NLDS: Cubs vs Nationals
- Thread starter E5 Yaz
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That is true, and Strasburg's role in this whole mess is becoming clearer.
Dusty is regular season Tito who remains so in the playoffs.
After game 1 he told his players and the media that they should be more aggressive at the plate. Bad advice for a struggling offense esp Trea Turner at lead off (2 outs on 4 pitches) who should be taking more pitches.
Last yr game 5 he did two double switches during the game so somehow Wilmer Difo was hitting in Rendon's spot with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth against Kershaw with tying and winning runs on.
He's great all yr and seems to have improved handling the staff but doesn't shine in the postseason.
Of course it's his players that stopped hitting.
HE refuses to change the lineup as well. Difo has actually been really solid against LHp and Turner has been terrible. So who do you start against Quintana? Turner of course!
Werth has been bad all year and Howie Kendrick has been an amazing pickup since he arrived in DC. So, of course, you start Werth the entire series and dont get Kendrick in there. It is maddening.
Werth has been bad all year and Howie Kendrick has been an amazing pickup since he arrived in DC. So, of course, you start Werth the entire series and dont get Kendrick in there. It is maddening.
But, it’s all relative. Compared to Matt Williams, he’s the second coming of Earl Weaver. (Williams’ post-season bullpen management wasn’t Grady ALCS game 7-level bad, but it was awfully close.)
Yeah, Dusty doesn't get the whole "shrink your bullpen" thing in the postseason it appears - he still wheels out the 5th and 6th guys in the pen, late in a tie game in a tied 5 game series, whereas other managers in that same spot would not consider anyone outside of their top 2 or 3 guys . Those guys should not be seeing the ball in postseason games unless one team or the other has a 5+ run lead, given all the off days you get for travel....
If someone has a handle on what actually ailed Stras, please drop a few sentences here. Local talk radio this morning was so theatrical, so depressing, so damn Red Soxian in the old bad sense, I had no choice but to turn it off.
Here's the thing that had me puzzled this morning:
Stras, as everyone in this thread knows, will probably not forgive, and certainly will never forget when he was pulled from the postseason because of IP. It was a career preserving move agreed to by Boras and Rizzo. Whether you agreed with it or not, nobody -- but nobody -- characterized it as Stras spitting the bit.
Fast forward, and he was excoriated all morning long here for bowing out due to "sniffles." Which seemed far-fetched, but whatever.
I understand that a few players have to have everything exactly right, have to be 100%. And Stras is quirky in several respects.
But I cannot square being pissed when your GM and agent were trying to preserve your career with now bowing out over a minor ailment or discomfort.
What gives?
Bases juiced, two outs for the Nats. But Werth is coming up, so assume this inning will end 1-0.
Stras is going to have to go all 9 innings and strike out 20+ at this rate, since his teammates have forgotten yet again to hit. They made Arieta look very mortal the last time they faced him.
Great, now Stras is getting squeezed - we need him to go 9 ump, don't give away pitches!
Great, now Stras is getting squeezed - we need him to go 9 ump, don't give away pitches!
Having flashbacks to 2014, when the Nats and Giants both managed to score 9 runs each in their NLDS matchup, but SF won three of those four games.... Nats scored 1, 2, 2 and 4(!) runs in those games and somehow were in all of them.
John Lester - 7 years, $168 million
David Price - 7 years, $217 million, second round draft slot money lost
Chris Sale - 3 years, $40 million, Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Basabe, Diaz.
Fuck you Ben Cherington and Larry Lucchino.
David Price - 7 years, $217 million, second round draft slot money lost
Chris Sale - 3 years, $40 million, Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Basabe, Diaz.
Fuck you Ben Cherington and Larry Lucchino.
That was a rather amazing sequence.
Clearly, the umpire was like, "that's Jon Lester on the mound -- replay may prove me wrong, but there's no fucking way I'm calling him out."
Clearly, the umpire was like, "that's Jon Lester on the mound -- replay may prove me wrong, but there's no fucking way I'm calling him out."
That's a classic Wrigley Field with the heavy air and the wind blowing on. They mentioned Stanton or Judge would have trouble hitting it out, add Mantle and Killebrew.