2026 MLB Postseason Thread

[Brownie19]

13 hours ago, John_Havok said:

I hearvya man but i just cant cheer for a BS org that cant/wont pay their stars and survives on revenue sharing and 2+ extra picks everyear to stay relevant.

I'm cheering for the GM/front office that has to work within those difficult limitations.  The modern day Billy Beane.  

It hurts me a bit that Beane will likely never win a championship.  

[glory]

14 hours ago, Stangstag said:

Duran blows the game for the Phillies, yikes. That’s a really tough loss.

Was Donnie Baseball trying to get a 3 inning save from a closer who rarely pitches more than 1 inning? I originally thought he was brought in to face the top of the Braves order but then they brought him back for a 2nd inning, and who was going to pitch the 9th if the Phillies still had the lead? Just odd managing there. 

Last night’s SD crowd reaffirmed who I am rooting for in the NL. That crowd in a World Series would be incredible.

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, glory said:

Was Donnie Baseball trying to get a 3 inning save from a closer who rarely pitches more than 1 inning? I originally thought he was brought in to face the top of the Braves order but then they brought him back for a 2nd inning, and who was going to pitch the 9th if the Phillies still had the lead? Just odd managing there. 

Last night’s SD crowd reaffirmed who I am rooting for in the NL. That crowd in a World Series would be incredible.

Idk, but either way that’s their best arm you want pitching in a tight game and he blew it spectacularly

[Governator]

I always laugh when managers change their entire strategy with pitchers the moment the postseason begins.

I get that your starters are burned from the weekend but forget everything that got them where they are and just start trying new things is batshit crazy.  Guys that have a 1:1 Game to IP career ratio (Duran), lets make him just go a few innings what's the worst that can happen?  Remember when Kikuchi was brought in as a middle reliever for Berrios (who should never have been pulled).... Kuch had never even pitched relief before but why not just try something new when games matter most. 

[John_Havok]

3 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

I'm cheering for the GM/front office that has to work within those difficult limitations.  The modern day Billy Beane.  

It hurts me a bit that Beane will likely never win a championship.  

I don't mean to take away from the talent of the FO, just that I hate the model is necessary and therefore cannot cheer for it. 

[Brownie19]

5 hours ago, Governator said:

I always laugh when managers change their entire strategy with pitchers the moment the postseason begins.

I get that your starters are burned from the weekend but forget everything that got them where they are and just start trying new things is batshit crazy.  Guys that have a 1:1 Game to IP career ratio (Duran), lets make him just go a few innings what's the worst that can happen?  Remember when Kikuchi was brought in as a middle reliever for Berrios (who should never have been pulled).... Kuch had never even pitched relief before but why not just try something new when games matter most. 

To be fair - there are a lot of examples where these types of strategies worked really well.  Yamamoto being a recent example we should all remember.  That one may have been out of desperation, but there have also been examples where teams changed how they used pitchers.  Gausman worked out of the pen last year v. Seattle when we needed him to.

Remember when the Indians used Andrew Miller for 2+ innings in seemingly every game during the 2016 playoffs?  It was incredibly successful for them.

If you don't ride your best players a little harder - fans complain.  When you go outside the box a bit and it fails - fans complain.  MLB Manager - tough job.  If you don't win the World Series, then everything you've done is heavily scrutinized.

[G-Snarls]

The AL West was an embarassing joke this year and that's being proven again here 

[Brownie19]

WTF is Contreras doing?  Story makes a great play and he doesn't even cover 1st?

Baseball gods save him. No damage.

[hanton]

Contreras. lmao

[Brownie19]

The Yanks are going to be tough to beat if Judge comes back and is relatively healthy for the rest of the playoffs.  They just sh*t all over the Red Sox.

[hanton]

bellingers home run is only a home run in this park.  1/30

[SpencerBateman]

Go rsys 

[Omar]

Why did Boston take Gray out after only 4.2 innings?   I missed that.

[Jays24]

After watching the defense in these playoffs, maybe the Jays arent THAT bad that department lol.  

[dancingmachine]

1 minute ago, Jays24 said:

After watching the defense in these playoffs, maybe the Jays arent THAT bad that department lol.  

Nah Jays were bad this year. 

[Brownie19]

10 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

After watching the defense in these playoffs, maybe the Jays arent THAT bad that department lol.  

Thank you. 

Contreras made 2 glaring errors at 1st today.  First one didn't cost him.  2nd one cost them a possible comeback opportunity.

[Jays24]

24 minutes ago, dancingmachine said:

Nah Jays were bad this year. 

Ya they were bad, especially given youd expect better defense considering the noodle bats most of them carry. 

I was just making a comment on some simple ass defensive plays that you learn in middle school.  Brownie outlined the 2 exact plays I was speaking about + Hoerner being 2 steps ahead of 2B on the stolen base that cost Gausman an additional run.  

[Brownie19]

19 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

Ya they were bad, especially given youd expect better defense considering the noodle bats most of them carry. 

I was just making a comment on some simple ass defensive plays that you learn in middle school.  Brownie outlined the 2 exact plays I was speaking about + Hoerner being 2 steps ahead of 2B on the stolen base that cost Gausman an additional run.  

And he's a GG 2nd baseman.  I think he was late to the bag and caught out of position - couldn't let it travel because he wasn't there on time.  

I think a lot of us take for granted how good the Jays defense was from like 2023 to 2025.  The defense was still good this year, but was a step down from last year.  By some measurements, we were still 2nd in all of baseball.  But defensive metrics are sometimes wishy washy and it certainly felt like we weren't as good this year - but it's probably better than most think it is.  Sometimes you don't notice it until you watch other team's consistently.

Funny enough, the Cubs were the best defensive team by a mile this year.  Like Cubs 73, Jays 36, SD 30, Arizona 30, Cards 22.  That's likely a very rare mistake by Hoerner.

[VladdyAlomar]

[SpencerBateman]

If jays made playoffs we would have smoked all these loser ass teams 

[M.E.]

2 hours ago, dancingmachine said:

Nah Jays were bad this year. 

I just heard from Atkins they were top 5. Ugh

[John_Havok]

8 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

And he's a GG 2nd baseman.  I think he was late to the bag and caught out of position - couldn't let it travel because he wasn't there on time.  

I think a lot of us take for granted how good the Jays defense was from like 2023 to 2025.  The defense was still good this year, but was a step down from last year.  By some measurements, we were still 2nd in all of baseball.  But defensive metrics are sometimes wishy washy and it certainly felt like we weren't as good this year - but it's probably better than most think it is.  Sometimes you don't notice it until you watch other team's consistently.

Funny enough, the Cubs were the best defensive team by a mile this year.  Like Cubs 73, Jays 36, SD 30, Arizona 30, Cards 22.  That's likely a very rare mistake by Hoerner.

It also shows how people's eye tests really suck at evaluating defense over a long season. Mistakes always get remembered vividly, the dives and "spectacular" plays get remembered, but those make up like 10% of a season. The plays they make routinely that aren't routine but only look slightly difficult are very much as you say, taken for granted. 

The second part is when you watch a team for 162 games, there's a tendency to be much harder on them or have a "this has to be the worst ..." because you'll see a guy make 3 mistakes in a week and remember that for the rest of the season because you see that guy every day... and your brain keeps assigning those mistakes to him over and over again even though they don't get repeated.

 

[Brownie19]

7 hours ago, M.E. said:

I just heard from Atkins they were top 5. Ugh

That's because they were?  Don't be so afraid to listen to what others are saying and consider there might be some truth to your bias eye test.

[G-Snarls]

4 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

That's because they were?  Don't be so afraid to listen to what others are saying and consider there might be some truth to your bias eye test.

Exactly

If you were forced to sit and watch every 2026 Mariners and Angels game you'd feel very different about the relative quality of the Jays defense

[Brownie19]

Braves start Ray Kerr is a win of go home Game 3?  Yikes

[Spanky__99]

2 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Braves start Ray Kerr is a win of go home Game 3?  Yikes

Holmes is the bulk reliever. Kerr is to face the LHB's in Schwarber and Harper.

[SpencerBateman]

Who’s best matchup to take down the dodgers?  That’s who I want.  

[Governator]

29 minutes ago, SpencerBateman said:

Who’s best matchup to take down the dodgers?  That’s who I want.  

That'd be the Braves.  They beat the Dodgers 5-1 in their season series. Chris Sale threw a complete game shutout against them in August and could derail them.

[Omar]

14 minutes ago, Governator said:

That'd be the Braves.  They beat the Dodgers 5-1 in their season series. Chris Sale threw a complete game shutout against them in August and could derail them.

Playoff Dodgers =/= Regular Season Dodgers

[G-Snarls]

Aaron Nola only lasted 1 and 2/3 and buried the Phillies down 3 runs 

Now Tim Mayza is in for them.....