NEWSLETTER
I’m working through some caching issues on the category pages and in the “recent posts” sections, which is not fun. So if you see posts appearing on the home page but don’t yet appear on the other pages, that’s why. Truly, I hate this part of the job. Well, that’s not accurate – I like trying to improve the site experience. When it works. I just hate when bugs pop up and break things, and then I have to play armchair web developer to try to fix it. Apologies for any issues you see (or extra checks of the home page you have to make).
• The Red Sox took a 2-1 ALCS lead over the Astros by virtue of another obliteration of the starting pitcher, and then pouring it on from there:
• Kyle Schwarber’s grand slam seemed like the this-is-over blow, and I still say good for him. I didn’t like the Cubs non-tendering him, I vaguely understood why it was “necessary” at the time, we can’t say for sure he would’ve had a year like this with the Cubs, etc., etc. There’s only so much you can say about a situation that feels half shitty, and half good-for-him.
• Game Four is tonight at 7pm CT, and Game Three of the NLCS is today at 4pm CT.
• Meanwhile, about those Astros pitchers getting blown up:
Astros pitchers crushed again in Game 3. Might they be unknowingly be tipping pitches?https://t.co/iUfV6VUkTg
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 19, 2021
“This is a very good hitting team, and they’re very adept at picking up little things, much more so than most teams,” [Astros pitching coach Brent] Strom said. “We need to be very cognizant of the little things, tipping-type things, things like that, that they’re very astute at. We’ve just gotten behind hitters.
“We have to re-evaluate and see if they’re seeing things that are maybe tipping the scales a little bit in their favor. These are veteran (hitters). And of course, they have the ultimate guy (Alex Cora) as their manager, who … he’s just very good at it. We just have to do a better job of watching what our pitchers do and getting ahead in the count.”
• While that would be a twisted kind of delight, since “they were tipping pitches” was the Astros’ excuse for how they pulled off their shenanigans in 2017 (poor Yu Darvish … ), you have to remember that the Red Sox had their own issues sign-stealing, and their manager is the guy who was a huge part of the cheating in Houston! So, rather than make me feel delighted that the Astros are getting some poetic comeuppance, it actually just makes me wonder if the Red Sox are doing something fishy. See what happens when you start cheating? It makes people question your success for a long time.
• More fun with Schwarber:
"We were expanding. We didn't walk too much, and when he got here and when he started playing, it was different. It's a different at-bat, and other guys have followed his lead, and right now, like I said, this is the best I've seen this team this season offensively." https://t.co/qNOCCueIWJ
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) October 19, 2021
https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1450309934214787072
• Lighten up, Alex Cora:
Eduardo Rodríguez mocked Carlos Correa and Alex Cora did not like that pic.twitter.com/dt55ThbUUq
— Joe LoGrippo (@Joe_LoGrippo) October 19, 2021
Carlos Correa said he “loved it” that Eduardo Rodriguez mimicked his point to wrist celebration. He said “that is the way baseball should trend” and commended Rodriguez for having fun and pitching a good game.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) October 19, 2021
• Aaron Boone is not going to get the boot from the Yankees, despite all the fan and media clamor about quick postseason exits. He gets a big extension, even as it no longer aligns with the deal for his boss:
Aaron Boone is returning as #Yankees manager on a 3-year contract with an option year as @JackCurryYES 1st reported
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) October 19, 2021
Aaron Boone's new contract extends beyond that of General Manager Brian Cashman, who will be in the last year of his current contract in 2022.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 19, 2021
• If there’s a better simple stat to convey just how off Zach Davies was this year, I don’t know what it is:
Pitchers with the most 4-pitch walks in 2021:
1. Zach Davies (19)
2. Triston McKenzie (17)
3. Alex Reyes (16)
4. Shohei Ohtani (15)
5. Brad Keller (14)
5. Blake Snell (14)
5. Freddy Peralta (14)
5. Luis Garcia (14)
9. Tarik Skubal (13)
9. Justus Sheffield (13)
9. Will Crowe (13)— Ben Palmer (@benjpalmer) October 19, 2021
• The guy was a 6.7% walk rate dude until he came to the Cubs, and suddenly the walk rate ballooned to 11.2%(!). Know how many qualified starting pitchers had a worse walk rate? NONE! Not a single pitcher in all of baseball this year threw at least 140.0 innings and had a walk rate as high as Davies. That from a guy who was previously an elite control guy. Something was just wrong all year with him, and I don’t know if it was the new baseball, if it was something physical, if it was something the Cubs tried to tweak, or a combination of a lot of stuff. But the command was never there, and heck, the control was never there!
• Games, toys, Nerf, and more are your Epic Daily Deals today at Amazon. #ad
• I chuckled:
A report that the #Mets have put former #Pirates 1b Dorian Boyland on growing short list led to a pleasant conversation with Boyland who told me no contact with the NYM, no interest in the job. He said he is happy to run his car dealerships.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) October 18, 2021
• Not holding back:
Matt Nagy’s Offense is Veering into John Fox Territoryhttps://t.co/1ojBKcTbMg pic.twitter.com/6HER9uhvlG
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) October 18, 2021
