Going Deep with The Nats

While many were sleeping past midnight in many parts of the country, extra innings are usually unforgiven of mistakes and especially in the postseason where one game can turn a series. The Red Sox took the lead in game #3 of the World Series by a score of 2-1 in the 13th inning which a chance to go up 3-games-to-0. On a 3-2 pitch, Max Muncy walked to start the bottom of the 13th inning then he advanced to second base on a bizarre foul-out that carried Eduardo Nunez into the stands. With first base open and two outs, Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi was fresh with a pitch count of 35 before Yasiel Puig stepped up to the plate. With first base open, Red Sox manager Alex Cora decided to pitch to Puig, instead of intentionally walking him to face the weak hitting Austin Barnes who is the right-handed back-up catcher for the Dodgers. Continue reading →

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

You would be smiling too if you were Juan Soto who celebrates his 20th birthday today. He cashed his first lotto ticket when he signed a $1.5 million international free agent deal at the age of 16 with the Washington Nationals. That type of money puts you in the wealthiest 1% of Dominicans. In Soto’s case, that money will look like pocket change when his career earnings exceed a fraction of a billion dollars. He was only rated as the 22nd best international free agent back in 2015 when he signed with a low percentage chance of future success. Check back in a few more years to see how the 21 players ahead of him in those rankings do in their careers. Most of those players signed in international free agency will never sniff a major league field. Continue reading →

For Clayton Kershaw, he could be a free agent in two weeks as he controls the key to his future with his current contract that allows for an opt-out after this 2018 season. He is one of the greatest pitchers of the post-PED era with three Cy Young awards and one MVP award — but unlike his favorite Dodger lefty, Sandy Koufax, who had a career 0.95 post-season ERA — Clayton Kershaw has been an inconsistent postseason pitcher with a large sample size of 145.0 innings and a 4.28 ERA overall. In fact Kershaw has been good in his NLDS appearances with a 3.72 ERA, then his NLCS ERA is a poor 4.61, and now he has an horrific 5.49 ERA in his limited innings in four World Series games. Continue reading →

The key relievers formerly known as “The Firm”, photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

For Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, he has preached the virtues of analytics and touted them as a reason to hire a visionary manager in analytics when he chose Dave Martinez to take over for Dusty Baker for the 2018 season. Fans and apparently even the players were hoping for an upgrade in analytics for the Nats, but they rarely saw effective shifts or line-ups constructed from even basic analytics. Continue reading →

Mike Rizzo is never far from his phone; Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

If there is one blueprint the Los Angeles Dodgers have used to reach the World Series in back-to-back years is a rested starting rotation for the post-season. Clayton Kershaw, their ace, only threw 161 1/3 innings this season. Hyun-Jin Ryu who is the Dodgers #2 pitcher only threw 82 1/3 innings this season. Rookie Waker Buehler threw a combined 153 1/3 innings between the Minors and Majors this season. The Dodgers number four pitcher, Rich Hill, threw 132 2/3 innings this season. The Dodgers had 7 pitchers this season with at least 15 starts. Contrast that with the Washington Nationals staff of 2016-2018, and you will see a much different approach in use and usage.  Continue reading →