So last night the Little Ball of Hate's two favorite teams had the same adversary: The Tampa Bay Rays. He has thoughts on it (shocking):
Rarely an outcome is good for both Twins & Os
So at the beginning of the night the Os were up on Tampa Bay by 3 games. Twins are playing Tampa Bay in a three game series. Twins are trying to drop their magic number to 10.
Most of the time, unless it means the Os could make the playoffs, I only cheer against the Os for the 6 games they play vs. the Twins during the season.
The Os lost 5-2 to the Cardinals in John Means return to the mound after Tommy John surgery (by the way, for it being his first start, I think he looked pretty good. Gave up 3 runs in 5 innings. Gave up two HRs, which were really the only hard hits he gave up. Threw a lot of strikes).
Not a terrible outing for Means.
Orioles Still 3 Games up, Questions Loom
Thanks to the Twins comeback win vs. the Rays, Orioles are still up 3 games in the AL East. At this point, even if it's not clinched yet, the Orioles are in the playoffs, and will get a first-round bye in the playoffs as either the one seed if they win the division. But if they don't they will be a 4-seed. Hence the reason this series against the Rays is huge.
The question is what to do with Means? As of now he is not likely to break the rotation. I would say the rotation is Kremer, Grayson, Bradish in the ALDS, which leaves Gibson, Flahery and Means to fight for a long reliever or emergency starter.
And again, the Mountain in the room. So Bautista has a partial ligament tear. Pitchers have pitched with a partial tear, but this could be a organizational staple closer for a long time for the Os. Do you put that in danger for a postseason that (and be honest Os fans) no one expected this kind of season in Spring Training? There are two schools of thought: 1. This playoff run is a year or two ahead of time, so this might not be the Os year, so save Batista. 2. You may not get to this position again, so put all of your 🥚 in the 🧺 and go for it, Bautista is your postseason closer.
Facts are, the Orioles' bullpen is a top-notch group as long as Omar is waiting in the back.
Twins magic number moves to 10
With the AL Central Division Title all but sewn up for the Twins, it's time to look toward the playoffs.
Yes, I know, the AL Central is by far the worst division. That being said, the Twins have a team that can win in the postseason, proven by beating the Rays who are pushing for the AL East.
As for the playoffs, at this point, my biggest question is are the big paychecks going to pay off this year. Correa needs to be the man at the plate (he is amazing at shortstop), and I really want Buxton to play centerfield. Buxton in center can save runs, just by being out there. If he is allowed to open it all up, just his speed and defense changes games.
The Big Question: Twins or Orioles?
What happens if my two favorite teams play against each other? If it does happen, it would most likely not occur until the ALCS.
The Twins postseason pain has been well-documented for a good 30 years, so I'm pulled toward the Twins. After all I've been a Twins fan for 45 years.
The Orioles haven't won a World Series since 1983, and have had equally painful postseason episodes, the Jeffery Maier catching a Yankees fly ball that was going to be caught, instead ruled a home run (don't click this link if you might 🤢 Os fans). I've been an Orioles fan since 2000, and I've seen a lot of bad baseball. Me and my son were at Game 1 of the 2014 ALCS when the Royals nickle and dimed their way to the World Series. (By the way, I think the Os would have won the World Series vs. the Giants that year, if they would have beaten the Royals.)
The good news is these are all good problems to have, so fasten your seatbelts for an amazing postseason!
Add your comment below to tell me what you think of the Little Ball of Hate.
Comments