2016 MLB Season

I'll hop onto your bandwagon if you can get your fans to stop throwing beer cans onto the field.

 

Thanks Buck Showalter for proving, yet again, that MLB managers are largely clueless about how to use their best relievers.

The biggest market inefficiency is baseball, and it's not even close, is how stupidly MLB managers think about and use their bullpen. And, by that, I primarily mean you best 2-3 relievers.

 

I'll try, but I can't even get them to stop walking on top of my feet, so...

 

Here come the hot takes about using your closer in a tied game being bad and Showalter was right.

 

But this one was at home. Lots of managers will bring in closers in tied games at home in that spot because there's no longer any possibility of a save situation.

The real hot take is that EYBS is alive and well.

 

Yeah but the closer thing was the first thing Sportscenter after the game lead with so never doubt ESPN's ability to be bad.

 

Police have tracked down the alleged beer thrower. Either that or they just picked out the evilest looking guy in the building world and pinned it on him:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/beer-can-suspect-1.3793858

Update: the guy is a sports journalist!
http://www.torontosun.com/2016/10/0...igating-beer-can-throw-at-jays-wild-card-game

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/10/06/ken-pagan-blue-jays-beer-can-photo-video-_n_12368332.html

 

Yep. And it's not like there aren't volumes upon volumes of literature sabermatricians have written on the subject.

 

Apparently Francona got the memo, because he wasn't kidding around. Nothing but elite arms as soon as Bauer was pulled to maintain the slim lead. And it worked.

 

I guess I'm not surprised. Francona was hired by Theo Epstein early in his tenure with Boston, when the club made a big effort to adopt statistical analysis. I would imagine Epstein specifically looked for a field manager he wouldn't butt heads with, the way Billy Beane and Art Howe (supposedly) did in Oakland years earlier.

 

Yeah, so many games are won or lost in inning 6 or 7, it's stupid to hold your best reliever for a win that might not come.

And, even then, so many "save situations" are like a 3-1 lead facing batters 6-8. It's crazy.

The larger problem is that the market will to have find a way to $$$ reward relievers who don't pile on saves but consistently deliver in high leverage innings where the games are won/lost.

 

Those fans aren't in a state to shout words longer than that (USA) with all that cheep beer they consume during the game.

 

I still think it's the BJ(s) year to win the WW. BJ as in Blue Jay, of course.

 

I would like to see what Jays fans bring to the Rogers Centre.

There is absolutely no doubt some would use the surname of the Rangers' second baseman and use it to refer to bad smells.

As a Jays fan, I love to see parrots, raincoats, and fake (Bautista) beards galore.

 

The Rangers had a taste of their own medicine!

They lost to the Jays by one run! Yes, one run! The Rangers kept winning regular season games by one run, but their postseason run was numbered.

Jeff Bannister pulled a Buck Showalter by not bringing out the closer on a late high-leverage inning with tied scores on the road.

Not just that, but Odor misthrew, allowing Donaldson to score the game-winning run. Matt Bush got the loss. Yes, the same Matt Bush who intentionally threw the ball to Bautista before Odor punched Bautista back in May. The Jays got the best form of revenge against the Rangers.

Karma is on the Jays' side. The Jays move on to the ALCS.

 

Rangers should get some ice on that, the swelling could be pretty bad.

 

They will need it.


A Jays fan drew this wonderful sketch of a blue jay punching Odor. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/56q1fv/thats_how_you_score_a_knock_out_30_sweep/

 

This one is originally posted by a Rangers fan:

 

Happy freaking Thanksgiving.

 

Not really the same thing. Showalter went to his crappy starting pitcher instead of his closer for no good reason when Jimenez had an ERA over 5. With this game, Bannister was sticking with Bush, who was actually a pretty solid reliever, statistically about as good as Sam Dyson. Plus, because Colby Lewis only lasted 2 innings, the Rangers' pen was pretty much empty- Dyson was the last guy available in the pen after Bush, so you have to account for the possibility that the game will go deeper into extras and try to get as much as you can out of the back end of your pen so you don't have to burn tomorrow's starter if the game goes long enough.

The mistake wasn't not bringing in Dyson in the 10th, it was the 6th inning Bannister should have brought either Bush or Dyson into instead of Kela and his 6+ ERA.