[ALDS GM 4] Blue Jays (Varland) vs Yankees (Schlittler): 10/8/25, 7:08pm

[Doubleplay21]

Schneider is either a genius or a dumb ass no in between 

His decisions are so stupid it smell miles away

 

[Governator]

28 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Just do what we've been doing all year. I'm not really on board with all these crazy scenarios being discussed. Its not do or die for us.

 

You mean like.... taking a cruising Berrios out for Kuch who had never done relief work in his life?

I honestly can't stand the drastic panic moves in the postseason. 

[Spanky__99]

11 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

And so does Tony.  

I don't know why we're all pretending that Springer is WAYYY better defensively than Tony is.  That opinion seems to have developed based on 1 play.  It's wild.

They play Tony in RF because he's as good as Springer defensively AND - more importantly - because they can sub in Straw late in the game.  They don't want to lose Springer's bat when Straw comes in - which is also why he's the DH.

And guys - Springer just had a MONSTER year as the DH, where he's talked about how that move gives him added preparation time and such - which clearly seems to have helped.

Not to mention Santander has a cannon for an arm. It's not that big a deal as you've pointed out.

[Laika]

Last night was SO ANNOYING!!!!

1. wind f***ed Barger
2. IKF sucks
3. how did Judge even hit that
4. why did it stay fair? 
5. wind f***ed Santander? Or he just sucks
6. was it two solid liners right at Judge? 

[Brownie19]

15 minutes ago, Jonn said:

This is the only reasoning that makes sense. But Santander should never see the field peroid.

I don't pretend to be the defensive stat wizard, but Santander and Springer both had -9.7 DEF in 2024.

2024 OAA:  Springer was -1, Santander was -2

2024 FRV:  Springer was -4, Santander was -3

2024 UZR:  Springer was -4.3, Santander was +1.4

2024 Arm Value:  Springer was -3 (3rd percentile), Santander was -1 (23rd percentile)

2025 OAA/FRV: Springer was -6/-8 in only 436 innings, Santander was -1/-2 in only 181 innings

I think they both suck defensively.  I'd rather keep Springers bat in the lineup all game myself.

 

[Jonn]

It’s not do or die by any strech but you really don’t want to get to Game 5. 
 

Not putting your team in the best position to be successful tonight by not carrying a 4th starter. Even using Max in a bulk role made more send than having 4 loogys that Scheneider hasn’t even really used outside of a blowout.

You get to a Game 5 you know they will use both Gausman and Yesavage to try to win. And if you do win you have a series that starts Sunday. You’re looking at Bieber for Game 1 and Bullpen game for Game 2 of the ALCS.

Winning last night was the easiest road. But now its going to be tough. Hopefully the bullpen is nails and the offense can keep generating early. 

 

[Spanky__99]

1 minute ago, Laika said:

Last night was SO ANNOYING!!!!

1. wind f***ed Barger
2. IKF sucks
3. how did Judge even hit that
4. why did it stay fair? 
5. wind f***ed Santander? Or he just sucks
6. was it two solid liners right at Judge? 

Frustrating, no doubt.

[Jays24]

Id rather have Springer's speed to track down balls.  I dont care what the numbers say but Springer is easily a better defender than Santandar.  Speed/agility are a massive part in being a good OFer and Springer is miles ahead of Santandar there.  The fact anyone thinks its debatable clearly shows me you dont understand what youve been watching.  

[Jonn]

1 minute ago, Brownie19 said:

I don't pretend to be the defensive stat wizard, but Santander and Springer both had -9.7 DEF in 2024.

2024 OAA:  Springer was -1, Santander was -2

2024 FRV:  Springer was -4, Santander was -3

2024 UZR:  Springer was -4.3, Santander was +1.4

2025 OAA/FRV: Springer was -6/-8 in only 436 innings, Santander was -1/-2 in only 181 innings

I think they both suck defensively.  I'd rather keep Springers bat in the lineup all game myself.

 

The difference is Springer moves better and is more athletic. He’s not a great OF but he makes all the plays he should make.

Santander genuinely is lost defensively and always has been. His positioning is the only thing that kept him passable. He has always struggled with the ball directly at him and over his head.

[Spanky__99]

Chicken Little's EVERYWHERE!!! lol... geez

[Brownie19]

2 minutes ago, Jonn said:

It’s not do or die by any strech but you really don’t want to get to Game 5. 
 

Not putting your team in the best position to be successful tonight by not carrying a 4th starter. Even using Max in a bulk role made more send than having 4 loogys that Scheneider hasn’t even really used outside of a blowout.

You get to a Game 5 you know they will use both Gausman and Yesavage to try to win. And if you do win you have a series that starts Sunday. You’re looking at Bieber for Game 1 and Bullpen game for Game 2 of the ALCS.

Winning last night was the easiest road. But now its going to be tough. Hopefully the bullpen is nails and the offense can keep generating early. 

 

Why don't people consider Lauer a 4th starter?  He was as good as Bassitt this year (who isn't stretched out and coming off injury) and he was better than Max - especially over the last month.  

Just tell yourself this.  Lauer is starting, but they are using an opener.  Lauer deserves this start more than an injured Bassitt, Max or Berrios IMO.  He's been nails in several different roles all season long.

[Spanky__99]

2 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Id rather have Springer's speed to track down balls.  I dont care what the numbers say but Springer is easily a better defender than Santandar.  Speed/agility are a massive part in being a good OFer and Springer is miles ahead of Santandar there.  

Brownie literally just showed you their UZR, but your eyes tell you different? lmao

 

[Laika]

Lauer is a better matchup for NYY than Scherzer IMO. 

Lauer behind an opener is objectively a better option than trying to get innings out of Scherzer or Berrios. Probably also Bassitt, but he might have been hurt and not an option anyway. 

Whether it works or not is a different question. We are talking about picking your favourite dildo, here. Odds are they all hurt, just differently. 

[Terminator]

7 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Why don't people consider Lauer a 4th starter?  He was as good as Bassitt this year (who isn't stretched out and coming off injury) and he was better than Max - especially over the last month.  

Just tell yourself this.  Lauer is starting, but they are using an opener.  Lauer deserves this start more than an injured Bassitt, Max or Berrios IMO.  He's been nails in several different roles all season long.

Yeah we are basically doing what everyone wanted to for the majority of the season in giving Lauer a rotation spot over several others. 

We simply aren't anointing Lauer as today's starter so it's flying over everyone's head.

Also, I think Bassitt's injury complicated things more than people are realizing. Fans are treating his injury like it's a phantom injury to get another bullpen arm on the team but he did have to get a cortisone shot in his back.

[Jays24]

Just now, Spanky__99 said:

Brownie literally just showed you their UZR, but your eyes tell you different? lmao

 

The fact you think those metrics are a good indicator to show who the better defender is exactly why you thought Kirk was a better baserunner than Moreno.  Use your eyes and some common sense ffs.  You watch so many baseball games and yet you think Santandar is a similar defender to Springer.  

[Brownie19]

2 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Id rather have Springer's speed to track down balls.  I dont care what the numbers say but Springer is easily a better defender than Santandar.  Speed/agility are a massive part in being a good OFer and Springer is miles ahead of Santandar there.  

I appreciate that Springer is faster, but the numbers don't really lie.  Even if you think the speed gives Springer a slight advantage - if we're up 4-1 in the 5th - do you want Springer's bat out of the lineup for the remainder of the game?  Is that worth the "slight" upgrade over Tony defensively?  I'm not sure I do - but I could see that argument either way.

What I can't see is why fans would get all bent out of shape over this decision when it's a coin flip.  But god knows if there's anything tonight that costs us, you'll take your lap telling everyone how smart you are and how everyone should be fired for not flipping to the side of the coin you picked.

[BlackCoffee]

The bullpen gave up 7 runs on Sunday and then 6 runs Tuesday so clearly the logical thing to do is have a bullpen day today. Game 5 is pretty much a guarantee. 

[max silver]

5 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Id rather have Springer's speed to track down balls.  I dont care what the numbers say but Springer is easily a better defender than Santandar.  Speed/agility are a massive part in being a good OFer and Springer is miles ahead of Santandar there.  The fact anyone thinks its debatable clearly shows me you dont understand what youve been watching.  

They are both bad defenders at this point of their careers and Springer has actually been getting far worse jumps than Santander. It seems possible that George is battling through some sort of injury situation that's keeping him out of the field.

[max silver]

1 minute ago, BlackCoffee said:

The bullpen gave up 7 runs on Sunday and then 6 runs Tuesday so clearly the logical thing to do is have a bullpen day today. Game 5 is pretty much a guarantee. 

There isn't any choice at this point as the team only has 3 starters on the roster presently.

[Stangstag]

23 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

And so does Tony.  

I don't know why we're all pretending that Springer is WAYYY better defensively than Tony is.  That opinion seems to have developed based on 1 play.  It's wild.

They play Tony in RF because he's as good as Springer defensively AND - more importantly - because they can sub in Straw late in the game.  They don't want to lose Springer's bat when Straw comes in - which is also why he's the DH.

And guys - Springer just had a MONSTER year as the DH, where he's talked about how that move gives him added preparation time and such - which clearly seems to have helped.

Eye test, plus Springer is undeniably faster than Santander. 

I find it very hard to believe honestly that Santander had better numbers as a defender vs Springer.

Are defensive metrics stable in a single season? Santander had -7 DRS over Springer's -2 last season in RF. And the OOA is the same.

[Jays24]

Just now, Brownie19 said:

I appreciate that Springer is faster, but the numbers don't really lie.  Even if you think the speed gives Springer a slight advantage - if we're up 4-1 in the 5th - do you want Springer's bat out of the lineup for the remainder of the game?  Is that worth the "slight" upgrade over Tony defensively?  I'm not sure I do - but I could see that argument either way.

What I can't see is why fans would get all bent out of shape over this decision when it's a coin flip.  But god knows if there's anything tonight that costs us, you'll take your lap telling everyone how smart you are and how everyone should be fired for not flipping to the side of the coin you picked.

Because even if a move gives you a 1% more chance at winning tonight, you do it.  We're in the ALDS ffs, this isnt some regular season game.  It's why every move is being analyzed under a microscope.  Thats the difference between winning/losing sometimes.  

[max silver]

6 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Why don't people consider Lauer a 4th starter?  He was as good as Bassitt this year (who isn't stretched out and coming off injury) and he was better than Max - especially over the last month.  

Just tell yourself this.  Lauer is starting, but they are using an opener.  Lauer deserves this start more than an injured Bassitt, Max or Berrios IMO.  He's been nails in several different roles all season long.

The issue with Lauer is that he isn't stretched out sufficiently to provide a typical start to the team. He's only pitched up to 40-50 pitches at most over the last month so all that could be expected of him would be 2-3 innings unless he manages to be super efficient recording outs. 

[jaysblue]

3 hours ago, Stangstag said:

Man, my stomach has been in knots all morning. Why do i care so much about this stupid team.

Substitute the Blue Jays for the Sox in this video:

 

[Terminator]

Just now, max silver said:

The issue with Lauer is that he isn't stretched out sufficiently to provide a typical start to the team. He's only pitched up to 40-50 pitches at most over the last month so all that could be expected of him would be 2-3 innings unless he manages to be super efficient recording outs. 

Come playoff time I don't really trust or want him to go beyond that anyway. He's a backend guy and they get 1 or 2 times through the lineup and that's it.

[Orgfiller]

Just now, max silver said:

The issue with Lauer is that he isn't stretched out sufficiently to provide a typical start to the team. He's only pitched up to 40-50 pitches at most over the last month so all that could be expected of him would be 2-3 innings unless he manages to be super efficient recording outs. 

Does that really matter? Outside of an absolute blow out - which Lauer has already pitched in and not looked great - would you really want Lauer going 5-6 innings? 3 decent innings is all we realistically need from him.

[Stangstag]

13 minutes ago, Jonn said:

It’s not do or die by any strech but you really don’t want to get to Game 5. 
 

Not putting your team in the best position to be successful tonight by not carrying a 4th starter. Even using Max in a bulk role made more send than having 4 loogys that Scheneider hasn’t even really used outside of a blowout.

You get to a Game 5 you know they will use both Gausman and Yesavage to try to win. And if you do win you have a series that starts Sunday. You’re looking at Bieber for Game 1 and Bullpen game for Game 2 of the ALCS.

Winning last night was the easiest road. But now its going to be tough. Hopefully the bullpen is nails and the offense can keep generating early. 

 

This team definitely likes to make things tougher on themselves. Just look at the last 2 weeks of the season lol.

[Masterbather]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

Statistically, we had the best bullpen in baseball for the month of September if you take out Heineman's 10 run inning. They need to get back on track tonight. It could happen.

If not, we win Game 5.

Damn.

Was hoping Heiney would be our bulk guy tonight.

[Jays24]

1 minute ago, max silver said:

They are both bad defenders at this point of their careers and Springer has actually been getting far worse jumps than Santander. It seems possible that George is battling through some sort of injury situation that's keeping him out of the field.

If there are injuries at play then sure... that will come out eventually so we can change our minds when presented with more information. 

Right now we assume everyone is good so Springer is EASILY the better defender.  Let's hope there isnt a ball hit that way where having 1 or 2 steps to the ball is the difference. 

[Masterbather]

Just now, Orgfiller said:

Does that really matter? Outside of an absolute blow out - which Lauer has already pitched in and not looked great - would you really want Lauer going 5-6 innings? 3 decent innings is all we realistically need from him.

If he gives us three solid innings tonight I think the entire organization would be dancing.

[BlackCoffee]

3 minutes ago, max silver said:

There isn't any choice at this point as the team only has 3 starters on the roster presently.

Does it really matter who you call a "starter" when your former Cy Young winner can't even last 3 innings. lol