Short Rest
The Futility Infielder —
Short Rest Waking up before 7 AM in each of the past two days to do early morning radio hits has me bleary-eyed as the playoffs begin, particularly given how late I was up working on my preview of the Phillies-Brewers series for Baseball Prospectus. Monday's makeup game and Tuesday's Game 163 playoff certainly didn't help my cause when it came to buckling down to get work done. Like the other BP series previews (Christina Kahrl on ...
NLCS Preview
The Futility Infielder —
... that case are the Dodgers' staff's stinginess in surrendering home runs (they led the NL with the fewest allowed at 123, 24 fewer than any other club) and their tactical advantage in being able to counter the Phillies' concentration of lefty threats with one pitcher as compared to the Dodgers' more dispersed lineup may prove the deciding factor. In the end (and with the caveat that I'm a Dodger fan, albeit one who's proven comfortable with picking against my own strong rooting interests in such past previews), I'm willing to go out on a limb and call this ...
Triple Threat
The Futility Infielder —
... Rather than embark on another lengthy history lesson involving other teams who improved dramatically from year to year, I added a handful of World Series notes. Many of them are Rays themed, not because I have anything against the Phillies (despite their having steamrolled my two favorite NL teams on their way to the pennant) but because between the my previews for the Division and ...
NLCS Preview: War, Peace, Crime, Punishment, and Bullpen Management
The Futility Infielder —
... LONGEST preview of its kind. Getting the chance to do a Playoff Prospectus is an honor, and I always try to pour myself into the project, word count be damned. To me, arriving at a prediction — Dodgers in six, in this case — isn't as important as the analysis behind it, because I don't go into the process with my mind made up. Admittedly, my knowledge of the Dodgers is deeper than that of the Phils, particularly because I already previewed their first-round series. I did the Phillies twice last year, which helped make up for seeing less of their first-round series ...
