The diehards, not so much.
But regular Joes - I got you in mind and I hope this helps.
For a brief playoff summary up to today,click here
In no particular order…
1.
Purely from an enthusiast standpoint, the early taste of this postseason has been nothing short of delightful.
I can’t say for sure, but he last started a game for Tampa in 2013.
The only name that registers in comparison is Bartolo and I don’t think that’s even close.
So kudos to Alex Cobb for making his way back into an October rotation after an absolutely ridiculous journey.
The differentiator is two-fold: first he’s got a really good splitter that hecommands.
The second piece is mechanical.
Everything looks the same which is referred to astunnelling.
Granted - he’s added a lot of fastball velocity since recovering from injury and maturing in his career.
A decade ago you’d accuse him of doing steroids but we know better now.
I Don’t Know What League Has Better Playoffs.
Both have been sensation.
New York/Kansas City is literally a perfect match up for baseball nerds.
You got huge bats and names on one side, tremendous love and effort on the other.
One team expects to destroy, the other didn’t expect to be here.
Maybe that’s why Jazz Chisholm isn’t nervous?
And maybe that’s why Tommy Pham trains in the offseason?
Are you prepared to fuck somebody up today?
Don’t answer that.
Let’s instead talk about the AL vs. NL match ups so far…
I think the NL has a slight edge just on name power alone.
The gameplay in Tigers/Guardians has been right there with Yankees/Royals.
I do know he pitched well in 16 starts this year and rarely throws a 4-seam fastball.
So that’s a big drop off, but Clarke Schmidt is still pretty good.
Especially since adopting a cutter and spreading his stuff relatively even across 4 different pitches.
Opposite that is Seth Lugo, a guy that commands everything you might throw.
Mets vs. Phillies has another awesome pitching match up.
Meanwhile they’ll pitch Ranger Suarez who quite literally has testicles the size of grapefruits.
Think Olin Kreutz from the Bears with Mike Hampton’s arsenal and Carlos Zambrano’s zest for life.
That’s kinda how I see Ranger Suarez and this time of year only makes him better.
I like Phillies tonight in a close fast game but that’s also exactly what I’m cheering for.
So tread lightly and responsibly.
More proof That Fernando Tatis is a living legend:
Incredible, really.
Bigger picture I’ll address is that I have long said the steroid era was awesome.
The guy is fucking awesome plain and simple.
Seems like asolid lineupbut I can only read the top three lines of font.
The highest mark ever is pretty good and that’s because the playoffs are good.
And today is maybe the best last day of baseball on the calendar with 4 games.
