Image credit: CNN.com - Jamie Squire, Getty Images
Before the Indians and Cubs play Game 3 of the 2016 World Series from Wrigley Field, the first Fall Classic game played at Wrigley since 1945, here are four quick takeaways from Games 1 and 2 of a historic series. Kyle Schwarber is the real deal You’re not supposed to be able to recover from a torn ACL in six months and hit Major League pitching in the World Series. That just doesn’t happen. But through two World Series games, Kyle Schwarber is defying odds. Serving as the designated hitter in both games in Cleveland, Schwarber is 3-for-7 with a double, two RBIs and two walks. And that’s after going hitless in four April at-bats and just 1-for-6 rehabbing in the Arizona Fall League. It just doesn’t add up. But then again, some guys just know how to hit. And a select few know how to hit in big moments. Schwarber flashed star potential in 2015. He slugged 16 homers in 273 regular season plate appearances before mashing five in the postseason, becoming the Cubs’ all-time postseason home run leader in the process. Yeah, let that sink in. And in just two World Series games this year, Schwarber is showing us all why the Cubs refused to include him in any trade offer this summer when the club was trying to add at the deadline. His double in Game 1 was inches from leaving the yard while both of his RBI singles in Game 2 were hard-hit shots up the middle of the diamond. In his other at-bats, he let the count run deep and has looked disciplined on breaking balls. In 11 career postseason games, Schwarber is hitting .353 with 10 RBI and a 1.274 OPS. Yep, you read that right. There’s no doubt the Cubs’ lineup is significantly deeper and more dangerous when Schwarber is in there. He hasn’t been medically cleared to play the outfield, so he won’t be in the starting lineup in Chicago, but he’ll still be a scary option off the bench in the late innings. Corey Kluber and Andrew Miller can carry the Indians The Indians’ convincing Game 1 win was the perfect indication that they can ride their two best arms to a World Series title. Kluber had everything working, specifically his two-seam fastball, which had insane movement all night. I’ve never seen a two-seamer move like that and I can’t remember the last time I saw a pitcher generate that much consistent movement on all of his pitches. Even in the cold air, Kluber was getting incredible tail on his two-seamer and his slider had a tight break throughout the game. He finished with nine strikeouts in six-plus innings of work. The Cubs looked awful against him all night and half the time, they left the bat of their shoulders. Chicago should be worried about facing Kluber in Game 4 and then facing him in a potential Game 7 in Cleveland. Once Terry Francona turned the ball over to Miller with a man on first in the seventh, it was game over. Even though Miller walked Rizzo and gave up a single to Zobrist to load the bases with no outs, it never actually felt like he was in trouble; Miller wasn’t going to let the Cubs get on the board. Miller has entered most of his appearances this postseason with men on base instead of starting an inning fresh, and he’s excelled in those high-leverage situations. He’s also been able to consistently work multiple innings at any point in the game, which has increased his already sky-high value. In 13.2 IP this October, Miller has 24 strikeouts and has yet to allow a run. With Kluber in line to make at least one more start and Miller available for extended work at any point, the Indians are in good shape with the series tied 1-1. They need just one win in Chicago to send the series back to Cleveland, and it’s clear that Kluber and Miller alone can just about will their team to victory. The Cubs are scary when they’re hitting The Cubs have arguably the deepest starting rotation of any of the 2016 postseason teams. Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta are proven aces, Kyle Hendricks is a rising star and John Lackey is a reliable veteran with big-game experience. They’re so deep, Jason Hammel couldn’t crack the postseason roster after posting very solid numbers in the regular season. But it’s the lineup that fuels this Cubs team. One through nine, they can all rake. After being shutout by the Dodgers in both Games 2 and 3 of the NLCS, the Cubs faced some unfamiliar adversity. But they broke out the bats in Game 4 of that series, exploding for 10 runs, and kept it going in Games 5 and 6 to secure the NL Pennant with ease. That’s when Anthony Rizzo locked in and Addison Russell started swinging the bat better. Now, Schwarber is back and already making his presence felt, and Ben Zobrist, who hit like crazy last World Series for the Royals, is locked in with five hits (two XBH) in two games against the Tribe. Then there’s NL MVP frontrunner Kris Bryant and Javy Baez, who both have hit consistently all October. The Cubs’ hitters know they’re going to get solid efforts from their starting pitchers every night, they just need to back them up. Well, after Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen shut them down in Game 1, the bats came back out in Game 2, and it looks like they’ll stay out as the series heads to Wrigley Field. Francisco Lindor is a future MVP He’s easily the best player on his own club, but after Kris Bryant, Lindor might be the best overall talent among position players in this series. He’s that good. Lindor’s phenomenal rookie season in 2015 was a direct indication that he is going to be a special player for years to come, and in just his second season, he’s the catalyst of this scrappy Indians lineup. He’s hit well all postseason, which is no surprise, because he was nothing short of outstanding with the bat during the regular season. But for him to be the best hitter on a World Series team at 22 years old is something special. In 10 postseason games, Lindor is batting .342 with a .954 OPS. Lindor had a tough go of it at the plate in Game 2, but he collected three hits in Game 1 and was a nightmare for the Cubs’ pitching staff. He was no slouch on the bases, either. Lindor swiped one bag in Game 1 and gave Jon Lester fits all nights, getting in Lester’s head with his antics leading off first. The shortstop from Puerto Rico also made things happen with his glove. In the middle innings of Game 2, he made a sweet diving stop on a hot shot to his left that might have been a double play if Jason Kipnis hadn’t dropped the ball at second base. Lindor has been flawless on routine plays as well. And maybe most importantly, the kid is having fun playing the game. You see the smile and how loose he plays on the field; it’s refreshing. Make no mistake, Lindor will win an MVP Award some time soon, maybe within the next two or three years, and he might just help the Indians bring home their first World Series title in 64 years before that. BONUS: Roberto Perez in elite company This isn’t an observation, but I had to share a few crazy stats about the Indians’ catcher from this World Series, thanks to his impressive Game 1 performance. *Perez is one of five catchers, including Johnny Bench and Gary Carter, to hit two home runs in a World Series game. *Perez and Yogi Berra are the only two catchers to hit two home runs and catch a shutout in the same World Series game. *Perez is the first player born in Puerto Rico to hit two home runs in a World Series game.
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Image Credit: ESPN.com
Los Angeles Dodgers’ first-year manager Dave Roberts and his eighth-inning decisions were the subject of serious criticism Sunday night after the Dodgers lost Game 1 of the NLCS to the Chicago Cubs. With one out and a man on second in the bottom of the eighth inning, Roberts chose to intentionally walk Jason Heyward to set up a force play and get a righty-righty matchup for Joe Blanton against Javier Baez. Now, this was just the beginning of the Roberts bashing. The critics questioned why he chose to walk Heyward, who had the third-lowest OPS in the Majors among qualified players in the regular season, to get to Baez, the Cubs’ hottest hitter. But Roberts trusted that Blanton’s stuff, specifically his slider, would be more effective against the free-swinging righty Baez than the disciplined lefty Heyward. It worked. Blanton got Baez to pop out for the second out of the inning. That's when the "chess match" truly began. Roberts decided to intentionally walk pinch-hitter Chris Coghlan to load the bases and force the go-ahead run to third base, to get to Aroldis Chapman’s spot in the batting order, forcing Joe Maddon to pinch hit for Chapman, who came in with no outs and bases loaded in the top of the eighth. So when Roberts walked Coghlan, who entered that plate appearance 8-for-17 (.471 BA) in his career off Blanton, to get to Chapman’s spot, Maddon countered with Miguel Montero. Blanton had Montero down 0-2, needing just one strike to get out of trouble with the game still tied, but hung a slider, which Montero launched over the right-center field fence for a grand slam. The next batter, Dexter Fowler, followed with a solo homer, and the Cubs went into the top of the ninth up 8-3 and won the game 8-4. Despite losing the game and having his bold move backfire in the worst way, Roberts made the right call. Sure, Roberts’ gamble to get Chapman out of the game cost him five runs, but the rationale behind the decision makes perfect sense. He had an opportunity to essentially by himself remove the Cubs’ best pitcher from the game, and he took it. Current Dodgers are a combined 2-for-30 (.067 BA) in their careers in the regular season off Chapman. So instead of having to face the fireballer southpaw in the top of the ninth, the lefty-heavy Dodgers lineup was in line to face righty Hector Rondon, a much more favorable matchup, in a tie game. Although the Dodgers were down five runs by the time they actually got to face him in the ninth, Rondon’s underwhelming inning of work (two hits, one earned run) was all you needed to see to understand why Roberts gambled. Rondon looked incredibly shaky in a stress-free inning and the Dodgers were on him, so imagine how he would’ve pitched with the game on the line and no margin for error. There’s no doubt the Dodgers would’ve had a significantly better chance to score off Rondon than Chapman and take the lead with the game still tied, had that still been the situation in the ninth. Had the Dodgers escaped the jam, they would’ve been in much better shape than the Cubs moving forward in the game and potentially extra innings as well. Chapman was out of the game while the Dodgers still had their best reliever, Kenley Jansen, available. That scenario never came into play, though, because Robert’s move backfired. But just because it didn’t work, doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision. Roberts was thinking ahead to the ninth and beyond, which you have to do in a game like that. You still have to think about the current inning and get through that one first, but if you’re not thinking ahead, you’re putting your team at a disadvantage. If it were Andrew Miller on the mound for the Cubs, for example, no one, and I mean no one, questions the move to force him out of the game, so why question it to force out Chapman, arguably the second-best reliever in baseball? And not to put this all on Blanton, who was an unsung hero for the Dodgers all season and in the NLDS, but if he makes a better 0-2 pitch to Montero, the Dodgers get out of the eighth with no harm done. As anticipated, Blanton’s 0-2 offering was a slider, but instead of burying it in the dirt and having it break down toward Montero’s back foot like he wanted it to, he hung it... badly. If he bounces it almost like a waste pitch, or even intentionally thows a waste pitch, Montero probably swings at it and misses, and the inning ends as a crucial missed opportunity for the Cubs with the momentum in the Dodgers’ favor. Even with a man on third in a tie game in the late innings, burying a breaking ball in the dirt is the right call if you trust your catcher. Blanton said after the game that that’s what he was trying to do, so it’s clear he trusted Grandal to smother anything in his direction. So let’s recap that bottom of the eighth inning: Two intentional walks, one that forced the go-ahead run to third and the bases loaded, and two home runs later, Roberts still made the right decision. When you simplify the entire situation and break down the inning batter by batter, it’s hard not to justify Roberts’ decision making. The main critics of his managerial moves were the advanced stats/sabermetric guys. They’re the ones crying out against the move to load the bases with two outs instead of going after Coghlan because it increased the Cubs’ “win probability added” and hurt the Dodgers’ chances. I won’t deny that sabermetrics are improving the game in some ways, but as I recall, just a few days prior, the Cubs were given a 2.5 percent chance to win NLDS Game 4 against the Giants entering the ninth inning down three runs, and they won. The bottom line is, advanced stats can only take you so far. The game has to be decided on the field and in the dugout, not on a calculator or computer spreadsheet. And if Roberts’ moves paid off and the Dodgers had won Game 1, Maddon would’ve been the manager getting second-guessed, not Roberts. Instead of badgering the Dodgers’ skipper over his bold moves, reporters would’ve questioned Maddon’s decisions to pinch-hit for Jon Lester after he threw just 77 pitches in six strong innings, for waiting until the bases were loaded in the top of the eighth to bring in Chapman, or for not bunting with Addison Russell with a man on second and no outs in the bottom of the eighth. If the Dodgers lose this series, it won’t be because of Roberts’ gamble. But if they win this series, it could very well be because of their manager’s willingness to take risks. Image Credit: MLB.com I woke up two Sundays ago and checked my phone like I always do after I turn off my alarm. In between a few emails and text messages on my lock screen was an ESPN alert. I read it and my heart sank. I immediately said to myself something along the lines of, “What? Oh my God, no way.”
It was just too hard to believe. Then I checked Twitter, and it became real. It’s been about a week and a half now since José Fernández and two of his friends tragically died in a boating accident in Miami. I’ve taken this past week--this heartbreaking, emotional week for anyone in the baseball community--to sit back and try to wrap my head around it. I still haven’t exactly come to terms with the reality of the situation. One of Major League Baseball’s most beloved, genuine people and brightest young stars is dead at the age of 24. I’m not a Marlins fan. I never met José Fernández. And to be honest, I can’t remember if I ever saw him pitch in person. I must not have, because I easily would’ve remembered witnessing such an electric talent. But I have a handful of close friends and professional colleagues that knew him well. I’ve met a few of his Marlins teammates. My own mother knew him. I knew enough about José and enough about who he was as a person to feel the pain and sorrow that all of his loved ones feel. From last Sunday when the news broke, to last Monday seeing the Marlins’ on-field tributes to their fallen brother, to last Wednesday’s funeral procession in Miami, it was one tough week. I feel for José’s family, his friends, the Marlins organization, and anyone who had the privilege of knowing him. 24 years old and gone. It’s not fair. All week, I kept asking how something like this could’ve happened to anyone, to such a young person with a full life ahead of him. But then I thought this to myself: In a way, if you think about it, in just 24 short years, José Fernández already lived a full life. If you know his backstory, you know what I mean. Before he was one of the most unhittable pitchers in the Major Leagues, before he was the face of a franchise, before he was the José Fernández we all knew or knew of, he was a boy with a dream: a dream to come to the United States. He tried three times to escape from Cuba and was unsuccessful. After the failed attempts, he spent time in prison with actual criminals. Then he gave it another shot, and on that fourth try, he made it to the United States. On top of risking his life multiple times just to get out of Cuba, he put his life on the line again to save his drowning mother during their escape, not even knowing that it was her who was drowning when he initially jumped in the water. After his tireless struggle to just make it out of Cuba, Fernández worked his way to becoming a first-round draft pick. Not long after, he realized his dream of being a Major League pitcher, becoming a phenom by age 20, winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award in convincing fashion, and finishing third in the NL Cy Young vote. Then, in his second season, he was faced with more adversity. Fernández suffered an elbow injury early in the season that required Tommy John surgery. Just when he was about to dominate the league once again, his season came to a close. But less than 14 months later, Fernández was back on a big-league mound. He fought his way back from a devastating injury only to return better than ever toward the end of 2015. This season, he was making a strong case for the NL Cy Young Award and pitched what he called the best game of his life only two weeks ago, in what would be his last career game. And that was it. José was no stranger to having the odds stacked against him, but time and time again, he beat them. The irony of Fernández losing his life--the same life he risked multiple times just to get to the United States--in a boating accident is chilling, and it makes you think about what could have been, what should have been. It’s disheartening to think about Fernández’s world-class potential as a pitcher, his charismatic personality and unparalleled passion for baseball and life now that he’s gone, but we owe it to him to instead focus on everything he accomplished in just 24 years. What José did by the time he was 15 years old is more than most will ever do, and that’s worth celebrating. José Fernández’s 24 years of life were lived to the fullest. He epitomized the American Dream and did so with a fiery and contagious passion. Fernández leaves behind his grandmother, who by all accounts was his other half. He leaves behind his mother, whom he fled to the United States with as a teenager. He leaves behind his younger sister, who absolutely adored him. He leaves behind his beloved girlfriend, with whom he had just started his own family. But in all tragedies like this one, there is a silver lining. Fernández leaves behind his unborn daughter, which is heartbreaking any way you look at it, but it’s equally as beautiful. That child will never know her father, but there will be a countless number of people who will go out of their way to make sure she is the most loved little girl in the world, because she’s part of him. Amidst all the pain and sadness, there is joy and hope knowing that José Fernández’s spirit will live on--metaphorically and literally. Tomorrow is not promised, and José always lived “today” with that in mind. When you consider all he had been through in just 24 years on this earth, José lived a full life. If not now, in time, the impact and legacy he passes on will prove it. Someday, we’ll all tell the story of José Fernández: a story of perseverance, triumph and pure life. We’ll tell it with heavy hearts, but we’ll remember to crack a smile, because although his life was short, it was a life lived in full. |
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