As twenty teams prepare to pack it in for the offseason, a few odds and ends concerning those still remaining in the battle for a World Series crown…
- The 2019 playoff picture is officially set. The Rays will head to Oakland for the AL Wild Card game on Wednesday, Oct. 2, with first pitch at 8:09 pm EST. Earlier this week, Rays manager Kevin Cash appeared on MLB Network Radio, where he made comments indicating that Charlie Morton would take the ball on Wednesday for Tampa. No official word has come from the Athletics regarding their own one-game stopper, but Billy Beane hinted to the San Francisco Chronicle that Sean Manaea may have the “inside track” to tackle the opportunity.
The Nationals and Brewers will do battle on Tuesday at 8:08 pm EST in Washington D.C. for the NL play-in spot, where Max Scherzer is expected to take the ball for the Nationals. Meanwhile, Tom Haudricort of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays that Brandon Woodruff will be trusted by manager Craig Counsell to best Scherzer in the winner-moves-on affair (link). Woodruff may not carry the imposing resumé of Scherzer (nor does he possess a rare genetic variation that endows him with transfixing, multi-colored eyes), but he has looked the part of a frontline starter when healthy in 2019, with a 3.62 ERA (3.01 FIP) in 121.2 innings this season. - In other Brewers-related news, outfielder Ryan Braun expects to play in that Tuesday tilt against D.C. Haudricort also relays that outfielder Lorenzo Cain is “hopeful” for the game (link). Braun is dealing with a calf issue, while Cain has a balky ankle. As previously noted here, the Brewers may be limited to Trent Grisham or Tyrone Taylor in center if Cain is indeed too hindered to give it a ’go’ on Tuesday night.
- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hasn’t yet announced the full pitching lineup for the NLDS, but he tells Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Time that he is “feeling really good” about trusting Rich Hill with potential Game 4 duties (link). Hill was only activated from the IL on September 24th but did strike out five Padre hitters in just two innings of work in that appearance. As the number-one seed in the National League, the Dodgers will host the winner of the Nats-Brewers Wild Card play-in matchup. The Dodgers, in fact, will play at home throughout the postseason, unless they face the Astros in the World Series–by posting an MLB-best 107-55 record, Houston clinched homefield advantage through the Fall Classic.
RaysUP!! ⚾
To what exactly?
To 10,000 in attendance if the host a playoff game.
Fiers had a 4.97 FIP this year, Manaea has been unhittable, Choi mashes righties, if the A’s don’t start Manaea they will lose.
The Dodgers playing all their games through the NLCS at home might not work out so well considering their opponents will be in another city for at least three of those games.
Wait… So is the Nationals/Brewers “play-in spot” the same thing as a “wild card game” or are the Nats and Brewers tied and playing to see who will get homefield advantage in the 1 game wild card playoff? I am confused. I always thought that a “play in” was supposed to be a pre playoff game tie breaker and that the wildcard game was considered to be actual playoffs. I thought it was already set that the Nats had the #1 NL Wild Card spot locked down and that the Brewers were locked in as the #2 NL Wild Card spot. Wouldn’t that make it a playoff and not a play-in? Anyone please help me with this.
Winner gets LA….both are wild card teams. They will play 1 game to see who plays LA.
Really S.U.G.!!?? You’re going to trip up on semantics!!??
Really!!??
I know this is super nitpicky, but the games are all scheduled for “EDT” and not “EST” since we’re still in daylight savings time for the majority of the country 🙂
Uh, OK, whatever. Like anyone not obsessive/compulsive would notice…..
Accuracy (pointing out errors that can be corrected) is a good thing not something to be ridiculed, genius.
You are right, the proper way to say this is simply ET. So why are all games in baseball played according to the Eastern Time Zone, even when they are played in the Central, Mountain, or Pacific time zones?
Brewers have nothing to lose and no pressure. Hopefully pull this one off and get real underdog shot to get revenge on the dodgers
The Brewers literally have everything to lose, as in their season is done if they dont win.
Which is apparently only way they can win is if they have pressure lol. I do wonder if they made a mistake when they clinched if they shouldnt have sat Cain and given as many as at bats as they could to Taylor. Dont get me wrong I love Cain liked him when he came up. But next year he has got to learn when hurt it’s some times best to suitor take a IL stint then fighting through it. Were a couple times he was just hurting the team and himself. I love how he wants to be out there all the time but gotta swallow that pride once in a while
They still had a legit shot at winning the division and Cain was still getting on base and making ridiculous plays on a bum left ankle and knee. Everyone would have flamed Counsell and/or Stearns for sitting him so they were all in a lose/lose. On a different note, if Cain doesn’t win the Gold Glove this year you can chalk it up to highway robbery.
Nope I can agree with i what your saying completely in September I guess I meant more in the middle of the season. And I get at the other end of the spectrum you have those guys that will sit cause of a hang nail lol
Calling Cain “gimpy.” Real classy, MLBTR. Any other pejoratives you want to throw around?
The post states that his ankle is gimpy, to be clear. I suppose it is preferable we avoid the term since it can be used in a pejorative manner, though I have no reason to believe it was intended in that way here. Personally, I have heard the term used quite often in the literal sense, so it does not grab me immediately as offensive.
Easy enough to edit …
Caving in to this nonsense only serves to make it worse.
To answer the comments or questions about est edt it’s just a guess but the stations covering the games are.on the east coast. Tbs is in Atlanta and ESPN in Connecticut