Running 2017 MLB postseason thread

If you apply hindsight, that is true. Of course, you don't know when the call is made. As I said, I was tweaking the use of hindsight in the argument for the move.

But even without hindsight, there was logic in support of leaving Verlander in the game. Never mind that the way the rest of the game turned out supported that conclusion. It made sense to let him bunt the runner over at the time, mostly because the Astros' bullpen is a mess.

 

The ballsy move would have been pinch hitting for Reddick in that spot in the top of the 5th/6th. If you can't put it in play after a 3-0 count, damn. I think Fangraphs showed Reddick is one of the most un-clutch hitters ever for the past 3+years (so more than a small sample size). Great fielder but damn cannot hit, especially leftys. That was the ball game right there. Even a 2-0 lead for Verlander would have been much different.

As for Verlander, damn, baseball is so weird, he was undone by hitting Utley then Taylor's jam shot. A flare to RF.

What's up with Altuve? Doesn't look like an MVP right now.

 

Dodgers' Hill takes time between pitches to let fans boo Astros' Gurriel

Hill stepped off the mound so the crowd could jeer, made a pitch, stepped off the mound for another round of jeers, made another pitch. He turned into a veritable Pedro Baez, lingering between pitches so the crowd could rev up its vocal cords once again.

“I think the one thing was just to let the crowd speak their mind,” Hill said. “I didn’t think anything else would be as loud as that. The people spoke. I left it to that, and that was it.

“That was the best way to go about it, not hitting him or doing anything like that, but making sure that things like this shouldn’t happen.”

 

I was listening to the ESPN radio broadcast at this point. Dan Shulman said something to the effect of, why is Rich Hill taking so much time? I thought to myself, he wants the boos to sink in.

 

I don't think Charlie Steiner on the local radio broadcast got it either. My impression was that Gurriel was getting booed so much that Hill stepped off the mound.

 

Growing up for seven years in Maryland, i LOVED Mark Belanger.

With his fantastic defense, and horrid bat, I would love to see how (if) he would fare in today's MLB.

I actually forgot he died of lung cancer.

 

I kind of thought either side of that move was defensible - leaving Verlander in because the bullpen is taxed / bad, or deciding you need to start pinch hitting and going for offense. Like, watching the game, I thought the more questionable tactical thing was having Jansen go out there for two innings, but then he pitched like an unhittable sonabitch, so clearly I don't know shit either.

 

Houston simply had too many LOB in the 5th and 6th innings. 1 or 2 runs there, you leave Verlander in, no doubt. So, I blame the offense for turning up empty in those two innings.

 

I hope that jackhole who tried to snag that double gets ejected. Would be awesome to see him pay all that money and be gone on the first batter.

 

Kershaw's gonna be in by the second.

 

Darvish will be fine the rest of his outing tonight.