2017 Arizona Diamondbacks

[azcat49]

That makes a lot of sense and I do think he will hold to form but I think he like pitching in Dodger stadium better than the launching pad

[JMarkJohns]

That would be unusual for him as he's never liked routine change before, but I suppose he could. Even when he should have won the Cy Young for the dodgers, we had to go Kershaw first because Greinke wouldn't pitch on short rest. Plus Ray has dominated the dodgers this year. You want him going twice vs us

I would be very happy with a Ray, Grienke, Godley, Ray final 4 games for the starters. I can see 3 wins from that with a few breaks. Sacrificial lamb of Walker/Corbin in game one, hoping Kerahaw is not sharp and you can hang around.

Then the big guns.

[PHXCATS]

Starters?

Game 1: Kershaw vs Walker
Game 2: Hill vs Ray
Game 3: Darvish vs Greinke
Game 4: Wood vs Godley*
Game 5: Kershaw vs Ray*
*if necessary

Maybe flip Godley and Walker?

This but you have Corbin ready for game 1 if Walker struggles

[MrBug708]

If imagine if the Dodgers are down 2-1, Kershaw is going in game 4

[threenumberones]

D'backs have a reasonable chance in the series I'd say. Big underdogs in Vegas based on pennant futures tho:

Los Angeles Dodgers 7/5
Washington Nationals 16/5
Chicago Cubs 7/2
Arizona Diamondbacks 9/2

[PHXCATS]

If imagine if the Dodgers are down 2-1, Kershaw is going in game 4

Yes

[JMarkJohns]

If imagine if the Dodgers are down 2-1, Kershaw is going in game 4

Yes

That’s pretty ideal, though. Would love to see that.

Walker/Corbin (relief)
Ray
Grienke
Godley/Walker (relief)
Ray/Corbin (relief)

Grienke
Godley
Ray
Walker/Corbin
Grienke
Godley/Corbin
Ray/Walker

That’s pretty ideal to get to the World Series.

[MrBug708]

Me too

[MrBug708]

I felt like game 1 was a do or die game for the Dodgers, this is probably a do or die game for the D-Backs

[UAEebs86]

BOOM!!

[MrBug708]

Taylor is 7 for 16 vs Ray and Seager is 0-6 and you don't walk him?

[MrBug708]

In 16 innings Dodger hitters have seen 355 pitches.

[MrBug708]

No discussion? Thoughts? Anything?

[azcat49]

Well Grienke needs to earn his 34.5m tonight but gives up a lead off double

[UAEebs86]

Getting killed by the local guys. Austin Barnes (ASU) and Cody Bellinger (Hamilton H.S.)

Before we moved to Tucson, I coached and my son played in the same Little League (Chandler National) as Cody.
I took a coaching clinic taught by his dad Clay who played for the Yankees. They made the Little League World Series the next season.

[MrBug708]

That would be unusual for him as he's never liked routine change before, but I suppose he could. Even when he should have won the Cy Young for the dodgers, we had to go Kershaw first because Greinke wouldn't pitch on short rest. Plus Ray has dominated the dodgers this year. You want him going twice vs us

I would be very happy with a Ray, Grienke, Godley, Ray final 4 games for the starters. I can see 3 wins from that with a few breaks. Sacrificial lamb of Walker/Corbin in game one, hoping Kerahaw is not sharp and you can hang around.

Then the big guns.

You were mostly correct as far as Kershaw not being sharp, but Ray couldn't get things done and Greinke has a mental block vs the Dodgers and has struggled in elimination games. Shame we couldn't get the walkoff on Rodney.

[rgdeuce]

Greinke's inability to go deep into the wildcard game put the Dbacks behind the 8 ball. Having to rely on Walker to beat Kershaw and go deep into the game to give your staff some needed rest is not a recipe for success. The Dodgers probably win that series no matter what, but at least it would have been a series.

Not a fan of the two wild card playoff system. First, no playoff series should be decided by a 1-game series. Second, in many cases you are burning your ace, or in the dbacks case, ace and number 2, giving your opponent the next round a huge advantage. In 17 seasons of one wildcard per league, five wildcard teams won the world series (29%) and six more at least made the World Series (64%). Not too shabby when you account for the Yankees dominance (on the field, and in terms of payroll) for so many of those seasons. While the two-wildcard format is still fairly new, if the Yankees don't handle business against the Indians (and Astros if they advance), in six seasons only 1 team wildcard team will have won the world series (17%) with one more making the world series (33%). Pretty significant dip, which is unfortunate because some of the best world series and most exciting world series runs in the last 30 years have involved wildcard teams =

2011 Wildcard Cardinals beat Rangers in seven. One of the 10 best world series of all time, easily.
2004 Wildcard Boston Red Sex historic comeback vs Yankees in the greatest ALCS in history, and eventual title.
2002 Wildcard Angels wildcard beat roided Bonds and the Giants in 7 games. Close to a top 10 world series of all time.
2003 Wildcard Marlins with Becket and Miggy pull off a historic upset of the Yankees in 6 games.
1997 Wildcard Marlins beat an absolutely loaded Indians team in 7 games with a walkoff Renteria single. Another classic.
2014 Wildcard Giants beat the Wildcard Royals in 7 with Mad Bum giving us maybe the greatest postseason pitching performance in history.

[azcat49]

Isn't this exactly why the baseball purists put in the extra wildcard? Baseball is a marathon and to give a team that couldn't even win it's division equal footing doesn't make sense to purist thinking

[rgdeuce]

Isn't this exactly why the baseball purists put in the extra wildcard? Baseball is a marathon and to give a team that couldn't even win it's division equal footing doesn't make sense to purist thinking

Arizona won 93 games in a division that had a team w the best record in baseball and both NL wildcard teams. They had a better record than the Cubs and it is probable they would have won more than Washington (97) had they played in a division where all the teams not named the Nationals finished at best 8 games under 500... And yes, baseball is a marathon, that is why it is ridiculous for teams like the Diamondbacks (in this case), and historically one or two of the Yankees/Rays/Red Sox to have a one-game playoff game decide their playoff futures. I can tell u for a fact that very few purists agree with a one-game anything in baseball, outside of a tiebreaker to decide which team moves on to the playoffs.

[JMarkJohns]

Sucks. No excuses. Grienke’s awful WC start screwed the rotation. But it’s all about timing. Play this series 3 weeks again, I think it’s a sweep with Dbacks winning.

Rotation and Timing hit Dbacks hard.

Get healthy, give it another run next year.

No reason to break it up. Yet.

[PHXCATS]

Sucks. No excuses. Grienke’s awful WC start screwed the rotation. But it’s all about timing. Play this series 3 weeks again, I think it’s a sweep with Dbacks winning.

Rotation and Timing hit Dbacks hard.

Get healthy, give it another run next year.

No reason to break it up. Yet.

Agree on all fronts. Go for it next year then blow it up if you dont win.

Re-sign JD Martinez
Listen to offers for Greinke but dont feel like you have to move him
Package Owings and Tomas to an AL team for a reliever
Sign two other good pullpen arms and one starter for depth
Look at a catcher with more pop in the bat

[zonagrad]

Sucks. No excuses. Grienke’s awful WC start screwed the rotation. But it’s all about timing. Play this series 3 weeks again, I think it’s a sweep with Dbacks winning.

Rotation and Timing hit Dbacks hard.

Get healthy, give it another run next year.

No reason to break it up. Yet.

Agree on all fronts. Go for it next year then blow it up if you dont win.

Re-sign JD Martinez
Listen to offers for Greinke but dont feel like you have to move him
Package Owings and Tomas to an AL team for a reliever
Sign two other good pullpen arms and one starter for depth
Look at a catcher with more pop in the bat

D'Backs are gonna be had pressed to sign Martinez, especially when other teams like the Giants and perhaps even Dodgers could up the ante just to drive the price up on Arizona. Greinke's contract is an albatross around the organization. Trading might be near impossible and means eating at least half his contract. He was solid in the regular season but hasn't proven himself durable in the post-season.

[MrBug708]

I think you will see Ethier in Arizona. Maybe not as a starter or with a big salary, but I think he'll be there

[UAEebs86]

[MrBug708]

Boras wants 200 million for Martinez