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I love this team, especially without Harper. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that if that is Harper batting there in the situation that Soto found himself in (bases loaded down 2, 2 outs) that he strikes out, trying to swing for the grand slam and swining over 3 pitches when Soto shows just a base hit to the outfield can have the same result. And by the way that Grisham fielding error is what happens when you throw 30 pitches and only 12 are strikes. Hader was more lost finding the strike zone then I would be in the Amazon rain forest, puts the fielders to sleep and more prone to mental errors like trying to throw before you catch the ball cleanly.
Good job by Soto on getting the game winning hit!
With runners on-base he hit .280 this season.
.274 with runners in scoring position.
.188 with the bases loaded.
.258 with two out and runners in scoring position.
Compare that to Harper:
.331 with runners on-base.
.357 with runners in scoring position.
.333 with the bases loaded.
.367 with two out and runners in scoring position.
With runners on-base he hit .280 this season.
.274 with runners in scoring position.
.188 with the bases loaded.
.258 with two out and runners in scoring position.
Compare that to Harper:
.331 with runners on-base.
.357 with runners in scoring position.
.333 with the bases loaded.
.367 with two out and runners in scoring position.
You're being a little hard on Harper.
One person is making 330 million, the other is probably making 330 thousand
One person is 20 years old, the other has been in the league for 7 seasons
Bring up ANY meaningful hit Harper had in his 4 playoff series in Washington (I can think of 2 off the top of my head). Don't worry, I'll wait. Just remember, his last playoff appearance back in 2017 and probably last playoff appearance for a while with the staying power the Mets, Braves & Nats look to have, he struck out as the tying run against the Cubs Wade Davis to end the series who at that point was at about 40 pitches in the game and completely running on fumes
One person is making 330 million, the other is probably making 330 thousand
One person is 20 years old, the other has been in the league for 7 seasons
Bring up ANY meaningful hit Harper had in his 4 playoff series in Washington (I can think of 2 off the top of my head). Don't worry, I'll wait. Just remember, his last playoff appearance back in 2017 and probably last playoff appearance for a while with the staying power the Mets, Braves & Nats look to have, he struck out as the tying run against the Cubs Wade Davis to end the series who at that point was at about 40 pitches in the game and completely running on fumes
It happens to the best of them. Most of them, actually.
I hope you aren't so hard on Soto if he doesn't turn into Mr. October II.
And if you're going to bring salary into it, Soto should be doing better in the situations I mentioned, being as he's fighting for a big contract.
He's had a couple of back injuries the first of which flared up at the end of June, made 1 start about 3 weeks later, flared up again and missed a month and since he came back I don't want to say he wasn't "ineffective" but he wasn't putting up numbers quite as good before the first injury. And homers have ALWAYS been a problem for Max, luckily most of them are of the solo variety so they aren't as deadly.
The average ML pitcher this season allowed 1.4 home runs per nine innings. Scherzer held opponents to 0.9. At the All Star break it was an outstanding 0.6, so you're correct that he was less effective in the second half, but only by a bit. His Defense Independent ERA was 2.45, the best figure in the NL , his strikeouts per nine innings were 12.7, the best of his career. His strikeout to walk ratio was the second best of his career.
I see no signs that he is slowing down at all. Only the back problems and missed time will keep him from this year's Cy Young.
The AL Wild Card will be played tonight in Oakland. It will be Charley Morton (16-6 3.05) vs Sean Manaea (4-0 1.21) Manaea missed most of the year but came back to make five starts where he was exceptionally tough.
Tampa Bay led the AL in team ERA (3.65) their starters were the second best (3.64) and the bullpen the best (3.66)
The A's had the 4th best team ERA (3.97) with their starters logging a 4.02 mark and their bullpen 3.89. Both those marks were also 4th best in the AL
The A's were the 5th highest scoring AL team (845 runs) while the Rays were 9th (769 runs) The A's whapped 257 home runs to the Rays 217.
The A's were a great late innings club last season, but were pretty shakey in the same situations this year. Their usual m.o. for winning was to bludgeon the opposition starter early and build up a big lead that was good enough even when they allowed late inning runs.
Morton isn't a guy who gets battered early, he lasted at least five innings in all but four of his starts. The last time he was hit early was at the end of August in back to back games against Seattle and Houston.
Last edited by Grandstander; 10-02-2019 at 02:01 PM..
So, now that the playoffs are set here are my official picks after going 1-1 in the Wildcard round. All subject to change based on prior round results:
ALDS:
Yankees in 4 over the Twins. I don't like the Yankees pitching, and as I mentioned the other day this Twins team isn't going to roll over being on the same field as the Yankees as the Twins can mash just as well as the Yankees can, and with Berrios and Odorizzi may actually have the better starters. But this series is probably going to come down to the bullpen's and even though most were horrible this year the Yankees was one of the few that was consistently good for most of the year and that wins them the series.
Astros over the Rays in 5. I could see the home teams going 5-5 which gives the nod to the Astros. It's going to be difficult to get 3 wins vs. Cole, Verlander and Greinke.
ALCS:
Astros over Yankees in 6. Unlike in 2017 I actually believe the Astros will win a game at Yankee Stadium this year. The Astros starters run circles around the Yankees, and if the Astros got Ryan Pressley back before the end of the regular season I'm not sure the Yankees bullpen is that better.
NLDS:
Nats over the Dodgers in 5. This series is going to have great SP and shoddy relief pitching. Playing loose and with house money I'm not going to say the Nats have an "advantage" obviously because they'll be on the road but in a potential game 5 at Dodger stadium, the game is tied in the 7th inning and Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg both come in from the bullpen. I think the Dodgers clamp up and the Nats get their first real postseason series victory.
Cards over the Braves in 5. This was my biggest back and forth pick. Cards will have the best SP in the series with Flaherty (sorry Soroka), and the better bullpen as even in the final 10 days when they gave up a bunch of runs I think they still finish with a second half bullpen era in the top 5 in the league. Braves have homefield, the better SP depth as their 2nd, 3rd and 4ths (Teheran and Keuchel and Folty) are better than the Cards 2nd and 3rds and 4th (Mikolas and Hudson and Waino) and the better team offensively. 2 keys for me picking the Cards:
1) I just can't pick against Flaherty right now and
2) The Braves had some injuries to end the season with Freeman and Acuna. If they are rusty facing Mikolas game 1 they have to go up against Flaherty game 2 and are looking at an 0-2 deficit going to St. Louis right in the face.
NLCS:
Nats over the Cards in 5. Assuming the Cards/Braves series goes 5 games I don't think the Cards have much of a chance in the pitching matchups. Home field will help since the Nats NEVER play well in St. Louis, but assuming they make the NLCS they would have a ton of momentum and would find a way to win at least one of the first 2 games in St. Louis.
World Series:
Astros over Nats in 6 games. Oh boy, would these be some fun matchups! In this matchup, like in the Cards/Braves series I'm picking the team with the best SP in the series, and one of the best postseason pitchers of his ERA: The Astros with Justin Verlander to win their second title in 3 years.
I forgot G1s were today in NL. About what I expected. Starters did well. Nats pen did as expected. LA pen 3 scoreless.
Key for Nats which they failed at today is forcing LA to pitch to Rendon & Soto with runners in scoring position, tight game. LAD lineup is IMO longer. Nats must get many RBIs from 1, 3, & 4 in lineup.
Braves pen OMG. Cards also.
Last edited by BobNJ1960; 10-03-2019 at 10:04 PM..
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