A Few Good Tweets From Game 1

In Commentary And Analysis by GW20 Comments

One of the nice things about getting to a championship series is that everyone is paying attention. And, at least when Pedro Baez is pitching, there is plenty of time to survey the landscape. Revisiting the action while trying not to worry about Kershaw…


On Howie Kendrick

A. That’s not how defensive metrics work.

B. Kendrick actually grades out as more or less average in left field.

C. Yeah, pretty much.

On Javier Baez

Apparently, Diamond has given up on extolling the virtues of latitudinal cultural diffusion in anthropology. I think we can all agree that this is a good thing.

On Andre Ethier

(Dying Laughing)

On Aroldis Chapman

MGL’s twitter game theory involves contradicting you immediately after you cite him favorably.

On Intentional Walks

Cora’s follower numbers are up this morning, which can only be explained by a decline in reading comprehension, right? He said unfollow, people.

On Wade Davis and Joe Blanton
One of my favorite baseball quotes ever is from Sam Miller on the BP podcast a few years ago (when Kimbrel was still untouchable)

Every team in baseball has a better closer than Craig Kimbrel. And the reason that we know this is Wade Davis.

I think that this generally holds, which is why I wasn’t crazy about the Chapman trade. But… the counterpoint is Joe Blanton. If you are making the case that Joe f’ing Blanton is a relief ace, well, it’s going to take more than a year and a half’s-worth of relief innings to convince me. High variance! Small samples! Suckers!

On Miguel Montero

It’s Randy, not Todd. Right? Please tell me it’s Randy…

Share this Post

Comments

  1. Smokestack Lightning

    The only thing from last night that really sticks in my craw is the Either HR. What a bunch of fucked-up shit that was.

    Fuck you, wind. You’re not funny.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  2. cerulean

    Rizzo the Rat:
    I didn’t think the intentional walks were good decisions, but the fact that they didn’t work this time is beside the point. Montero makes an out much more often than he hits a home run.

    A feature Montero shares with the likes of Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth.

    An intentional walk changes the risk of the situation, magnifying any move against you, like going double or nothing after losing a bet. So such walks increase the impact any hitter can have against you, magnifying further the power while giving a little back for a slow guy like Montero in the case of one out or less. But this was two outs, first base wasn’t open, it was just to get Chapman out of the game. Usually it works, but like picking up pennies in front of a steamroller, failure mode is pretty brutal.

    I am just glad Maddon isn’t the one who did it. (This is the bright spot of not facing the Nationals.)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  3. cerulean

    I would have liked to see Soler (for righty offense) or Almora (for righty defense) get the start over Heyward in right against Kershaw. Heyward tends to do very poorly against Kershaw (0–4 with 4 Ks?) and would be a great defensive replacement later in the game.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  4. SK

    I guess with Hendricks and Willson taking over for Lester and Ross, Joe didn’t want to take out yet another of what he calls “Varsity” guys for a freshman or sophmore.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  5. cerulean

    SK,

    I wouldn’t have minded both Heyward and Rizzo sitting in favor of both Soler and Almora. Go ahead, bring in a righty from the pen, Dave.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  6. Rizzo the Rat

    I wouldn’t dream of resting Rizzo in the postseason, though I’m a little surprised to see Heyward (over Soler).

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  7. cerulean

    Rizzo the Rat,

    He’d be the first bat off the bench though. And Baez at third, Bryant at first, Zobrist at second, Almora in right, and Soler in left is a pretty good defensive lineup. With the buy in of the team in Maddon’s process, it makes sense to change things up like that. To be honest, I am surprised that the lineup and defensive alignment has been so consistent thus far.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  8. cerulean

    cerulean,

    In the end, it probably doesn’t matter much. But some of the thrill of this team has been the second stringers and red-shirts beating up on the other team’s best. It makes the game so fun.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  9. SK

    Credit to the meatball fan on the pre-game show right now who called in to complain about KB not running hard out of the box on his first inning double.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0

Leave a Comment