2016 MLB thread. THE CUBS HAVE BROKEN THE CURSE! Chicago Cubs are your 2016 World Series champions

[champcruthik]

Rougned Odor ALDS MVP

Never gave up on him, even after the slow April/May start. Odor showed me too much his rookie year to believe he wouldn't be fundamentally sound offensively and defensively moving forward.

FTR, I picked Jays to sweep. Thought 4 games was conceivable, but Price was Price in the playoffs and Stroman did his job and nothing more.

Cal Ripken Jr. would "pick up the phone" if the Nationals came calling.

Ripken was the right hire, IMO, when his name was first linked to the Nats gig. This was prior to Matt Williams being hired. Cal's unproven and inexperienced as a manager, but it's worth the risk and makes sense for Washington geographically.

at Archer (or anyone else for that matter) being better than Kershaw.

Kershaw's the undisputed best SP in baseball...in the regular season. I can't discount his playoff demons, he turns into a different pitcher (for worse) much like David Price. The Game 1 loss doesn't fall squarely on him and Mattingly probably should have let Kersh pitch through with the bases loaded, instead of turning to Baez. But Kersh has statistically been poor/tagged in 4th innings recently, and owns an awful 1-6 postseason record. His postseason ERA is just under 5, and that's with last night's relatively good start included.

All games are not obviously created the same when comparing the regular season to postseason. You play 162 regular season games to get to the playoffs. You play the DLS and CLS to get to the WS. You play the WS to be champion. Kershaw's supposed to be an ace/horse, but even beyond that, the best pitcher in baseball. He simply hasn't lived up to that lofty title in now his 5th year in the postseason. Not to mention STL has owned him from '13-'14, a very likely opponent if the Dodgers even get past NYM.

 

[jewbacca2]

The Nats hiring Ripken could be the same mess as Williams

You have a team ready to win now, hire a manager with some experience.

 

[madj55]

Ripken would be a terrible hire. No thanks.

 

[lightweight champion]

If I was hiring a manager I would always have a former catcher at the top of the interview list. Someone who is used to handling pitching staffs should have the ability to handle a 25 man roster.

 

[whoyouthink]

If I was hiring a manager I would always have a former catcher at the top of the interview list. Someone who is used to handling pitching staffs should have the ability to handle a 25 man roster.

Nationals are going to hire someone like Dusty Baker

 

[whoyouthink]

Ripken would be a terrible hire. No thanks.

You're going to hate anyone who gets that job

 

[macbk]

Nationals are going to hire someone like Dusty Baker

 

[madj55]

Dave Martinez or bust.

 

[MON5T3R]

They could probably get Mattingly in a week or so

 

[whoyouthink]

Mattingly deserves a contract extension in LA, he's done a outstanding job

 

[dmxfury]

Nationals are going to hire someone like Dusty Baker

Baker had that Reds team winning

 

[jewbacca2]

Dog...

 

[macbk]

Dog...

 

[suavamente]

Bryce went straight riff raff / x men storm

 

[darthska]

Starting to side w/ Papelbon.

Bryce ain't right.

 

[dland24]

Question for P proshares and @Osh Kosh Bosh......

I respect your baseball opinions so I have to know....

How many more games does Kershaw need to pitch below his ability and regular season standards for you two to stop using the small sample size rebuttal? We are at nearly 60 innings pitched now, and his postseason ERA is still more than double his regular season ERA. At what point will the sample size be large enough for you guys?

Not trying to be a jerk, just curious.

 

[a-friend]

http://playbook.draftkings.com/mlb/...ed-crush-city-and-shouts-out-the-entire-team/

 

 

[jewbacca2]

Question for P proshares and @Osh Kosh Bosh......

I respect your baseball opinions so I have to know....

How many more games does Kershaw need to pitch below his ability and regular season standards for you two to stop using the small sample size rebuttal? We are at nearly 60 innings pitched now, and his postseason ERA is still more than double his regular season ERA. At what point will the sample size be large enough for you guys?

Not trying to be a jerk, just curious.

You didn't ask me, but I'm going to answer

He's thrown 1600 regular season innings as one of the best, if not the best, pitcher in baseball.

You can find anything significant from 1600 innings vs 60. The same size is just way too small.

He dominated that game last night, but ended up giving 3 earned runs from someone allowing his inherited runners from scoring. Results sometimes just aren't indicative of how someone performed because he dominate that game last night.

I'll take the guy who lines out an OFer 4 times in a game over the guy with 2 hits through the infielder.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Agreed with jew. Maybe he gives up those runs, maybe not. But he was dominant in that outing and ran out of gas at the end. Can't compromise his regular season body by 1% of the sample size, regardless of leverage. I mean Willie Mays didn't hit in the World Series either. Does that taint his legacy?

 

[DeadsetAce]

Bryce

 

[champcruthik]

You can find anything significant from 1600 innings vs 60. The same size is just way too small.

He dominated that game last night, but ended up giving 3 earned runs from someone allowing his inherited runners from scoring. Results sometimes just aren't indicative of how someone performed because he dominate that game last night.

9 starts (57.2 total IP) is enough to show a trend. For whatever reason, Kershaw pitches less effectively in the postseason. That fact is undeniable, the results and statistics show this pattern. Kershaw did not pitch well enough to win against the Cards in '13 or '14, bottom line. All innings are not created the same, playoff starts matter more. It's the reason MLB players endure 162 games. Kershaw is consistently the biggest reason why the Dodgers have made the playoffs the past three years (including the current postseason), but he's also largely the reason LAD is not advancing past the NLCS in '13 and NLDS in '14.

"Dominant" is a strong word. Kershaw pitched very well, certainly good enough to win but he wasn't dominant in my eyes. Murph smoking that HR to RF aside, Kershaw was his own undoing in the 7th inning. Walked 3 batters. Baez didn't do damage control and Kershaw deserved to pitch through it, Mattingly was possibly thinking of pitch count/readiness for Game 4. But again, Kersh walked Duda, Tejada, Grandy. That's his fault. Wright's single capitalized, but Kersh let those two runs that scored in the 7th on base.

deGrom, in his postseason debut, pitched the way we've come to expect from Kershaw. Except he only seems to perform that way in the regular season. We're all calling Clayton Kershaw the best pitcher in baseball. Lead horse/ace/whatever you want to call him. Out-dueled by a second-year SP.

 

[Nike Still Sux]

Bun B washed

srs

 

[jewbacca2]

I generally respect what you say, Champ, but that's not enough to show a trend. "For whatever reason" isn't a valid explanation either

And outduled in one game, come on man

No pitcher has control over what their offense does to the other pitcher. Sure Degrom was better last night, but come on.

 

[madj55]

Bryce

Give Cespedes the MVP

 

[nomnom]

Cardinals