Wild Card Series Day 3: Scores Settled?

 

A lot of 'was this trip really necessary?' outcomes for the wild card round. Lot of teams just beating the lower seed. The only 'upset' came from the team that had led the division the whole year beating the team that won it in the last few games. Still some intriguing baseball games to get us there but it's very much calling into question of the reason for expanding the playoffs, aside from 'to give teams the ownership group likes a chance'. Though...considerably less of that than in 2020 or 2022. A lot like Survivor instituting a final four tiebreaker to ensure the winner they want only for the people they like in the last several seasons to be shit at making fire.

The Tigers were able to win against the Guardians in October, after...not really being able to do so in September. They did it with contact, like RBIs from Wenceel Perez, Kerry Carpenter, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene. The only real long ball was an inconsequential one from Dillon Dingler. The Tigers did almost spoil their win once or twice, and Spencer Torkelson's defense at 1st allowed 2 more runs to score, but they finished off Cleveland simply by being a better-developed team than them, and promptly punched their ticket to Seattle. Right now the Mariners are the favorites, which is a weird thing to say considering how well the Tigers were playing in June, but with Skubal on the mound anything's possible.

The Guardians were over a dozen games out of 1st at the beginning of September and still made the playoffs. That alone is an accomplishment. They were able to take the division with a wildly depleted team, led by a ton of rookies and unsung guys, and still pose a threat to the Tigers in a wild card series. That they didn't completely get the job done is sad, but understandable. The heroes yesterday were guys like George Valera, a rookie outfielder responsible for a rare earned run for Cleveland, and Chase DeLauter, the rookie prospect who got his first hit in the postseason, and Brayan Rocchio, who finished the season making up for all the time he wasn't hitting in the first 5 months. They will be back stronger, better developed and more commandingly. 

The Cubs were the better team heading into their wild card series and were able to stave off the Padres after all, despite...being the Cubs. A lot had been made about their rough postseason luck since 2017, and they were able to erase that thanks to a home crowd, a better team and a commanding start from Jameson Taillon. If Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Nico Hoerner and Michael Busch are gonna be great playoff pieces, they might be in for a long run. And if Jamo's a valid October option, only allowing 2 hits in 4 innings, they might have the starting depth after all. Cubs-Brewers has the potential to be the tightest series of the four, as the Brewers don't want you to know that they've actually lost steam since their insane August. Could go either way honestly. 

As for the Padres...they got here, and they fought hard, but if Tatis and Machado aren't gonna hit then there's no point in showing up. At the end, the Padres were starting fights with the umps, saying they took the series from them. No. The Cubs were better and you couldn't hit them. Don't try and blame the system. One of the few Padres to actually show up this series was Freddy Fermin, the catcher they traded for to ensure they actually had a decent option back there. Fermin went 4-for-11 this postseason, hitting .364. The goal is for the rest of the team to show up as well. Jackson Merrill getting a late homer isn't gonna be enough. Next year it may be tougher for them to catch the Dodgers unless they really put the effort in.

As for my Yankees...what else can you say but 'wow'? Cam Schlittler getting Game 3 was a risk, and it paid off in dramatic fashion. The man went 8 innings, striking out 12, allowing no runs and no walks. It was a masterful performance, made even crazier by the fact that Schlittler was nearing 100mph for most of the night and was hitting 97 in the 8th. Nobody could hit this guy, and nobody could hit the bullpen either. The Yankees won this game by completely silencing a very tough Red Sox team, and remembering to contact-hit when they could. And again, the guys we got midyear, like Amed Rosario, David Bednar and Ryan McMahon, were the true difference maker. Very proud of these guys, and hopefully they can regain momentum in Toronto.

Connelly Early didn't do terribly badly himself, he struck out 6 through 4, but the problem with the Sox starting Nathaniel Lowe and Romy Gonzalez is that the errors that the Yankees' infield worked to avoid are gonna happen. That 4th inning illuminated just how unfit defensively this Sox team was for this moment, and they failed Connelly Early. The Red Sox were very close to winning this series and shocking everyone, and for the first time since 2003 they simply couldn't stop the Yankees. 

I assume they'll be back, bigger and badder, with their big 3 next year, and that'll be...fun. For now, we've got 4 fun looking series scheduled for this weekend. Still a lot of teams I really enjoy in the mix, so I'm enjoying this. 

Alongside the Successor

 

It's funny that a few years ago, when M.J. Melendez was platooning with Salvador Perez it didn't really work because Melendez wasn't a very good defensive catcher, and now platooning with Freddy Fermin works because Fermin's a great multi-tool guy who's great behind the plate. While Melendez is just...in the outfield, watching the whole thing happen. Glad that it happened, wishing it was him.

I didn't think we'd get to a point where both Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin could be succeeding together, I thought one would be used in lieu of the decline of the other. But Perez, while still a terrific power hitter, has been taking more reps at DH so that Fermin, who's hitting .300 with 36 RBIs, can be in the lineup as well. It works for all involved parties. The 29-year-old Fermin can have a full season of one of his prime years, while Perez stays in the lineup and continues his run as the pillar of the team. Fermin, even on a team with Bobby Witt Jr., is statistically the best defender on the team, and he's one of many great defenders helping the Royals stay afloat this year. Perez, meanwhile, is looking at another 100+ RBI year, with 25 homers already. Having one or the other is good enough, but having both have made the Royals as strong as they are.

And it's not just them that have caused this team to breathe up the neck of the Guardians for a division title. Vinnie Pasquantino is fourth on the league RBI charts with 97. Bobby Witt's looking at a 200+ hit season, as well as a 30-30 season if he keeps this up. The rotation is still very strong. And the aggressive yet relaxed trade deadline mentality brought great seasons from Paul de Jong, Lucas Erceg and Michael Lorenzen over to KC, where they've outdone even some of the bigger names of the deadline. This team has gained ground where the Twins and Guardians have stuttered, and if it weren't for yesterday they'd have taken first.

And yet...now you're seeing the smallest cracks. Cole Ragans and Michael Lorenzen both left starts with injury fears, and Lorenzen might be missing time. If this team didn't have Alec Marsh and Kris Bubic ready to go I'd be worried but Ragans especially would be a big blow to this team. They already lost Hunter Harvey after he was rolling, and hopefully there isn't more to come. Not when they're this close.

The Royals are very close to proving a lot of people wrong, and landing a crucial position in the postseason picture. It could fall back the other way, but if they stay at it they could take the division and completely flip the script.

Coming Tonight: One of the many people called upon to plug up the holes in the Reds' rotation.

Ready, Freddy?

 

The Kansas City Royals, having been relatively scaled back following the trade deadline, are in Philadelphia this weekend, to play one of the best teams in the NL. On one hand, this is the type of gimme series that the Phillies can easily blow and get embarrassed by. On the other hand, other than Bobby Witt, what exactly are the Royals working with right now? Not a hell of a lot.

Their season can be defined by two rookie position players, namely Maikel Garcia and Freddy Fermin. Fermin was called up last year during the Blue Jays series that half the team couldn't take part in, and everyone made the same 'dollar store Freddie Freeman' joke about him, but it's really just the name that's similar for these two players. Fermin is a solid defensive catcher that can also hit .300, and so far has 23 RBIs and 6 homers in 45 games. 

Fermin has been getting a lot of starts behind the plate, which does mean that Salvador Perez is coming to terms with his age a bit. We went through something similar to this last year between Perez and M.J. Melendez, but seeing as Melendez was such a poor defender back there, it was easier for Perez to win. Now, Fermin's younger, more versatile and, honestly, the better choice behind the plate. I think everybody's alright with Perez DHing in this situation, especially if his power umbers are still good. But seeing Fermin click into place, along with Garcia at third, does point to a confident approach going forward.

But you remember that the Royals also had a confident approach heading out of 2022, and had Michael Massey, Nick Pratto, Nate Eaton and Drew Waters primed for big roles going forward. None of that has happened. None of those big pieces from 2022 have capitalized on that promise. Only really Witt has built off of last year at all, and he's finally performing to expectation. But as much as I wanna say that this team could put it together going forward, this season was a major setback for them, immediately following a year that looked similarly foundational. I wanna trust that these guys will be around going forward, but I can't be sure of that anymore. Look at Brady Singer, I thought he'd be having a career year this year, he's struggled immensely. 

And so this Phillies series could be an attempt to upset a contender, but I don't know of many of these guys who can really be relied upon to keep a team like this down. Unless Witt carries the team on his back or something, it may be another uphill battle for the Royals.

Coming Tomorrow- I was gonna say I feel bad for this guy, but seeing that he already has a World Series ring and countless accolades, I really don't.