Playoff Talk

[bukie]

With one day left in the season:

AL:

• Either the Yankees or Blue Jays will be the 1 seed, the other will be the 4 seed. Toronto holds the tiebreaker, so the Yankees need a win and Jays loss tomorrow.
• Seattle will be the 2 seed
• Detroit or Cleveland will be the 3 seed. Detroit's win today clinches a playoff spot for them. Cleveland holds the tiebreaker, so 2 Cleveland wins or a win and Tigers loss will win the AL Central for Cleveland. Tigers need at least one Cleveland loss and a win.
• Boston will be the 5 seed, unless they lose tomorrow and Cleveland wins twice. Boston wins the tiebreaker against Cleveland, loses it against Detroit.
• Houston needs 2 wins and 2 Cleveland losses to sneak in as the 6 seed.

NL:

• Milwaukee is the 1 seed.
• Philly is the 2 seed.
• LA Dodgers are the 3 seed.
• Cubs are the 4 seed.
• Padres are the 5 seed.
• Mets or Reds are the 6 seed. Reds hold the tiebreaker, so the Mets still need help, even though they won today. Both have a magic number of 2, effectively.

[PackLandVA]

I really feel like the Dodgers were/are just clowning the NL, and their starting pitching is about to go dominant in the playoffs.  And all their old vets will hit when necessary. And they'll end up in the WS pretty easily.

[JHBulls]

Going to be an interesting day tomorrow. Brewers have the 1 seed clinched and the Reds lead the tiebreaker over the Mets. Surely you’d rather the Reds ( despite their recent play) in the postseason over the Mets if you’re the Brewers.

[Bertz]

The Astros are out of the playoffs, first time since 2016.  End of an era?

The roster is not in terrible shape, but I think there's definitely more downside than upside there.  Very much a team that needs to successfully thread the needle this offseason.  Feels very ~2019 Cubs.

[Derwood]

18 minutes ago, Bertz said:

The Astros are out of the playoffs, first time since 2016.  End of an era?

The roster is not in terrible shape, but I think there's definitely more downside than upside there.  Very much a team that needs to successfully thread the needle this offseason.  Feels very ~2019 Cubs.

First ballot Hall of Famer Cam Smith didn't take them to the promised land?

[soccer10k]

So for tomorrow:

Reds win and they're in. Both Reds and Mets lose, the Reds are in. Mets need to win and have the Reds lose.

If either Det or Cle loses tomorrow (or both) they'll play in the WC round. If they both win, it's Cle-Bos and Det-NYY/Tor.

[gflore34]

1 hour ago, PackLandVA said:

I really feel like the Dodgers were/are just clowning the NL, and their starting pitching is about to go dominant in the playoffs.  And all their old vets will hit when necessary. And they'll end up in the WS pretty easily.

I think that as well, they're starting to play well.  Really don't think the Reds or Mets are going to offer much resistance in the WC.

[gflore34]

30 minutes ago, Derwood said:

First ballot Hall of Famer Cam Smith didn't take them to the promised land?

Think it's fantastic the Astros are out, most especially after all the BS that was posted here about Cam Smith' greatness.  Would really love to see the Mets not make the post season as well.

[CubUgly]

11 hours ago, PackLandVA said:

I really feel like the Dodgers were/are just clowning the NL, and their starting pitching is about to go dominant in the playoffs.  And all their old vets will hit when necessary. And they'll end up in the WS pretty easily.

I'd say - not with that bullpen....but their bullpen was pretty bad last year and somehow found their stride post season.   And their wily vets appear to be aging, but yeah you are right, they probably have one more good run in em.  They should be favored until proven otherwise. 

[Rcal10]

13 minutes ago, CubUgly said:

I'd say - not with that bullpen....but their bullpen was pretty bad last year and somehow found their stride post season.   And their wily vets appear to be aging, but yeah you are right, they probably have one more good run in em.  They should be favored until proven otherwise. 

Guess we will see. The good thing is, if the Cubs can take care of their own business they will only have to play either the Phillies or Dodgers but not both of them to get to the WS. Also, good to have to face one of those teams after they fought it out against each other. Cubs are definitely not a favorite in these playoffs. But that is fine. Anything can happen. Favorites do not win all the time. 

[Geographyhater8888]

As one of the hyper optimistic, glass half full posters you can take this with a grain of salt but it’s very encouraging to see the big bats like Busch, Suzuki and PCA to a limited degree show some life. Small sample size I know. Just need tuckers bat to wake up too to offset the Horton injury as much as possible.

[Geographyhater8888]

Padres don’t hit many homers as a team, a huge weakness of the pitching staff and the lack of left handed starting pitchers are two matchup advantages.

[CubUgly]

2 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

As one of the hyper optimistic, glass half full posters you can take this with a grain of salt but it’s very encouraging to see the big bats like Busch, Suzuki and PCA to a limited degree show some life. Small sample size I know. Just need tuckers bat to wake up too to offset the Horton injury as much as possible.

It really is great to see Seiya pulling ball in the air again - if he's found it and can give us what he gave us pre-break that will be huge.   And yes with PCA and Busch also coming around - we sure need that with Horton out as you say. 

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

As one of the hyper optimistic, glass half full posters you can take this with a grain of salt but it’s very encouraging to see the big bats like Busch, Suzuki and PCA to a limited degree show some life. Small sample size I know. Just need tuckers bat to wake up too to offset the Horton injury as much as possible.

 

1 minute ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Padres don’t hit many homers as a team, a huge weakness of the pitching staff and the lack of left handed starting pitchers are two matchup advantages.

100% in agreement. Cubs definitely have a solid chance in this one. Might add that the Padres are not too good against left handed pitching either. They traded for a bat who hits lefties well, but he is injured. Playoffs are pretty close to a flip of the coin anyway, but for this series I would say the Cubs have an ever so slight advantage. 

[Geographyhater8888]

6 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Guess we will see. The good thing is, if the Cubs can take care of their own business they will only have to play either the Phillies or Dodgers but not both of them to get to the WS. Also, good to have to face one of those teams after they fought it out against each other. Cubs are definitely not a favorite in these playoffs. But that is fine. Anything can happen. Favorites do not win all the time. 

The dodgers and Phillies are the matchup nightmares. Power hitting top scoring offenses have crushed this pitching staff all year long with their susceptibility to give up home runs. Phillies lefties are another huge obstacle. I just hope we’re in a position to have these fears.

[Rcal10]

Just now, Geographyhater8888 said:

The dodgers and Phillies are the matchup nightmares. Power hitting top scoring offenses have crushed this pitching staff all year long with their susceptibility to give up home runs. Phillies lefties are another huge obstacle. I just hope we’re in a position to have these fears.

Exactly. No one said it will be easy. 

[Geographyhater8888]

2 minutes ago, CubUgly said:

It really is great to see Seiya pulling ball in the air again - if he's found it and can give us what he gave us pre-break that will be huge.   And yes with PCA and Busch also coming around - we sure need that with Horton out as you say. 

He’s been laying off of sliders too which is great too see. They just need Tucker to shake off his rust and hope he’s healthy enough make hard contact. The teams path to a playoff run is the bats which we’ve known all year. 

[Geographyhater8888]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Exactly. No one said it will be easy. 

The hyper optimistic, glass half full thing was a joke.

[Geographyhater8888]

6 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Exactly. No one said it will be easy. 

How lefty heavy is the padres bullpen?

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

The hyper optimistic, glass half full thing was a joke.

Oh, I know. I wasnt suggesting your comment suggested it was going to be easy. Just a general statement. Winning in the playoffs is hard. And good fortune plays a part in it. 

[squally1313]

Fourth in overall offensive fWAR, fourth in wRC in September. Padres 13th and 10th. 

[Gjfificifjdej]

13 hours ago, Bertz said:

The Astros are out of the playoffs, first time since 2016.  End of an era?

The roster is not in terrible shape, but I think there's definitely more downside than upside there.  Very much a team that needs to successfully thread the needle this offseason.  Feels very ~2019 Cubs.

Astros would’ve already clinched the last wildcard if they were in the NL, seems premature to write them off moving forward

[Bertz]

1 hour ago, Gjfificifjdej said:

Astros would’ve already clinched the last wildcard if they were in the NL, seems premature to write them off moving forward

I pretty explicitly didn't

[Gjfificifjdej]

1 hour ago, Bertz said:

I pretty explicitly didn't

You asked if it was the end of an era and I answered that question. 

[Neuby]

I read somewhere Santana can't be recalled until the NLDS, unless there is an injury,  Does the first round bench end up looking like this?

 

Mcquire 

Castro

Turner

Mo 

Hamilton ?