MLB postseason rundown, A to Z
Plenty to see, from Altuve’s Astros to D’backs’ Z. Greinke.
All those home runs by Aaron Judge, all those wins by the Los Angeles Dodgers, nicely done.
Except none of that matters now.
With a sinker that bounces to the backstop, or a liner that hooks barely foul, the whole script flips. October has a way of doing that.
TheMajorLeague Baseball playoffs started late Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium when New York hosted the Minnesota Twins in the AL wild-card game. A look at the 2017 postseason, from A to Z:
A.
Generously listed at 5-foot6, Jose Altuve is baseball’s little big man. The do-everything second baseman won his third AL batting title and aims to lead the Astros to their first World Series crown. With the Houston area recovering from Hurricane Harvey, they’re the sentimental favorites. B.
Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman going long, Andrew Miller entering early, Clayton Kershawas a closer. The old ruleswere out last October when it came to relief roles. We’ll see what pops up in the bullpens this year. C.
Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Corey Kluber& Crew, once more? It’s been awhile since aWorld Series rematch, when Reggie Jackson led the Yankees over the Dodgers in 1977-78. But, it’s already been a ripe year for repeats — Warriors vs. Cavaliers, Alabama vs. Clemson.
Altuve’s Astros: Bullpens: Cubs vs. Cleveland:
D.
Strikeout king Chris Sale makes his firstplayoffappearancewhen Boston starts at Houston on Thursday in the best-of-five AL Division Series. Rockies bopper Nolan Arenado and Twins slugger Brian Dozier are postseason newbies, too. So is Nationals backupAdam Lind, after 12 years andmore than 1,300 games.
E.
Anyone remember the last time a postseason game went to extra innings? Hard to top the Cubs’ 10-inning, rain-delayed, 8-7 thriller over Cleveland in Game 7. The Red Sox are the experts of extras this year— they’re 15-3, including seven straight wins.
F.
Sure, 20 teams’ seasonswere finished before Tuesday. But their fans can always dream. Cubs righty Jake Arrieta, Royals third baseman Mike MoustakasandRaysthumper Logan Morrison are on the list of who’ll soon be available. The most intriguing possibilitymight be Shohei Otani, a star pitcher and hitter
Debuts: Extra: Free agents:
in Japan.
G.
Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez returns to the playoffs for the first time since 2009, when he was 10 for 17. Twins star JoeMauer had been absent since 2010. And Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg has pitched just once inWashington’s three trips, heading into this matchup with the Cubs.
H.
World Series home-field advantages goes to the team with the best record. It’s no longerbasedonwhowinsthe All-Star Game. That means the Dodgers (104 wins) get first dibs, followed by Cleveland (102), Houston (101), Washington (97), Boston (93) and the Cubs (92). I.
Nationals ace Max Scherzer tweaked his hamstring, and teammate BryceHarper is getting over a bad knee. Banged-up All-Star Michael Brantley of the Indians might be able to contribute this week — or might not.
Good to see ya: Home field: Injuries:
J.
Acool cat, he keeps his Cubs loose. He reveled in last year’s rallying cry: “TryNot to Suck.” Theskipper becamethe toast of Chicago, ending that century-old drought. Funny, all those warm-and-fuzzy Wrigley Field feelings are gone now, at least beyond the Friendly Confines. K.
He tied for the major league lead in wins and won his fifth ERA title. He’s a threetime Cy Young Award winner and seven-time All-Star. But will anyone get more postseason scrutiny than Clayton Kershaw? Probably not, because the L.A. lefty is 4-7 with a 4.55 ERA in the postseason.
L.
Too bad the temperature is often better suited for snowballs than baseballs at this time of year. It was in the low 40s at Wrigley Field last year, and just imagine how it might feel in Denver or Minneapolis. If youwant clear conditions, root forArizona vs. Houston and their retractable roofs. M.
Twin Cities native Paul Molitor, Torey Lovullo of the Diamondbacks and Bud Black of the Rockies are first-time skippers in the playoffs. Washington’s Dusty Baker is back for his ninth try, still seeking that elusive first World Series championship. N.
Fan safety has drawn special focus ever since a 1-yearold girl was recently hit by Todd Frazier’s 105 mph foul ball at Yankee Stadium. Of the teams in these playoffs, three already had extended the netting to screen spectators: Houston, Washington and Minnesota. TheYankees say they’ll have it next year.
Joe Maddon: Kershaw: Lousy weather: Managers: Netting:
O.
Of course. But if theWorld Series goes to Game 7, they’ll go beyondHalloween and play on Nov. 1.
P.
CarlosBeltran, Francisco Lindor andCarlosCorrea areamong the many players from Puerto Rico trying to raise moneyandawareness for the damage done to their island byHurricaneMaria. Look for messages on caps and shoes over the next few weeks. Q.
Extra mound conferences, longer TV commercials and more pitching changes contribute to slowing down the pace in the playoffs. MLB wants to speed up the action and avoid a repeat fromlast year, whenpostseasongamesaveraged almost 3½ hours. Not a goodsign that regular-season games this year took more than 3 hours, 5 minutes on average, the longest in baseball history.
R.
TheYankees’ Judge broke the major league record with 52 home runs by a rookie, and Dodgers surprise Cody Bellinger set the NL mark with 39. Othernewcomerswhocould makeanimpact: RedSoxoutfielder Andrew Benintendi, Cubs outfielder/infielder Ian Happ and 33-year-old Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel. S.
Jose Ramirez and the Indians set an AL record by winning 22 straight, and the Dodgers dropped 11 in a rowfor their worst skid sincemoving from Brooklyn. A year after winning its first six postseason games, Cleveland hopes to do it again.
T.
JustinVerlander (5-0, 1.06ERAforHouston), J.D. Martinez (29 homers in 62 games for Arizona) and Jose Quintana (7-3, 3.74 for the Cubs) are some of
October: PuertoRico: Quick? Rookies: Streaks: Trades:
the stars acquired in midseason trades. Yu Darvish, David Robertson and Eduardo Nunez also gave their new teams a boost.
U.
It won’t be long before some team is hollering about an ump’s strike zone. Those calls can’t be contested, but others can. Some teams are very good at getting them overturned ( Joe Girardi and the Yankees won 72 percent of their challenges). Others, not somuch (the Nationalswere right on only 36 percent).
V.
All ballots for MVP, Cy Young and other awards must be sent before the playoffs begin. These honors will generate plenty of debate before winners are announced in November. Altuve or Judge, Kluber or Sale?
W.
Madison Bumgarner and the 2014 Giants are the only wild-card team to win the WorldSeries sinceMLBwent to a one-and-done format in 2012. Before that, five wild cards took the title: Cardinals (2011), Red Sox (2004), Marlins (2003, 1997) and Angels (2002).
X.
The Bostonshortstopmight be the next infielder to really break out in the postseason. Think Javier Baez, Daniel Murphy, and Alcides Escobar in recent years.
Y.
The playoffs began Tuesday night in the Bronx, with Yankees pitcher Luis Severino set to start the AL wild-cardgameagainstErvin Santana and the Twins. Z.
The Arizona ace is set to throw the first pitch in today’s NL wild-card game against a familiar foe. He’s 2-1 in five starts vs. Colorado this year.
Umpires: Voting: Wild Cards: XanderBogaerts: Yankee Stadium: Zack Greinke: