***Official*** MLB 2025 Thread

[Sanlmar]

Gonna have to examine bullpen usage for tomorrow. Who’s available

[Dan Druff]

Time for San to admit I was right about new reliever Clayton Kershaw?

[Sanlmar]

Time for San to admit I was right about new reliever Clayton Kershaw?

Settle down Todger. He faced bottom of order.

If Roki and Kersh is the plan I see an October cruise in your future.

[Dan Druff]

Time for San to admit I was right about new reliever Clayton Kershaw?

Settle down Todger. He faced bottom of order

Sorry still counts.

Look at the motley crew they have otherwise, and you’ll understand why this will be a thing the rest of the way.

[Sanlmar]

Roki crying in dugout meme.

Neither Kersh nor Roki has the lunatic gene that legendary or even functional late inning bullpen guys possess.

The CIA short circuited guys like Jack Ruby and Biden so maybe Friedman can get ahold of that elixir overnight.

Otherwise they just ain’t built for the task

[Sanlmar]

My betting polygraph results.

The accused suffered fading Sawks Crochet early and doubling down on same.

Then we used the patented live over when starting Dodgers pitching hit the showers. Books fall under the spell of shut outs and no hitters and price precious low lines…. then the bullpen door opens and the hammer falls

[Dan Druff]

Strongly considering going to the 10/1 NLWC game at Dodger Stadium.

Tickets are surprisingly cheap, given we are 6 days away. Under $200 each for the seats I usually buy, which is in line with the price of a semi-expensive regular season game. I think LA has early playoff round fatigue, since the Dodgers have seen the first round of the playoffs every single season since 2013.

Also, prices have been falling, and I don't see much of this changing because the next 3 games are mostly meaningless.

I would be seeing Blake Snell.

I'm going to wait until at least 36 hours before, maybe even closer than that.

[Sanlmar]

Strongly considering going to the 10/1 NLWC game at Dodger Stadium.

Tickets are surprisingly cheap, given we are 6 days away. Under $200 each for the seats I usually buy, which is in line with the price of a semi-expensive regular season game. I think LA has early playoff round fatigue, since the Dodgers have seen the first round of the playoffs every single season since 2013.

Also, prices have been falling, and I don't see much of this changing because the next 3 games are mostly meaningless.

I would be seeing Blake Snell.

I'm going to wait until at least 36 hours before, maybe even closer than that.

You sound pretty certain it’s Snell. Just a feeling?

I’d lock those seats up

[Dan Druff]

Strongly considering going to the 10/1 NLWC game at Dodger Stadium.

Tickets are surprisingly cheap, given we are 6 days away. Under $200 each for the seats I usually buy, which is in line with the price of a semi-expensive regular season game. I think LA has early playoff round fatigue, since the Dodgers have seen the first round of the playoffs every single season since 2013.

Also, prices have been falling, and I don't see much of this changing because the next 3 games are mostly meaningless.

I would be seeing Blake Snell.

I'm going to wait until at least 36 hours before, maybe even closer than that.

You sound pretty certain it’s Snell. Just a feeling?

I’d lock those seats up

All indications are that it will be Yamamoto/Snell for 1 & 2, and 3 is up in the air if it’s necessary.

No need to lock anything up. I am a Stubhub savant and have a natural feel for pricing on there. It’s going down more.

[Sanlmar]

You sound pretty certain it’s Snell. Just a feeling?

I’d lock those seats up

All indications are that it will be Yamamoto/Snell for 1 & 2, and 3 is up in the air if it’s necessary.

No need to lock anything up. I am a Stubhub savant and have a natural feel for pricing on there. It’s going down more.

I have Ohtani lined up to start. Let’s bookmark this.

[VaughnP]

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/Freddy_courd/status/1971348474986889435

I keep seeing this mentioned. Not many seem to care that Cal Raleigh just hit his 60th, but those that do want him to hit 63 because of this. For those who don't follow baseball closely:

"But Insider went on to explain that most of the “Goldilocks” balls, more batter-friendly than the “dead” balls, were found at three types of games/events:

-Postseason and World Series games.
-The All-Star Game and Home Run Derby.
-Regular season games that used balls with special commemorative stamps on the outer leather, such as the Rangers’ 50th anniversary ball.

However, there was an exception. The only “Goldilocks” balls Insider obtained from the regular season that did not have commemorative stamps came from Yankees games. Eleven such balls were obtained."

https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/news/...home-run-chase

[Dan Druff]

Yeah the MLB infatuation with the HR has corrupted the game at times, for sure.

I wish they'd just stick to one and only one ball, and also make it clear what changes they've made. Otherwise it's unfair to teams trying to put together a roster. A dead ball will favor contact-hitting and pitching-heavy teams, whereas a juiced ball will favor teams with more power hitters.

People are also rooting for Raleigh because he's an underdog. Everyone expects Judge and Ohtani to come up with 50+ HR each year. Raleigh has power but nobody thought 60 in a million years.

[Dan Druff]

Mets close to having officially blown it.

If the Reds -- who simply cannot get more than a handful of games over .500 all season -- win both of the remaining games, they are locked into Wildcard #3 versus the Dodgers, no matter what the Mets do.

The Mets have to go 2-0 if the Reds go 1-1, and they have to go 1-1 or better of the Reds go 0-2 in the next 2 games. That's because they have the same 82-78 record, and the Reds won the season series 4-2.

The Reds seriously have had the weirdest trajectory, being near .500 the ENTIRE way, and also being the very last team to get swept in a series. Now it looks like they'll just cruise into a playoff spot without ever having had a hot streak at any point of the season.

[Sanlmar]

Mets close to having officially blown it.

If the Reds -- who simply cannot get more than a handful of games over .500 all season -- win both of the remaining games, they are locked into Wildcard #3 versus the Dodgers, no matter what the Mets do.

The Mets have to go 2-0 if the Reds go 1-1, and they have to go 1-1 or better of the Reds go 0-2 in the next 2 games. That's because they have the same 82-78 record, and the Reds won the season series 4-2.

The Reds seriously have had the weirdest trajectory, being near .500 the ENTIRE way, and also being the very last team to get swept in a series. Now it looks like they'll just cruise into a playoff spot without ever having had a hot streak at any point of the season.

Since All Star Break. Pretty good recent sample size.

32-31 Cincinnati
33-30 Dodgers

Nearly identical records vs teams >.500

Should be a great series

[Dan Druff]

Well, I've done it.

I bought tickets for the Dodgers, an incredible 60 hours before game time. Very unlike me.

But I didn't want an inventory issue regarding the seats I wanted (sometimes that can create micro-inflation zones within the stadium), and there simply weren't a ton up for sale in that area. Plus these will obviously have a floor, so it's not like it's going to go down much further, even if I bought a little too early.

I paid $109/each. That's the cheapest postseason Dodgers tickets I've bought in many years -- and the cheapest period if you account for inflation.

Not sure why there is such little interest in this series. I realize it's not yet the NLDS, but it's more important than a regular season game by a wide margin, yet it's priced cheaper than a lot of regular season games were!

When you see the seat pics I'll post Wednesday night (I'm going to game 2), you'll see what I mean what a great deal I got for $109/ea. This is out the door, after fees/taxes/etc. Below face value obv.

Game is at 6:08pm. I still believe I'll be seeing Snell. The Reds will likely be sending Nick Lodolo to the mound, after Hunter Greene takes the bump in game 1.

[Dan Druff]

Mets really fucked this one up. Imagine such an expensive team missing the playoffs entirely, in a year where the final wildcard spot went to an 83-win team.

Even worse, a win the final day of the season would've gotten them into the postseason, yet they got shut out by the Marlins, who aren't even playing for anything. Embarrassing.

The Mets went 38-55 in their final 93 games. What a disaster.


Congrats to BCR's Injuns for their historical comeback from 15.5 back to win the AL Central. Funny that the choking Tigers will be their Wildcard Series opponent.

[Dan Druff]

Rockies ended up losing 119, so they didn't beat the modern loss record by the White Sox.

The White Sox were the only other 100 loss team, dropping 102. Next one down was the Nationals at 96.

27 of the 30 teams won 70+ games, which is at least encouraging regarding competitiveness.

There was no absolutely dominant team. Milwaukee won 97 to finish with the best record. This is the second year in a row with no 100-game winner.

[Dan Druff]

To show you how face prices and secondary market prices are out of whack with the Dodgers wildcard series, that same $109 I paid for excellent seats would buy you second-level seats way out in right field in the back of the section, and the cheapest face value nosebleed ticket is $80.

The average dope just goes to dodgers.com and buys what they see is available.

It used to be that the primary market gave you incredible deals, but it was hard to get the tickets. In the old days, you'd have to line up outside the stadium hours in advance, or sometimes overnight.

Now the primary market gouges you, even for nosebleed seats. MLB has taken the position that the plebes who know little about the ticket game will be the ones who get the worst value.

[BCR]

To show you how face prices and secondary market prices are out of whack with the Dodgers wildcard series, that same $109 I paid for excellent seats would buy you second-level seats way out in right field in the back of the section, and the cheapest face value nosebleed ticket is $80.

The average dope just goes to dodgers.com and buys what they see is available.

It used to be that the primary market gave you incredible deals, but it was hard to get the tickets. In the old days, you'd have to line up outside the stadium hours in advance, or sometimes overnight.

Now the primary market gouges you, even for nosebleed seats. MLB has taken the position that the plebes who know little about the ticket game will be the ones who get the worst value.

EvenTribe tickets are expensive for playoffs because of the higher primary starting point.


I’m shopping and I usually sit like first few rows behind the dugout for $185 per. This year it’s going to cost be $375 for same tickets atm. I’m sure they’ll drop by game time, but way higher starting point.

Strangest year ever as Tribe fan. Post season baseball never entered my brain. I mean ffs we are a division winner with a negative run differential. I’d be shocked if that has ever happened.

[Dan Druff]

To be fair, the Dodgers dugout tickets are still very expensive. But I don't care, because I don't like those seats. The foul fence makes me lose track of the ball in the infield. I can't be on the field level anymore.

But I'm happy to get these seats so cheaply. LA is a huge market once you add in the population of all the outlying areas, so that drives up the price big time for any high profile game, especially in the last few years.

This was a welcome relief.

It looks like I'll probably be getting to see Yamamoto after all, which makes me happy. You never know what you're going to get with Snell.

If you do go to the Injuns games, take some pics.