Playoff Talk

[gflore34]

Anyone know what the Brewers equivalent of this site might be?  Doesn't one of moderators/authors of this board do like wise for the Brewers?  It's the fellow, who, every chance he gets, writes of Brewers superiority over the Cubs.  Curious as what he might write now that his Brewers are clearly the inferior team.

[Andy]

3 hours ago, BigbadB said:

Ahhh. That's the part I've been missing. Had the sound for the Bears game on so I couldn't hear the explanation. I thought they were somehow counting the non catch in the outfield as a catch. I saw Contreras running towards third, but I don't recall seeing him actually run all the way to 3rd. I thought he was chasing someone back.

The easiest way to explain the play was when the ball touched the top of the wall it became the same as if it touched the ground. It's in play and everyone has to move up or get forced out.

[gflore34]

WTF is it with the announcers talking up Turang as baseball' best defensive 2B on every play?  Were they given some sort of a directive by MLB?  Haven't looked but, I highly doubt his defensive metrics are better than Nico'.

Edited October 14, 2025 by gflore34

[Rcal10]

22 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

WTF is it with the announcers talking up Turang as baseball' best defensive 2B on every play?  Were they given some sort of a directive by MLB?  Haven't looked but, I high;y doubt his defensive metrics are better than Nico'.

This was my frustration the entire Cubs series. I mean, Turang is a good fielder. He did win the GG last year. But this year Hoerner has had a better defensive year. 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

1 hour ago, gflore34 said:

WTF is it with the announcers talking up Turang as baseball' best defensive 2B on every play?  Were they given some sort of a directive by MLB?  Haven't looked but, I highly doubt his defensive metrics are better than Nico'.

It's probably Brian Anderson letting his homerism leak through.

[Jason Ross]

7 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

WTF is it with the announcers talking up Turang as baseball' best defensive 2B on every play?  Were the given some sort of a directive by MLB?  Haven't looked but, I high;y doubt his defensive metrics are better than Nico'.

Reputation over 2025 data set, is the likely answer. Turng was a +7 DRS and a -2 OAA in 2025, but in 2024 lead the league in DRS at 2b. 

I agree that Hoerner is a better defender - he beat Turang (and the entire league) in 2025 DRS, and 2025 OAA and was 4th in the league in 2024 OAA (7th in 2024 DRS). 

It's safe to assume that when it comes to defense, both in voting and in commentary, that opinions will be far wider and varied than in other aspects. Defense is still the hardest to quantify and people are generally the furthest behind.

[BKHoo]

12 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

It was a force out at home. Hernandez didn’t get to the plate before the ball was relayed in. After Contreras caught the ball with his foot in home plate he then ran to third and stepped on it as well. The runner at second didn’t run to third. Force out at home and 3rd. 

Great thanks.  I did not see the run to third the first time I saw the play.  And it was more like a fast walk to third. 😆 

 

Weird play! 

[BKHoo]

5 hours ago, BigbadB said:

Ahhh. That's the part I've been missing. Had the sound for the Bears game on so I couldn't hear the explanation. I thought they were somehow counting the non catch in the outfield as a catch. I saw Contreras running towards third, but I don't recall seeing him actually run all the way to 3rd. I thought he was chasing someone back.

They did not even show that part on some of the replays. It was a pretty important part to get to 2 outs!! 

[JHBulls]

22 hours ago, gflore34 said:

I didn't understand that, you've just won a playoff series.  Regardless or whether you're trolling the Cubs or not why would you want to take a picture with flag containing a big L?

It was funny when Pat Murphy was reading fake Bob Uecker letters. Sometimes less is more. 

[chibears55]

Shaping up to be a West Coast World Series

Wouldn't mind seeing the Mariners get their championship 

[Irrelevant Dude]

As much as I dislike the Dodgers, I love how they are showing that quality starting pitchers can still pitch deep into playoff games.

[Irrelevant Dude]

11 hours ago, gflore34 said:

WTF is it with the announcers talking up Turang as baseball' best defensive 2B on every play?  Were they given some sort of a directive by MLB?  Haven't looked but, I highly doubt his defensive metrics are better than Nico'.

I don't know what your metric of choice is for defense, but: 

DRS: Hoerner 17, Turang 7

OAA: Hoerner 14, Turang -2

FRV: Hoerner 12, Turang 0

Turang had a pretty average season defensively, and him winning the gold glove over Hoerner would be downright criminal.

 

[mk49]

34 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Shaping up to be a West Coast World Series

Wouldn't mind seeing the Mariners get their championship 

I hate the Dodgers, so yeah, I'd love to see the Mariners with the World Series.

The biggest difference between the Cubs and the Dodgers is the SP rotation.  Snell pitched 8 innings last night, and Yamamoto 9 innings tonight.  None of our SP can last that long for sure.

[Bertz]

If the Dodgers complete the sweep and the Milwaukee goes 3-6 in the playoffs it's going to make the front page articles dripping with condescension about how much more intelligently built for October the Brewers are especially funny.

[NorthsideAvenger]

I am working under the assumption that when the Dodgers win the WS, they will then trade Hernandez to free up LF for Tucker and then sign Cease and King to stick them in the bullpen because why not. 

Joking of course......maybe. 

[BigbadB]

Dylan Cease had a horrible year and I don't know why his name keeps coming up in discussions.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Cubs need to add velocity to the rotation by any means possible. 

[gflore34]

5 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Cubs need to add velocity to the rotation by any means possible. 

Say Wiggins sorts out his control issues by May and one of Cease/King/Alcantara is signed/traded for then we're potentially looking at - Horton, Wiggins, Cease/King/Alcantara, Steele, Boyd/Shota - would be a rotation featuring some velocity.

[Jason Ross]

6 hours ago, BigbadB said:

Dylan Cease had a horrible year and I don't know why his name keeps coming up in discussions.

I think horrible overstates the issue. His ERA was horrible, but there was a lot to make you think he's just fine and was someone who dealt with bad sequencing and some luck. 

First, his xFIP was 3.56. Compared to his xFIP since 2021, which is 3.65, it's actually a bit higher than average. His 29.8 K% is the highest he's had since 2022, and while his walk rate of 9.8% was higher than 2024, it was lower than 2023, 2022 and virtually identical to his 9.6% in 2021. His total stuff+ last year was 110 and his stuff+ this season was 108. His xERA was 3.47 and his ERA last year was 3.47. 

There was certainly some rough edges he had some starts where bad things happened, but overall, I'd side with all of the under hood data over the ERA. His BABIP against was .320, bus his xBA was .220. He was 72nd percentile in hard hit% and very high in whiff and chase. I really don't think he was bad. 

[KCCub]

26 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I think horrible overstates the issue. His ERA was horrible, but there was a lot to make you think he's just fine and was someone who dealt with bad sequencing and some luck. 

First, his xFIP was 3.56. Compared to his xFIP since 2021, which is 3.65, it's actually a bit higher than average. His 29.8 K% is the highest he's had since 2022, and while his walk rate of 9.8% was higher than 2024, it was lower than 2023, 2022 and virtually identical to his 9.6% in 2021. His total stuff+ last year was 110 and his stuff+ this season was 108. His xERA was 3.47 and his ERA last year was 3.47. 

There was certainly some rough edges he had some starts where bad things happened, but overall, I'd side with all of the under hood data over the ERA. His BABIP against was .320, bus his xBA was .220. He was 72nd percentile in hard hit% and very high in whiff and chase. I really don't think he was bad. 

A guy can dream Cease becomes our version of Wheeler to the Phillies.

[squally1313]

Brewers, the regular season, play the game the right way, just relentlessly attack you offense: 9.1% BB rate, 20.3% K rate, .145 ISO... .305 BABIP

Brewers, the post-season, least hits over a four game stretch in franchise history offense: 9.0% BB rate, 21.3% K rate, .147 ISO... .231 BABIP

It's such a dumb sport why do I like it so much

[We Got The Whole 9]

You don't worry about Dylan Cease's numbers IMO. The stuff is clearly top-notch. The reason why im not so keen on Alcantara is that even at his peak he was overpowering in the sense that he was hard to square up but he never pushed a resume of a bat misser. Im lukewarm. 

 

 

[ILMindState]

16 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Brewers, the regular season, play the game the right way, just relentlessly attack you offense: 9.1% BB rate, 20.3% K rate, .145 ISO... .305 BABIP

Brewers, the post-season, least hits over a four game stretch in franchise history offense: 9.0% BB rate, 21.3% K rate, .147 ISO... .231 BABIP

It's such a dumb sport why do I like it so much

A team with the 4th highest GB% and the 25th lowest hard hit% should be closer to a .231 BABIP than a .305 BAPIP

[gflore34]

20 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Brewers, the regular season, play the game the right way, just relentlessly attack you offense: 9.1% BB rate, 20.3% K rate, .145 ISO... .305 BABIP

Brewers, the post-season, least hits over a four game stretch in franchise history offense: 9.0% BB rate, 21.3% K rate, .147 ISO... .231 BABIP

It's such a dumb sport why do I like it so much

 

Just now, ILMindState said:

A team with the 4th highest GB% and the 25th lowest hard hit% should be closer to a .231 BABIP than a .305 BAPIP

Over the course of a long season lots and lots of bad pitching the Brewers approach will work.  Post season not so much bad pitching, have to be able to talk the talk AND walk the walk, that is, actually horsefeathers hit the ball.  Preferably, often, out of the park.

[KCCub]

17 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

You don't worry about Dylan Cease's numbers IMO. The stuff is clearly top-notch. The reason why im not so keen on Alcantara is that even at his peak he was overpowering in the sense that he was hard to square up but he never pushed a resume of a bat misser. Im lukewarm. 

 

 

Below is in a down season for Cease:

Ideally the Cubs could add a tweak here and there to help get his BB% down some and maybe a few more ground balls. Age 30 season is next year.