. Did you know he was a Green Beret? Anyway, have a seat. I have some difficult news for you.

Oh jeez, I didn’t think about the tail feathers. You can stand, whatever. You can stand.

So as you know, we have been forced to make some pretty substantial cuts. And believe me, it’s the last thing we want to do. We consider everyone who works here family. But there comes a time within any family when you have to identify your least productive family members, cut them out of your life forever, and leave them without any way to support themselves, at which point they’re not family anymore. They’re just strangers who know things about you that you’d rather not become public. Unfortunately, that includes you. Are – are you following any of this?

We’re going to have to let you go.

I realize that you’ve been with us for – wow – coming up on 50 years now, and I want to assure you that we are grateful for everything you have given to the Baltimore Orioles organization. You’ve brought happiness and joy to so many people. Unfortunately, it has been determined that keeping you on staff would be a suboptimal allocation of resources, because according to a report from this latest round of consultants – you know, I think you deserve to know the truth, so let me get my glasses so I can quote this accurately – “Happiness and joy don’t make the cash register go ka-ching.” So really, our hands are tied. Read the rest of this entry »


Mathemadage: Who Gets Game Seven?

Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

You want your ace on the mound when all the marbles are in the fire. When the stakes are high, the big cheese needs to have his hands on the wheel. Are those real metaphors? No, but I bet you knew what I was talking about in each case, because the playoffs are a perfect time to discuss the importance of star pitchers. But do you want to deploy them as early in the series as possible? Or do you want them for the decisive game? Does it even matter?

In our game chats and article comments — across the internet really — it’s hard to find a consensus. When I wrote about Chris Sale earlier this week, there were comments to the effect of “It’s a bummer he pitched out of the ‘pen in the Wild Card, now he won’t get to pitch in NLDS Game 5,” as well as “Don’t save Sale for Game 7 of the NLCS, there might not be a Game 7!” Those are exact opposite opinions, and yet they both make a lot of sense when I hear them. But they can’t both be right, so let’s do some math. Even though there’s no real adage to prove or disprove here, this feels like a job for Mathemadage.

Here’s the question, as I see it: For a given set of pitchers making postseason starts, which way would you like those starts arranged in a seven-game series? In other words, if you have an ace, a second banana, and some bullpen games, would you prefer to have your ace for Games 1 and 5 or Games 3 and 7? There are good intuitive reasons to prefer either. Games 1 and 5 happen in almost every seven-game series; Game 7 is a much less frequent occurrence. More innings for my best guy, please! But the stakes can also never be higher than they are in a decisive game. In a big spot? Why wouldn’t I want my best guy in? Read the rest of this entry »


Anthony Volpe, the Home Run That Wasn’t, and Another Early Yankees Playoff Exit

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

NEW YORK — For one brief moment, all had been forgiven. The unreasonable hope, the unbearable burden, the unfulfilled potential — it all had led to this point, when the local kid and lifelong Yankee fan finally made good.

Anthony Volpe stepped into the box in the bottom of the sixth inning with a runner on first, two out, and the Yankees down by two and facing elimination in Game 3 of the American League Division Series. After taking a Griffin Jax sweeper in the dirt for a ball, the one-time second coming of Derek Jeter, who’d stalled and backtracked and flamed out in frustrating fashion, turned on a sinker running in on his hands and lifted a high-arching fly ball to left field that just cleared the wall for a game-tying home run. As he made his way around the bases, all the emotions of the last four years came pouring out of him.

But just after he crossed the plate, the six umpires came together and called for a crew chief review. Reality set in as the replay repeated on the jumbotron in center field, showing different angles of the same disappointing event. Several minutes of deliberation made it official: The home run was overturned. A fan in the first row had reached over the wall with both hands and touched the ball before it rolled up his arms and into his lap.

Volpe was awarded second base, as the umpires determined that the ball would not have been caught even if the fan hadn’t interfered with it. They also concluded that George Lombard Jr., who began the play on first and was running on contact with two outs, would’ve scored on the play. That run turned out to be the final one of the game for either team, as the Rays held on to beat the Yankees, 4-3, and complete the sweep. Read the rest of this entry »


Dodgers Dispatch Braves in Game 4 Battle of the Tylers

Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

After cruising through the NLDS with a gentleman’s sweep, the defending-champion Los Angeles Dodgers are headed to the National League Championship Series for the third year in a row. A day after Yoshinobu Yamamoto silenced Atlanta’s bats in Game 3, the Braves and Dodgers ran out the finest Tylers they had to offer, and both pitchers excelled. The difference largely came down to the bullpens. With a bevy of rested options to choose from, Dave Roberts went and got his pitchers at the first sign of trouble. In contrast, Walt Weiss, who ran a bullpen game in Game 2 and needed four innings from his ‘pen in Game 3, stretched his pitchers a bit further than they could manage, and although it took seven innings, he finally paid for it. The Dodgers took the game 4-1 and the series 3-1. They now await the winner of the Brewers/Padres series in the NLCS, but you have to imagine they’re not too worried either way.

If you were the Braves, you might have circled Tyler Glasnow’s start on the postseason calendar. This Dodgers rotation has about as many soft spots as the four horseman of the apocalypse, but Glasnow missed much of the season with back spasms, hadn’t pitched in 13 games, and had underperformed his peripherals in a major way. Since he returned from the IL, Glasow had run an excellent 2.14 FIP because he was striking out nearly 13 batters per nine, but his ERA was an unsightly 4.46. When your other options are Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, and Blake Snell, you’ll take it.

The Braves manufactured the first run of the game. More specifically, leadoff man Michael Harris II manufactured it almost single-handedly. Glasnow started Harris with a 96-mph fastball right at the top of the zone, and Harris was all over it, shooting a low liner through the right side of the infield at 107 mph. With basestealing guru Antoan Richardson in the first base coaching box, Harris got out to a huge vault lead and easily stole second base two pitches later. He could have had third as well, but he didn’t see Will Smith’s throw continue into center field. Harris made it there eventually, advancing on a Matt Olson groundout. Three pitches later, Glasnow spiked a 1-1 curveball to Ozzie Albies, and Harris didn’t hesitate for a second. He broke as soon as he read the pitch’s downward angle. It bounced well in front of the plate, and Smith did well to block the high bounce, but he couldn’t keep it close. Harris scored easily. With their season on the line, the Braves had a 1-0 lead. Read the rest of this entry »