No ghost runner in the post season?
It's no accident, it's a deliberate optical illusion:Is it me or has the Guardians rebranding been much more seamless than the Washington Commanders football team?
Based on Showalter's history I'm still confused as to why the Mets hired him. He used up his closer the night before for 2 innings, in a game he was leading by 5 runs, when he wasn't needed, the direct opposite of when he refused to bring in Zach Britton in Baltimore in 2016 and lost the game that would have put Baltimore into the LCS. He has a serious flaw between the ears so sit back Mets fans, ya ain't going anywhere.The Mets have turned back into the Mets.
A manager can't make the team pitch or hit.Based on Showalter's history I'm still confused as to why the Mets hired him. He used up his closer the night before for 2 innings, in a game he was leading by 5 runs, when he wasn't needed, the direct opposite of when he refused to bring in Zach Britton in Baltimore in 2016 and lost the game that would have put Baltimore into the LCS. He has a serious flaw between the ears so sit back Mets fans, ya ain't going anywhere.
He can set the batting order, call sacrifcies, bunts, steals, intentional walks, positioning of the defense, who pitches, who relieves, and a dozen other things that can affect the outcome of a game. There is also a great deal to be said about how much faith the players have in the manager and whether they do or do not buy into his management skills or lack thereof. The Phillies should be a shining example of that this season. When a team blows a 10.5 game lead in the division it isn't because the manager is doing a bangup job.A manager can't make the team pitch or hit.
My postseason predictions:
Guardians over Rays in 2- Guardians one of the hottest teams in baseball over the last 2 months, and they have IMO, the best postseason manager in baseball
Blue Jays over Mariners in 3- Battle of the 1977 expansion teams. IMO, the best series of the 4 and the toughest one to pick, but I think the Jays have a little too much firepower
Phillies over Cardinals in 3- Just because I have to pick an upset
Mets over Padres in 2- Pitching, pitching, pitching
Extrapolating those picks-
Astros over Blue Jays in 5- would be a great series
Yankees over Guardians in 4- Yankees just have too much firepower for the Guardians
Mets over Dodgers in 5-just a hunch
Braves over Phillies in 3- Braves start their quest for back-to-back
Yankees over Astros in 6-I think Judge, Stanton and Rizzo all go off
Mets over Braves in 6- Mets get sweet revenge for the season ending sweep
Mets over Yankees in 7- deGrom and Scherzer prove to be too much as the Mets get revenge for 2000
So disappointing to see Verlander pitch so poorly ... however, he'll bounce back.That is an excruciating loss for Seattle. They caught Verlander on an off day, build a big lead, and then lose on a 3 run bomb with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. Hard to imagine the Mariners coming back from this.
So disappointing to see Verlander pitch so poorly ... however, he'll bounce back.
Truly amazing the way the Astros managed to climb back in this game.
Unfortunately, I had an appointment at 3 pm, so only really heard the parts of the game .... I knew JV was getting beat up early ... 4-0 when I heard it last ... then when I got home, after thinking they lost bad, I turned the TV on and it was in the ninth inning and they trailed 7-5 ... Altuve struck out and I felt it was over, Pena had to get on for Alverez to get up to bat, and he laced a single to CF and then ....
I originally thought that JV had pitched today on like 8 or 9 days rest and maybe that had something to do with the poor outing ... however it was only a day more than normal ... As I said, some teams have your number, Seattle is one for him.In the grand scheme of things that was a HUGE win for the Astros. If they can get one more win between games 2 and 4, it guarantees that Verlander would start a deciding Game 5 next Monday on 5 days rest (and it’s hard to imagine JV coming up with 2 straight duds). If they manage to wrap up this series in 3 or 4 games, then they would have a well rested Verlander ready to start Game 1 of the ALCS one week from tomorrow in Houston. Such a huge swing game today’s game was.