Postseason Happenings 2016

[FredLynn]

REALly, Texas will have to play the Jays or O's while we play the depleted Guardians.

 

It won't be a cake walk, but it's probably easier than the WC winner.

 

Not to be a spoilsport, but we haven't even made the playoffs yet, let alone won the ALE. That said, I think we are in the drivers seat right now.

[Palodios]

Not to be a spoilsport, but we haven't even made the playoffs yet, let alone won the ALE. That said, I think we are in the drivers seat right now.

 

Unlike some people I was referring to the winner of the AL East haha

[moonslav59]

Not to be a spoilsport, but we haven't even made the playoffs yet, let alone won the ALE. That said, I think we are in the drivers seat right now.

 

What? We can't speculate on who has the strongest chance at winning the AL until the playoffs are set?

[Slasher9]

UPDATE:

13 GAMES TO GO

10 Road / 3 Home

 

Final road trip about to start. and it's mega 10 gamer. 6-4 would get it done. we just cremated the MFY and spread their ashes on a golf course for the offseason with a 4 game sweep. Next up: nails for the Orioles coffin.

 

DIVISION:

1st in Division (3 GA of Bal)

 

WC

6 GA of being "out of the playoffs"

 

ESPN has Red Sox at 99.4% chance of making the playoffs...

MAGIC NUMBER:

12 to clinch ALE

9 to make Playoffs

[moonslav59]

UPDATE:

13 GAMES TO GO

10 Road / 3 Home

 

Final road trip about to start. and it's mega 10 gamer. 6-4 would get it done. we just cremated the MFY and spread their ashes on a golf course for the offseason with a 4 game sweep. Next up: nails for the Orioles coffin.

 

DIVISION:

1st in Division (3 GA of Bal)

 

WC

6 GA of being "out of the playoffs"

 

ESPN has Red Sox at 99.4% chance of making the playoffs...

MAGIC NUMBER:

12 to clinch ALE

9 to make Playoffs

 

With such a tough road trip, and remember, the Rays are no push-over, I'm glad we have a 3 game lead.

[Nick]

With such a tough road trip, and remember, the Rays are no push-over, I'm glad we have a 3 game lead.

 

Little concerning what Clay, Ed and Pomey has given us lately.

[Slasher9]

Little concerning what Clay, Ed and Pomey has given us lately.

 

Clay just gave us 6ip / 2 Runs his last start. what more should we expect of him?

[Spudboy]

Clay just gave us 6ip / 2 Runs his last start. what more should we expect of him?

 

Silly boy. Buch and his starts should be aesthetically pleasing as well!

[S5Dewey]

Clay just gave us 6ip / 2 Runs his last start. what more should we expect of him?

 

 

I know his final numbers looked ok, but if you watched the game you know he was only about one pitch from being knocked out of the game in at least three of those six innings. In spite of his pitching line, that wasn't his finest hour.

[Slasher9]

I know his final numbers looked ok, but if you watched the game you know he was only about one pitch from being knocked out of the game in at least three of those six innings. In spite of his pitching line, that wasn't his finest hour.

 

yes. he was in and out of trouble for most of the 6 innings. if it was anyone else not named "clay" the storyline would be how mentally tough said pitcher is for getting out of trouble and minimizing damage when he doesnt have his "best stuff" that day. and to go out there and fight, scratch, and claw to give his team 6 innings.

but it's clay so he is a pussy, mentally weak, and lucky (this sentence is not directed at you S).

[User Name]

I don't know how anyone can say that Buch's second half has been nothing if not a God-send for the Sox. It doesn't matter how it looks, as long as he gets the job done.

[Thunder]

As long as we take 3 of 4 from the O's, we're good, since the Jays have to deal with a surging Seattle on the west coast. That would put us 5 up with 9 to play.

[S5Dewey]

yes. he was in and out of trouble for most of the 6 innings. if it was anyone else not named "clay" the storyline would be how mentally tough said pitcher is for getting out of trouble and minimizing damage when he doesnt have his "best stuff" that day. and to go out there and fight, scratch, and claw to give his team 6 innings.

but it's clay so he is a pussy, mentally weak, and lucky (this sentence is not directed at you S).

 

This seems to be what we're getting from Clay now. If you think back to his previous start, Pedey had a ball go off his glove that would have saved Clay's ass had it been caught and Clay's line would have looked a lot better. Aside from a lot of walks. Ugh. But in his most recent start walks weren't a problem.

 

I like to think that his game is coming together, but even if it isn't he's still better than any other starting pitcher we can run out there.

[moonslav59]

Pretty amazing what our rotation has done, considering we lost our first half leader in many important categories- Steven Wright.

 

1st in ERA 2.68

1st in OPS against .627

2nd in IP 114

[sk7326]

After a long, sordid history of Yankee-related disasters at Fenway late in the season, wow was this fun.

 

I think it's pretty clear (on merit) that Pomeranz is the best choice to go to the pen for the playoffs.

[sk7326]

As long as we take 3 of 4 from the O's, we're good, since the Jays have to deal with a surging Seattle on the west coast. That would put us 5 up with 9 to play.

 

Anything but a sweep and things will be okay.

[vjcsmoke]

We swept the Yankees!!! Hell yeah that feels good!! And we're on top of the division too.

 

It's a really nice situation that we're in now. Just have to hang on and perform down the stretch. If we can keep winning 70% of our remaining games I think we win the division title for sure.

[Kimmi]

Thank Gawd for this post.

 

I may have to become a Stat Geek.

 

Come over to the dark side Spud. Those guys are awesome.

[Kimmi]

Bullwhacky. THe problem is it applies in ways that are not easily measured in retrospect. The effect is not so much on the player themselves but on the team around them, and the reason it's so hard to detect is that any team will try to bring in playoff-veteran players if they're in the playoff hunt, because they KNOW it makes a difference to have players who have been there before and can tell the other guys what to expect, meaning a control group is hard to source

 

One example of what I'm rambling about -- When the Red Sox were flailing against the Guardians in 07, and looked like they were going to crap out, the veterans from 04 (Tek, Papi, Schill, etc) called a players-only meeting and settled things down, got people playing with confidence again, squeezed out a win, and got the team rolling again. The result was not improved performance, but preventing UNDERperformance, which is damn hard to measure statistically.

 

Not bullwhacky at all. Anecdotal evidence is just that.

 

Personally, I am a big believer in the positive impact of veteran presence on a team.

 

However, that post was not about veteran presence, but in having previous postseason experience. There is simply no evidence to support that previous playoff experience equates to more success in the postseason.

[Kimmi]

So true, Dojii. The Stat Geeks want to quantify everything but there are some things that can't be quantified. When the Stat Geeks see things like this they simply ignore them or say that since they can't be quantified they can't be true.

 

There's more to baseball than numbers.

 

Contrary to popular belief, Stat Geeks have never ignored the human element side of the game.

[Kimmi]

Personally I take nothing for granted. I agree the Yanks are probably postseason toast, but we still have to play the f***s 5 more times - important games for us if not for them.

 

Even after the sweep, I will not count the Yankees out.

 

That said, I am feeling a lot better about them not making it than I was 4 games ago.

[oldtimer]

Porcello was on tonight and with good hitting, including home runs by both Betts and Ortiz we won and are now up on the Orioles by 4. We need to get at least 1 of the next three games at Camden Yards.

[S5Dewey]

Not bullwhacky at all. Anecdotal evidence is just that.

 

Personally, I am a big believer in the positive impact of veteran presence on a team.

 

However, that post was not about veteran presence, but in having previous postseason experience. There is simply no evidence to support that previous playoff experience equates to more success in the postseason.

 

Contrary to popular belief, Stat Geeks have never ignored the human element side of the game.

 

With all due respect, I think those two posts are in conflict with one another.

[SoxnCycles]

Anyone else a bit concerned about the rotation, heading into the playoffs?

 

I expect Porcello to be solid, but Price has a not-so-stellar postseason record.

E-Rod and Buchholz have been consistently inconsistent.

I think Pomeranz has hit a wall, due to his IP.

 

It'd be nice to see if Wright can give us some meaningful innings.

[Slasher9]

Anyone else a bit concerned about the rotation, heading into the playoffs?

 

I expect Porcello to be solid, but Price has a not-so-stellar postseason record.

E-Rod and Buchholz have been consistently inconsistent.

I think Pomeranz has hit a wall, due to his IP.

 

It'd be nice to see if Wright can give us some meaningful innings.

 

.i hear you 100%.

without trying to jinx anything... i like our matchups/chances vs any of the other AL contenders. like everyone else, i am praying that price will act like an Ace come October. Game 1 should be Porc. game 3 i am ok with Erod/Clay combo.

[S5Dewey]

Anyone else a bit concerned about the rotation, heading into the playoffs?

 

I expect Porcello to be solid, but Price has a not-so-stellar postseason record.

E-Rod and Buchholz have been consistently inconsistent.

I think Pomeranz has hit a wall, due to his IP.

 

It'd be nice to see if Wright can give us some meaningful innings.

 

Oh yeah. We have to be concerned. We're Red Sox fans.

 

As I see it there is no team in the AL that doesn't have its issues and you've outlined our pitching issues very well. The thing I like about this team is that they've shown the ability to beat essentially anyone. Of course, they've also shown the ability to lose to anyone, but let's not talk about THAT! LOL

 

All facets of the game are coming together at the moment, defense, hitting, and pitching. If all three engines keep clicking as they are this could be a (relatively) stress-free playoffs but that's asking for a lot. But if any one engine falters the other two engines are solid enough to keep us in most games.

[SoxnCycles]

Oh yeah. We have to be concerned. We're Red Sox fans.

 

As I see it there is no team in the AL that doesn't have its issues and you've outlined our pitching issues very well. The thing I like about this team is that they've shown the ability to beat essentially anyone. Of course, they've also shown the ability to lose to anyone, but let's not talk about THAT! LOL

 

All facets of the game are coming together at the moment, defense, hitting, and pitching. If all three engines keep clicking as they are this could be a (relatively) stress-free playoffs but that's asking for a lot. But if any one engine falters the other two engines are solid enough to keep us in most games.

 

You and Slasher are right. There doesn't seem to be another AL team with a better rotation.

Cleveland qualified until the injuries hit them.

 

Hopefully, Price decides he had enough of sucking in the postseason.

 

How is Texas in first place with a team ERA of 4.45???

[User Name]

Unsustainable luck in one run games. They're something like 34-10 in one-run games, which is insane.

[Slasher9]

Unsustainable luck in one run games. They're something like 34-10 in one-run games, which is insane.

 

holy flip. they are waaaaaay ahead of pythagorean. Pythagorean W-L: 76-75

[bosoxmal]

Anyone else a bit concerned about the rotation, heading into the playoffs?

 

I expect Porcello to be solid, but Price has a not-so-stellar postseason record.

E-Rod and Buchholz have been consistently inconsistent.

I think Pomeranz has hit a wall, due to his IP.

 

It'd be nice to see if Wright can give us some meaningful innings.

 

That's exactly why it will be so necessary to win the division. Your big three will have to be the rotation. Not clrear to me, yet, who that 3rd man will be. Probably Buck. eRod and Pomeranz are hopeless. Almost time to think about awards. Here again, if we win the division and go to the WS, Pocello will be a shoo-in. If Mookie gets quickly back to August form (and it's beginning to look like it), we could have the pair winning the top awards. That would put a nice stamp on the year . 2016.

 

By the way, on August 3, Porcello was 1000-1 to win the Cy Young. If I were (still) a betting man, I think I would take 5-1 right noow.