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BREWERS & BULLPEN OPENS LONG OCTOBER IN MILWAUKEE
By Tom Verducci
The best choice of sleeper to win the World Series started this season with a 55-on-1 score, the third longest drought in the championship and ranks 22nd.nd among the payrolls of the major leagues. And if the Milwaukee Brewers win everything, this will be the ultimate confirmation that the baseball you grew up with is officially dead.
The Brewers are designed for today's baseball brand and for the month of October. When the experts lamented that Milwaukee did not trade for a front row start in mid-season, he doubled the position and flag depth.
The Brewers have reached this point because their manager, Craig Counsell, is the most aggressive manager in the history of the post-season teams. No team has ever been so far in going to his pen so early and so often. And because General Manager David Stearns provided Counsell with a chef kitchen full of options for the proofreader – specific tools for the exact tasks to be done – Counsell did it without exhausting his best options.
Oh, and it does not hurt that Christian Yelich is the 1967 version of Carl Yastrzemski and that this team does not sacrifice athletics for power. It is the only National League team with 200 homers and 100 flights and ranks first among all playoff defensive defensive teams.
Single-play discs can be difficult, but this is certain: the Brewers are comfortable playing them. They are 33-19 (.634) in games decided by a race. Go ahead and make the playoff games, as they tend to be. The Brewers are 41-21 (.661) in the games decided by the raisers.
To appreciate the Brewers, the first thing to do is to put away your LPs and forget what you've learned about "winning baseball" – you know, rely on beginner pitchers who go deep into the games and play to the small ball to win tight games. . Because the arches are so deep with such powerful arms, the gap has never been greater when it comes to choosing to switch from one starter to another or to pass to a new corrector arm. The Brewers and A have better exploited this gap than any team.
First, take a look at this: the list of teams for the playoffs based on the number of times their starters battled a hitter for the third time (entered Sunday):
Newcomer to third-round hitter, 2018 straight sets
What's striking is not just that the Brewers are the last … or that their starters have been facing a hitter for the third time, the least of the franchise's history …including shortened seasons … or that they face hitter a third time about twice as often as their starters in 1982, the only time the Brewers reached the World Series (1,229).
What is also obvious is that you do not need a lot of length to start. More teams in the playoffs (six) rank in the lower half of the beginners in extension compared to the top half (four).
It's not that the Milwaukee entrances are terrible; they rank 11e in baseball at ERA (3.96) – just behind the starters of the Cubs. It's just that they are the best to get the most out of Bullpen:
Fewer players faced for the third time in the playoffs (full series)
Note that seven of the nine best seasons of this type have occurred this year. If the raw sleeves are your bag, it's the same story. The A and Brewers are the first teams to reach the playoffs by asking their rescue teams to take more than 600 innings. Five of the six biggest all-time workloads for the playoff teams were this year:
Most Bullpen rounds, all teams in the playoffs
It's not just about having a lot of respite, but about how you use them. Counsell demonstrated mastery of the three-part sweep in St. Louis last week. He decided not to give the two best Cardinals forwards, Matt Carpenter and Marcell Ozuna, comfortable brawlers. He managed to take advantage of the field in 68% of his home fixtures, including asking his replacement, Dan Jennings, to start a match so he could not face Carpenter. It worked. Carpenter and Ozuna played 1 against 13 against similar pitchers and the Brewers swept the series.
All of Counsell's options are good – provided he matches the right pitcher to the right batter. Here are his specialists:
The secret weapon: Corbin Burnes
Burnes, a right-handed, has been developed as a starter, so it's a multiple-sleeve option that stands out from liquidation. The neutral peloton readings (they get left-handed and right-handed) are golden because you do not have to match yourself. Burnes is one of them. His fastball / slider combo is harder for left-handed (0.170).
The left-handers of match: Dan Jennings and Xavier Cedeno
It's important to have two left-handed specialists, because you will not be caught "saving" your guy by letting a match escape. Jennings (.226 against left-handers) and Cedeno (.193) are two strong options.
The right-handers of the match: Joakim Soria, Taylor Williams and Freddy Peralta
Soria (0.195), Williams (0.209) and Peralta (0.111) smother the right-handers, but in different ways. Soria is hard on the right-handers who can not handle a gear change because, in addition to its accuracy, it launches slowly (change of direction to 87), slower (slider to 79) and the slower (ball curve to 70) . Williams is your prototype of two-length power relief (fastball at 96 and a slider shot in the same plane). Peralta is a converted starter with control problems with a fastball / curveball combo that kills the right-handed ones. The right-handers hit .111 / .209 / .396 off Peralta – only Blake Treinin, who was closer to A, was harder on the right-handers – while he was only 2-on-25 against his 150-handed balls. curve.
The Early Closer: Corey Knebel
The former close again launches as a close, but not in the ninth inning. When he throws his curve for a strike, he is untrustable. Since returning from a minor league demotion, Knebel has not allowed one run (15 1/3 inning) and has withdrawn 32 of 54 (59%).
The Strikeout Machine: Josh Hader
Hader has a fast electric ball. The Batters hit .133 against her. But when he throws it low in the area, as happened recently, he is hit:
Batters vs. Hader Fastball
The last close: Jeremy Jeffress
It's a rare close-in of three lengths, including the division at the end of the rare game: fastball (96-97), tight curveball (low 80) and split (91). The split makes it particularly difficult to hit. Jeffress launched 191 this year and did not lead to further success.
Smartly, Stearns built a bullpen without duplication. There is a mixture of left and right arm angles and varied. Total cost for Milwaukee for these eight bullies: $ 11.4, or $ 1.6 million less than the Yankees pay David Robertson.
Counsell does not like to identify his readers as having "roles". He abandoned everything after the modern war by simply calling them "the front". He goes to see some lifters when they dictate the dictator and hit him instead of the sleeve. Hader, for example, is not "a guy in the eighth inning". He pitched each run from the fourth to the tenth.e.
In addition to having his aide memoir deployed in the regular season, Counsell should be even better off in the playoffs because of so many days off. Last year, for example, the Astros played 13 games against 18 playoff games – this is a half-season of rest in a month, allowing Counsell to use his bullpen even more.
So when you watch the playoffs, rest assured, Koufax, Drysdale and Osteen are not pitching. It's the game today: a proliferation of powerful relief agents and managers with accurate data on how best to deploy them. Yes, on the occasion, a manager will be burned because a reliever abandons an advance. No plan is foolproof. But this formula works.
We have just finished a season in which it was more difficult to achieve success than at any other time since the addition of DH in 1973. When the throw is the hardest to reach in 47 seasons, we have all the Evidence we need to reduce starter work and relief is a successful, if not exactly aesthetic strategy. And in October, no one can play this game better than Milwaukee.
RANK & EM: THE MATCHUPS OF THE WORLD SERIES WE WANT TO SEE
By Jon Tayler
Ten teams will play in the 2018 playoffs, but only two will stand for the World Series. But what are the best teams for the Fall Classic? We will rank the 25 possible meetings, from the worst to the best, and do not hesitate to let me know via Twitter or email how bad and stupid my choices are
25. A's-Braves
It is not an old or animated rivalry, and the names of the capitals are lacking on each side. For TV viewers, this is Rob Manfred's worst nightmare: your average NFL pre-season game might be better than the TV one.
24. A's-Brewers
Two similar teams – tons of power, impressive financial means, sticks that seem to have been drunkenly assembled – will unfortunately not attract the attention of the general public. But imagine Joe Buck screaming "Wade Miley! Edwin Jackson! This is the first game of the world series! And you'll see if you can smother your laughs.
23. Indian-Braves
This is the world series that we should have in 1997, if there were none of these Marlins who interfere in ingenuity. (Fun fact: Ronald Acuña was born two months after the end of the World Series' 97! Every day is one step closer to death.) I want an exhibition match between the Braves and the Indians & # 39; 97, just to watch 46- Manny Ramirez, 52, versus Greg Maddux, 52.
T18. Indians-Rockies
T18. A Rocky
T18. Astros-Rockies
T18. Red Sox-Rockies
T18. Yankees-Rockies
I group them under the premise that no world series presenting games in the inflatable house of Coors Field can be ranked last. Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton would win .745 with 12 homeruns on the return of a Yankees-Rockies Fall Classic. I'm pretty sure the Astros would score 17 points in Colorado. That said, the references to marijuana that constantly flashed from the Fox's cabin during a tilt of A's-Rockies would get tired quickly.
T16. Red Braves
T16. Astros-Braves
Boston and Houston have both won in recent years, eliminating some of the burden of these pairs, and there is no old rivalry here (unless Atlanta wants to unearth a few members of the old Boston Braves, though they are forced to do it to the letter, I think all these players are dead). Yet these teams can hit and are loaded with young stars.
15. Yankees-Braves
Let's take a look at the 1996 World Series! Like the Indians-Braves, it's a story, though the parade of young talents – Ronald Acuña, Ozzie Albies, Mike Foltynewicz, Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar – makes it a great showcase for the future of the game, too.
14. A-Cubs
Something in this association makes me smile. You will surely have a lot of circuits and offenses, and the formidable Oakland bullpen could easily steal some games late. In addition, you can watch the sublime defensive styles of Javy Baez and Matt Chapman.
13. Indian Cubans
A rematch of 2016 fun on paper, although neither team is as beautiful as two years ago. This match would suffer from the comparison with this classic title fight, but there is still plenty of star power on either side and a chance of sweet and sweet October revenge for Cleveland.
T11. Red Sox Brewers
T11. Yankees-Brewers
The teams at East AL are interchangeable, as both teams have impressive formations. Boston has the best rotation, New York the best bullpen – and the Brewers can match either offensively. There would not be many points in these meetings, plus a possible clash between MVP in Mookie Betts and Christian Yelich.
10. Astros-Dodgers
The rematch of 2017 loses points because it happens so early and for the Dodgers, it looks like a blurry VHS copy of last year's team. But the possibility of again getting the amazing level 5 of the game is enough for me at the root of this game.
9. Indian brewers
Another series that will not change the needle ratings, but you will have the attraction of two franchises in the running for a global series that remains long elusive. For the Indians, it's been 70 years since they won a championship. For the Brewers, it's all their existence (although the oldest of Milwaukee win the Braves' victory in 1957). "Droughts of titles that cover literal generations" make this question particularly compelling.
8. Astros-Cubs
The Bowl Process! Listen enthusiastically to the rhapsodic trailer about the virtues of being intentionally really bad and losing a lot of games so that, an undetermined number of years later, you can become good again (assuming that a lot things are going exactly as you want). It would be a hell of a clash between the two so-called dynasties of the game, though.
7. Indian-Dodgers
The bowl of the finalist! The beauty of this is that two long title droughts come in, but only one will subsist at the end. The tragedy of this alone makes it a winner, as well as the presence of Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez, Manny Machado, Yasiel Puig – and a potential duel of Corey Kluber-Clayton Kershaw. Yes, please.
6. Red Sox-Dodgers
History, superstars super-teams, songwriters beaten to pack their bags in Boston and Los Angeles the same week, at the end of October – this one has it all. Chris Sale vs. Clayton Kershaw would be spectacular. Mookie Betts and Manny Machado in the spotlight would be wonderful. J.D. Martinez and Justin Turner as Reborn All-Stars Bad Hitters would be fun. It would be a delicious series of seven games.
5. Astros-Brewers
I love this game and not just because both teams are raking. Houston and Milwaukee also have exceptional budgets, and this team of Brewers, who never said to die, would be an appropriate challenger to the throne of the Astros. It may look like a faded combo of small markets without history, but the product on the ground says the opposite.
4. A's-Dodgers
A decline in 1988, as both teams tried to end three decades of untitled series. And the scenario is practically Hollywood: the newcomers, the A outsiders on their payroll pipsqueak against the powerful Dodgers, who could buy this entire team with a fraction of their operating budget. It would be (Khris) David against Goliath.
3. Yankees-Dodgers
The most competitive game possible between the World Series and the dads would be a long and slow regularity for Story Time about these former rivals and their clashes in the 1950s, when the game was perfect and nothing else did not count. Fox should broadcast this in black and white for reasons of nostalgia. But these teams are also excellent in the present. So it's more than "Ken Burns Presents: The World Series".
T1. Red Sox-Cubs
T1. Yankees-Cubs
When Rob Manfred sleeps at night – for exactly two hours and 25 minutes, its ideal length for a baseball game – it's the confrontations that he sees in his dreams between infield visions. without defensive defenses. These would be scoring and cash bonuses for the league and the Fox, but for fans, it would also be great combos of power, youth, history and pure pleasure.
JUST ANOTHER MONDAY IN SEPTEMBER
By Tom Verducci
It's just a snapshot, but I wish I could say it's an anomaly. Two decades later, Rangers Chief Executive Officer Doug Melvin officially pushed the authorities to control the problems created by the September alignments. Major League Baseball and the Players' Association have not done anything to make what is becoming a substandard product in the last month of the regular season.
The uncontrolled use of bulk land and the decrease in the number of bullets involved exacerbated the problem. There were 12 games played on Monday, September 24th. Here's what happened thanks to the managers using alignments of 40 players:
• Three teams, all with record wins, used an "opening" and "explored" the entire game: the Yankees, the Rays and the Brewers.
• Starting pitchers averaged 4 2/3 innings, less than the minimum required to qualify.
• The 12 games featured 125 throwers, or 10.4 throwers per game.
• Teams used almost as many pitchers in one night (no full schedule) as they did for the entire 1904 season (129), and more than half as much as when they covered the entire 1960 season (238).
• Thirteen pitchers faced a single batter.
• The Batters hit .238, essentially mimicking the worst offensive season in the history of baseball, 1968 (.237).
• The four-seam medium fastball was 93.5 mph.
• There were 564 balls in play, one every four minutes.
• There were 3,551 lots, which means that the managers changed pitchers on average every 28 courts and 84% of the fields were not played.
• The games attracted an average of 26,834 spectators, 6.3% below the overall average for 2018, 10.3% less than 2017 and 17% less than 10 years ago.
• The average playing time was three hours and seven minutes.
ROUND TABLE: DO YOU ENVISAGE THE FORMAT OF A GAME ON THE WILD CARD AT A SINGLE GAME? HOW COULD IT BE ENHANCED?
Emma Baccellieri: I think that baseball will have to take this issue into account in the next decade, because the prospect of expansion is mentioned several times; a different format will almost certainly come with a hypothetical MLB at 32 teams. As the league is now, though? I think the current system works as well as anything. One of the first three would always keep the random aspect of a match and would probably spoil the planning and the rest of the players. Returning to a single joker seems impossible, after the fans had the sensation of experiencing the emotion of playing two opponents in a match to win. The current format is not perfect, but at least it keeps things interesting.
Gabriel Baumgaertner: I like the format as it is, but I think the two teams with the worst records – the division champions, be damn – should be the teams playing in the playoffs.
Connor Grossman: I am a defender of baseball fans, a game or a game, which are immediately treated from the start of the playoffs. For the sake of ideas, however, here is something to say: why not change the format of replacement cards into one? two games series? The second team of wild-cards must beat the first team of wild-cards twice on the road to advance in the playoffs. The advantage would be clear to the first team of wild-cards. Perhaps this two-game series would only be "activated" if the first team with wild card finished X parts (say eight) before the second. In this way, you offer the elite teams a little more protection against the unique god. That said, the current system is perfect. Keep shuddering
Jon Tayler: Yes, the wildcard format will probably remain, if only because it produces a lot of dramas every year and I do not know how you could do better. Maybe a series of three wild card games to make it a little more fair? I do not know if it's a better solution, but it's the only one I see – and I do not think I want it, anyway. A game is cruel and scary, but it's also great theater.
Tom Verducci: As long as we have 30 teams (instead of two leagues of 16 teams), the wild card format of a match will remain exactly as it is. Baseball and the rest of us do not want to add anything to the inventory of non – decisive post – season games. Forget about the idea of a "best of the three" format. Starting the post-season with (at least) two winning games or at home is the right way to go, and the rankings prove it.
IN THE INTERIOR OF BOTH CORP. CRUCIALS OF ASTROS-INDIANS
By Tom Verducci
Here are the key clashes in the Houston-Cleveland series: Indian second baseman Jose Ramirez, the best slugger against fastball in baseball, hitting pitchers Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, two of the best four-seater fast pitchers. baseball.
Ramirez slugs .719 against fastballs, the highest mark in baseball. Why? He has a fast bat and loves to hit the ball at the front. It therefore inflicts almost all the damage on the shot, even on fastball.
As for Verlander and Cole, see where their fast balls are:
Average of batting against four-sided fast balls (Min 250 results)
So what does the story tell us about these power oppositions against power?
Ramirez vs Cole: He was 1-for-3 on May 27, the only time he faced him. The hit was … you guessed it … a home run shot on Cole's fastball. Cole threw 165 left-handers this year to lefties, and Ramirez was the only one to attack him.
Ramirez vs Verlander: How about this career slash in 32 plate appearances: .407 / .500 / .741. Ramirez has the highest score (1.241) of all the batters who have faced Verlander at least 30 times.
Cole and Verlander will throw Ramirez fastballs because they are fast throwers, but they should be very strategic fastballs that prepare their secondary equipment. These figures from Ramirez clearly show you how to get close to them:
Jose Ramirez against pitch type, 2018
HOW THE PITCHERS SHOULD ATTRACT AARON JUDGE IN OCTOBER
By Tom Verducci
Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees, is not as striking as he was before his wrist injury, but pitchers still fear him. Although the judge does not hit the ball as well or harshly, the pitchers still give him some shots in the area:
Aaron Judge before and after DL
Oakland must challenge him with fast balls:
Judge against fast balls with 4 seams
LET THE GAME ON THE WILD CARD ONLY
By Emma Baccellieri
Each year, the playoff format is a concern. This season, it started in early June and continued throughout the summer. Even then, long before the image of the post-season became clear, some people found it easy to see something unfairor nearby. The Yankees could win more than 100 matches and not win the AL East, meaning their season could be reduced to a playoff match against a much weaker team. This did not happen; at least not exactly. Yankees fact win 100 games without being able to win their division, but they will face an opponent with wild cards that is about as qualified as the others, the 97 victories of Oakland. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate to ask now: are the playoffs with a play-off, which is in its seventh season, acceptable?
The 2018 Yankees are not the first team to raise this issue of fairness, of course. The 2015 Pirates had the second highest total of baseball wins and were still subject to the loss of a playoff game. This would seem to be more obviously unfair than anything that could have happened this year. Is the goal of MLB here to be fair? The question may seem obvious to the point of being stupid. But one could argue that an entertaining post-match could be a higher priority than a perfectly fair treatment, and that these two are not necessarily the same thing.
The playoffs of a match between the two teams of great cards give a huge kickoff at the start of the playoffs. It's fun because it does not look like any other usual feature of baseball. (Professional baseball, at least – university baseball has its own version, which is just as great.) But the essence of the excitement comes from the fact that anything can happen here, which is precisely what which can make it unfair. . The winner of a single game is not randomlybut that might as well be. The specter of unfairness also follows the winning team in the next round because surviving the playing card game usually means burning his best starting pitcher and a key taker even before the series starts.
If you believe that the fate of the playoffs must be directly tied to his regular season record, then all of this is terribly unfair – but if perfect fairness was the goal, there would be no further season, only a champion would be awarded based on the total number of wins. The current system improves on the previous one by opening the door to another club and adding an explosion of intensity from the beginning of October. There is not much to be gained by turning the only game into a game of the top three, as suggested, which would only slightly more likely that the best team actually wins and makes them a lot more likely to suffer fatigue and exhaust the pitching staff in the next turn. And if the idea of the wild card is just this offensive? Well, it makes a team more likely to win their division, which is certainly a good thing, because it encourages competition all year long. In other words, if you do not like it, win, baby – and everyone can sit back and enjoy the show.
ESTABLISHING PROPERTIES FOR POSTSASASON 2018
By Gabriel Baumgaertner
Will the Dodgers line up the same line twice in their playoffs?
Yes (-110)
No (-110)
Will the Yankee Stadium joker end in less than four hours?
Yes (-135)
No (+150)
Will Corey Kluber pump or scream when he plays big at any time in the playoffs?
Yes (+150)
No (-200)
How many times will you hear Clayton Kershaw go to high school with Matthew Stafford?
O6 (-115)
U6 (-105)
How many side-by-side graphics of Christian Yelich / Pete Davidson will appear?
O5 (-110)
U5 (-110)
How often will Javy Baez be considered "the best scoring champion in the world"?
O8 (-135)
U8 (+125)
How many times will a color commentator cite the effectiveness of the Kansas City Royals in 2014 and 2015 after the collapse of a bullpen?
O5 (+150)
U5 (-175)
Will the eccentric use of Joe Maddon cost the Cubs a playoff match?
Yes (-125)
No (+115)
Will Charlie Blackmon's beard begin to house eggs and chicks?
Yes (-110)
No (-110)
Ronald Acuña will have how many circuits in the playoffs?
O1 (-150)
U1 (+175)
OF VAULT: A UNLAWFUL LINK BY BASEBALL
By Connor Grossman
On October 3, 1951, Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard" Round the World earned the title of National League champion, earning him the National League pennant for the New York Giants. by the legendary call of Russ Hodges: "The road is long … it will be, I think … the Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" Thompson captured a curved ball from Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, and both have been inextricably linked since.
Forty years after the epic duel, SI's Ron Fimrite explored the long-lasting relationship between Thompson and Branca. Spoiler: There is no bitter end to this classic Giants-Dodgers tale. Profitez de l'extrait de l'histoire de Fimrite ci-dessous et retrouvez l'intégralité de la pièce ici.
Branca a dîné ce soir-là au Daube's Steak House dans le Bronx avec sa fiancée Ann et les Rube Walkers. Le cousin d'Ann, le père Frank (Pat) Rowley, prêtre de l'Université Fordham, les a rencontrés. Branca se souvient: "J'ai dit au père Rowley:" Pat, pourquoi moi? Veux-tu me dire, pourquoi moi? " Et Pat a dit: 'Ralph, Dieu t'a choisi parce qu'il sait que ta foi est assez forte pour porter cette croix.' C’était mon salut, j’ai réalisé que j’avais fait de mon mieux. Ce mec a frappé un coup de circuit. Il était meilleur que moi aujourd’hui. La vie continue. Vous ne le passez pas sans défaite. … Mais je me fiche de ce que quiconque dit, c'est le plus célèbre home run de tous. "
Thomson a ensuite dîné avec sa famille à la Tavern on the Green de Staten Island. Il se délectait de sa nouvelle gloire quand, vers 11 heures, il lui vint à l'esprit qu'il oubliait quelque chose d'important. "Hé, tout le monde", cria-t-il depuis le sommet d'une chaise, "Je dois jouer les Yankees demain."
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