An elimination game, win or go home. Dodgers scratched Freeman prior to the game and moved Muncy to first, Kike on third, and started Taylor in CF. It was a bullpen game with Brasier as the opener against Dylan Cease. In the top of the first, Ohtani grounded out and then Mookie, for the second night in a row, hit a homer. This time to left centerfield. Teo followed with a single. Muncy popped out and Smith lined out to Profar.
Brasier retired the Padres in order in the bottom of the first. In the top of the second, Edman grounded out and Lux walked. Kike then singled, and Chris Taylor struck out. Ohtani singled and Hoenig replaced Cease for the Padres. Mookie greeted him with a single to right scoring Lux and Kike. Ohtani went to second. Teo grounded out to end the inning. Brasier got Machado to ground out and then Banda replaced Brasier. Merrill struck out, Bogaerts walked and Peralta singled. Cronenworth popped out to Edman. 3-0 LA.
Top of the third, Muncy doubled to center and Smith homered to center. LA 5-0. After Edman struck out, Morejon replaced Hoenig. Lux and Kike made outs. Taylor moved to third and Kike went to CF. Kopech relived Banda. Higashioka struck out, Arraez flied out to left. Tatis then doubled deep to CF. Profar flied out to left. Top of the fourth. Taylor struck out and Ohtani walked. Betts flied out to center and Ohtani took second. Teo singled down the line the ball deflecting off of Machado’s glove and then it hit the umpire, Machado retrieved the ball and threw Ohtani out at the plate.
Bottom of the fourth, Vesia replaced Kopech and got the Padres out in order. Top of the fifth. Muncy flied out to center and Estrada replaced Morejon. Smith and Edman grounded out to end the inning. Bottom of the fifth, Vesia still pitching. Peralta singled and Cronenworth walked. Higashioka struck out and Arraez flied out to Betts. Phillips replaced Vesia. Tatis flied out to Kike.
Top of the sixth inning, Lux singled to second, the ball was deflected by Estrada. Kike and Taylor struck out. Ohtani walked and Jacob replaced Estrada. Betts popped out to first. Kike and Taylor switched positions again. In the Padres half of the inning, Profar popped out, Machado flied out to Kike and Merrill grounded out to Lux. Teo struck out to lead off the seventh. Muncy walked. Smith reached on an error with Muncy going to third. Edman then laid down a perfect bunt that scored Muncy, he was just barely out at first. Peralta replaced Jacob and Lux homered to right scoring Smith. 8-0 LA. That ended the scoring. The Dodger pen shut down the Padres the last 3 innings even though the Padres had 4 hits in those three innings including a triple off of Hudson by Cronenworth.
Dodgers hit 3 homers and double as part of their 12 hits. They drew 3 walks and had 10 Ks. Chris Taylor struck out 4 times. They were 5-9 with RISP. Game 5 will be at Dodger Stadium on Friday at 5:08 PST. Starting pitchers are Darvish for SD and Yamamoto for the Dodgers. It is unknown if Freeman will be able to play, but Rojas is almost definitely out. Winner will face the New York Mets who beat Philly 4-1 earlier in the day. The NLCS begins on Sunday at the home park of the winner on Fox and FS1.
Are you ready for this! Game 5 at home, all hands-on deck. Roberts team record in elimination games is 12-7.
No, I am not ready. I need some more time. Lol.
Kind of surprised at Roberts’ W/L record in elimination games. Good to know.
I said it could be a rout . And it was! 😀
Dodgers came to play this time. Each pitcher we sent out did a magnificient job and the offense scored early and often.
On to Game5 on Friday. Hope DS will be rocking and rolling. Yoshi will have to be good this time because on the other side there looms one of the bigger nemesis in Darvish.
Got to do a better job vs him than last time out.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They did exactly what I said they needed to do, play the A list Bullpen, and don’t give up any HRs. If they want to pitch a starter, treat them like a Reliever. If they are having problems, pull them whether it’s the first inning or not. We happen to have a very stout A list BP and a very shaky starter corps. Doc came through and should be commended if he chose this.
Many of you were crying before today’s game. Mookie was waking up, but the team as a whole produced. Follow my formula and don’t rely on the starter to pitch more than a couple of innings unless they are lights out. Yamamoto and Flaherty are quite shaky at the moment. Relying on them is a crap shoot. Rely on the A list BP, they are elite. We won’t be playing Philly in either case.
Agree, Roberts did a fine job. Only small criticism from my side: Would not have used Treinen in the 8th with a 8 run lead. Now the Padres got another look at him.
For Fridays game 5: The question is starter or no starter. Go with the pen again or hope that either Yamamoto or Flaherty have IT this time.
With Darvish going we very likely will have to limit runs at all cost.
At the moment I am leaning bullpen game again.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With an off day and if you checked, only Knack, Casparius behind him, it was a no brainer. Yamamoto will start Friday. 5:08 start time, advantage pitchers early.
I wonder if Roberts or Ebell will have a talk with Shohei about running thru a clear stop sign. The replay showed he wasn’t even looking at Ebel and he was out at the plate.
Dave, I don’t think they want to discourage Ohtani’s aggressiveness on the bases. The catcher made a very good catch and tag of the desperate throw by Machado. With all that Ohtani still was almost safe
My feeling is that Ebell has been off on a number plays, this season.
He wasn’t off on that one. As soon as he saw it he put up the stop sign. Ohtani wasn’t looking. Was Ebell yelling “STOP!” No way of knowing.
This.
This play was just bad luck. You know as well as I do, that great baserunners are always on their own when the play isn’t behind them.
I don’t know what Ohtani could see. Did he just see a fair ball down the line or did he see the lucky ricochet off Machado’s glove hit the umpire? I doubt he saw that. I know I never have. I can’t fault the guy for his effort. I also believe that he was too far around third to return before Machado could have tagging him out returning to the bag.
Bottom line – it didn’t friggin matter.
Yeah, Ebell was waving him home as that ball was by Machado until it wasn’t. The weird thing was that play was in front of Ohtani but he was looking down the whole time, never saw the ball, didn’t see Ebell. But you’re right. Didn’t matter to the outcome, but does matter for future reference.
I have another angle. Hey umpires, “Get the H out of our way.” You aren’t helping.
With a 6 man grew, the umpire was exactly where he was supposed to be. It was just unlucky the tipped ball hit him.
lol disagree. Back pedal like every other umpire on Earth. He was a statue and knew he screwed up.
He had no shot to get out of the way and the ball only hit him in the hand, not like his body deflected it. He was in pain from that.
Dino Ebel is one of the very best third base coaches in baseball. He might have missed a few, but not as many as you might think.
How many might I have thunk?
Fluke play. The ball glanced off of Machado’s glove and looked like it was heading into foul territory down the line, but it hit the umpire in the hand. I immediately thought it was a dead ball since it struck the ump in foul territory, but I was wrong. Even with that, the play at the plate was very close.
The stats show that players and third base coaches should go for home more often than they do. No one wants to look bad when they get thrown out; but, the numbers say go for it.
I definitely did not see that this was going to happen. I did call for a bullpen game but thought the bats had already gone into winter hibernation. Mookie seems to be the real catalyst for the team, if he performs the team follows suit.
Darvish has to be due to not have a dominant game against the Dodgers, let’s hope that is true Friday night.
Go Dodgers!
The Dodgers absolutely hammered Darvish in that game. He got lucky as hell. Great defense and sheer bad luck. It won’t happen twice.
Good point. SD has been playing way over their heads on defense, hell even the 3B umpire made a great defensive play and cost the Dodgers a run and an out. Also, Edmund was safe on his bunt, that bunt was a thing of beauty, I didn’t think Roberts had that in his playbook, but come to think of it maybe Edmunds just whipped it out on his own.
Are you sure?
I had him safe.
5 100 mph hits ended in outs. Never happens.
Alanna.Better vibes today. 😀
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!
We know what formula works. With a few alterations, just stick with it!
https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2024-10-10/dodgers-bullpen-game-padres-nlds-game-4
I am leaning towards another BP game too. However: There is no guarantee the opener will do as well as yesterday. The advantage if you start with Yoshi is that if he has his stuff like he did in NY he is lights out and can give you 6-7 superb innings and you eliminate the risk that one or two of your relivers dont have it that day.
So starting him with an ultra short leash might be the best scenario. Tough decision .
Lets hope the Dodgers make the right decision.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is usually so terrible in the Inning #1, I say start a bullpen guy, bring in Yakamoto in Inning 2 or 3, then give him his leash.
That works for me.
Problem with that: You ask him to do something he has not done ever in his career. Warming up in the bullpen and then come into the game is not for every pitcher.
Huge risk to do that for the first time in a do or die game.
IMHO you either start him or not pitch him at all. Unless a emergency situation.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good point ram.
Quite a dilemma on starting Yamamoto. At this point, I don’t trust him. His 5 earned runs in 3 innings vs the Padres in Game 1, scares me. A walk, a bloop and a blast in its 3 zip before we break a sweat.
Is he tipping his pitches? Was he a star in Japan, tipping his pitches and nobody noticed? Did the Dodgers just notice? Or is it bullshit and an excuse for being shitty?
I know he missed almost 3 months and he’s 7 and 2 with a 3.0 ERA in 18 games on the season. And he’s been okay in his 4 regular season games after he returned in Sept but I don’t trust him in a win or go home game.
To me, the jury is still out on this guy and his $27 million a year salary. So far, he’s at $300,000 per inning and I’m not seeing it. I just expected way more from the guy.
I expected more from every Dodger starter this year. A team wide disaster. Not an Ace in the deck.
This was a complete team win with all aspects of baseball being played. Solid pitching, long ball, small ball, lots of contact (except for CT3), and good defense.
Roberts did a nice job handling the BP. I would guess this was discussed and sorted out before the game by the coaches and the front office. The results were outstanding. I was a bit surprised that the Dodgers got to Cease the way they did.
The Dodgers exposed Cease in his two starts. The Padre manager didn’t wait very long to pull him realizing it was not his day. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cease on Friday if the game is close.
Today’s AL games should be interesting. Hopefully, the Yankees and Guardians will come out on top. The division winners need to step up their play in order to move forward. A World Series with San Diego vs Detroit/Kansas City is bad for baseball. I like watching the WS, but if the above teams are p[laying that won’t be happening.
A shutout in a close-out game at home. Admittedly I did not see that coming.
I doubt it’s another bullpen game tomorrow but I would not be surprised if it turns into one.
The LA Times, all knowing, Dylan Hernandez is demanding that the Dodgers go with a BP game Friday. That, alone, is reason enough NOT to do so. Although the way Yamamoto has been pitching it might unintentionally turn into a BP game. But, the Dodgers are becoming so unpredictable no one has any idea what might happen. Just score 7 and see what happens! All hands on deck!!
On to the NLCS against the Mets on Sunday.
“Although the way Yamamoto has been pitching it might unintentionally turn into a BP game”
That’s what I meant.
And it could be a starter game. A bullpen arm faces the top of the lineup then Yamamoto comes in and in 3-4 innings of work he only faces the top of the lineup once.
IMO, the pressure was finally on The Padres and it showed. They were the deer in the headlights team and The Dodgers were having fun.
Will L.A. have that vibe on Friday night or not?
The bullpen is full of veterans and it showed. The moment was not too big for them. They dominated the ball game for 9 innings.
Chris Taylor should not see the field again this season. I would rather see Pages and I don’t care what happens in CF. He is completely broken and could cost them the game.
Yeah, ole Chris can’t even foul off a pitch, I feel bad for him but he is dreadful. Chris should ONLY be used as a defensive replacement and when his at bat comes up he has to be replaced. At least Chris was able to take home his Golden Somberro from the game last night – WOW that was horrific to watch him struggle at the plate.
MIggyRo for player/manager next season
It will be interesting on Friday to see if Darvish continues to heavily rely on his off speed stuff. Hopefully he’s as bad in a clutch game as he was with the Dodgers in 17
The hitters need to force him into the strike zone by laying off the off speed stuff or fouling off pitches until he makes a mistake.
I think there are 2 fine future managers in Miggy Ro and Justin Turner.
Many outs are a result of a good at bat right? Whatever he is doing is not baseball. 4 swinging K’s are the absolute opposite of any level of production. Don’t make us watch it again.
In all fairness to Taylor, he had not had an at bat since the last game of the year against the Rockies. In that series he was 6-10 with a homer and three driven in. Last night’s ABs were his first of the postseason. Hard to stay sharp when you are riding the pine.
Dude this is an ongoing issue for CT, it’s not a casual occurence do to not playing recently, this has been the story of CT’s season.
He had a NEGATIVE OPS+ for half the year.
The team should have cut bait a long time ago
Well the master chess player signed him to that ridiculous contract and does not want to own his mistake.
Dude, you try hitting 98 mile an hour fastballs after sitting on your ass for 10 days. He turned his whole season around the last month and was trending UP. He changed his stance; the position of his hands and he was making contact. Give the guy a break. He would not have even played had Miggy and Freeman been healthy. Better CF than Kike and Pages and a solid defender at third. They did not have much choice.
Michael you are great but those at bats could not be worse. They were not MLB material. It’s a flippin elimination game. If what you are saying is true, he shouldn’t be out there. So we are in agreement. Don’t put him out there.
I don’t care when he payed last and what he did. 4 absolutely useless at bats. That will not work tomorrow night.
Doubtful he will be in the lineup if Freddie is healthy. I know how bad his season was, but my point is this, he had turned a corner. Over his last 28 games, he hit .284. His OBP was .341, which is very good, he never has been a slugger, so his slug wasn’t that great. But you go from playing every day and getting consistent at bats to being on the bench the entire series and then being told 2 hours before game time that you are starting, and you haven’t faced live pitching except in BP? That is damn hard to do. None of us here could do it. He was in for his defense. Not his bat.
“he has never been a slugger”
You hit on his main problem Bear. He thinks he is slugger. Swings for the fence on almost every pitch and every count.
Bear, everyone is right in this. You are right that Taylor and his particular swing need consistency. Learning that he was starting right before the game was not conducive to success.
The same people who are bitching about Taylor also bitched about Lux, Barnes, and CT3 prior to September. Many are the same people who bitched about Miggy Ro before mid-season. It is easy to bitch about players who fail to perform, even those who do not play much.
I have zero problem with CT3 making the roster after going .318/.371/.429/.800 since July 20 (70 PA).
But they are also right in this case. Striking out 4 times in a must win or go home game is not acceptable, and CT3 should expect consequences. He should not start in Game 5, and should not bat. Put in for defense or pinch running, okay. But if Freddie and Miggy Ro cannot go, the team is down to 11 position players with only Barnes and CT3 on the bench available. They are not going to put either Freddie or Miggy Ro on IL. But when they make the rosters out for the NLCS, they should not include CT3.
Never said they were. I just tend to cut the guy some slack. He is one of the few guys on the entire roster who has had success in the post season. No Taylor, no walk off homer in the 21 wild card game. No Taylor, no three homers in an elimination game against the Braves in 21. They were bad Abs, but sorry I am not piling on him after that. He probably feels one hell of a lot worse than we do. They won the game without his bat. End of story.
Bear, I am agreeing with you that CT3 should have been on the roster, and should have started once Freddie was ruled out. And he is going to be used as needed in Game 5. My only point is that after 4 K’s in a must win game, he is not deserving of a NLCS roster spot, and I have always been a CT3 defender. Then again, neither are Outman or Kiermaier supportable. Because CT3 can play multiple infield and outfield positions, he has an advantage over Outman and Kiermaier. As bad as CT3 was offensively, the team scored 8 runs and won the game. I know Rushing is a fan favorite, but he is not going to make the roster unless either Rojas or Freeman are placed on the IL, and I do not think that is likely.
“A player who doesn’t meet said criteria for postseason eligibility can still be added to a team’s roster in the postseason via petition to the Commissioner’s Office if the player was in the organization on Aug. 31 and is replacing someone who is on the injured list and has served the minimum amount of time required for activation.”
I do not see AF choosing Rushing over CT3, Outman, or Kiermaier.
Never argued that fact, just my personal choice not to pile on the guy. Outman was never an option, and Kiermaier was hurt during the last series against the Rockies with a dislocated finger. Pretty sure that was one of the reasons he was left off of the roster. I would have preferred they kept Heyward. They have no lefties on the bench. But they did what they did. I am just not going to pile on CT3 for a bad game.
What about Pages, he’s on the roster.
Pages is not a great CF and his splits against RHP are bad. .213 .647 OPS. Taylor is a career .254 hitter vs RHP, and his OPS is over .700. Kike and Pages about equal in BA and OPS.
He would be starting in CF, he would not be on the bench if Freddie and Miggy Ro could not go.
Ct 3 has been a good player iin the 8 years he has played for us.Yes has fallen on hard times.But I guarantee you,he is playing as hard as possible.
Props to Andrew Friedman. His deadline deals were masterful. Got the pieces we needed without breaking the bank.
I had to check what blog I was on.
Baseball and my golf swing have a lot in common. I have figured out both at least 1000 times.
The unpredictability of baseball keeps us all interested. How do you figure? The Dodgers go into a hostile environment in a loser out game, with a bullpen game, cold bats, shaky defense, and face a top line starter, without our All-Star first baseman and starting shortstop? No problem. We win 8-0.
Amazing what can happen, especially when every player the starting line up, gets at least 1 hit except CT3. And 8 pitchers throw a shutout.
Doc managed the bullpen masterfully . Different order than I expected but good on the staff putting this game-plan together. I have no idea how they came up with Kopech in the 3rd?
Mookie broke out, Lux had a great night and Kike sure likes the big stage. CT3 played fine defense but failed to get down a safety squeeze and struck out 3 times.
I loved Edman’s safety squeeze. Good on Doc for calling that when we needed an insurance run. Great call on a play that can’t be defended if done right. And Edman did.
It was really nice to start a game without being down early. We spotted the Padres 12 runs in the first 2 innings of the previous games. Playing from behind is difficult in the playoffs.
The Padres still found a way to be lucky bastards. I’ve never seen a ball bounce off an infielders glove, hit the umpire in foul territory and drop dead, allowing a play at home? Are you kidding me?
Smoltz blamed Ohtani for running home, thru Dino’s stop sign. Really, do you think he could stop as he rounded third, hell bent for home? I doubt he could even see Dino. Even if he could stop, Machado had him dead, coming back to 3rd. Just unlucky and I’m glad it didn’t matter. Smoltz needs to stick to analyzing pitching.
It’s it amazing how well behaved the Padres are when they’re getting their ass handed to them?
The state of pitching in playoff baseball these days is amazing. I know it’s deep into 5 games series’ but starting pitchers are extinct. Either out of desperation or as a planned bullpen game, only 2 starting pitchers yesterday got through 5 innings; Quintana for the Mets and Lugo for the Royals.
In 4 playoff games yesterday there were 48 pitchers used. That is extraordinary.
So where do the Dodgers go from here for game 5? I’m afraid we get another lame start from Yamamoto or Flaherty, and dig us another early hole. Sometimes the hook can’t be soon enough. Don’t laugh, but I’d consider another bullpen game with the same cast of relief pitchers in a different order, perhaps. We could make a new plan if we get to a 7 games series.
Great game with everyone coming through. I thought Ohtani may have been safe at home and wanted to see that being challenged.
I loved that safety squeeze. When was the last time you saw one of those?
Ebel was right in front of Ohtani. How could he not see him. And rounding third you should always be looking, and listening, to your 3rd base coach. Ohtani could have easily put on the brakes and get back to third easily. I view that as a base running mistake but one that fortunately didn’t matter – in that game.
“It’s it amazing how well behaved the Padres are when they’re getting their ass handed to them?” No kidding. Get ahead and stay ahead shuts that group up
Starting pitching is extinct. Yeah, sure feels like it. But can they become a part of the bullpen? 45 pitches maybe? 3 innings of extremely hard work?
I loved it too. Edman is a ballplayer.
Given Machado’s path to 2nd and Freddie’s throw from his fee, it would have been delicious had Machado’s throw home would have hit Ohtani with Ohtani’s path home been on 3rd base side of foul line.
CT3 actually went 0-4 with 4 strikeouts. Dreadful and should never see the field in the post season unless it’s a defensive replacement only. I think we’ll see Yamamoto get the start on a very short leash and Edman at SS, Kike in CF and hoping FF makes it back into the starting line-up.
Lux, Muncy and Smith all came through last night and will have too again. I was at the Dodgers vs. Yankee game in NY when Yamamoto pitched 7 innings of shutout ball allowing just 2 hits and striking out 7. His best game pitched all year.
We got this…Go Dodgers!
I know it’s an IF, but it’s interesting to note that if Profar hadn’t stolen that homer Mookie bats would be on three straight games with a homer.
And there were so many people here who were questioning his ability to hit in the playoffs…
“And there were so many people here who were questioning his ability to hit in the playoffs”
That’s true. But those questions were based on stats. He hasn’t been very good for a few years and several postseason at bats. Hopefully that is now behind him.
I agree with Badger. 3-44 and he shouldn’t be questioned? He has broken out of it, and it’s great for Mookie and the Dodgers. The Dodgers need Mookie to be Mookie.
Judge’s and Witt’s playoff stats have concept status.
Don’t mess up Blewto’s game by giving him facts.
Might you give it a rest
Dude he was like 3 for 44 or something. People aren’t casting stones. They are watching the games. That is historically bad.
Historically? Really?
What the H is worse than 3 for 44 in the playoffs? You only have 3 worse options. Ever.
0-35, 0-36, 4-45, 4-46, 3-47….
There are just five.
Shall i continue?
So 3-44 is acceptable for you? If so, just because you don’t question it, does not mean that those who do are wrong.
If time began when the stretch started and stopped after the 47th at bat? Unacceptable. As a patchwork of small samples across years, intermixed with pretty great regular seasons and bookended with strong post-seasons?
Pretty insignificant.
If time began when the stretch started and stopped after the 47th at bat? Unacceptable. As a patchwork of small samples across years, intermixed with pretty great regular seasons and bookended with strong post-seasons?
Pretty insignificant.
That may be too flippant, probably more apt to say not very significant.
We got Yamamoto for these games. He needs to show why the Dodgers shelled out all this money for him. At least 3-4 quality innings. Embarrassing to say that about someone making that kind of money. Sadly, I’m not sure he can do it. The padres have abused him every time. So the chess players have a tough decision. Do u go with someone who has been torched or an overused bullpen. Flaherty isn’t the answer either. They have options but are they good options? Based on performance u would have to go with the bullpen. Whatever they decide Doc needs to go into the game with the same underdog mentality as yesterday. The team and manager were loose, confident, and aggressive. The Pads have been so lucky so far. The breaks have gone their way thus far. What’s the chances an umpire literally takes a run from the Dodgers. Arraez playing out of his head at first and peralta playing way over his head. Tatis Is on fire. The Dodgers are due for some breaks.
It was so refreshing to see the Dodgers break out of their hitting woes last night that has plagued them in recent early playoff exits. I just hope it continues.
I blame the format of 5 games for not allowing a team to get untracked. Lose the first 2 games and it’s terminal. As I’ve mentioned many times, if a guy goes 1 for 12 in July, it goes unnoticed. The same 1 for 12 in the playoffs gets a guy labeled as a choking dog that haunts his career. 7 games is far more fair.
I would have bet the farm on the 95 game winning Phillies getting to the NLCs. But they took the path that killed the Dodgers in previous playoffs. They quit hitting.
Their middle 3 stars, Turner, Harper and Castellanos showed up, especially Castellanos. The rest of the order shallowed the olive. Schwarber, leading off, was 2 for 19. The bottom 5 in the order; Bohm, Realmuto, Stott, Williams/Mays, and Marsh were a combined 6 for 74, a frigid .081.
Sounds familiar.
This is a topic for the off-season again but briefly I would like to see the Division winners get a 7 game series. And it doesn’t have to prolong the playoffs into Christmas. The Monday after the end of the season remains open for tie breaker games like this year, or an off day. Then play a doubleheader on Tuesday to open the Wild-card round. If the host venue wants to bitch about lost gate revenue, make it a split double-header. It the teams split on Tuesday, the Wednesday game decides the winner. Thursday starts the Division Series. That creates a 3 day bye for the Division winners and allows for a 7 game Division Series. Start the LCS on Saturday instead of Monday.
I believe Division winners deserve to get seeding advantages that don’t exist now. 7 games sure sounds like the right thing to do, but, wouldn’t that be, as it should be, advantageous to those with superior starting pitching? And that most definitely is not the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hasn’t been for two years running.
I guess I am just not confident this bullpen can keep doing what they are being asked to do. Not for 7 games. 5 games, yes. So, just don’t let any upcoming series go 7? That’s possible. Just keep scoring 8.
Badger, I agree in reseeding after the Wildcard round.
And I have no problem with putting starting pitchers back into the spotlight. I really didn’t especially like watching 48 pitchers used yesterday. The byproduct of that was 3 of the 4 games went over 3 hours, at least a 20 minute plus increase from the regular season. That might not be a problem for you and me, but it contradicts MLB’s effort to speed up the game for the casual fan.
Division champions advance with 3 wins, others advance with 4 wins. Throughout the playoffs.
The gate revenue goes to mlb, that’s how they get the money to pay the teams and players for being in the playoffs
only partially, I think.
i think half is kept by the home team and the other half goes to the referenced pool
Keith, I think that money is split but my point was really that somebody’s going to belly-ache if there is lost revenue due to a double-header. So either they take the hit or schedule a split day-night double header for the opening wildcard games. I see no reason to bend over backwards to accommodate the wildcard teams. If my they don’t like it, my suggestion would be win the division. Getting that round over in 2 days is more then fine with me.
Nothing is going to change until the next CBA. Per the current CBA:
MLB pools together all postseason gate receipts (i.e. ticket sales) and disburses that money based on how far teams advance, as outlined in the collective bargaining agreement.
• The pool comprises 60% of the gate receipts from every guaranteed playoff game (the first two games in each wild-card series, the first three LDS games, the first four LCS and World Series games).
• That sum is then awarded to the champion (36%), runner-up (24%), two LCS losers (24%, or 12% each), four LDS losers (13% total) and four wild-card losers (3% total).
• Once teams have their allotment, they can distribute it as they please, breaking it up into full and partial shares that go to players, coaches and staff.
The remaining 40% of gate receipts from guaranteed playoff games (plus 100% of gate receipts from all additional playoff games) goes to the team’s owner.
Question for the group:
who do you think a Game 5 loss is more problematic for:
Preller or Friedman?
Friedman for sure. La is the favorite if they win it’s a sigh of relief. If they lose it’s going to be 2/3 years the Padres beat the division winner. It will be one question after another how they could fail again. If the pads lose they will just say what a great year they had. They gave the mighty Dodgers all they could handle blah blah blah preller should be executive of the year. He lost Soto, hader, etc and yet they were right there. It’s like the Mets. They had everything to gain and nothing to lose playing the Phillies. If they lose to the Phillies so what everyone expected them to. But now the Phillies are going to be asked a lot of tough questions about how could you get beat by the Mets.
Expectations were much higher for Dodgers than Padres this year.
I agree, but does that necessarily make it problematic for Friedman? He’s got security, he’s got injuries that he can attribute to. The main problem for treatment, as I see it, is that salary doesn’t come off until next year with Muncie and Taylor. So he might be limited and what he can do.
For Peller, there’s budget issues, there’s less job security and there’s gonna be a change of ownership no?
Actually I think a Game 5 loss is much more problematic for Doc than Friedman.
Having said that, I’m quite confident the Mets will be at Dodger Stadium starting Sunday
This obviously wasn’t what I asked, but I totally agree
Neither. Next!
Some news from around the league. Brewers GM Matt Arnold says the team will be open minded about trading Devon Williams. He said since they are the smallest market in the league, they have to have an open mind per trades. Club will most likely lose Adames this winter. QO for this year will be 21.05 million. Only 7 players were offered the QO last year, including Ohtani. Twins’ owner, Joe Pohlad, said the family will explore selling the team. They have owned the Twins since 1984. Third longest behind the Steinbrenner’s and Jerry Reinsdorf of the White Sox. Dave Roberts believes there should be changes in the present system. Teams should be reseeded after the wild card round. Highest seed playing the lowest seed. The Red Sox are making changes in their coaching staff. Six members of Coras staff are leaving. 1B coach, Andy Fox, BP coach, Kevin Walker, assistant hitting coach, Luis Ortiz, mental skills coach, Rey Fuentes, trainer, Ben Chadwick and BP catcher, Mani Martinez. Fox has been with the Sox for more than a decade and was a 9-year MLB veteran.
The Sporting News is predicting that not only will the Dodgers pursue Adames in free agency, but also free agent pitcher Corbin Burnes. It is predicted that Burnes will get a deal for between 150-200 million.
Alas, the sporting news was once a good read.
6 playoff teams in top 10 of payroll.
5 playoff teams in bottom 10 of payroll.
DEI at its best!
Is the world interested in a Padre-Tiger or Royals WS? Not me.
Are you against revenue sharing on a philosophical level, or because some owners just pocket the money?
Braves fired their hitting coach, Kevin Seitzer, assistant hitting coach, Bobby Magallanes, and catching coach, Sal Fasano according to the Athletic. Jorge Polanco underwent knee surgery to repair the patella tendon in his left knee. The Rays are assessing the damage to Tropicana Field. Photos have shown significant damage to the roof with almost all of it ripped off and shredded into pieces that fell onto the field. There are other priorities of course. But the damage could have a direct impact on the upcoming 25 season. Since the stadium was built with a roof, there is no drainage system and water damage is a huge concern.
Doc used the 7 relievers I thought he should use that I talked about earlier in the day yesterday and it worked, plus he gave Knack an inning of playoff experience, I think that was a good move, might as well.
You never know Yamamoto could have a good day tomorrow and a reliever or 2 might be off his game tomorrow.
Since allowing HR’s can kill you in the playoffs, the starting pitcher on the playoff roster that has the lowest HR% this year is Yamamoto and he has the lowest SLG% too.
I’d try to stay away from using Flaherty and the rest of the starters besides Yamamoto, they’re all HR prone. But there was one thing that concerns me about what Doc said in an interview after the game yesterday. He said between Yamamoto and Flaherty there is enough length for game 5. It sounds like he’s worried about over using the bullpen. Why? Today is a day off and the bullpen was nails yesterday.
Among the 7 good relievers who happen to pitch yesterday, not counting Knack of course, in order from best to worse HR% this year, and I’m including Kopech’s time with the Sox too:
Banda
Phillips
Brasier, Treinen and Vesia are all tied
There’s a big gap here between the above 3 and Kopech
Kopech
A bigger gap here between Kopech and Hudson
Hudson
Among those 7 guys, the only ones without lopsided splits this year are Vesia and Hudson. I bet Doc navigated his way through those splits yesterday. I don’t feel like looking.
Of course I didn’t take into account those 7 guys career stats in all of this.
Yamamoto with a short leash, stay away from the rest of the starters and Casparius and Henriquez and try to stay away from Kopech and Hudson sounds good. And of course, score as many runs as possible. But that’s just me. Of course the way the game is going will ultimately dictate the pitching moves.
Score early and go with your best pitchers. There’s no tomorrow if you don’t win.
Somewhere in Heaven, Harold Uhlman is smiling wide because of the Zach McKinstry oppo bomb for Detroit.