ALDS vs. MFY—Buckle Up
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
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Makes sense - the Sox are the only HFA team facing a 100-win opponent, while the other three home teams are facing a team that won 90-91 games.
So true. God damn emotional high stakes. Schrodinger's series. For now, this will and won't be fun.
This has been exhausted already but the current playoff format is really dumb: because we need to reward one team from each division which may or may not have a deserving team, it is now an impossibility for the Sox/Yankees to face off in an ALCS instead of ALDS now. Although admittedly in this case with the Orioles to beat up more often the Sox and Yankees would probably have a few/several less wins each.
I've only heard Darling during postseason games, including tonight - and he is dreadful. I think he voiced some insights, but they were buried beneath his earnest, insistent parade of praise for every single player. He has a very advanced case of Sutcliffe-itis. His voice is the exact opposite of conversational.
Well friends, this is going to be fun one.
These two teams arguably better than any of the teams in Yankees-Sox matchups of years past. This will be epic.
These two teams arguably better than any of the teams in Yankees-Sox matchups of years past. This will be epic.
it can happen if neither of them have the best record in the league.
it was set up last year but of course Astros won instead.
If anyone has found Sale's 98mph heater can you get it to Fenway by Friday around 7:30pm, he could use it.
I hope it's epic. It would be kind of a letdown if either team steamrolls through this. And I do mean either team. I will certainly enjoy it more if the Sox steamroll than if the Yankees do, but either result would feel suboptimal in terms of the drama to which we are entitled.
Screw that, if it were a matter of choice I’d go for the easy sweep in a cocaine heartbeat. Of course I don’t anticipate it being that easy.
Remind everyone they can’t lose the first three like in 2004
Yankees playing good baseball now. 8-3 against 90 + W teams the 2 weeks. Didn't have to waste Happ in WC
But HFA helps and their IF defense is shaky. If JDM and Sale are on and Kimbrel and Betts continue to do their thing we can beat these chumps
Yankees playing good baseball now. 8-3 against 90 + W teams the 2 weeks. Didn't have to waste Happ in WC
But HFA helps and their IF defense is shaky. If JDM and Sale are on and Kimbrel and Betts continue to do their thing we can beat these chumps
I haven’t been paying attention to the Sale situation. What has he been sitting at?
Well, we need someone with authoritah, like Jon Abbey from the Yankee side, to decide this. Is Sprowl macheteing his way through the Hawaiian jungle and unavailable?
These are the cards you are dealt; you play those cards and you don’t bitch about it,
Understanding that often enough you will be dealt shit is kind of a growing experience.
It’s not impossible for an ALCS matchup. It’s only impossible if the Sox or Yankees have the best record in the AL. If Houston won 110 games, they’d be playing the Yankees in the ALDS while Boston would face Cleveland.
Yankees are going to be on a high entering this series while the Sox have had several days off. Only a dominant Sale can cool those bats!
In NY last night, the fans chanted "WE WANT BOSTON"
With apologies to President Kennedy:
"There are some who say that the Yankees are the team of the future.
Let them come to Boston."
With apologies to President Kennedy:
"There are some who say that the Yankees are the team of the future.
Let them come to Boston."
Dodgers at 45% for the WS surprises me. Yes, the NL isn't hard, so that's their LC odds, but I don't see them as better than any of the 4 AL teams remaining
Anyone have any help on this; I have an Apple TV and no cable, and I’d like to be able to show my kids the games. I also live in NYC, so it may be complicated by further NY-centric blackout rules…
This will be incredibly intense. Incredibly fun. And incredibly agonizing. This is playoff baseball where every pitch will feel crucial. Every borderline pitch that doesn’t go our way will feel like a knife being stuck in our backs.
108 win Red Soc versus 100 win Yankees. Amazing. Sale needs to be SALE. Price pitching at Fenway needs to give the Sox a good performance. Eovaldi in New York in game 4. ERod to the pen.
We will all be petrified if the Sox go into the 7th inning up 4-3 and in comes Brasier or Wright or Barnes or Whomever. It will be white knuckle time. These games will go 3 1-2 hours and we will all need to be drinking heavily to get through it all.
It’s gping to be epic. Someone upthread said it best: either it will end in total bliss or absolute crushing disappointment. Nothing in between. Simply because it’s the Yankees.
Let’s goooooooooo!!!!
108 win Red Soc versus 100 win Yankees. Amazing. Sale needs to be SALE. Price pitching at Fenway needs to give the Sox a good performance. Eovaldi in New York in game 4. ERod to the pen.
We will all be petrified if the Sox go into the 7th inning up 4-3 and in comes Brasier or Wright or Barnes or Whomever. It will be white knuckle time. These games will go 3 1-2 hours and we will all need to be drinking heavily to get through it all.
It’s gping to be epic. Someone upthread said it best: either it will end in total bliss or absolute crushing disappointment. Nothing in between. Simply because it’s the Yankees.
Let’s goooooooooo!!!!
I can't remember playoff protocol but I believe the slate is wiped clean and starting Sunday's thread doesn't necessarily carry over. Not that my opinion means anything but Trotsky had a couple nice streaks in the season and he brings the venom and F-bomb laden opening posts necessary for a series with the MFY.
Eh ... I'd be happy if the most dramatic storyline is 'It really sucks there isn't an ALDS MVP, because the Red Sox have so many deserving candidates'.
The 8 game run of glory was started by cabreraera. Far as I know he’s been off the site for over a decade.
Not that anyone cares, but after realizing we were in for Sox / Yankees, I went to bed and promptly had a dream that the Sox bullpen blew the series for them at Fenway, a game I was at.
So yea, I'm already a little amped up for this one.
I do remember thinking it was going to be perversely fun getting on SoSH and joining the chorus of disappointment.
So yea, I'm already a little amped up for this one.
I do remember thinking it was going to be perversely fun getting on SoSH and joining the chorus of disappointment.
I'm guessing that Sox fans who live in the NY area were less welcoming of this result than those who live in Boston or other places outside of NY. The aftermath of 03 in NYC was hideous; the aftermath of 04 was like walking on a cloud. I know that's true for all Sox fans but the risk/reward for those here seems higher.
I have no need for a long or dramatic series. Beat the Yankees in three straight blow outs and move on to Houston/Cleveland. Is that asking too much?
I have no need for a long or dramatic series. Beat the Yankees in three straight blow outs and move on to Houston/Cleveland. Is that asking too much?
I was looking up their D last night because I thought of this exact point. They were league average in errors (94), below average in defensive efficiency (.684), average in fielding percentage (.984). Boston was above average (77), above average (.693), and above average (.987) in the same categories.
As for the IF specifically, the appear to be above average at 1B, well below average at 2B, almost as bad as Boston at 3B, and above average at SS based on fielding percentage.
However, I'll let others chime in with a more refined assessment of the teams' relative defense.
Fangraphs lists the Sox as +26 runs on defense, 6th in the Majors. MFY are -2 runs on defense, 18th.
UZR tells a similar story - +25/7th vs. +0/17th.
Components:
Arm: +19/1st vs. +13/3rd
Double Plays: +0/17th vs. -7/29th
Range: +0/15th vs. -4/19th
Errors: +6/10th vs. -2/19th
The TBS app wouldn’t allow me to watch the game last night (claimed it wasn’t available in my area) so I signed up for a free trial of fuboTV. Give that a shot if you can’t find another option.
you're pretty much on point Zoso. Boone took out Andujar for Hechavarria in the 6th yesterday - an indictment of how bad he's been at 3B. Yankee fans are expecting a position change for him next season, if he's not traded in a package for a premium SP.
Torres has been OK but not great at 2nd. Bird has hit so bad and was meh defensively that they've gone to Voit, who is pimping HRs like a jackass but is also meh defensively. Didi is as solid a SS as X.
what you get out of Sanchez behind the plate seems to differ day to day. Running is great but I could see him throwing out a couple guys if we're overaggressive.
Torres has been OK but not great at 2nd. Bird has hit so bad and was meh defensively that they've gone to Voit, who is pimping HRs like a jackass but is also meh defensively. Didi is as solid a SS as X.
what you get out of Sanchez behind the plate seems to differ day to day. Running is great but I could see him throwing out a couple guys if we're overaggressive.
I'm more concerned about almost every other pitcher on the staff before Brasier and Wright. I'll be petrified with Kimbrell in the 9th up 4-3. I'll be petrified for Sale unless he has gained 8MPH on the FB in a week. I'll be petrified for just about every Price AB. I guess Eovaldi joins the Brasier/Wright group for this series as far as pitchers I trust.
Good news is I'm sure MFY are thinking the same thing. If we can get to Happ there is no one on the staff that should scare us.
Bullpen WHIPs from the 2004 series...
Embree 2.14
Timlin 2.65
Arroyo 2.50
Leskanic 2.25
Myers 2.57
Wakefield 1.64
Knock on wood, but I'm hoping this crew, shaky as it is, can do a bit better than that? Basically the only pitchers on the whole staff who didn't crap the bed in that series were Lowe and Foulke.
Embree 2.14
Timlin 2.65
Arroyo 2.50
Leskanic 2.25
Myers 2.57
Wakefield 1.64
Knock on wood, but I'm hoping this crew, shaky as it is, can do a bit better than that? Basically the only pitchers on the whole staff who didn't crap the bed in that series were Lowe and Foulke.
Not to drag out the old Didi vs Xander debate... but X this season is an elite SS, Didi is above average IMO. If Devers can get locked in, he's every bit as dangerous as Andujar... and shockingly... better at defense (holding breath on throws across the diamond). Torres has the advantage at 2nd unless BrockStar is locked in (early season style and recent streak). Voit has the advantage at first but I'm predicting (irrationally) a shocking breakout of epic proportions from Moreland. I'd also put every advantage to the Sox at the respective OF positions- although Benintendi has been struggling. Yankees have the offensive advantage at C, obviously... but Sanchez' D is inferior. Also predicting that Swihart will lock himself into a starting role for next season based on this playoff series.
Yankees bullpen is far superior but we've gotten to them....
I'd like to say the Sox starting pitching is superior but there's too many question marks on Sale and Price to make that statement with any conviction.
The key is to get up by 2-3 runs by the 6th and then clench your testes the rest of the way....
Also... I have to pass on any game thread starting. This whole month is crazy busy for me all days, nights and weekends and I won't have the time to really focus my very powerful hatred towards the game threads. I'll only be able to follow these games by occasional check-ins on my phone. shit.
I think this might have been glitch on their side. I was watching....then ran in to that issue....then a bit later was able to get back in and watch again. I also saw another SOSHer post about it in the game thread. I need it to work tomorrow night, this is the way I intend to watch the Sox beat up on the MFYs.
edit: Found an article: https://awfulannouncing.com/turner/tbs-streaming-went-wrong-for-many-in-the-al-wild-card-game.html
This series is going to be complete torture. We live and die with every out during an important Sox-Yankees series and this will be 10 fold given the shorter series than in '03 and '04. Every inning when the Yankees are at bat will feel like trying to close out a 9th inning.
The last Fenway Red Sox-Yankee playoff game started at 5:11 and ended at 11:00. Saturdays game starts at around 8:30 ET. You should be able to watch the end of the game while having Sunday breakfast.