MLB Bullets comes in small packages

I guess we can stop questioning the decision to start Trevor Bauer in game one of the ALDS.

• Jose Altuve hit three home runs in game one of the other ALDS as the Astros beat the Red Sox, 8-2.
• Michael Baumann hopes that Altuve’s performance makes more people realize Altuve is one of the best players in the game.
• On the other side, Chris Sale had one of the worst starts for a Red Sox pitcher in postseason history. I’d say it was the Red Sox’s fault for not having Drake LaRoche in the locker room, but the last time I told that joke I got criticized for picking on a kid, even though LaRoche wasn’t the one I was making fun of.
• For his part, Sale just said “it’s a bad time to suck.” Here’s some advice: Try not to suck.
• There were two big Yankees games since the last time Bullets ran, one win in the Wild Card game and a loss in game one of the ALDS. Heading into the Wild Card game, MLB Network personality Brian Kenny argued that the Yankees should go with a bullpen game in the WIld Card game, which was just what they did after starter Luis Severino got knocked out of the game after a third of an inning. The Yankees ultimately winning the Wild Card game is evidence that “bullpenning” could be a workable strategy, writes Bill Baer.
• Travis Sawchik thinks that the Yankees should have been willing to try such a move without it being forced upon them by circumstances.
• Jeff Sullivan notes that Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman isn’t in a slump anymore.
• Grant Brisbee notes that the AL WC game convinced him that the current format is a good idea. The better team ended up winning, but the one-game playoff put the team in a bad position for the ALDS.
• Although it probably didn’t make any difference in the end, because starter Trevor Bauer and the Indians bullpen were completely unhittable last night. Zach Kram writes that if Bauer pitches like that the whole postseason, the Indians are practically unbeatable.
• Before game one of the ALDS, Travis Sawchik went over the logic to start Bauer in game one. He saw it as a way to better set up the team to win the ALCS at the cost of slightly lowering their chances of winning the ALDS. Except that’s all out the window now because Bauer was magnificent. It actually helps them win the ALDS too, at this point.
• Bill Baer notes the irony of Indians outfielder Jay Bruce hitting a home run and driving in three runs in game one, because the Yankees could have had Bruce in trade except they were too miserly to pick up the whole of his contract. The Indians did agree to pay all of Bruce’s money, and they got him instead.
• Charlotte Wilder notes the irony of this year’s Yankees: they’re a bunch of very likeable players whom she still hates because they’re Yankees. We root for laundry.
• The Diamondbacks beat the Rockies in a slugfest in the NL WC game, 11-8. That game featured a two-run triple by reliever Archie Bradley. Jeff Sullivan explains just how improbable that triple was. As in “winning the lottery” improbable.
• It was so improbable that someone wrote on Twitter that he’d get Bradley’s face tattooed on his back if it happened, and now Bradley is trying to hold the guy to it.
• Cliff Corcoran looks at the most-impactful hits by pitchers in postseason history.
• The Diamondbacks are under investigation because coach Ariel Prieto was caught wearing a smartwatch during the Wild Card game, but the Diamondbacks and Prieto have said it was just an honest mistake and that he just forgot he was wearing it.
• By the way, I thought I remembered Prieto playing for the Cubs. He never did, not even in the minor leagues, but he did sign with the team on May 18, 2004. He was released on May 19, 2004. Does anyone remember what the story behind this was? It’s bugging me. I can’t think of why someone was signed and released the next day without even playing one game. (Actually, I can think of some reasons, but I don’t think any of them apply here.)
• Jorge L. Ortiz explains why he thinks the Dodgers will beat the Diamondbacks in the NLDS.
• Mike Lupica wonders if this is finally the season that Dusty Baker wins a World Series as a manager. He thinks there’s a good chance. Just don’t give Russ Ortiz the game ball while the game is still going on.
• Mark Feinsand speaks with Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper and Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant about their friendship, their rivalry and their hometown of Las Vegas and how they want to support their city in this time of tragedy.
• Neil Paine has the strengths and weaknesses of each of the remaining eight playoff teams.
• Will Leitch ranks the remaining teams by how “urgent” it is for them to win the World Series this year. Hmm. The Cubs aren’t number one on the list this year. I wonder why?
• Jonah Keri gives you a reason to cheer for each of the eight playoff teams. For the Cubs, all he really needed to write was “El Mago.”
• Here’s an interesting idea: Sam Miller gives the odds that each player on those eight teams will make the final out of the World Series.
• Anthony Castrovince has some role players who could have a big impact in the playoffs. Do we still consider Jon Jay a “role player”? I guess he does have that 13th-level Druid he’s always bragging about.
• Grant Brisbee, whose favorite team was eliminated from playoff consideration back in March (we just didn’t know it at the time), tells you how much it will suck when your team gets eliminated this year.
• Last season, people complained about the score bug on TBS playoff broadcasts because they were too big and took up too much of the screen. Now people are complaining because they’re too small and hard to read.
• I’ve got to agree with Matt Clapp here: FS1 got the score bug right.
• Nancy Levine speaks with the mother of Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell about her son and his activism.
• Terence Moore talks with his old friend Hank Aaron about civil rights activism in sports, before and now.
• Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar speaks about the devastation in Puerto Rico.
• Shohei Otani pitched a shutout and batted cleanup in what is expected to be his final start in NPB.
• New Marlins owner Derek Jeter now says that he never intended to fire the four former Marlins legends who had served as “special assistants” and he wants them to come back to work. Jon Heyman reports that Jeter did give the order to fire the four and likely changed his mind after all the bad publicity the move received.
• Paul Molitor is expected to return as Twins manager in 2018. I don’t see how you fire someone after the Twins making the Wild Card game after losing over 100 games the year before.
• Former Braves and Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez has been studying analytics in order to make himself more attractive in landing another managerial gig. That’s actually a good idea. I never thought Gonzalez was much of a manager, but it’s possible he will be if he gets another chance.
• Mariners general manager Jerry DiPoto defends his manager Scott Servais. Maybe they can give the job to Fredi instead.
• Braves fan Craig Calcaterra takes a moment to vent about how messed up Atlanta’s front office situation is.
• Stephen Marche has an essay about the error and the American need to make a moral judgement about baseball.
• And finally, Meg Rowley writes about the Orioles game with the Red Sox on August 25 when Chris Young became the first player in MLB history to be illegally substituted back into a game. She tries to come up with some explanation for this occurrence other than what really happened which is “It was the ninth-inning of a blowout and no one was paying attention.”

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Let’s beat the Nationals.