I'll do some digging with TruMedia after the game! If it's really fascinating stuff it might have to wait a few days for a full article...but let me see what I can find.
Yeah, if he was 40 today, he probably would just miss. But being 31, the only reason he wouldn't get to 60-65 would be due to a tragic circumstance and he'd get in regardless due to the factors you mentioned. Betts will make the Hall in almost every conceivable future.
The adjustment Hoerner made mid-dive was insane to get that hop. Legitimately up for "play of the year" regardless of the next 155 games. It might not win, but it really might.
Pretty amazing to think of how rough the first inning was from a Cub perspective (Hendricks 30+ pitches, Happ iffy play in LF, looked awful against Miller) and where we are now in the top of the fourth.
Entirely. Hopefully the depth of the lineup can mitigate that a bit, and a manager who's really adept at playing matchups. But yeah, those ups and downs will come. And we'll need to remind ourselves when we get 3 hit against the Pirates in May or something about how good that last inning was and what the upside of the offense is.
Yeah, it's really deep. There isn't a single black hole in the lineup right now, and with the transformation of Suzuki into someone sort of baseball hitting demi-god over the last like 2+ months of his career...it's a really fun lineup.
I'm streaming through ESPN+ and usually have a delay (so much so my ESPN notifications are off because the app is somehow ahead of their own stream?). Figured I'd be the one behind ya'll!
The two runs (so far) have been huge, but the real benefit of this inning is getting Miller up to 50 innings. The Dodgers' bullpen has been their weak point so far, with the 17th best xFIP. Get into that pen!