Astros righty Lance McCullers Jr. departed after four frames yesterday, and manager Dusty Baker told reporters after the contest that the decision was prompted by the right-hander informing the team of some tightness in his right forearm. Pitching coach Brent Strom said after the game (video link via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) that McCullers acknowledged some elbow tightness, but Strom added that he’s remaining “optimistic” that the issue won’t prove to be major. McCullers, who had Tommy John surgery in 2018, told Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and others that he doesn’t believe the issue to be ligament-related. The club will surely evaluate him in the coming days as it determines whether McCullers will be able to contribute to the rotation for their ALCS showdown against the Red Sox.
A couple more key injury scenarios to monitor as the postseason field narrows…
- Giants infielder Tommy La Stella exited last night’s game with the same Achilles discomfort that has plagued him for the past several weeks, manager Gabe Kapler said after the game (Twitter link via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Despite the ongoing issue, La Stella is expected to be ready to play for tomorrow’s winner-take-all Game 5, per Kapler. There’s an argument to be made for swapping La Stella out for a healthier Thairo Estrada, but removing La Stella from the NLDS roster would also render him ineligible to play in the NLCS. La Stella has three singles in eight at-bats, plus a pair of walks, thus far in the NLDS against the Dodgers. He hit .250/.308/.405 through 242 regular-season plate appearances during the first season of a three-year contract with the Giants. As it stands, the Giants also have Donovan Solano and Wilmer Flores as potential options at second base.
- The Giants are also seeing progress from injured first baseman Brandon Belt and left-hander Tony Watson, notes Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter links). Belt, still hoping to return from a fractured left thumb at some point during a potential NLCS or World Series run, took grounders and made some throws yesterday. Any throwing is of some note, given that the fracture is in his throwing hand. Meanwhile, Watson tossed a bullpen session yesterday that went well enough for the Giants to believe he’ll be ready to return for the NLCS, should they qualify. Watson has been out since late September due to a shoulder strain. The 36-year-old pitched to a 2.96 ERA in 24 1/3 innings in his second stint as a Giant after being acquired from the Angels at the trade deadline.
Of course it would come down to a game 5, 106 win team vs 107 win team! Gotta love baseball!
Of course it would is right. However this should have been the league championship.
Personally, I would like to see divisions done away with, and just have the top X number of teams go into the playoffs from each league.
I agree and balanced schedule too.
So what team are you a fan of that is almost good enough but not quite to make it in as it’s currently done?
I like the idea of seeding by record, but I don’t see doing away with the divisions is going to fly with ownership. Geographical rivalry games are good sellers and they aren’t going to want to pay for more team travel that would be implied by a balanced schedule. The players probably wouldn’t care for it either. I’m afraid the solution might be doing away with the leagues and creating three divisions. This format was being considered last year but it fell by the wayside. I have have a feeling it’s coming back.
I would just like to see the Wild Card gone. Also Manfred’s runner on 2nd in extra innings, and 7 inning double headers, and making a pitcher face 3 batters, he pushed thru for regular season play in 2021.
No, it’s important to have divisional rivals.
What they need to do is go back to two divisions in each league, and then 4 wildcards comprised of the top 4 (non-division-winning) records.
The four wildcard teams play a best-of-3 series, and the winners play the two division champions in a best-of-5. The LCS remains the same.
This way the owners get two more playoff teams, the 3rd-best team in each league is assured a postseason spot, there’s less chance of a mediocre team winning a division, and nobody gets eliminated in just one game.
I dare anyone to come up with something negative about my postseason format!
It unbalances the divisions. How about that? It also increases the amount of travel, which nobody is going to like.
More teams means more games which means the season goes later into November, and you risk bad weather or unfavorable conditions. Owners and MLBPA won’t shorten the reg season or agree to fewer days off April thru September. So not sure your format is possible.
Tbh, it’s fine the way it is. This season is just a rare occurrence of two elite teams on the same division
A league that get rids of divisions where you only take the 5 best records of each leagues instead of having 106 win team finish in one or done game. This isn’t football. Everything should be by the best records not some below .500 team that “barely” got in.
@ Blue Skies – Pay for more team travel? They’d still play 81 road games. I guess maybe some of the flights could be longer but I don’t see how a balanced schedule (or a more balanced schedule) would impact their travel costs by a material amount. I would like to see divisions remain in place but cut the head-to-head matchups down to 13 games per team instead of 19 and then play more games against the same competition as the other teams do. Currently, it’s a disadvantage to be in the AL East with (4) teams that won 90+ games this season and have to play each other 19 times!
@ Fever Pitch – Baseball teams are built off of momentum, timing, repetition and predictable schedules. I really don’t think division winners would want to take 5 days off to let the wild card series play out. Hot batters want to continue to play daily and hot pitchers want to stay on their regular schedules. Sitting around for 5 days could throw off their timing at the plate or a pitcher’s comfort with their stuff. Sure they could practice daily but baseball players want that repetition and sitting out for 5 days could really impact their performance. I don’t think the players would like this at all.
If the meaning of balance is playing everyone the same number of times or closer to, then the same number of road games means more long distance travel, and some of the short road trips that are done now on the team bus will require flights. I just don’t see that as being popular with ownership or the players. Got the distinct impression based on the debate over the shape of last year’s season that the owners at least would be happy with no leagues and three regional divisions, for that reason primarily. Hope it doesn’t happen but I have a feeling it’s going that way, and maybe faster than we realize.
There have been teams that have had to wait over a week to play their playoff opponent. Your assessment is irrelevant as that scenario already occurs in the system that currently exists.
Some teams sweep, and some teams go to 7 games, resulting in the team that played 4 games to wait 3 games(which is usually a minimum of 5 days).
What’s the difference? Outside of a game 7 series, only one can win
This should have been the qualifying round to play the Mets in the World Series
The Giants have won 2 playoff games so far and the Dodgers have win 3. So it’s actually a 109 win team vs. another 109 win team! The only difference is the Dodgers have 1 more loss and so it’s fitting the Giants have home field advantage. As a Braves fan I’m not sure who I would rather face in the NLCS. I wish the Cardinals had won so we could face them but alas, all those people ranking the Cardinals so high were seemingly over confident because of how they did in September. The Dodgers scare me more than the Giants and the Braves took 2 of 3 from the Giants late in the season so I would kind of prefer them. On the other side of the coin the Giants would have home field advantage over the Braves but the Braves would have home field advantage over the wild card Dodgers so having that is always a good thing. It’s hard to believe if the Dodgers and Red Sox are both victorious the 88 win Braves would have home field advantage in both the NLCS and (if they win) the World Series as well after not even having it in the 1st round. It was good to see Freddie save the day and now we get to start Fried in game 1 since we only had to play a 4 game series. I figure the Giants or Dodgers having to go 5 games will put more strain on their rotation than the Braves have had.
World Series home field goes to WHOEVER wins in the AL.
Actually, the Braves would only have home field in the NLCS against the Dodgers. The home team in the WS is determined by season winning percentage. The Braves have the lowest.
You are correct. If either the Dodgers or Giants won the NLCS, they would have home field advantage over either of the AL teams. If the Braves won, they would be the visitor against either the Astros or the Red Sox. Which raises another interesting scenario. If it’s the Dodgers, the World Series is guaranteed to be a rematch.
IF DODGERS or GIANTS get to WS they will be the V-I-S-I-T-O-R
AL won the All-star game….that determined who is HOME TEAM!
even if AL had a team under .500 reach they still get home field.
@Datashark – They got rid of the All-Star game winner getting home field in the World Series rule years ago, so that is no longer the case. The team with the highest winning percentage now gets home field in the World Series, so if the Dodgers or Giants go the World Series, they would have home field advantage.
then yes, Giants>Dodgers>Hou>Bos
@Datashark L-M-F-A-O-O-O-O!!
The last time the MLB used the All-Star game to decide home field advantage, was 2019!!!
The rule where “the All-Star game decides WS home field advantage” hasn’t been in use for TWO YEARS.
They got rid of the rule prior to the 2021 All-Star game, and there WASN’T a 2020 All-Star game!!
where u been man?!?
Funny enough, including the post season, both teams have 109 wins more than anyone by a LARGE margin
Yes, this playoff format doesn’t make any sense. The Dodgers and Giants also had big injuries in the last week of the season because both wanted the division and couldn’t afford to rest their players.
This is why I think the Braves have a chance against either team. The Giants, especially, look exhausted.
LAD and SFG had high win totals because the rest of the division was ARZ, COL and the below .500 SDP. By comparison, in the ALEast, TBR, BOS, NYY, and TOR were all above .500 and battling for the playoffs til the last day. For LAD and SFG, it was a comparatively easy 100+ wins.
San Diego collapsed, but they were like 15 games over .500 until mid August. The NL West was easily the 2nd best division in baseball.
Yup. Total wins by division:
ALE 427
NLW 418
ALW 409
NLC 400
ALC 397
NLE 379
Dodgers had only a slightly worse record against opponents outside of NL West compared to NL West. The Giants did have a better record vs NL West. If you look at the AL East. Tampa Bay actually had a much better record against the AL East. Beating up weaker opponents? Toronto about the same inside vs outside division. Yankees and Red Sox were much better outside the division. I’m not sure if there is that much value. Hard to really determine which division is better when most games are not played by common opponents.
Maybe I needed to point out that the difference in total wins per division is dependent entirely on games played outside the division.
Total fallacy. The REASON the bottom three teams in the NL West were so bad was that they played the Dodgers and Giants so many games. San Diego is not a pushover. The Rockies were formidable at home. Only the D-Backs looked weak throughout. IT IS NEVER EASY TO WIN 100 GAMES in a season.
Making even less sense, if the Dodgers win on Thursday even with their 106 wins the Braves (88 wins) will have home field advantage in the NLCS.
losing division title has its consquences.
I’m assuming Logan Webb will be on the mound tomorrow night? Webb is sure beginning to make a name for himself as one of the best young pitchers in the game.
Tomorrow’s game will be a must watch.
It will be easier to watch if the umpire behind the plate is not the same one who called first game.
Neither Angel (“The Hack”) Hernandez nor Ted Barret will umpire Game 5. It will be Doug Eddings. It’s a shame it won’t be Gabe Morales, the best of that crew.
This comment did not age well.
Farhan Zaidi will have plenty of $ to spend in the off-season. It will be interesting to see who he spends the $ on. Who does he resign or go after in free agency?
I’m sure ownership will give him the green light to do as he wishes.
I’m hoping they trade Bart(and any prospect NOT named Will Bednar/Heliot Ramos/Marco Luciano/Thairo Estrada/Patrick Bailey, nor either of Ruf or Wade)
for Marlin’s starter Trevor Rogers. He MIGHT be unavailable(as he might be the Rookie of the Year- free agent in 2027)so I’d be cool with a Bart/Sandy Alcantra swap (Alcantra’s a FA in 2025, arbitration eligible in 2022, so he’d be a cheap player for his magnitude. Still only 26yo too.)
Hopefully they can bring back Kris Bryant on a deal not unlike the one Jon Lester got a few years ago(5yr/$144m), resign DeScalfani and Alex Wood. THEN hope they can get Gausman for fewer than 6yrs and under $160m. I’m almost any other off-season, he wouldn’t get more than 5yr/$90m, however after the 29yo Robbie Ray, Gausman(31) has the best combination of age, health, and performance for teams looking for No.2-No.3 starters.
Guys like Greinke/Verlander/Scherzer are all 38+. Kluber is 37+. Danny Duffy, Michael Pineda, Wade Miley, and Kershaw are 33+. Everyone under 30 not named Robbie Ray has an ERA above 5.00. Syndergaard is 29 but he’s coming off a big injury.
With Webb here for the next 5yrs, best case scenario: SF trades for Rogers/Alcantra, brings back DeScalfani+Gausman, and gets Syndergaard on a 1yr/$12-$22m “prove-it” contract to line him up for a big deal next off-season, if he proves he can be healthy for 27+ starts.
A Webb/Alcantra/Gausman/Syndergaard/DeScalfani rotation would be Top 5. A Webb/Rogers/Gausman/Syndergaard/DeScalfani would be Top3,
& Webb/Alcantra/Gausman/DeScalfani/Wood would be somewhat likely.(as likely as predicting trades can get. Miami has several young starts, somewhere around 8 tht are all under 25 and are all either in the big leagues OR top prospects expected to make their debut in 2022. Moving Bart before his prospect shine wears off would be ideal. We waited too long to cash in our 401-Susac, and Patrick Bailey looks like a good Posey replacement(especially if Posey returns for 1-2yrs).
Jake Meyers got into a fight with the outfield wall yesterday and had to leave the game. I’m curious how he’s feeling today and if he will be able to go in the series against the OtherSox.
Doesn’t Gabe also let look like he’s either had face surgery or just has a ton of Botox injections? It’s almost like he’s wearing an expressionless mask
I’d love to get Stella back on the angels.
You can have him. Just make a decent offer.
YAZ has been CASPER the Ghost in the series….even laStella on one leg might hit more than Yaz….Thairo should have been on roster from get go.
It’s been a lackluster offensive showing overall from the Giants, but Yaz’s hard swing pop ups to the shallow outfield are difficult to watch. Giants fans know what he is capable of, and this is far from it. I’d say they are really missing the offensive and defensive ability of Belt in this series. The only consolation I see is LA not having Giants killer Muncy in the line-up offsets Belt’s loss.
Yaz is hard to watch as of late, especially when he fails to swing at pitches down the middle of the plate. But there are others who aren’t swinging it well either. It’s a tough time to go cold. But no excuses, let’s get it done! Go Giants!!!!
Funny, Yaz would’ve been amazing for the 2016-2018 teams.
A .220/25HR guy back when everyone else EXCEPT SF got their juiced baseballs, and had at least 5 guys hitting 15+HR’s, and 2 hitting 30+HR’s, while SF had Gorkys lead the team with 15HR, or Longo with 16, or Belt with 17…
Finally it looks like SF got their 2016-2019 juiced ball shipments, so for the next 2-3 years I’d expect them to be a power team;)
Now that we average 1.5 home runs PER GAME, Yaz has fallen from grace.
Hopefully he makes the proper adjustments. With his pop, he CAN be a productive player with a .240+ batting average.
Though of course I’d prefer him to be the .270-.297/20+HR guy we’ve gotten accustomed too…
Dodgers have way more to lose than SF. LA should be here. They’re the defending champs* & their payroll is much larger than SF’s. Although SF brass won’t admit it, this was a rebuild year for SF. LA brought in Bauer & Sherbet while SF brought in DeSclafani & Alex Wood. LA traded for Betts, SF traded for LaMonte Wade. LA is supposed to be here. If I’m LA I’m worried. Something about SF in October
Everything goes better with sherbet!
Uhhh LA traded for Scherzer so SF traded for Kris frickin Bryant.
SF hit an average of 1.5 homers A GAME.
Webb was right in between Kershaw and Urias as far as ERA/FIP. Next year’s their time. Nobody had them pegged for 2021
Tough way to lose, but that’s what happens if you don’t hit and score runs.
Who do you believe stays and goes on the 2022 roster??