Official MLB Playoff Thread

[ukyah]

14 minutes ago, Richard said:

The Dodgers are going to the World Series. Get ready folks. 

the series is 1-1 and it's game three. let's try and control ourselves.

[Richard]

4 minutes ago, ukyah said:

the series is 1-1 and it's game three. let's try and control ourselves.

Going for a reverse psychology jinx which will be later met with a "I agree" follow up from an anonymous aw member.

[Jay]

I love the way they tacked on two in the 8th.

[nando714]

I wonder what arte will think when the dodgers are in the world series

he's gonna overspend to "win LA" back

[Ohtaniland]

The Dodgers are legit. I wonder who wins a ring, Howie or Naps.

[Jay]

Doyers, haha!

[Blarg]

I guess we won't be hearing much from the Maddon crowd tonight.

[ten ocho recon scout]

I hate to say it, but i think the dodgers just took the series. Really doesnt matter what the dodgers do, if the cubs offense doesnt wake up they arent coming back.

I think theyre young and buckling under the pressure of the hype all year, and the expectstion that they were THE team.

[Richard]

2-1

The narrative so far has been incredibly favorable to the Dodgers. They already got to the Cubs pen once and almost stole game 1, Kershaw mowed them down, they just trounced the Cubs at home with 2 more games in LA and have  the Cubs in almost a must win game 4 knowing they have to face Kershaw in game 5.

[Jay]

I like Justin Turner

[WeatherWonk]

20 minutes ago, Jay said:

I like Justin Turner

I do, too. Plays a solid, if not spectacular, third and makes contact at the plate. Seems to know the strike zone.

[fan_since79]

Here's a nice little stat:

This was the Dodgers' 200th all-time postseason game, and the first time they pitched back-to-back playoff shutouts.

This was also the Cubs' 100th all-time postseason game, and also the first time they were shut out in two straight playoff games.

 

[ukyah]

1 hour ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I hate to say it, but i think the dodgers just took the series. Really doesnt matter what the dodgers do, if the cubs offense doesnt wake up they arent coming back.

I think theyre young and buckling under the pressure of the hype all year, and the expectstion that they were THE team.

 

you'll never find a more reactionary group of wretched souls, than on the topic of sports...(excusing election years).

the series is not over, and the cubs aren't buckling under the pressure. they're a homerun offense, just like the bluejays. that type of offense can disappear at any time and conjure at any time.

there are multiple games left before the dodgers or the cubs take the series. jesus people, there's three parts to sex. buncha premature ejaculators up in here.

[TroutField]

8 minutes ago, ukyah said:

 

you'll never find a more reactionary group of wretched souls, than on the topic of sports...(excusing election years).

the series is not over, and the cubs aren't buckling under the pressure. they're a homerun offense, just like the bluejays. that type of offense can disappear at any time and conjure at any time.

there are multiple games left before the dodgers or the cubs take the series. jesus people, there's three parts to sex. buncha premature ejaculators up in here.

I agree, although the Cubs really didn't do themsleves any favors by dropping game 2 and losing home field advantage. I just don't see this Cubs team letting it slip through their fingers, they are way too good 

[arch stanton]

The Cubs are not necessarily a home run offense. They led the league in walks and OBP. They were 6th in HR. They struggled in these last 2 games because two very good pitchers forced them to hit their way around the bases and they didn't do it. If Urias is able to throw quality strikes in game 4 they'll probably struggle again.

[ukyah]

27 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

The Cubs are not necessarily a home run offense. They led the league in walks and OBP. They were 6th in HR. They struggled in these last 2 games because two very good pitchers forced them to hit their way around the bases and they didn't do it. If Urias is able to throw quality strikes in game 4 they'll probably struggle again.

i believe that homerun offenses typically rank high in walks, obp, and k's. it fits in with the approach of the batter and the pitcher. can the cubs manufacture runs other than by hr? that is the question.

the '98 era yankees and the pujols' cardinals were teams that i think of that excelled at creating runs and then buried you with homeruns from anybody.

[arch stanton]

Relying on home runs in October can be like an NFL team relying on downfield passing in January. Sometimes the elements will disagree. If you just concentrate on the currently constructed rosters you'll see that the Cubs advantages are somewhat diminished when the Dogs can rely on a starting staff of Kershaw, Maeda, Hill, Urias instead of the mishmash they dealt with all year. Middle relief should be the Cubs' biggest advantage and they have to find a way to exploit it or they'll disappoint. Again.

[Oz27]

39 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

Relying on home runs in October can be like an NFL team relying on downfield passing in January. Sometimes the elements will disagree. If you just concentrate on the currently constructed rosters you'll see that the Cubs advantages are somewhat diminished when the Dogs can rely on a starting staff of Kershaw, Maeda, Hill, Urias instead of the mishmash they dealt with all year. Middle relief should be the Cubs' biggest advantage and they have to find a way to exploit it or they'll disappoint. Again.

" While all lineups tended to score less often in the playoffs, the ones that lived and died by the long ball from 1995 to 2011 lost a lower percentage of their regular-season scoring than the clubs that couldn’t sit back and wait for the big blow."

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-playoff-myths-to-ignore/

"The teams that were more reliant on home runs saw their scoring decrease by about 50 percent less than the others. Relying on the home run hasn’t made teams more vulnerable in October. If anything, it’s made them more October proof. When you think about it, it makes sense that having a homer-hitting team would help. A home run is the only kind of hit that isn’t playable."

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=17470

[arch stanton]

55 minutes ago, Oz27 said:

" While all lineups tended to score less often in the playoffs, the ones that lived and died by the long ball from 1995 to 2011 lost a lower percentage of their regular-season scoring than the clubs that couldn’t sit back and wait for the big blow."

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-playoff-myths-to-ignore/

"The teams that were more reliant on home runs saw their scoring decrease by about 50 percent less than the others. Relying on the home run hasn’t made teams more vulnerable in October. If anything, it’s made them more October proof. When you think about it, it makes sense that having a homer-hitting team would help. A home run is the only kind of hit that isn’t playable."

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=17470

The reason I mentioned January football is to highlight that teams may run into specific conditions that curtail home runs. You personally pointed out that the ball Baez hit to dead center is rarely turned into an out. I haven't seen the entire games, thanks to the time differences, but other than that at bat I don't remember seeing many deep flyball outs.

[Oz27]

47 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

The reason I mentioned January football is to highlight that teams may run into specific conditions that curtail home runs. You personally pointed out that the ball Baez hit to dead center is rarely turned into an out. I haven't seen the entire games, thanks to the time differences, but other than that at bat I don't remember seeing many deep flyball outs.

Yeah, I'm not disputing that weather does have an impact at this time of year. In many parts of the country, the conditions are less homer friendly in October. So teams which rely on homers do see their scoring go down in October, but not to anywhere near the same extent as less HR reliant teams. I think the biggest reason is when you're facing better pitching, as you do in October, you want to be relying on as few events as possible to do your scoring and of course that is best done by hitting home runs.

Last time I looked it up, which was a few days ago, the team to hit the most home runs in a game was 16-1 in this postseason.

[arch stanton]

The Cubs hit 3 home runs off Urias in his second start back in June but he's only allowed 2 since then. He was much better against them the next time he faced them.

[CaliAngel]

In the playoffs, after a long season, a great teams bats can suddenly turn cold for a couple games, and that can quickly be their demise. What is not a big deal of a "slow offensive streak" during a 162 game season can quickly become a problem come October. So a team with bats like the Cubs either stays cold, or they regroup, heat up, and pick up where they left off before they hit this drought. The Cubs bats need to heat up TODAY. And they can with a young inexperienced pitcher on the mound for the Doyers. They need to hit their pitches, not swing at crap, and labor the crap out of every pitcher the Doyers throw at them. They need to be smart in their approach at the plate from pitch 1. Make sure they  aren't too anxious, and go after THEIR pitch. They need to get an early 2-4 run lead, and give Lackey a little bit of breathing room to shut down los Doyers.

I think if you get Lacky an early lead he might possibly give you 7 innings. If you don't, well, the Doyers have a possibly getting to him and he might be out after 4.

The only thing I agreed with coming from the guys commentating the game on Sirius today was that the Cubs have a great team and were favored over everyone in the playoffs, while the Doyers know this, have the attitude of "nothing to lose," are staying loose, and are going out there and getting it done. I think that's what we're seeing so far in this series.

But I will also say including intangibles, Doyer stadium can be a pretty intimidating atmosphere when they're playing at 5pm, and not 1pm. More people will be there and it's going to be a very home-club advantage game. 

Tomorrow is a very important for the Cubbies. I look forward to watching. 

[Jay]

Cubs are really struggling at the plate. Complete lack of confidence. Maybe they'll turn it around.

Dodgers getting good pitching and defense.

Plenty of games left. It's been fun to watch so far.

 

[Troll Daddy]

His new hair cut is impressive ... Bryce Harper approves 

 

[CaliAngel]