What is the story about?
Good
morning. This is the time of year that the news becomes outdated very quickly. There won’t be anything about last night’s Dodgers/Braves game because I’m writing this before it ended. And not much from the Brewers and Padres Game 2.
- The playoffs got weird in Game 1 of the National League Division Series when a potential go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth by the Padres’ Ty France hit a cable on the roof of American Family Field and landed in Jackson Chourio’s glove for an out. AJ Cassavell and Adam McCalvy have the details.
- Dayn Perry has more on the ground rules for the play and how according to Statcast, at least, the ball likely would not have been a home run.
- Eno Sarris and Spencer Nusbaum say not so fast, and that Statcast doesn’t do well with balls hit that high in the air. (The Athletic sub. req.) However, while they can’t say for sure, they think that “foul ball” was a much more likely outcome than “home run.” Still, that would have given France another chance to swing the bat.
- France’s fly ball joins some of the weirdest plays in playoff history.
- Kiri Oler has an analysis of Game 1 between the Padres and Brewers, (Fangraphs paywall) a game that was full of important moments.
- Russel Dorsey writes that the Brewers think that experience plays into their favor this time around in the postseason.
- Matt Snyder writes something that many people around here have said: The Brewers need to stop pretending they are scrappy, underestimated underdogs and not the clear favorites that they are.
- Snyder also has winners and losers from Game 2 of the Brewers/Padres series.
- Ryan Phillips has a profile of Padres reliever Adrian Morejón.
- Jayson Stark has arecap of Day 1 of the Division Series, including the Rays’ Drew Rasmussen almost no-hitting the Yankees.
- Another summary and analysis of every Game 1 of the four Division Series.
- Game 1 “winners and losers” of all four series.
- Will Sammon thinks that Rasmussen was “untouchable” in Game 1. (The Athletic sub. req.) Also with more behind-the-scenes stuff about Rasmussen’s gem and what was going on in the Rays’ dugout.
- Dan Szymborski analyzes Rasmussen’s “rude” outing. (Fangraphs paywall) “Rude” as in the Yankees never had a chance.
- Sarah Langs has five “incredible” stats from Rasmussen’s outing.
- Ryan Phillips thinks that Game 1 proved that the Yankees aren’t good enough to win a title. Or maybe that Rasmussen is really good?
- The one hit off Rasmussen was a two-out double in the eighth inning by catcher Austin Wells, who ran through a stop sign and was thrown out at third base. Kristie Ackert and Gabe Lacques have more on the play that snuffed any chance the Yankees had to win.
- No-hitters and close calls in postseason history.
- Mike Petriello explains that the Rays’ secret weapon is their best outfield defense in the majors.
- Brendan Kuty has some reasons why the Yankees won’t lose Game 2. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- A big reason is that likely Cy Young winner Cam Schlitter is starting for the Yankees. Jared Greenspan notes that in addition to his already nasty stuff, Schlitter has added a nasty curveball to his arsenal recently.
- The Yankees left Aaron Judge off the Division Series roster as he still hasn’t recovered from his calf injury. Bryan Hoch with details.
- The Dodgers put rookie Josue De Paula on the playoff roster. Andrés Soto has what to expect in the postseason out of this highly-touted youngster.
- Shohei Ohtani says he’s still trying to figure out the cause of his knee, biceps and neck problems. In any case, he’ll simply try to manage the symptoms from here on in.
- Andrés Soto details how Dodgers star Tarik Skubal and his teammates overcame the heat and the Braves to win Game 1.
- Kiley McDaniel polled 27 executives about what kind of a contract (and with whom) will Skubal sign this offseason. Most of them expected Skubal to sign before the lockout and for a team that guarantees he gets paid whether or not there is a lockout.
- Bob Nightengale thinks Kyle Tucker was finally playing like a $240 million player in Game 1 of the NLDS.
- Rhett Bollinger calls lefty Hagen Smith the White Sox “secret weapon.”
- Zack Meisel notes that the famous midges are back in Cleveland for this playoff series.
- Anthony Castrovince recalls how the White Sox and Cleveland were the founding teams of the American League.
- Matthew Roberson has one specific matchup for each series that could determine the outcome. (Fangraphs paywall)
- Matt Snyder ranks three still-active playoff teams by how likely they are to win their first ever World Series.
- Mike Axisa ranks all 16 possible World Series matchups by how compelling they are.
- Jordan Shusterman examines what went wrong with the Phillies this year.
- Jon Becker has playoff report cards for Don Mattingly and Craig Counsell. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- And finally, Cole Jacobson has the ten stadiums that have provided the biggest home-field advantage in the playoffs.
