I do not recall if we did threads for play-in games last year, so please delete and/or edit as necessary. Just figured some on this board may watch and comment on the game. First game is tonight, and I know I'll be cheering for TOR. Nothing against BAL (I actually like #bucktruck and a lot of their players), but how sweet would it be to see a TOR/TEX ALDS rematch (and hopefully, slaughtering)? There's some bad blood, and fresh wounds, between these two clubs. I can personally get behind any club that doesn't like Odor and co. Go Jays!
Wish we had a more active MLB section. Thoughts on the Blue Jays starting Stroman over Liriano even though the Orioles have a 107 wRC against righties and a 83 wRC against lefties?
I really like TOR's odds this postseason. There's just something to teams who lost in gut-wrenching ways the year before + being slept on (see Royals in 2014, 2015). Plus, no one is the AL really scares me, and there's something unpredictable about the playoffs, where nothing in the regular season matters. I took TOR +1200 to win WS, and I'm a sucker for WS matchup odds: BAL/CHC +2500, SFG/TOR +6500, WAS/TOR +2300
I like Toronto, their healthy lineup is the best in the MLB IMO. My concern with them is pitching. I like TOR or CLE to advance in the AL.
Bad base running mistake by Jays. Have to get half way down 3rd base line in case it falls and it did. Would have scored a run easily.
Y'all catch the fan who threw a beer at Kim mid-play? What a joke. Didn't TOR throw stuff on the field last year, too?
Crazy game, gotta love October baseball. I really hope Britton was hurt, because if he wasn't this had to be one of the worst managed games ever. Putting in Duensig and Jimenez over Britton is insanity. Can't close the game if your team's already lost.
If the entire season you save Britton for the close, then why change now. I applaud Showalter for doing the right thing as that was the right baseball move for me, it just didn't work out.
Here's the thing, though. He didn't save Britton for the close all season. July 31st of this season in a 2-2 game on the road against the Blue Jays, Buck pitched Britton in 9th and 10th innings leading to the win. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR201607310.shtml Nearly the exact same scenario last night and he holds onto his most potent weapon while throwing Ubaldo out there to face the heart of the Jays order. As a Jay fan -- I'm happy as hell.
Gotta say, I really disagree with this. You should put your best reliever in the most high leverage situation in the game to maximize your win expectancy - even if that comes before the 9th inning. Waiting to get a lead in extras before sending out your top reliever is insanity. Especially when you put out Ubaldo before him. It's not like Britton could have only gone 1 inning, or that they needed to rest him. It's a win or go home game! Really mind-boggling management decisions by Buck in this one.
He never fails to show up in the brightest lights. Bumgarner > It's an even year. Go Giants. Beat the Cubs!
Yet it never happens in the regular season ( unless the manager feels the closer hasn't pitched in a week ). Doesn't even happen in the day and age of analytics. Look at what happened to Familia yesterday. bombed. Look what happened to Osuna, now he has an arm injury. Closers close. That's what they do. Whenever you leverage your staff and lineup like some managers like to do in the playoffs, as you noted, pulling pitchers in the 4th after only 2 runs, pinch hitting in the 5th, sending closers out in the 7th, sending staff aces to pitch on short notice or from the pen you put players into roles they have not been training for, across the board everyone is thrown out of whack, and it rarely works short term or long term. I mean look at the Astros, the bullpen was all over the place due to the shiftiness of just moving people in and out of their roles. Look at Keuchel last year in the playoffs. Bombed. And he's never been the same. Is it coincidence, or is it correlation. Players respond better when they do what they were trained to do, when they can repeat the act, especially with the season on the line in pressure situations. I mean Britton warmed up 3 times just as an example... that's out of the norm. The Orioles were on their 7th pitcher in 10 innings, not the norm. It rarely ends well.
Familia pitched in a situation closers pitch in all the time. Top of the 9th in a tie game. There won't be a 'save' situation, so the manager puts his best reliever in the game to make sure he gets used. Happens all the time. Britton was arguably the best reliever in baseball this season. To not use him in an elimination game (especially with the winning run on 3rd base and one out in the 12th inning) is inexcusable. Even Jimenez was wondering why he was out there instead of Britton. Keuchel's 1 inning stint had absolutely no correlation to this year's lack of success unless he happened to injure himself in that one inning. For every example of a guy pitching 'out of his element' and failing, you can find a guy 'pitching out of his element' and succeeding. EDIT - For example, Bumgarner - 2014 World Series - game 7 - 2 days rest. Pitched 5 innings for a save in a 3-2 game.
