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Last night was proof: Even ugly baseball can be exciting! Plus: Ken on Walker Buehler, the Gold Glove finalists have been announced and we get some context on the last four teams standing. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
ALCS Game 2: Yankees handle business at home
Yankees 6, Guardians 3: They do not award style points in baseball. If they did, maybe neither team would be leading this series as it moves from New York to Cleveland.
Let’s start with the Guardians. Last night, each of their two errors led to a run. They managed eight hits and six walks to keep the basepaths warm all night, but went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11 total runners. Tanner Bibee didn’t make it out of the second inning.
That meant manager Stephen Vogt used eight pitchers in the loss. That worked in Game 5 against the Tigers. It did not work last night.
That wasn’t the only lever Vogt pulled. Down 3-0 in the fourth inning, Vogt attempted to take advantage of a bases-loaded, one-out situation by pinch hitting for catcher Bo Naylor. But David Fry popped out, and the Guardians didn’t score. Austin Hedges came on to catch.
An inning later, the Guardians had scored twice to make it 3-2, and the bases were loaded again, this time with two outs. Hedges is a stellar defensive catcher … who also happened to hit .152 this year. He struck out swinging.
As with the quick hook for Bibee, it’s hard to say that Vogt made the wrong decision either time. He couldn’t have predicted another bases-loaded situation an inning later. Sometimes, as Ron Washington once said, “That’s the way baseball go.” They need it to go differently — and to do so urgently.
For the Yankees, it wasn’t the prettiest win either. Gerrit Cole started strong, but walked as many as he struck out (four) in 4 1/3 innings. In the sixth, the Yankees made two outs on the basepaths in one inning. They allowed base runners in every inning except the first and sixth.
But they executed when they had to. Style points or no, they lead the series 2-0. And Aaron Judge finally homered in this one. If he’s finding his groove, this one might get even uglier for Cleveland.
More Yankees: How New York helped Luke Weaver unleash the best versions of his three pitches.
Ken’s Notebook: Buehler’s new reality in spotlight tonight
One way to describe Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler, based on his interactions with reporters, is humbled.
Buehler, 30, no longer is the ace who led the Dodgers to the 2020 World Series title, or the pitcher who was an All-Star and top-10 NL Cy Young finisher in 2019 and ‘21. A second Tommy John surgery in August 2022 changed everything. He then struggled upon returning this season, and required a stint of nearly two months on the injured list with right hip inflammation.
While Buehler showed encouraging signs in his Division Series start against the San Diego Padres, pitching three scoreless innings after giving up six runs in the second, he demurred yesterday when asked if he has gotten back to where he wants to be in October.
“It’s hard to say yes to that question coming off six earned runs,” Buehler said on the eve of his Game 3 start against the New York Mets in the NLCS, declining to note that inning featured its share of poor luck. “But yeah, I feel good, I feel confident. That was one of my biggest strengths for a long time, my confidence.”
It’s understandable if Buehler is no longer as confident as he was earlier in his career, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said.
“He’s had a long couple of years,” Prior explained. “It’s been very challenging, obviously from a physical thing, with the elbow and the rehab. It’s also mental and emotional. It has not been an easy road back for him. He’s had to kind of go back to the drawing board multiple times, try to figure out, ‘OK, this isn’t working, that hasn’t worked.’”
The Buehler of old had no such concerns.
“Let’s be honest. He went out and he bullied guys,” Prior said. “He had (elite) command. He had swing-and-miss on his fastball. He changed speeds when he needed to.
“He can’t bully guys. It takes a while to realize you’re not that pitcher at this present moment, not that he won’t be that guy again. How does he be creative? How does he use his imagination to get hitters out? At the end of the day, it’s about screwing up their timing. And he has been better at that of late.”
In 16 starts this season, including his playoff start against the Padres, Buehler’s ERA is 5.38. He has yet to complete more than six innings. And against the Mets, backed by a rested bullpen, his leash figures to be relatively short.
He isn’t the Buehler of old. Tonight, the Dodgers just need him to be good enough.
(Game 3: Buehler vs. Luis Severino, 8:08 p.m. ET, FS1. Stream the MLB playoffs on Fubo.)
Awards Chatter: Gold Glove finalists named
It’s not quite awards season yet, but we’re to the “drop hints, start a few arguments” portion of the proceedings. Yesterday, the Gold Glove finalists were announced, and the lists — three players per position, per league — featured some familiar names and a few surprises.
Among the usual suspects: Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez, Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, Royals catcher Salv — hang on, wait …
Actually, that’s Royals catcher Freddy Fermin, who started 72 of the Royals’ 162 games at catcher. Perez started 90. It’s an unexpected passing of the golden torch in Kansas City, but not exactly a “Rafael Palmeiro wins the Gold Glove in 1999 despite playing just 28 games at first base” situation. Fermin’s 16 defensive runs saved tied Cal Raleigh of the Mariners for the league lead.
Other finalists of note:
- Bryce Harper, in his first full season playing first base in Philadelphia. Harper was a finalist as a right fielder in 2015 and 2019, but hasn’t won one yet.
- Juan Soto isn’t known for being a particularly glove-ish right fielder for the Yankees, but he’s among the three finalists in the American League.
- Seth Lugo/Cole Ragans — It seemed unusual to see two players from the same team contending for one Gold Glove, but with pitchers, it turns out it’s not that strange. Since 2014, Lugo and Ragans are the fifth pair of pitching teammates to be named Gold Glove finalists. In fact, last year it happened in both leagues, with Sonny Gray and Pablo López of the Twins in the AL and Taijuan Walker and Zack Wheeler of the Phillies in the NL.
More Gold Gloves: Grant Brisbee gives us a highlight reel from the Giants’ finalists. It’s worth a click just for the Matt Chapman videos.
Lessons: Let’s talk about the playoff format
Man, do I love context. I am a sucker for it. Give me a new stat, and my next questions are always going to be things like, “Why does it matter? Who’s the best/worst at it? How big a sample size before it’s relevant?” and about a half-dozen others as needed.
Team wins a big game? Player has a great (or terrible) outing? I immediately want to know how it fits into their trends. Was this one an outlier? If so, was it because of an adjustment, or just an anomaly?
Context fades to background noise in the playoffs. Take something as simple as a four-game losing streak. The Yankees had two of them this year, and it wasn’t a huge problem — they’re two wins away from the World Series! But if they did it again starting right now, it would be an apocalypse-level event in the Bronx while the Guardians dogpiled each other on the mound.
I love the playoffs, but the dissipation of context is my least favorite part. So here’s a big thank you to Stephen Nesbitt for smuggling in a bit of my favorite thing. Going all the way back to our preseason Power Rankings, he tells us what we’ve learned about each of the four remaining teams, and how each of them got here.
Stephen, thank you for your commitment to context. Now to scroll down and see what we learned from the Mets …
“In the playoffs, recency is more predictive than reputation.”
Oh, come on.
Handshakes and High Fives
One good way to prep for Game 3 of the NLCS? Read Jayson Stark on all the Weird & Wild things from Game 2. Also: Tim Britton and Will Sammon go a little deeper on what we’ve learned from the Mets.
The Phillies extended manager Rob Thomson through 2026. That was the tangible news. Read between the lines of Dave Dombrowski’s comments, however, and there was a lot left unsaid. Fortunately, Matt Gelb was there to help translate.
Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, Tropicana Field will not be ready for Opening Day next season. Where will the Rays play?
Most-clicked in yesterday’s newsletter: Sam Blum’s story on why teams’ local TV broadcasters get sidelined during the playoffs.
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(Top photo: Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
