Brewers opt to make opener a bullpen game against Rockies
No surprise: O’s give heave-ho to executive VP, manager Showalter
MILWAUKEE — The bullpen day has come to October.
The Milwaukee Brewers plan to open their first postseason series in seven years with a reliever. Manager Craig Counsell hadn’t decided who would go first when the Brewers host the Colorado Rockies in Game 1 of the NL Division Series today.
Milwaukee led the majors with a 1.98 bullpen ERA in September, so why not go straight to a great strength?
“We’re going to share the outs a little bit more, but we really are confident with the days off in the series, the way we’re coming into the series, that we’ll certainly be able to do it,” Counsell said.
Those relievers will face a Rockies lineup that finally got a day off Wednesday after three games in three days in three time zones.
Colorado faced the Cubs’ tough left-handed starter Jon Lester in the NL wild-card game Tuesday night, a 2-1 win in 13 innings. A day earlier, the Rockies managed just one hit in 6⅔ innings off Dodgers righty Walker Buehler in a 5-2 loss in Los Angeles in the tie-breaking game for the NL West crown.
Now for something completely different.
“Well, I’ve never experienced that in the postseason, facing a bullpen, facing so many different guys,” Rockies veteran outfielder Carlos Gonzalez said.
The Oakland Athletics started reliever Liam Hendriks against the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game Wednesday night. The trend of using a relief “opener” started with the Tampa Bay Rays this year.
Facing a traditional starter, hitters hope to get a better read on pitches the second and third times through the lineups. Hitters may not have that luxury in a bullpen day.
Colorado manager Bud Black is adhering to a simple approach.
“Again, I think the ultimate challenge is just have good atbats, play baseball, have a good approach against any pitcher that the Brewers throw out there,” he said.
BRAVES-DODGERS: These aren’t the same Los Angeles Dodgers that won 104 games, ran away in the NL West and fell one victory short of a World Series title last year.
Example A: After a slow start, they won 92 games and needed Game 163 to earn their sixth straight division title.
Example B: Clayton Kershaw won’t be opening the postseason as the Game 1 starter for the first time in six consecutive playoff appearances.
Example C: Kershaw told Hyun-Jin Ryu that the South Korean left-hander was going to take the mound tonight against Mike Foltynewicz and the Atlanta Braves to begin the best-of-five Division Series.
“I’m obviously kind of nervous, but I think it’s a good thing,” Ryu said through a translator Wednesday.
ORIOLES: Baltimore fired executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette, who launched a belated rebuilding effort in July after the team that failed miserably from the start.
The announcement came Wednesday night, hours after manager Buck Showalter was told by the club he would not return in 2019.
Baltimore went 47-115, the worst record in Orioles’ history. Both Duquette and Showalter had contracts that expired at the end of this season.
CUBS: Infielder Addison Russell accepted a 40-game suspension Wednesday for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy after a series of allegations made by his ex-wife.
Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the ban and said MLB had completed its investigation into the accusations made by Melisa Reidy. Russell had denied the allegations, which Reidy detailed in a blog post in September.
Russell’s unpaid suspension includes the 11 regular-season games he missed after being placed on administrative leave Sept. 21. Russell will be eligible to return on May 3 against St. Louis, barring any postponements, and he will not appeal the suspension. He will also participate in an evaluation and treatment program.
The Cubs’ season ended Tuesday with a 2-1, 13-inning defeat to the Colorado Rockies in the NL wild-card game. Russell was not active for the game.
The Cubs expect to make ■ changes after an early playoff exit. Just not in the manager’s office.
Joe Maddon will return as skipper for a fifth season, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said Wednesday.
“He’s the manager of this team and I’m very happy about that,” Epstein said.
Maddon has one year left on his contract. Though there are no ongoing discussions about an extension, Epstein insisted they have a “terrific” working relationship.
“We don’t agree all the time about baseball issues, and that’s the way it should be,” Epstein said. “I don’t want a yes man as the manager.”
Maddon has a 387-261-1 record with playoff appearances in each of his four seasons in Chicago. The Cubs have more wins during that span than any other team, with three trips to the NLCS and a World Series championship in 2016.
The Cubs managed just two runs over 22 innings in losing the tiebreaker and wild-card games, a weak finish for a team that struggled at the plate for a big chunk of the season. Though Javier Baez emerged as an MVP candidate, too many players did not perform the way they expected.
QUALIFYING OFFER: The price of qualifying offers for Major League Baseball free agents will be $17.9 million this year.