Playoffs are a funny thing. The Padres, a decent sized favorite to win the National League outside of the Dodgers, are on the verge of elimination. The Marlins beat the Cubs in Wrigley. The Twins still can’t win in the postseason no matter who the team is. The Astros just keep rolling along.
That’s the danger of playing such a short series. Lose the first game and you’re almost doomed, doubly so if you lost while throwing your ace. It places a premium on starting pitching and having two near-aces at the top of the rotation. If only we knew of a team that had something like that....
On to the links!
Phillies news:
- We’re still waiting news on the fate of Matt Klentak, but as Jim Salisbury points out, usually the team bows to MLB’s wishes and waits until there are no games being played before they make an announcement. Might this weekend be the time?
- Still looking for some good news about the team? Here are five signs of optimism from Yahoo Sports.
- It is rather interesting how even some of the most basic decisions to be made still send owner John Middleton on some sort of mid-life sabbatical, gazing into the sunset on rocky shores of a beach, pondering what the next step might be.
MLB news:
- You want fans in the posteason? You’re getting fans in the postseason.
- One of the more interesting stories of the postseason is not who IS playing, but rather who ISN’T playing. San Diego is down their top two starters, Milwaukee is without its rookie relief ace.
Rumor roundup:
- Shockingly, the Giants are interested in re-signing two of their top starters from 2020. I’d be shocked if Gausman stayed in San Francisco after he was pretty vocal about Gabe Kapler’s usage of him earlier in the season. By all accounts, it improved as the season wore on, but would he want to do it again for 162 games?