Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent seasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract crowdsourcing project, with the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowd to better understand and project the 2026-27 free agent market.
In recent years, we’ve added a few features to these ballots based on reader feedback. You now have the option to indicate that a player will only receive a minor league contract, or won’t receive a contract at all. If there is a player option, team option, or opt out in a player’s contract, you’ll be able to indicate whether you think he will remain with his current team or become a free agent. Statistics are prorated to full season values where noted. Unless otherwise indicated, the projected WAR figures are from the first cut of the 2027 Steamer600 projections.
Below are ballots for seven of this year’s free agents — in this case, a group of catchers. Read the rest of this entry »
Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent seasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract crowdsourcing project, with the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowd to better understand and project the 2026-27 free agent market.
In recent years, we’ve added a few features to these ballots based on reader feedback. You now have the option to indicate that a player will only receive a minor league contract, or won’t receive a contract at all. If there is a player option, team option, or opt out in a player’s contract, you’ll be able to indicate whether you think he will remain with his current team or become a free agent. Statistics are prorated to full season values where noted. Unless otherwise indicated, the projected WAR figures are from the first cut of the 2027 Steamer600 projections.
Below are ballots for seven of this year’s free agents — in this case, a group of outfielders. Read the rest of this entry »
Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other recent seasons, FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract crowdsourcing project, with the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowd to better understand and project the 2026-27 free agent market.
In recent years, we’ve added a few features to these ballots based on reader feedback. You now have the option to indicate that a player will only receive a minor league contract, or won’t receive a contract at all. If there is a player option, team option, or opt out in a player’s contract, you’ll be able to indicate whether you think he will remain with his current team or become a free agent. Statistics are prorated to full season values where noted. Unless otherwise indicated, the projected WAR figures are from the first cut of the 2027 Steamer600 projections.
Below are ballots for eight of this year’s free agents — in this case, a group of starting pitchers. Read the rest of this entry »
MILWAUKEE — You all know the theoretical concept of a replacement-level player. I suspect I’m not the only one who associates that concept with a specific person: The guy who’s continuously mediocre despite repeated exposure to big league competition. The longer he sticks around, the more chances he gets, the more I catch myself thinking, “Why? Can’t they at least try to find someone better?”
Until this year, that guy, for me, was Jake Bauers. In his 20s, Bauers played for seven different organizations, spending six seasons in the majors. In 615 games, he hit .211/.307/.365, which is a wRC+ of 88, with 58 home runs, a 29.0% strikeout rate, and -0.4 career WAR. He was a first baseman, and not an exceptional defender, who hit for neither average nor power, and struck out a lot. He isn’t a great athlete, and as a seventh-round pick out of a high school in Huntington Beach, California, he had neither the prospect pedigree nor the winning collegiate track record that would warrant so many chances.
I didn’t get it, especially because Bauers had toured so many organizations — the Padres, the Rays, the Guardians, the Yankees, and most latterly the Brewers — who have earned a reputation for knowing what they’re doing. Why did this most replaceable of players keep getting chances? Read the rest of this entry »
Playing professional baseball is so hard, and requires so much preternatural ability, that it borders on impossible for the civilian mind to comprehend. Hitting a 90 mile an hour pitch — let alone the 100 mph ones warping the fabric of the sport — requires a combination of hand-eye coordination, anticipation, and kinetic movement that most people straight up cannot attain. Whereas with other professions, the concept of achieving greatness is graspable — I have not, and never will, write the next great American novel, but I can at least formulate the thought of how to do so — watching a major league baseball game and trying to imagine oneself in that position is total fantasy.
That being said, if you were to take the three foundational elements of the game — hitting, pitching, and fielding — and force a rando from the local bar to perform one of them, I’d argue that fielding would be by far the easiest. No one who isn’t regularly playing baseball, or is at least recently removed from doing so, is rolling out of bed and getting bat to ball in a World Series game. And while getting an out from the mound might be doable simply because the fielders could help, the pitches coming from commoner arms would be deeply comical in comparison to the real thing. But catching a popup or fielding a grounder could be done, even if some of the participants in Game 2 of the World Series produced evidence to the contrary.
The miscues started early in Saturday night’s feverish game between the Rays and Brewers. Yandy Díaz, the very first hitter of the night, pushed a weak groundball to Milwaukee shortstop Cooper Pratt to get things going. Pratt ushered the ball into his glove and readied for a throw that some (though not all) slightly athletic normies could make. But, perhaps because this was a big, important baseball game that was on television and not just a hypothetical exercise for some guy’s blog, Pratt did not complete the throw and instead bounced it right into the camera well. One batter, one error. Read the rest of this entry »
Adam Ottavino matched up against Paul Goldschmidt more often than he did any other hitter. The now-retired right-hander faced the still-active slugger 32 times, surrendering six hits — including three home runs — and issuing half a dozen walks. He set him down on strikes 13 times.
What does Ottavino most remember about his battles with Goldschmidt, who over 16 seasons has logged 905 extra-base hits, a 135 wRC+, and 58.8 WAR in what is arguably a Hall of Fame-worthy career?
“He was usually the best player on his team, and because of my righty-matchup ability I faced him a lot,” said Ottavino, who has smoothly segued from data-savvy reliever to insightful broadcast analyst. “At the beginning it was as many sliders as I could throw, but then he kind of figured out that the best approach against me was to not try to pull the ball. If you look at his three home runs, they were all to the opposite field. I realized that I had to switch up from only staying on the outside corner and start coming inside a little bit.
“When I developed the cutter, I used it a lot in mid-counts, because I knew he wasn’t hunting that pitch,” Ottavino went on to say.” It became a lot more cat-and-mouse over time. I mean, it was never a comfortable matchup. He had a really good approach, and I felt like he was very calculated coming to each at-bat. Sometimes I was able to stay a step ahead, and sometimes not.”
As for the baker’s dozen strikeouts, the Northeastern University product recalls the majority of them coming on takes, mostly in their later matchups. When he sensed that Goldschmidt was looking slider on a two-strike count, and thus “open for a freeze,” he would throw a backdoor sinker.
Most of the time, life isn’t a storybook. The problem in Act One isn’t tied up with a bow in Act Three. Yesterday’s villain doesn’t always become today’s hero; in fact, they frequently stay today’s villain. But the baseball gods must have been hankering for a redemption arc Saturday night. Cooper Pratt was the scapegoat for an early Tampa Bay rally in Game 2, and then the hero for a late Milwaukee response, as the Brewers persevered for a 5-4 victory that staked them to a 2-0 lead in the World Series.
Before the raucous Milwaukee fans had even settled into their seats, Pratt got an easy chance to open the game, a weak grounder off the bat of the lead-footed Yandy Díaz. But Pratt played himself into trouble by waiting too long to commit. He got to the ball late, rushed his throw, and chucked it into the dugout on a hop. Just like that, the pressure was on, and the Brewers were down – down by a shocking four runs, in fact. After consecutive run-scoring singles, Liam Hicks tattooed a Logan Henderson cutter right down Wisconsin Ave for a two-run bomb:
All October, that kind of lead had been more than Drew Rasmussen has needed. Tampa Bay’s ace has been automatic all month, the best pitcher in the playoffs hands down. But he was out of sorts on Saturday, and the Rays defense was just as discombobulated. With two on and one out in the first, Jonathan Aranda tracked a foul ball to the netting, but he couldn’t squeeze it into his glove. Given a second chance at life, William Contreras hit what looked like an inning-ending double-play ball – but Richie Palacios was charging toward second base to cover a potential steal, and he couldn’t change directions in time to get a glove on it. Garrett Mitchell tacked on with a two-out single that cut the deficit to two and brought Pratt to the plate. But Pratt’s redemption was not forthcoming. He struck out on three pitches, putting an unceremonious stop to the rally.
Henderson and Rasmussen were both uneven today. They struggled to miss bats, and thus to end at-bats. Henderson needed 64 pitches to get through the first three innings, and Brewers manager Pat Murphy didn’t need to see anything further. He turned to his bullpen for the last six innings of work, something he’s been unafraid of all year. Rays skipper Kevin Cash has been more patient with his starters this fall, but Rasmussen couldn’t hold his form. He briefly got into a groove, retiring six straight Brewers, but he couldn’t keep it going. Pratt, of all people, broke the streak. He worked a one-out walk in the bottom of the fourth inning, kicking off a bottom-of-the-lineup rally. Sal Frelick followed with a line drive single. And then the Rays continued their shocking streak of defensive lapses. David Hamilton hit a weak grounder to first, and chaos ensued:
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.
Sean Dolinar
Hi everyone! We had an interesting ending last night. Hopefully tonight will be just as fun! We got our standard polls and a redux of our Rasmussen poll with a little dash hindsight.
Jon Becker
Hello Sean!
Jon Becker
I have just Seen Everything
Sean Dolinar
I still need to watch The Rehearsal.
lzfreak
I've got a Brewers fan friend coming over for the game and he's bringing spotted cow. So I might be pulling for the Brewers tonight at least
Sean Dolinar
I'm jealous. I wish I had friends this good.
MattStats5
I know there's alot of baseball left, but if last night was any indication, this is gonna be a great World Series. Go Orioles! Wait….never mind. Go Baseball!
Seuss2004
The real winner this WS is Brat Rangoon
bosoxforlife
I have heard so much about spotted cow I had to do some research. Looks like it is tough to find here in CT.
crichar3
It's light but quite tasty. Made by a small brewery in SW WI.
Sean Dolinar
It used to be impossible or at least really hard to find outside of Wisconsin. I think it's still that way, but I haven't been there since 2023. When I did have to buy a Spotted Cow from the hotel, because State St. Brats closed early over Thanksgiving weekend.
lzfreak
Yeah my friend has family in Wisconsin and goes back periodically so presumably that's where he got it
Nick Smith
Whoops!
scottbot
What is a quintessential TB area thing?
Sean Dolinar
This is going to be hard. The closest I've been recently is Orlando.
Matt Martell
I saw everything the other night, and I cannot unsee anything
Phil
Saw it last week. My question is why we didn't get to see Nathan in the shower.
Rich Hill's Fastball
Pratt fall
raregokus
More like Pooper Cratt, am I right?
chasfh
You misspelled “Crapp”. 😉
crichar3
Pratt's defense was said to be superb in the minors, but he has been a downgrade defensively compared to Ortiz.
Brian Reinhart
Joe Davis calling the game from the future there saying "Tampa Bay unable to take advantage" with only 1 out
Rich Hill's Fastball
Must've been an alternate future, then!
Oneear
Do I have to be watching the game to contribute to the thread?
Brian Reinhart
I'm running back and forth while cooking dinner
BigHurtBeer
Chandler Simpson in the 3-hole pays off early.
chasfh
Chandler Simpson showing you can have success with oppo soft swings. Well, at least *he* can.
bosoxforlife
I wonder if a player with exactly 0 HR's during the regular season has ever batted 3rd in a WS.
Matt Martell
I really hope Simpson keeps getting better because he's so much fun to watch
Sean Dolinar
Simpson's stature reminds me of 80s/early 90s era baseball players.
BigHurtBeer
He's like a taller version of Lance Johnson, former ChiSox CF.
Sean Dolinar
Beautiful steal.
chasfh
I do like replays from the Umpcam. That shot down the LF line looked pretty awesome from it.
Sean Dolinar
Love the crowd reaction shots at the end of replays.
Jack Dorfman
Oh boy
Rich Hill's Fastball
Hicks hits it to the sticks
bosoxforlife
Thank you John Sterling.
BigHurtBeer
Oh man … that ball was destroyed
Phil
What is going on?
Jack Dorfman
And here I was ready for a pitchers duel
bosoxforlife
This one looks to be over early.
Nick Smith
Wow
chasfh
OK, who had Henderson going one inning? ‘Cause you might win that poll question.
Sean Dolinar
Hi Jack!
Jack Dorfman
Hey Sean!
Phil
Also, is it fair to take this into account in judging the Rasmussen decision? Could have won both, maybe.
Sean Dolinar
Exactly!
Sean Dolinar
They got some solid innings last night from Martinez and Matz. But one of those runs made a difference.
Sean Dolinar
Do they have a drone over the field??
moomin
love that this happened after I saw tons of comments complaining about Hicks after yesterday
chasfh
How’s this for a facile hot take: Henderson pitching like a rookie, Pratt fielding like a rookie.
Davy Andrews
Hey everybody!
bosoxforlife
He better be right, and he is.
Brian Reinhart
New Q. How many Kyle Harrison innings are we getting tonight?
bosoxforlife
Too many!!
scottbot
3?
chasfh
I do notice the mean for Henderson’s IP on the poll question has ticked down a touch.
Jack Dorfman
Was just wondering who’s gonna get mop up innings
Sean Dolinar
Woodruff?
Phil
I am more convinced than ever that this thing is going to 7 games.
Jack Dorfman
I’m guessing they go drohan? they at least trusted him against the dodgers and they probably rightly believe they can still come back
BryanB
Excellent, my secret plan is working
crichar3
Cooper's "prattfall" set a bad tone for that inning. Ortiz makes that play with ease. They lose some offense with Ortiz, but he's a nice boost to run prevention.
Jack Dorfman
Liam Hicks and the Hot Licks
Davy Andrews
Chourio not ambushing that one!
chasfh
As a Tiger fan I get all 🤬thinking about how Liam Hicks was in our system and was allowed to walk just last year, and then I remember, oh yeah, Dillon Dingler
Sean Dolinar
There's still a lot of baseball. A lot can happen.
Nick Smith
Sure, it's an early lead, but it's an even-numbered lead.
Rich Hill's Fastball
That Hicks homer killed the rally!
BryanB
Also, it’s not a prime number
Jack Dorfman
Love descriptive statistics
Jack Dorfman
Wow here we go
Phil
Chourio is quite good.
chasfh
As Ernie Harwell would say, “The Brewers are kicking up their heels!”
Arathorn
When was the last WS game where both teams scored double digits?
Rich Hill's Fastball
I can't think of any game since 2017 game 5
chasfh
Date Game Score
Oct 20, 1993 Game 4 Blue Jays 15, Phillies 14 (at Philadelphia)
Oct 21, 1997 Game 3 Marlins 14, Indians 11 (at Cleveland)
Oct 20, 2002 Game 2 Angels 11, Giants 10 (at Anaheim)
Oct 29, 2017 Game 5 Astros 13, Dodgers 12 (at Houston, 10 innings)
ChadT
I thought we agreed to never speak of that again.
BryanB
My wife was like what’s up with the Brewers and I was all, that’s the team that’s led the AL all year
Philedited
Thought the Brewers and Rays were known for defense. . .
crichar3
They were, but Pratt isn't living up to his MiLB hype in that regard.
BigHurtBeer
Hicks is gonna want to use an ABS challenge here
Sean Dolinar
He really wanted to challenge there.
Sean Dolinar
Old school baseball!
Jack Dorfman
Wow the hit and run
BigHurtBeer
Man, Contreras is dialed in situationally.
bosoxforlife
That looked like am inning ending double play off the bat.
crichar3
Brewers doing Brewers things.
Patrick Burke
Anyone else not able to find this chat in the app?
Sean Dolinar
It's in the newest iOS version released yesterday via a banner on the home screen. Android is still being worked on.
Sean Dolinar
That atmosphere looks amazing.
fishnchips
These pitchers aren’t fooling anyone
crichar3
They are fooling me — I thought they were both pretty good.
chasfh
Turang wasn’t fooled on that 109 mph second out.
bosoxforlife
How much I miss the hit and run. It was such a part of the game when hitters could be relied upon to make contact.
chasfh
I bet it comes back to the game again, and probably sooner than we think. Game is always evolving.
chasfh
When they finally go to 100% robot ump calls on pitches, will catchers still frame out of habit?
Nick Smith
I hope so: "Nice try, meatsack. Beep-boop!"
Rich Hill's Fastball
These offenses are really, really fun
Phil
Different sort of game than yesterday.
crichar3
Pratt can now atone for his error…
chasfh
Is Rasmussen knuckling his changeup? Looks like that’s what his middle finger was doing on that run-scoring single just now.
Davy Andrews
No, pretty sure he's taking it off, which is what you do for a kick change.
chasfh
Looked like it was tucked under the ball was why I asked
BryanB
Pratt going for Most Suckee Player
chasfh
Oof, the hubris of Contreras
bosoxforlife
The very word a had in mind.
Rich Hill's Fastball
For anyone unable to watch on TV: Brewers have JoJo Romero warming
Oneear
The start to this game makes me wish I was in a bar in Milwaukee watching all the miserable Brewers fans.
AdvantageSchneider
Brewers fans maybe a lot of things but miserable in a bar they are not.
BryanB
Henderson really doesn’t like an 0-2 count
bosoxforlife
A sacrifice bunt with no outs is taking this small ball a little bit too far.
kingharbaugh
in the second no less
Oneear
Maybe that's what my wife meant when she called me a sadness vampire.
Jack Dorfman
Game feels like a pre pitch clock slog I love it
Sean Dolinar
I'm more ok with this in the postseason. 4-hour games during the 162-game marathon was too much.
fishnchips
Both of these teams take absolutely gnarly ABs
Nick Smith
Anyone else think maybe baseball should actively try to reduce foul balls?
Sean Dolinar
How would you do that?
BryanB
What are ya thinking?
Rich Hill's Fastball
I suppose this is a good outcome, but how in the world would you achieve that besides increasing infield popups?
kingharbaugh
make fair territory bigger
Nick Smithedited
Maybe, on the 2nd out, 2 fouls for free and the next one is a strikeout?
Kenny
Change the in-play angle from 90 degrees to 360 degrees, like cricket 🙂
chasfh
The only way I can think of to reduce foul balls would be to replace the wizards pitching today with normal mortals.
bosoxforlife
Then we wouldn't get to see Tristan Peters and Jake Bauers wow us with their long, and terrific, AB's.
BryanB
Loves me some Tristan Peters
Nick Smith
Maybe the foul lines don't have to precicely coincide with the basebaths? Have them angle out a bit?
Sean Dolinar
We're a numbers site, so I should have something to back this up, but I feel like the vast majority of foul balls are tips/to the backstop or dramatically in foul territory.
Sean Dolinar
You'd definitely would be moving things at the margins if that's what you are going for.
Nick Smith
The margins *are* where interesting stuff happens…
g4
Pitchers need to figure out how to pitch to squarer contact, but not toooo square. Sounds hard
sb4321
TIL William Contreras is only 0.1 fWAR behind his brother in terms of cumulative performance this decade.
BryanB
My fav Kalshi commercial and I hate Kalshi
BryanB
Pat Murphy is a leader
Nick Smith
Re: making pitchers mortal, maybe moving the mound back a few inches is a way to go?
BryanB
Yah or down
g4
I've thought so for a while. Less guess hitting should lead to more contact w/o necessarily spiking HR
kingharbaugh
I think they tried that in the Atlantic league and it had the opposite effect. Walks went up, but so did strikeouts.
Nick Smithedited
Nuts! It's almost like better-motivated peple than I have worked on this issue.
g4
That was a garbage experiment that gets cited as definitive way too much. Of course guys struggled after playing their whole careers at 60'6" — move it back a foot now and reap the benefits in years 10-50.
kingharbaugh
Yeah it was pretty short lived. The extra distance does give breaking pitches more time to move, though. It makes sense that it didn't just make hitting easier.
raregokusedited
Yeah it's the kind of change that can't be evaluated in a single season or even a few seasons, and MLB seems so concerned about unintended consequences that they won't implement something they can't just throw minor league (or indy ball) games at
Nick Smith
Makes sense. So many of these changes depend on how long it takes for players to adapt.
g4
I also liked a commenter's recent idea to make the rubber narrower. Such an easy fix that doesn't change the fabric of the game yet mitigates the extreme arm angles
kingharbaugh
I like this a lot!
g4
No one would even notice!
Nick Smith
The best kind of change! Like the pitch clock.
raregokus
Good idea, but now I wonder what we can do with the plate. We made the bases bigger, we're making the rubber smaller, maybe we start having opposite day games where the plate is pointed the wrong direction
Matt Martell
Hi Sean! ABS spon con is weird
Matt Martell
My last five messages are "awaiting review," which is a bit on the nose for messages about ABS
Sean Dolinar
I was just looking up how T-mobile actually powers ABS.
raregokus
Surely it's some garbage about how their network is used to transmit the results, right?
Sean Dolinar
Google AI was really getting some stuff wrong.
Sean Dolinar
I might be missing something, but I'm not sure why ABS needs a private 5G network to work.
Rich Hill's Fastball
It needs a 5G network to get sponsored!
raregokus
They're allowing them to use the emergency network for ABS actually, 911 calls won't go through in Milwaukee if Contreras taps his helmet
JohnThacker
T-Mobile owns basically all the 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum for North America and they set up a private network inside stadiums reserving a slice of the band. Wi-Fi would be a bad idea because it's public so theoretically it could get congested.
Jack Dorfman
Oh boy aranda
Sean Dolinar
"The ABS challenge workflow relies on players (batters, catchers, or pitchers) tapping their helmet or cap directly on the field to trigger a review. A physical wire tether to a player or an umpire would be dangerous, cumbersome, and impractical during active play."
Alright, thanks AI.
Sean Dolinar
This is trying to answer the 5G question.
Sean Dolinar
From my cursory research…it's better solution than WiFi or other wireless solutions. And it looks like it simplifies the infrastructure build out for the operation of it.
Rich Hill's Fastball
Oh no Aranda 🙁
Nick Smithedited
Daaaaaang!
BryanB
Wow
brewersbibliophile
Just finished my shift, I miss anything?
Sean Dolinar
That was not a strike.
BryanB
Agree
BryanB
Should have been a walk
BryanB
#replaceUMPs
Rich Hill's Fastball
Was only listening to that Rhapsido commercial and could've sworn they were advertising Rapsodo
fishnchips
Do you think about Vaughn at all here?
brewersbibliophile
Im always thinking about Vaughn
raregokus
The Aranda play finally convinced me, the Brewers are inevitable
BryanB
maxRISP
Sean Dolinar
SP poll is closed! Rasmussen didn't go 4 IP, but we had him at 5.2 IP mean and 6 IP median.
Henderson when 3 IP and we had him around 4.1 IP mean and 4 IP median.
BryanB
I would imagine SPs go fewer innings in the post?
raregokus
Trying and failing to think of someone whose stock has fallen further the last couple years than David Stearns
Phil
Clase
kingharbaugh
Alek Manoah
BryanB
Why?
raregokusedited
I knew I'd be wrong when I posted, I just didn't know HOW wrong (re: Clase)
raregokus
"Mets rich and bad Brewers poor and good" was the core of my thinking
JohnThacker
Wander Franco?
raregokus
Wow yeah I whiffed hard on this one lol
BryanB
Okay Pratt making up for his mistakes
BryanB
MLB can’t be surprised that players bet, when they’re forcing betting apps down our throats
BryanB
It’d be like if every other commercial was for steroids
raregokus
OK but tbh I'm very intrigued by the idea of steroid commercials
Every other commercial *is* for pharmaceuticals. Odds are many of them are steroids.
JohnThacker
Surprisingly, that pharmaceutical that clears your skin but may increase your risk of infection that was just advertised is not a corticosteroid, even though it sounds like one.
Phil
Thoughts about using Ashby while losing, even by just a run, given his workload? Is he going to pitch multiple innings in literally every game?
Phil
Oh, I guess Ashby isn't actually warming.
BryanB
Cannot hit batters. Ever. In the post. Unless it’s intentional.
Solitaire
Palacios specs are no longer neon green??
raregokus
I was looking closely after someone mentioned it last night, I thought they looked different!
danorris101
I just found Waldo
kingharbaugh
That seemed very close
kingharbaugh
Didn't matter in the end.
raregokus
Fireable send
danorris101
Speaking of gambling…
Nick Smith
Oof
brewersbibliophile
Reminds me of the days of Wavin Wendell
Seuss2004
Has a 3rd base coach ever been fired in-game?
chasfh
Fire that 3B coach, Tampa.
AdvantageSchneider
Dumbest send in WS history
kingharbaugh
oh that was a dumb send
Rich Hill's Fastball
What in the Hicks?
Nick Smith
Fortune favors the bold, they say, but yeesh.
Rich Hill's Fastball
Fortune also favors the scouting report
BryanB
What was the dumb send the other day?
brewersbibliophile
Hamilton trying to extend a double to triple?
g4
Mesa trying to steal third
fishnchips
I guess if you sac bunt earlier in the inning you’re pot committed to the send with 2 outs *shrug*
crichar3
Bunting only works for teams that don’t strike out a lot and make a good deal of contact. TB is one of those teams. So is MKE.
BryanB
lol I was thinking the same thing about the umps guns
chasfhadmin edited
Friend of mine says Eduardo Perez calling the game on the radio said it was a good send. Eduardo Perez is objectively a dumb s**t.
raregokus
Maybe Perez is calling the game blindfolded, it's not like you could tell by his analysis
Phil
Woah!!!!
Rich Hill's Fastball
No way
Brian Reinhart
that's baseball
danorris101
Maybe they are a team of destiny
BryanB
Woot!!!!!
Nick Smith
Brand new ballgame!
Sonny L
Lexington!
Alan Sherman
Brewers have a long lineup
Alan Sherman
Mitchell against the dodgers, frelick here, hamilton (not) triple yesterday
Sean Dolinar
This is good baseball.
Brian Reinhart
my partner's review of the Frelick home run: "Ohhh, he's so cute!"
Brian Reinhart
I'll show her the face he made during that nutty '25 NLCS double play
Sean Dolinar
That's the insight we need on these chats.
Sonny L
Sal Frelick will hold the door for you at Friendly’s and share his clown cone. America’s or at least the metro Boston area’s sweetheart
Solitaire
my partner: he looks kind of like Jerry Seinfeld. Unclear if this agrees or contradicts your partner's assessment
fishnchips
Fangraphs article idea, all time playoff series ranked by average number of two strike fouls per game
Alan Sherman
there's a cutie keeping score behind the plate too
Alan Sherman
love to see it
millvillemeltdown
alan thinks the hp umpire is cute !?!
chasfh
Front Row Amy. Quite famous in that area.
raregokus
alan and umpy sittin in a tree
Alan Sherman
umpires don't keep score
chasfh
Aren’t umpires actually the official arbiters of the score?
raregokus
Yeah but they aren't responsible for keeping a record of it, they let an entirely different guy screw that up
kingharbaugh
I just don't think I see it for the Rays right now.
Alan Sherman
we've got dave flemming calling the game in Canada, nyeah nyeah
chasfhedited
What, you’re not listening to Alain Usereau?! Sacre bleu!
BryanB
Ump needs to focus less on his guns, more on his eyes
Brian Reinhart
OK, let's make it a series. my partner's review of Chourio: "how does a 22 year old get that big?? I thought maybe he was 37"
Rich Hill's Fastball
Brian's partner should submit a community post about reactions to these guys
raregokus
lockout post!
BryanB
Chourio needs to focus less on guns more on strike zone
BryanB
I’ll just backseat drive all the players
Brian Reinhart
If I remember anything from age 9, it's that you're gonna walk guys if you look at third base while throwing the pitch
raregokus
For exactly one pitch in my last year of little league I thought "varying my looks" meant throwing a no-look fastball because a guy was on third
Rich Hill's Fastball
What the ****
Seuss2004
wat.
Nick Smith
Huh.
Sean Dolinar
That went from, oh crap, to WOW, to damn.
chasfh
lol FOX thought that ball was so caught in left they went right to “end of 5th” on the score box
brewersbibliophile
I caught that too
Sean Dolinar
I love catching broadcast goofs!
chasfhedited
Thank god there’s a pitching change so FOX has time to reboot the thing
Brian Reinhart
did they both get lost in the lights?
Solitaire
So Yelich's strategy this WS is to have outfielders drop his fly balls?
Seuss2004
I feel like im missing something here. Ball went in the glove, glove smacked the ground, ball popped out. Why was there not so much as a review?
Sean Dolinar
I don't think you are wrong, because they get a bunch of challenges in the postseason. But that was not a catch in MLB or the NFL.
brewersbibliophile
I believe that would have been Tampas last challenge. They lost one on that terrible send where they thought Contreras was blocking the plate
BryanB
If I remember anything from age 9 it’s that I thought Donruss and Fleer were cool
Seuss2004
Punp your brakes kid, those cards were a national treasure.
BryanB
I LOVED Upper Deck.
Brian Reinhart
now FOX saying that Taylor Walls is the batter against DL Hall
Seuss2004edited
"Father McGrath! I thought you were dead!" "I was!"
Brian Reinhart
they took the scorebug down
kingharbaugh
It's back and still wrong
kingharbaugh
Third times a charm?
Sean Dolinar
They broke it!
BryanB
Someone’s getting fired
rudle
joe buck better watch his back
danorris101
Is it me?
raregokus
Hopefully it's Tampa's 3rd base coach
BryanB
RISPmaxed
moominedited
Taylor Walks strikes again (balls again?)
BryanB
Yandy is a fun name
millvillemeltdown
i can't even make a joke that it's short for yandrew because it's pronounced with the long a
raregokus
bizarre parallel brain moment
raregokus
Abner is such an underrated name
BryanB
Wow I didn’t know that!
Brian Reinhart
first Abner in the majors since 1891
millvillemeltdown
oh man, i've been feeling so weirdly low today and not even the baseball is helping
BryanB
Kinda same, just one of those blue days
Solitaire
I hope your tomorrow is better
crichar3
That double might raise your spirits!
millvillemeltdown
every day is a roll of the dice, sometimes you come up empty, but most of the time it's chill
Sean Dolinar
glad to see ya here!
millvillemeltdown
it is always good to be in community, in meatspace and computerspace
BryanB
Ohhh that was close
kingharbaugh
Chandler Simpson is such a funny 3 hitter
NATS Fan
I finally get here. hi all
NATS Fan
Chandler Simpson is a genius 3 hitter. the top 2 slots go to big power nowadays. Simpson makes sure you do not get a double play.
millvillemeltdown
genius and comedy are not mutually exclusive
Sean Dolinar
Two dramatic hits!
BryanB
Doooohhhhh
raregokus
It's kinda felt like Milwaukee has been in the lead ever since the Rays were up 4-2
Rich Hill's Fastball
Every third at-bat of this game has had something dramatic
NATS Fan
Simpson does not walk enough to bat first. You dont care as much about the three hitter walking.
fishnchips
Peak Brewers-Rays-ball would be a suicide squeeze here
Alan Sherman
is Liam Hicks as good a fielder as contreras?
Alan Sherman
millville are you maximizing orange flair or still trying to spell something?
raregokus
nimble dethoosfg?
Solitaire
I'm hoping for a reveal that he is Dutch
millvillemeltdown
nimble looked fun, then i gave up lmao
millvillemeltdown
feel like i have to shake things up though
millvillemeltdown
i have happened upon something quite rude, oops
Solitaire
apparently changes are applied retroactively. I'm pleased to have caught the one this was posted with
raregokus
Still kinda shook from last night when Sean mentioned that viewership was 44.8 million in 1978 vs. 8 million this year. I knew it was bad but not THAT bad
Sean Dolinar
It seems like the statistical methods are sound for that 44.8 M number. But I'm still curious how accurate those ratings were back then.
NATS Fan
It is harder to watch a game nowadays cause you have to pay someone to watch. in 1978 it was free on one of the three channels.
chasfh
As accurate as any statistically sound large-sized sample would be.
raregokus
Right but I doubt the methodology has been consistent for the last 40 years. TVs were probably not as evenly distributed demographically in 1978 as they are now, even if we have no reason to question how the sample was selected. There are a ton of ways the numbers could be skewed in the analysis.
NATS Fan
My flare is the minimum. If its not the minimum change the rule.
BryanB
Oh good lord why did you swing at that
Alan Sherman
In 1978 no one was playing Mario or Call of Duty or binge watching anything
NATS Fan
I was playing pong for hours!
NATS Fan
bla beep kA blunk….. bla beep ka blunk
Phil
Pratt redeems himself!
chasfh
Sweet redemption for Cooper Pratt
Rich Hill's Fastball
Team of destiny, logic be damned
NATS Fan
I'm rooting for the series to go 7. Go Tampa!
rudle
huh, I guess my digital antenna set up is behind by almost a full minute??
Rich Hill's Fastball
You can delay the chat using the settings cog in the top right
Sean Dolinar
Really? I thought terrestrial broadcast would be the fastest!
Alan Sherman
Brewers stringing together ABs
Alan Sherman
Thanks for answering my question, Liam!
BryanB
I am LOVING all the SBs
BryanB
lol omg almost
chasfh
And just like that Cooper Pratt with the RTBLAN
Brian Reinhart
partner's review of the Frelick flyout: "he's just a little guy!"
BryanB
I thought that was going
Phil
Brewers radio has tricked me into thinking there was a home run twice this inning. In Boston we used to call this a "Trupiano," or, as a verb, "to Trup" (pronounced "troop").
Crapshoot
I thought that was long gone
Alan Sherman
Did you have home pong or spend a ton of nickels in arcades?
NATS Fan
I was the cool kid!
NATS Fan
home
g4
Someone please remind me how I add the team flair?
Phil
Click the little gear, top right of the chat.
millvillemeltdown
the flairs dont show in the chat replay, right
Sean Dolinar
I export a transcript for the blog post. But these persist on the chat url. We're still feeling out how to transition editorially.
millvillemeltdown
i fear i happened upon a crude flair combo that i would not like to be perma attached to , um.
g4
Thank you!
crichar3
Diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting? Yeah, I am feeling all of those right now…
raregokus
Symptoms suggest prolonged exposure to John Smoltz
crichar3
Hmm. A second inning from Abner? He didn't do this too much during the regular season.
BryanB
Caminero has a lifetime BELPH of .105 against RHP who pitch from the stretch on Saturdays.
millvillemeltdown
is belph correlated with bleph at all, or are they separate metrics
BryanBedited
BELPH is BLEPH standardized for park, weather, beer type, and amount of under eye
NATS Fan
I heard someone is working on OwBLEPH+
Crapshoot
This series is gonna be a great exercise in how much seeing a reliever multiple times in a series matters
Brian Reinhart
if I learned anything from this strategy being deployed in 2019, it's that eventually we'll get Surprise Fernando Rodney
Crapshoot
Yeah to be clear I have no idea but maybe it’s a versions of third time through the order?
Nick Smith
After seeing these short sleeve hoodies, I'm wondering if we've reached peak hoodie.
millvillemeltdown
fwiw i almost always roll the sleeves of my hoodies up, i don't fully understand why
David
Or if the hoody has hit rock bottom
Brian Reinhart
Ryan Vilade went to the barber and asked for the Bo Bichette
raregokus
Ryan Vilade taking an at bat in the World Series would've been a hilariously ridiculous thought like 3 years ago
NATS Fan
that last play had an xBLEPH+ of 42!
raregokus
But it had an xBLEPHCON+ of 156! Talk about unlucky!
Brian Reinhart
my partner's review of Front Row Amy: "I mean, if you pay for it, you gotta show it off"
crichar3
Good story about FRA in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She seems like a nice person: Married to her high school sweetheart and they have a few kids together and live in Oshkosh. Not what I expected.
Solitaire
These close games are amazing and great entertainment, but I hope there's one where the score gets wide enough that Woodruff gets to pitch. Just check and he somehow hasn't pitched in the playoffs since 2021?
NATS Fanedited
how about a 15th inning game?
Nick Smith
I've long thought Yelich looked like an 80s teen movie villain. Curious about Brian's partner's take.
NATS Fan
if its a ski movie, then I agree
BryanB
There we go. Just hit it.
BryanB
I have a man crush on Contreras and I’m not afraid to admit it.
fishnchips
What’s the record for 1 and 2 run wins over the course of a postseason?
chasfhedited
The record is 8 postseason wins by one or two runs.
Eight more teams are one behind at 7: the 1992 Blue Jays, 1997 Indians, 2000 Yankees, 2003 Marlins, 2005 White Sox, 2010 Giants, 2014 Royals and 2022 Astros.
JohnThacker
Notably, the Yankees were outscored in the 1996 World Series despite winning in six games.
chasfh
Chandler Simpson throws like a guy in a 45+ men’s amateur league.
Sean Dolinaredited
Almost slid past the base. That was closer that the real time looked.
raregokus
Almost looked like he threw his shoulder out trying to stay on the bag
chasfh
I and the fans of at least 27 other teams are so jealous of the fire in the Brewers team.
raregokus
We need to discover more Contreras brothers, they're like magic for a team's vibes
NATS Fan
NATS had that fire before the trade deadline. Then they didn't.
BryanB
Who was he throwing to? The 2B ump?
Jack Dorfman
Hicks getting some butterfingers for Halloween
Brian Reinhart
partner's take on Contreras: "he looks like he feels the weight of the whole world on his shoulders."
Matt Martell
I think his foot got in there
kingharbaugh
He looked safe live
Matt Martell
I think that was a terrible tag by Fortes
raregokusedited
Matz feels like an odd choice here right? lol not meant to be a reply
chasfhedited
He scored! It’s gonna be 6-4
EDIT: ehhh, win some, lose some
Eltneg
Wow, assumed he was out by a mile when that throw came in but looking at the replay that looks almost too close to call
kingharbaugh
oh I don't think you can overturn that
Sean Dolinar
It's the toe they have see? I haven't seen enough to overturn.
Matt Martell
I don't know if there's enough there, but in real time, I thought he was safe
Sean Dolinar
That's the right call.
chasfh
So interesting how Fortes appeared to move his foot to avoid blocking the plate, which surely led to the awkward tag.
NATS Fan
go Tampa!!!
Brian Reinhart
you're choosing Elijah Dukes over Junior Spivey, huh?
NATS Fan
point taken. I am retired, so i want it to go 7
Eltneg
Too close to overturn I guess but that's rough by Fortas to even make that play close
chasfh
I thought the Brewers had a better shot overturning the call on whether the runner tagged the plate versus the obstruction challenge.
chasfh
Raise your hand if you want the Rays to score one so we go into the bottom of the inning tied. 🖐️
Sean Dolinar
I just want more baseball.
ra1nyd9ys
I'm rooting for the Brewers in this match but I'd love to see more baseball
chasfh
Exactly!
raregokus
You mean the 12th right?
chasfh
@raregokus Sure, why not!
crichar3
There will be more on Monday and Tuesday, so let's just wrap it here, OK?
chasfh
Oh, yeah!
BryanB
RISPmaxxing
Eltneg
Using the last challenge on the first pitch of the 9th inning in a one-run game feels suboptimal
kingharbaugh
both of his challenges feel like they had weird timing
kingharbaugh
The lost ones, anyway
chasfh
When you’re feeling bulletproof like that guy is right now, you become more impervious to risk.
Sean Dolinar
Huh, this is interesting.
BryanB
Terrible pitch
Antonio Bananas
Bunting here is asinine
fishnchips
This series is awesome
David
How did he not take third there?
NATS Fan
victor victor mesa mesa jr is my favorit non Nationals or X Ntionals player!
NATS Fan
maybe not
NATS Fan
If I had played baseball in CUBA my hero would have been Victor Mesa.
Solitaire
I have no clue what a check swing is
David
Nobody does!
ra1nyd9ys
Just like knowing what a balk is.
chasfhedited
Dr. Baseball101 asks: what the hell was Mesa doing pimping at the plate after that strike three swing? He should have busted it to first to draw a potentially wild throw.
kingharbaugh
Contreras has been a mad man with his blocks
Phil
Does Ashby have a shot at WS MVP?
g4
Yes, but he keeps rightly crediting his primary competition, Wild Bill
Eltnegedited
There's nothing in any sport quite like a terrible bench bat coming to the plate in a critical playoff AB. I still remember the look on my roommate's face watching Michael Martinez come to the plate at the end of the 2016 WS.
chasfhedited
How wild would it be for Yandy to take strike three called out of the zone to end the game, and it stands because he has never challenged a pitch yet?
chasfh
Well, that was an equally entertaining strike three to end the game, wasn’t it?
BryanB
Please stop throwing into the dirt
Sean Dolinar
This sucks for the Rays. Down in the top of the 9th both nights. They make things happen, but then don't do much. I guess they still can tonight. But two meh outs here.
kingharbaugh
wow what a curve
raregokus
He checked his swing. What an awful way to end the game
Solitaire
I say again, what is a check swing?
Eltneg
I thought he went, gutty by Ashby to pull that out
Sean Dolinar
Replay of that swing?
chasfh
They are bound to showing the celebration sequence without interruption, because, for some reason, the celebration has become the top clippable and shareable moment of any sports event.
Crapshoot
Holy hell what an ending
danorris101
That was ridiculous
Seuss2004
Still waiting for the replay of that 'swing'
Sean Dolinar
Rays felt lost at the plate after DeLuca got on.
NATS Fan
NO HE DID NOT!
viceroy
Junior went further around than that
Solitaire
oof not even close
Nick Smith
Someone had to be somewhere tonight I guess.
joem1617
yikes
chasfh
Oh, yeah, he went
MyBloodyBallantine
Overhead view makes it look like a swing to me
kingharbaugh
I think the overhead view is misleading.
chasfh
I don’t. He went, by a lot.
Sean Dolinar
I think that was a swing, but I've seen that called not a swing plenty of times.
NATS Fan
I guess the owners want the larger market to win this one!
Kenny
Tampa is the larger market by a good deal.
Phil
Milwaukee metro population: 1.5 million. Tampa 3.1.
NATS Fan
higher salary
chasfh
Landing planes is hard 😉
NATS Fan
mil has way more wealth than Tampa per person I'll wager
Sean Dolinar
My theory is it always depends how the 1B/3B ump is feeling.
Brian Reinhart
or if he ate something dangerous for lunch
harrisry
Need a poll on whether that was a swing, interested in how it breaks down.
Sean Dolinar
If the ump has his hands in his pockets or more relaxed, he won't call a swing.
chasfhedited
I don’t believe this at all. I think umpires are quite good at getting check swings right, at least as currently defined, which is bat crosses the line perpendicular with the front edge of the plate.
Sean Dolinar
I'm being partly facetious. But you can tell the call by the umps body language before he signals. At least I think I can.
NATS Fan
I have herd pitchers called dogs more this season than any other.
MyBloodyBallantine
Maybe mlb should actually define a swing in the next cba.
Sean Dolinar
New poll. I'll leave that open until next game.
NATS Fan
good night
Sean Dolinar
Tight 45/55 swing poll so far.
BryanB
I don’t know if he did, but feel like the Brews deserved to win that game
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Ben Clemens banter about World Series roster and rotation decisions, the Fall Classic through a “styles make fights” lens, whether travel days are really rest days, and more. Then (31:50) Ben C. delivers a guest Stat Blast about whether bullpen games are really risky because the more pitchers you use, the more likely you are to run into a reliever who “doesn’t have it” that day, and Ben L. Blasts about players who played for three playoff teams in the same season and players who played for a few World Series winners in a row without appearing in the postseason. Finally (1:02:33), Ben and Meg banter about Angels turnover, Yankees non-turnover, Shohei Ohtani’s two-way future, NPB postings, a KBO breakout, a new baseball video game and K-drama, and a Yandy Díaz nickname.
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