2026 MLB Postseason Thread

[SpencerBateman]

We did it.  We beat the Phillies.  Beat them in 93 and beat them today

[G-Snarls]

They're using Wheeler now 

Nola 

Mayza 

Wheeler 

It's only the 3rd inning 

Mattingly is unhinged 

[Brownie19]

23 minutes ago, G-Snarls said:

They're using Wheeler now 

Nola 

Mayza 

Wheeler 

It's only the 3rd inning 

Mattingly is unhinged 

They don't have a choice...

[Governator]

4 hours ago, Omar said:

Playoff Dodgers =/= Regular Season Dodgers

No doubt, but if you had to pick 1 team...  That'd be my pick.

[G-Snarls]

26 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

They don't have a choice...

I suppose 

Doesn't seem like anything is working 

Nola and Wheeler each gave up a multi run bomb 

[G-Snarls]

51 minutes ago, SpencerBateman said:

We did it.  We beat the Phillies.  Beat them in 93 and beat them today

Gillick then 

Anthopoulos now

[Spanky__99]

51 minutes ago, Governator said:

No doubt, but if you had to pick 1 team...  That'd be my pick.

Makes sense, they're playing them next.

[hanton]

geez does Olson have power

[G-Snarls]

12 minutes ago, hanton said:

geez does Olson have power

8 yrs/$168M

I get why they let Freeman (5 years older) walk 

 

[Brownie19]

Crazy and kinda too bad the Braves had to bring in Sale go close it.  It will push back when he's available v. the Dodgers. Still love seeing it though.  Sale is so good.

I don't get how their pitching is good enough to win in the playoffs.  Jays fans are worried that Soriano and Yesavage aren't good enough to win the in playoffs, but the Braves are rolling out Tyler Mahle and Grant Holmes after Sale.  There's no one way to win in the playoffs.  That's the beauty of it.

Anyway.  Like the Braves franchise. Congrats to them for moving on.  Nice to see the franchise favorite Albies knock one out.

[philly30]

Phillies offense is garbage

[G-Snarls]

2 hours ago, philly30 said:

Phillies offense is garbage

It shouldn't be with all those big names they got in the lineup

[jaysblue]

7 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

I don't get how their pitching is good enough to win in the playoffs.  Jays fans are worried that Soriano and Yesavage aren't good enough to win the in playoffs, but the Braves are rolling out Tyler Mahle and Grant Holmes after Sale.  There's no one way to win in the playoffs.  That's the beauty of it.

Anyway.  Like the Braves franchise. Congrats to them for moving on.  Nice to see the franchise favorite Albies knock one out.

I don’t think the Braves’ pitching after Sale is anything special, and yeah, that would concern me moving forward against a team like the Dodgers. Considering all the injuries they dealt with in the rotation - Strider, Schwellenbach, Smith-Shawver, Waldrep and Lopez - I honestly didn’t even think they’d win the division or make the postseason. We’ll see what happens, but especially in a 3-game Wild Card series or even a 5-game series, anything can happen.

As for Soriano and Yesavage, I think you’re making it sound like I don’t trust them at all or think they’re awful, which I never said. I also never said the Jays can’t win in the playoffs with them. There are legitimate questions about whether either of them can be a true No. 2 starter right now, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with pointing that out. Soriano, for example, had a 5.30 ERA in his 10 starts with the Jays. I’ve also said that if Yesavage puts everything together and lowers the BB/9, he absolutely could become that 1A/No. 2 type behind Cease.

Ideally, though, I’d still love to see them add another elite arm to pair with Cease. If they don’t, I’ve already said that a rotation built around Cease, Soriano, Yesavage and a couple of solid offseason additions would still be more than good enough to get through a 162-game season.

 

 

 

[jaysblue]

7 hours ago, philly30 said:

Phillies offense is garbage

As Jays fans, we're not in a position to comment. 

[jaysblue]

9 hours ago, G-Snarls said:

They're using Wheeler now 

Nola 

Mayza 

Wheeler 

It's only the 3rd inning 

Mattingly is unhinged 

They had to use Wheeler in the final game of the regular season on Sunday. So if he was going to be available at all for Game 3, it would’ve been on short rest and likely only for a couple of innings out of the bullpen at most, which is exactly how they ended up using him in that win-or-go-home game.

[jaysblue]

On 10/1/2026 at 1:45 AM, M.E. said:

I just heard from Atkins they were top 5. Ugh

In payroll?

[Brownie19]

3 hours ago, jaysblue said:

I don’t think the Braves’ pitching after Sale is anything special, and yeah, that would concern me moving forward against a team like the Dodgers. Considering all the injuries they dealt with in the rotation - Strider, Schwellenbach, Smith-Shawver, Waldrep and Lopez - I honestly didn’t even think they’d win the division or make the postseason. We’ll see what happens, but especially in a 3-game Wild Card series or even a 5-game series, anything can happen.

Unfortunately, these guys all suck and they aren't top of the rotation guys at all.  Schwellenbach is a top of the rotation arm when healthy.

They have 4 guys who are 120 wRC+ bats and then everyone else is below average, sub 100 wRC+  

21st in offensive WAR as a team, 17th in pitching WAR as a team, 6th defensively.  Feels like one of those seasons where everything has broke their way.  If you simulated this season 10 times, it feels like they're a below average team in like 8 of them.

Maybe the Baseball Gods are trying even things out after they sh*t on the Braves in the playoffs all those years in a row in the 90's.

[Governator]

47 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Unfortunately, these guys all suck and they aren't top of the rotation guys at all.  Schwellenbach is a top of the rotation arm when healthy.

They have 4 guys who are 120 wRC+ bats and then everyone else is below average, sub 100 wRC+  

21st in offensive WAR as a team, 17th in pitching WAR as a team, 6th defensively.  Feels like one of those seasons where everything has broke their way.  If you simulated this season 10 times, it feels like they're a below average team in like 8 of them.

Maybe the Baseball Gods are trying even things out after they sh*t on the Braves in the playoffs all those years in a row in the 90's.

I forgot what its like having 4 guys above 120 wRC+.

[Brownie19]

24 minutes ago, Governator said:

I forgot what its like having 4 guys above 120 wRC+.

I mean - we had 4 last year?

The Braves have 4 that are between a 120 and 126 wRC+, which is all good, but no real offensive star - and then it's all below average bats in that lineup.  That's all I was getting at.  

[Governator]

3 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

I mean - we had 4 last year?

The Braves have 4 that are between a 120 and 126 wRC+, which is all good, but no real offensive star - and then it's all below average bats in that lineup.  That's all I was getting at.  

I know, we had more than that actually. I was just referring to this lackluster season. 

Acuna can still be a massive offensive stud, but he's about as fragile as glass.  He turned it on in the last 4-5 weeks of the season at least.

[philly30]

6 hours ago, jaysblue said:

As Jays fans, we're not in a position to comment. 

As a fan of both I am in a position to say both suck but I have more hope for the jays next year 

[Brownie19]

31 minutes ago, philly30 said:

As a fan of both I am in a position to say both suck but I have more hope for the jays next year 

Is Trea Turner done being a star - or even a league average player?  Philly has him for 7 more years and $191M - yikes

[philly30]

2 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Is Trea Turner done being a star - or even a league average player?  Philly has him for 7 more years and $191M - yikes

He is average at best now, that is one of the worst contracts ever

[dancingmachine]

On 10/1/2026 at 9:17 AM, 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.

I watched almost every game the Jays were not good. I had my eyes checked last year still 20/20 maybe you need yours done.

[Brownie19]

3 hours ago, dancingmachine said:

I watched almost every game the Jays were not good.

You stupid f*ck - that's exactly why your perspective is off.  This isn't a challenging concept.

[jaysblue]

10 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Unfortunately, these guys all suck and they aren't top of the rotation guys at all.  Schwellenbach is a top of the rotation arm when healthy.

They have 4 guys who are 120 wRC+ bats and then everyone else is below average, sub 100 wRC+  

21st in offensive WAR as a team, 17th in pitching WAR as a team, 6th defensively.  Feels like one of those seasons where everything has broke their way.  If you simulated this season 10 times, it feels like they're a below average team in like 8 of them.

Maybe the Baseball Gods are trying even things out after they sh*t on the Braves in the playoffs all those years in a row in the 90's.

Where did I say they were all top-of-the-rotation guys? My point was simply that Atlanta dealt with a ton of injuries to its pitching staff and still found a way to win the division. At the beginning of the season, I actually wrote them off largely because of those injuries, so clearly I was wrong about that.

A lot of the pitchers I mentioned were still important pieces of their rotation. You can debate how good each individual pitcher is, but don’t make it sound like they all sucked and those injuries were insignificant. It’s no different than the Jays losing guys like Ponce, Bieber, Berrios, Yesavage and others throughout the season. They don’t all have to be aces for losing that much rotation depth to matter.

And if we’re talking about actual top-of-the-rotation upside, Strider absolutely looked like one of the better arms in baseball a few years ago. Injuries have clearly taken a toll and he hasn’t been the same pitcher since, but that doesn’t change what he was before getting hurt.

I also have no idea why you’re bringing up the Braves’ offense. I never mentioned their offense. Same thing with this hypothetical about simulating their season 10 times and them being below average in eight of them. I never made that argument either, so I’m not sure what you’re responding to there.

Seriously, this is why these discussions with you can get annoying. I’m just trying to have a baseball conversation, and instead you’re arguing against points I never made and making it personal because I’ve been an AA/Braves fan in the past. Respond to what I actually wrote instead of turning it into something else.

[jaysblue]

6 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Is Trea Turner done being a star - or even a league average player?  Philly has him for 7 more years and $191M - yikes

The guy burned me in the LOD this season. Next season will be the real test. He had some nice stretches in August this season I believe, but yeah not looking good. 

[jaysblue]

9 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

The Braves have 4 that are between a 120 and 126 wRC+, which is all good, but no real offensive star - and then it's all below average bats in that lineup.  That's all I was getting at.  

Each of those Braves bats would look like a star in this Toronto lineup.

Acuna is an elite offensive player when he’s healthy and right - legitimately could be one of the best hitters in baseball. Olson has monster power and is basically a lock for 35–40 HRs every year. Michael Harris II is still only 25, and going back to the second half of last season, he’s really started to look like he could develop into an offensive stud as well. Then you have Drake Baldwin, who has already emerged as one of the better young catchers in the game.

Not sure about Riley. He looks like he could be a disaster. Albies is meh, but at least he has some pop for a second baseman. 

So yeah, I’m not sure why we’re suddenly acting like Atlanta’s lineup is full of mediocre bats. Put those guys in Toronto’s lineup this season and we’d be talking about them completely differently.

[John_Havok]

1 hour ago, jaysblue said:

Each of those Braves bats would look like a star in this Toronto lineup.

Acuna is an elite offensive player when he’s healthy and right - legitimately could be one of the best hitters in baseball. Olson has monster power and is basically a lock for 35–40 HRs every year. Michael Harris II is still only 25, and going back to the second half of last season, he’s really started to look like he could develop into an offensive stud as well. Then you have Drake Baldwin, who has already emerged as one of the better young catchers in the game.

Not sure about Riley. He looks like he could be a disaster. Albies is meh, but at least he has some pop for a second baseman. 

So yeah, I’m not sure why we’re suddenly acting like Atlanta’s lineup is full of mediocre bats. Put those guys in Toronto’s lineup this season and we’d be talking about them completely differently.

I mean... 

wRC+ on the season for Atl - 97

Jays - 94.

 

We also shouldnt be seeing ATL as somehow being light years ahead of the Jays as a team offensively. 

3 points of wRC+ isnt exactly a chasm

Yes, the top Atl hitters were better than the top Jays hitters. But the 9 man lineup as a whole... way closer than most would guess

Case and point, those 4 guys that hit between 120 and 126 wRC+ were the only bats (100 PA cutoff) they had that were 100 or better. Only 7 above 90. 7 more under 90. 

Jays had 6 guys above 100 (just jot very far anive 100...), 11 over 90 and only 4 under 90. 

Braves gave Kim 147 PA to put up a 7 wRC+