2021 MLB Season Thread

[GeorgiaModerate]

Freddie Freeman has hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats tonight (double, triple, single, homer).  The Braves lead the Marlins 7-2 in the bottom of the 6th.

[GeorgiaModerate]

It's worth noting the Braves have a much tougher schedule than the Phillies do.

They host the Yankees, go to Los Angeles to play to play the Dodgers, have a split series with the Padres, where one of the games is at home and the other three are on the road, and play the Giants twice.

The Phillies get off lightly in comparison. They go to San Diego, then come home to play Tampa, have a three game series in Milwaukee in early September, then don't face another team with a record currently above .500 until the end of September series with Atlanta.

This is why I'm picking the Phillies to win the NL East at this point.

The Phillies definitely have an easier remaining schedule, but with the way the Braves are playing and a 3.5-game lead, I'd rather be the Braves at this point.

[GeorgiaModerate]

It's worth noting the Braves have a much tougher schedule than the Phillies do.

They host the Yankees, go to Los Angeles to play to play the Dodgers, have a split series with the Padres, where one of the games is at home and the other three are on the road, and play the Giants twice.

The Phillies get off lightly in comparison. They go to San Diego, then come home to play Tampa, have a three game series in Milwaukee in early September, then don't face another team with a record currently above .500 until the end of September series with Atlanta.

This is why I'm picking the Phillies to win the NL East at this point.

The Phillies definitely have an easier remaining schedule, but with the way the Braves are playing and a 3.5-game lead, I'd rather be the Braves at this point.

With their loss today, the Phillies were swept by the lowly Diamondbacks and are now 4 games behind the Braves, who have gained 6 games on the Phils in the last 10 played.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Max Fried just delivered a brilliant pitching performance, a complete game shutout on 90 pitches (66 strikes) as the Braves beat the Orioles 3-0 for their 11th straight road win.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Braves just finished off a 9-0 road trip, admittedly against weak competition (the Nationals, Marlins, and Orioles).  It was the team's 12th straight road win, breaking a franchise record that had stood since 1890.

Meanwhile, the Orioles lost their 18th consecutive game, which is amazingly NOT a franchise record; the 1988 O's hold the AL record of losing 21 straight.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Haven't heard from Georgia Moderate since Braves are still losing to Yankees, he was really excited when Braves swept the Orioles

*waves*

And in response to Sprouts, it was a great play and I’m all for going for it in that situation, no matter how it turns out. I did think he was safe (the one angle showing both his foot and the tag seemed to show he beat the tag by a hair) but it probably wasn’t decisive enough to overturn the call.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The umps were particularly bad in that game (both ways).

[GeorgiaModerate]

Orioles finally Win a game

ESPN has an article up arguing that this losing streak was the worst stretch of baseball by any team in modern MLB history.

[GeorgiaModerate]

You were saying?

[GeorgiaModerate]

Something to make you feel old: watching an MLB game and one of the players (Mike Yastrzemski) is the grandson of someone you remember as an active player.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Braves shut out the Giants 9-0 to win the series 2-1.  I'll certainly take that result!

[GeorgiaModerate]

So much for George Moderate Braves got swept

George the Moderate said the Phillies were done. Now they are only 1 1/2 games behind the Braves and have a six game winning streak.

I don't think I ever said the Phillies were done.  I said that even with the difference in schedules, I'd rather be the Braves in that situation (a 3.5 game lead at the time).

[GeorgiaModerate]

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Mets beat the Yankees to win the series!

Thank you for making Aaron Boone this much closer to being fired. Easily the worst manager I've had to endure from any favorite team in any sport (though my college football team's coach tests me, it's not a particularly close second). Not fun as a player and so much worse as a coach.

The Yankees have certainly underachieved this season, which got me to wondering: which teams have overachieved the most (the Giants, obviously) and underachieved the most?  I took the pre-season 538 projections and compared them to the current standings; these are not directly comparable because the season isn't over, but they're close.

Biggest overachievers:

Giants +57 !!!
Mariners +27
Brewers +26
Rays +21
Rockies +20

Biggest underachievers:

Diamondbacks -39
Twins -35
Nationals -31
Padres -20
Yankees -17

In the tables below, the first pair of numbers is the team's actual current record, and the second pair is the 538 preseason projected record from these articles:

NL: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/2021-mlb-preview-our-guide-to-the-national-league/
AL: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/2021-mlb-preview-our-guide-to-the-american-league/

NL East:

ATL 76-66 (+10) 87-75 (+12)     -2
PHI 72-71 (+1) 80-82 (-2)         +3
NYM 72-72 (EVEN) 88-74 (+14) -14
MIA 60-83 (-23) 70-92 (-22)       -1
WSH 59-84 (-25) 84-78 (+6)     -31

NL Central:

MIL 89-55 (+34) 85-77 (+8)   +26
CIN 75-69 (+6) 81-81 (EVEN)   +6
STL 73-69 (+4) 82-80 (+2)       +2
CHC 65-79 (-14) 82-20 (+2)    -16
PIT 52-91 (-39) 64-98 (-34)      -5

NL West:

SF  93-50 (+43) 74-88 (-14)    +57
LAD 91-53 (+38) 103-59 (+44)   -6
SD  74-68 (+6) 94-68 (+26)      -20
COL 66-78 (-12) 65-97 (-32)     +20
ARI 47-96 (-49) 76-86 (-10)      -39

AL East:

TAM 89-54 (+35) 88-74 (+14)  +21
TOR 80-63 (+17) 84-78 (+6)    +11
BOS 81-64 (+17) 80-82 (-2)     +19
NYY 79-64 (+15) 97-65 (+32)   -17
BAL 46-97 (-51) 63-99 (-36)     -15

AL Central:

CHW 82-61 (+21) 85-77 (+8)   +13
CLE 69-72 (-3)  84-78 (+6)         -9
DET 68-76 (-8)  68-94 (-26)     +18
KC  65-78 (-13) 74-88 (-14)       +1
MIN 63-80 (-17) 90-72 (+18)    -35

AL West:

HOU 83-59 (+24) 93-69 (+24) EVEN
SEA 77-66 (+11) 73-89 (-16)    +27
OAK 77-66 (+11) 84-78 (+6)      +5
LAA 70-73 (-3)  82-20 (-2)           -1
TEX 53-89 (-36) 70-92 (-22)      -14

[GeorgiaModerate]

Eddie Rosario just became the second Brave this season to hit for the cycle.  Freddie Freeman did it on August 18th.  Both did it in their first four at-bats of the game.

[GeorgiaModerate]

With the Braves leading the Padres 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th, Will Smith walked the bases full -- and stranded them there by striking out the side.  Combined with the Phillies' loss to the Pirates today, the Braves are now up by 2.5 games (3 in the loss column) with the Phils coming to Atlanta for a 3-game series starting Tuesday night.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Braves win a tense pitchers’ duel 2-1 over the Phillies, pushing the latter closer to elimination.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Much like Barves fans, Cardinals fans are just insufferable.

We can't celebrate when our teams have success?

[GeorgiaModerate]

Anyway, in other news, the streak got snapped at 17 games today. But going from hovering around 500 and waiting for elimination to punching a ticket to the playoffs as the hottest team in baseball is remarkable.

During last night's Braves game, one of the announcers noted that as recently as Sep. 7, the Cardinals had only a 2.9% chance of making the playoffs (per Fangraphs).  Truly one of the most remarkable runs in recent years.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Braves sweep the Phillies to clinch the NL East title!  Weirdly, it was the Braves' first sweep at Truist Park this season; they've had a better record on the road than at home.

I never would have seen this coming when the Braves, who had been struggling to hit .500 the first half of the season, lost their best player (Ronald Acuna Jr.) for the season on July 11.  But some savvy acquisitions before the trade deadline, some key returns from injury, and some players getting hot at the right time made all the difference.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Something I don't recall ever seeing before: Lots of MLB players wear gold chains.  Joc Pederson of the Braves wears a string of pearls.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Initial playoff schedule


AL wild card game: Yankees at Red Sox, Tuesday 8pm EDT

NL wild card game: Cardinals at Dodgers, Wednesday 8pm EDT


AL division series (best of 5):

Thur: WC winner at Rays, White Sox at Astros
Fri: WC winner at Rays, White Sox at Astros

Sun: Rays at WC winner, Astros at White Sox
Mon: Rays at WC winner, Astros at White Sox (if necessary)

Wed: WC winner at Rays, White Sox at Astros (if necessary)


NL division series (best of 5):

Fri: Braves at Brewers, WC winner at Giants
Sat: Braves at Brewers, WC winner at Giants

Mon: Brewers at Braves, Giants at WC winner
Tue: Brewers at Braves, Giants at WC winner (if necessary)

Thur: Braves at Brewers, WC winner at Giants (if necessary)

[GeorgiaModerate]

538 lists the odds of each World Series matchup.  The most likely is Dodgers-Rays at 12.6%, the least likely is Cardinals-Red Sox at 0.4%.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/pkcapitol/status/1445598728933371911

Someone tell me again why the Yankees got Gallo?

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Rays and Red Sox are now in the 12th inning, tied 4-4.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Horrible, horrible baserunning by the Braves there.  Runners on 1st and 3rd, one out, batter hits a fly to deep left.  Runner on 3rd will score easily.  But the runner on 1st (Adam Duvall) decides to tag up and try for second, where he was out by a mile -- BEFORE the runner from 3rd crossed the plate, so that run doesn't score.  Inexcusable mistake.