MLB Season 2017!

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:56 pm

Quintana's wife had an irregular heartbeat so they had to stop and help her. Glad it wasn't anything really serious.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 8:15 pm

Suddenly I am a rabid Cubs fan.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:11 pm

Jaymann wrote:Suddenly I am a rabid Cubs fan.

Welcome. Enjoy the cookies.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:35 pm

Lorini wrote: ↑Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:56 pm Quintana's wife had an irregular heartbeat so they had to stop and help her. Glad it wasn't anything really serious.

Local media calling it a "panic attack."

Verlander was freaking on tonight. Good to see. Also, nice little Jeffrey Maier moment on Correa's HR. Lol.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 11:06 pm

Too bad she didn't recognize it as a panic attack, as that's not serious enough (it's not serious at all) to stop a plane.

Thanks Giants btw!!!

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 11:36 pm

Yay! Kershaw wasn't great but the bullpen was and eventually Quintana wore down. And before the complaints come roaring in (although you guys might not) without that rule Culbertson would have simply run over the catcher and probably tore up his knee.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 1:13 am

Lorini wrote: ↑Sat Oct 14, 2017 11:06 pm Too bad she didn't recognize it as a panic attack, as that's not serious enough (it's not serious at all) to stop a plane.

Thanks Giants btw!!!

To those not used to them, panic attacks can present as heart attacks.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:53 am

Right. But they don't represent a serious condition. She didn't realize what was happening, clearly.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 7:57 am

From the Chicago Tribune story.

Quintana said he felt fine after an emotional 48 hours in which he said his wife took ill after taking some medicine on the team flight to Los Angeles. The two of them got off the plane in Albuquerque, N.M., and didn't reach LA until 10 p.m. Friday.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:01 pm

Baroquen · Post by **Baroquen** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:02 pm

Maddon pulls a Showalter and leaves his ace closer on the bench... ouch.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:24 pm

Going to suck being forced to root for an American league team.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:25 pm

After the way Lackey dissed the Angels when he left town, I have no sympathy.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:48 pm

Now I understand why Joe kept leaving Lackey on the bench.....

Dumb me forgot Lackey pitched Saturday.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 10:26 am

Question - when a ball gets stuck or lost in that beard, is their a ground rule limiting the runner to a double?

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 10:31 am

I kind of get wanting Davis for a save situation but if you never get to use him, what's the point? He can go 2, it's the LCS.

It's like saving a starter during an elimination game. You'd rather deal with having used him than keep his arm fresh for golf.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:08 am

The whole idea of a 'save situation' is archaic and silly anyway. You want your best pitchers pitching at the most important times.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:11 am

I'd have preferred to have seen Davis, too. Although I have to admit that I wasn't terribly bothered by the choice when Lackey came out. Duensing appeared to have been a bit lost in the pressure of the moment, and that's one thing no one will accuse Lackey of.

Giving up a home run, however, is his M.O.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:28 am

Someone said that Lackey had never pitched in back-to-back games before. Seems crazy that he was ok to go but not Davis.

But then pen isn't killing the Cubs. It's just unable to make up for their inability to hit. Forget bringing in Davis, using Lackey to pinch hit may have been the best call that was never made.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:30 pm

It seems to me that the Cubs are more dependent on their offense and when you can limit their offense, their pitching can't make up for it. Or maybe that's always true but Brizzo not coming through seems to be a real issue for them. The Dodgers don't have a Brizzo combo, so they have to make up for that with process. They know their pen is statistically better than the Cubs pen at this point so the starting pitchers have to limit damage and then let the offense do its thing with the Cubs bullpen.

It'll be interesting to see how Darvish does, although I won't be watching/listening. The first game in Chicago isn't really going to have an impact either way so I'm off to play boardgames

.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:46 pm

The Cubs do seem to have a very on/off offense, particularly in the postseason. Two years ago it was completely off and the Mets swept them in the NLCS. Last year it started off (Dodgers shut out the Cubs two in a row) before they got things rolling a bit. Bryant picked a terrible time to slump this bad - I'm hoping his bat wakes up and sparks the rest of the offense.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:19 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:46 pm Bryant picked a terrible time to slump this bad -

I don't understand...his strike out swing looked as good to me as it ever has since I started watching a few games ago.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:45 pm

Well, shit. That explains it. Please stop watching, Jeff!

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:46 pm

ImLawBoy wrote:Well, shit. That explains it. Please stop watching, Jeff!

Beat me to it.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:48 pm

Zaxxon wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2017 1:46 pm
ImLawBoy wrote:Well, shit. That explains it. Please stop watching, Jeff!
Beat me to it.

I need to stop watching. Both games I tuned in late to see a Cubs lead. Then not 1 inning later, they give it up.

Tomorrow I'll stay away and wait for the highlights. I can't be the one that lets the Dodgers win.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:09 pm

Well, I almost missed it last night, my wife and I started watching a movie, but the baby (who she put to bed) wouldn't stop screaming so eventually she went upstairs to deal with that. When it became clear she wasn't going to come down and finish the movie, I put on the game, 8th inning.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 4:36 pm

Jeff V wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:09 pm Well, I almost missed it last night, my wife and I started watching a movie, but the baby (who she put to bed) wouldn't stop screaming so eventually she went upstairs to deal with that. When it became clear she wasn't going to come down and finish the movie, I put on the game, 8th inning.

And you make this announcement in post #666. You're really checking all the boxes this year.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 4:54 pm

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 5:36 pm

So maybe it's finally time to quit having 'closers' and having 'high leverage relief pitchers' instead. I think it makes much more sense and I think they'd still get paid a bunch, maybe even more. Because at the end of the day, that's why they are there. To save the game in a high leverage situation. People think of that as the end of the game so they got the title closers but really the need for them is broader than that. And who knows, if Maddon's closer wasn't called a closer but a high leverage relief pitcher, maybe he'd have used Wade Davis.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 5:41 pm

I think Maddon may have also been trying to stretch his pitching staff a bit. He probably figured Davis could go longer than Lackey (ironically, given Davis is usually the one inning guy and Lackey is a starter) because Lackey was pitching on consecutive days for the first time in his career. If he could close the inning with Lackey, he could go 2+ innings with Davis.

Or maybe not. Maddon is a weird postseason manager (and not always in a good way).

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 9:51 am

Opposing hitters are 0-for-their-past-26 and 1-for-their-past-41 against the Dodger's bullpen. That's friggin amazing folks. it's also a process. Roberts doesn't have to guess or use intuition, it's all set up ahead of time. He knows who is going to face who and when. Yes he has to make off the cuff decisions when someone breaks down but that's rare because of the meticulous decision making before the game even starts.

You won't see any need for key decisions in Dodgers (non elimination) postseason games. Yep they are changing the game of baseball, and some hate it but they are determined to bring a WS to Los Angeles and will stop at nothing to do so.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 10:13 am

All Maddon has to do is lead off with the pitcher and move Baez to the 3 hole. He'll break The Process!

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 10:29 am

Or, you know, if the Cubs hitters started hitting. Lots of strategies work when your opponent doesn't score.

Some of that is of course due to Dodgers pitching, but the Cubs have been worse than expected on offense all postseason.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:03 am

They'll just yank the starter if Brizzo gets going. That's fairly clear now.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:09 pm

Uh whoops

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:22 pm

uh whoops

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:19 am

Bold prediction time: If the Cubs don't win tonight, they're not going to repeat as World Series Champions.

You heard it here first.

If the Cubs don't pull this out, I'm personally looking forward to all the Hot Taeks about how this team that has made 3 consecutive NLCSs needs to majorly retool because of a poor offensive couple of weeks.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:20 am

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:19 am Bold prediction time: If the Cubs don't win tonight, they're not going to repeat as World Series Champions.

Going out on a ledge there.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:45 am

That four pitch walk to Darvish was pretty cool

One of the announcers said something about Little League? What did he mean?

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:47 am

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:19 am Bold prediction time: If the Cubs don't win tonight, they're not going to repeat as World Series Champions.

You heard it here first.

If the Cubs don't pull this out, I'm personally looking forward to all the Hot Taeks about how this team that has made 3 consecutive NLCSs needs to majorly retool because of a poor offensive couple of weeks.

The Dodgers have been the beneficiaries twice now of their opponents rotation being out of whack with theirs pristine. And I think that has helped a lot.