LCS

[sweetpeteman]

Yeah the AL West continues to absolutely be owned by the Astros. I'd be shocked if there's a game 7.

[javy knows my name]

Before the playoffs started, I would have put 5 to 1 that Evan Longoria was no longer in baseball

[Irrelevant Dude]

As much as I hate the Astros, that win felt justified.  That was a stupid ejection.

[Derwood]

No one has won at home yet. Astros just need to split

[We Got The Whole 9]

Just a devastating blow from Altuve. Rangers are gonna be having nightmares for weeks. I don't think you recuperate from that.

[Soul]

If there was ever a HR you could feel coming that was it.

[JHBulls]

Texas can take comfort from knowing Houston were 39-42 at home during the regular season and 1-3 (0-2 against Texas) at home during the postseason.

None of that will matter because Houston have delated Texas to the point that Game 6 will probably be a blow out in Houston’s favour. 

Edited October 21, 2023 by JHBulls

[Rcal10]

For everyone who bitches about Ross, maybe they should watch the Phillies more. Given the choice of Ross or Rhomas, I think I would take Ross. Phillies manager SUCKS!!!! 

[JHBulls]

Oh my, this is one epic comeback. 

[soccer10k]

3 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

As much as I hate the Astros, that win felt justified.  That was a stupid ejection.

I think it was deserved. I understand the game situation part of it but it's an awfully big coincidence that a guy who hits a massive home run and celebrates, gets plunked on the first pitch, with a fastball, by a guy who had hit 3 guys in 72 innings this year in his very next PA. Oh, and the Astros were ticked earlier this year at a Garcia celebration following a grand slam.

Could it have been an accident? Sure. But the optics sure don't look good at all. And again, you can certainly sell me on the game situation part (still a 4-2 game, nobody out but a runner on first). And it is the playoffs rather than the regular season. But I've got no issue with the umps taking preventative measures there.

[soccer10k]

LOL Jeter. Just try the hat on you goon.

[gflore34]

Texas loss was vintage September 2023 Cubs, as many have said, you could feel the Altuve HR coming.  Don't know why they threw him anything off speed, at very least, I would have come after him with hard stuff, probably away.

[Derwood]

Brandon Marsh has the grossest hair in MLB history

[soccer10k]

After tonight, Schwarber is now tied for 4th in career postseason homers.

[Irrelevant Dude]

10 minutes ago, soccer10k said:

After tonight, Schwarber is now tied for 4th in career postseason homers.

In basically half the plate appearances as the guys above him.  Manny is within reach, but Altuve could be tough to catch.

[Derwood]

Schwarb's HR had a 114mph exit velocity

[Stratos]

48 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Schwarb's HR had a 114mph exit velocity

Man he looks like he swings a heavy piece of lumber.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

2 hours ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Without knowing da nunbahs, this just seems like a well rounded, deeper  Phillies team. Rojas and Stott can really play defense up the middle, Turner was a big improvement for them at SS, the lineup’s patient with power, power bullpen with a marquee guy in Alvarado, the rotation can pitch. The org’s healthy too: next year they’ll add Painter, Justin Crawford could make a leap (allowing them to shop Brandon Marsh after 2024), bullpen could add another loud arm in Alex MacFarlane…Good stuff 

I think the rotation is the place where they could have some problems.  They'll either need to pay Nola or replace him, Painter is unlikely to impact 2024 given he barely pitched in AA and didn't have TJS til late July, Wheeler is good but you wouldn't bet on him repeating his 2023, and they also had remarkable rotation health on the whole.

[Rcal10]

16 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I think the rotation is the place where they could have some problems.  They'll either need to pay Nola or replace him, Painter is unlikely to impact 2024 given he barely pitched in AA and didn't have TJS til late July, Wheeler is good but you wouldn't bet on him repeating his 2023, and they also had remarkable rotation health on the whole.

Why wouldn’t you expect Wheeler to repeat his 23’ season? He has actually been better than that the years before 23’. I think he is only signed they next year. That might be the problem. But as for him being good, I don’t see why he won’t be. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

25 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Why wouldn’t you expect Wheeler to repeat his 23’ season? He has actually been better than that the years before 23’. I think he is only signed they next year. That might be the problem. But as for him being good, I don’t see why he won’t be. 

He’ll be 34 next year and is coming off his 2nd best season.  The dynamic is similar to Arenado and Goldschmidt after 2022, they can still be very good the next year and bleed multiple wins of value.

[Bertz]

Yeah basically always take the under on a pitcher putting up a superstar level performance

[Rcal10]

3 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

He’ll be 34 next year and is coming off his 2nd best season.  The dynamic is similar to Arenado and Goldschmidt after 2022, they can still be very good the next year and bleed multiple wins of value.

I would love it if Wheeler was on the Cubs next year. I would take my chances on him being a top 10 starter in the NL, again. And I am sure the Phillies are not worried about him slipping. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

3 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I would love it if Wheeler was on the Cubs next year. I would take my chances on him being a top 10 starter in the NL, again. And I am sure the Phillies are not worried about him slipping. 

I would also love to have Wheeler, the point is not to demean him in particular.  But in the context of 'could the Phillies have SP issues next year', it remains true that he could be healthy and an excellent pitcher and still be 2 WAR worse, on top of other risks that group has.  To continue the comparison to Arenado/Goldschmidt, the takeaway is not that they are not good or that the team is suckers for keeping them or anything like that, it's that mid-30s performances that jump way up are very likely to come back down, and teams trying to win need to hedge against that.  The Phillies rotation that had very good health, has no immediate impact coming thanks to Painter's TJS, and may or may not include Nola doesn't really have that hedge for Wheeler alone, never mind those other things.  And so that could(emphasis on could) be the thing that trips them up or brings them down a peg next year.

[Rcal10]

14 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I would also love to have Wheeler, the point is not to demean him in particular.  But in the context of 'could the Phillies have SP issues next year', it remains true that he could be healthy and an excellent pitcher and still be 2 WAR worse, on top of other risks that group has.  To continue the comparison to Arenado/Goldschmidt, the takeaway is not that they are not good or that the team is suckers for keeping them or anything like that, it's that mid-30s performances that jump way up are very likely to come back down, and teams trying to win need to hedge against that.  The Phillies rotation that had very good health, has no immediate impact coming thanks to Painter's TJS, and may or may not include Nola doesn't really have that hedge for Wheeler alone, never mind those other things.  And so that could(emphasis on could) be the thing that trips them up or brings them down a peg next year.

Where I am struggling with what you are saying is when you say “a mid 30’s player jumps way up in performance”. He didn’t jump up in performance. He has always been very good.  He has been the same pitcher every year. His era the precious 3 years was actually better than last year. He is no more likely to regress than any pitcher is, IMO. 
I do agree they had good health all year. I also agree that after next year they will probably have to replace him too, good or bad. 
But if I was a gambling man I would bet Wheeler will be a NL top 10 starting pitcher again next year, barring an injury. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Where I am struggling with what you are saying is when you say “a mid 30’s player jumps way up in performance”. He didn’t jump up in performance. He has always been very good.  He has been the same pitcher every year. His era the precious 3 years was actually better than last year. He is no more likely to regress than any pitcher is, IMO. 
I do agree they had good health all year. I also agree that after next year they will probably have to replace him too, good or bad. 
But if I was a gambling man I would bet Wheeler will be a NL top 10 starting pitcher again next year, barring an injury. 

He had a 5.9 fWAR season, only the 2nd time he's cleared 4.6.  He could be a win and a half worse than this year and still be equivalent to what a Top 10 NL SP was this year.  Maybe he'll be a 6 win pitcher again, I'm not trying to tell you that there's something super unsustainable or lucky that he was doing.  But as a matter of probability, for pitchers and for players of Wheeler's age in general, you'd expect him to not be particularly close to 2023 from a value standpoint.  Goldschmidt in particular is an excellent comparison, he's had an incredible career and last year had an MVP caliber season.  He was also an excellent hitter and overall player this year, but even that meant a significant loss of value over the previous season.