I say it every year, IMO MLB playoffs are simply the best of all professional leagues. One month of intensity, with micro-moments of super intensity throughout.
Although like Troutman - I would prefer to see a bit more defence tonight.
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Kershaw allowed his eighth HR of the playoffs, a new record. The Dodgers were also previously 100-1 when Kershaw pitched and they had at least four runs of support (the other loss also predictably in the playoffs). Legendary regular season pitcher, but obviously he has no postseason legacy. Even as wild as the series has been you expect Verlander and the Astros to cruise in game 6 with the Dodgers bullpen gassed.
Also not to go full conspiracy theorist, but the rumours the balls are juiced can really only increase after a game like that. But if it gets exciting games like this, maybe juicing the balls is alright.
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That's more of a juiced stadium. In the old Astro Dome that game yields one home run last night.
I don't know, Puig's homer, and his reaction, is really interesting evidence of juiced balls. A down and in 83mph pitch that he one arms out with relative ease...even he seemed quite surprised it went out. I honestly don't care though, if anything I wanna see juiced players hitting juiced balls. I'm down for 106mph fastballs being turned around into 650 foot homers.
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The Crawford Boxes at Minute Maid certainly allow for home runs to left field (Correa's HR for example) but that hitting display had little to do with the stadium. Gassed and/or ineffective relievers, excellent hitters, and maybe juiced balls.
A big factor is familiarity. Hitters have so much more information now. Correa said last night how getting to face Kershaw within the same week was a real advantage.
Another example. Bregman hit a homer off Jansen in 9th inning of game 5. A rather insignificant run at the time as the Astros were pretty much out of it. But it was on a slider. Bregman was quite certain Jansen wouldn't try that pitch again, especially on first pitch so he was sitting on the cutter. And he ripped it.
So while the Astros seemingly have an advantage with Verlander in game 6, it's not as big an advantage as one might think. That said, he will be on 5 days rest and I fully expect him to pitch deep into the game even if he gets in some trouble.
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Lots of mentions from players on both sides that the balls are slicker than normal. Verlander's slider, for example, is usually an automatic swing and miss but on 17 pitches in his last start it only produced one.
Kershaw allowed his eighth HR of the playoffs, a new record. The Dodgers were also previously 100-1 when Kershaw pitched and they had at least four runs of support (the other loss also predictably in the playoffs). Legendary regular season pitcher, but obviously he has no postseason legacy. Even as wild as the series has been you expect Verlander and the Astros to cruise in game 6 with the Dodgers bullpen gassed.
Also not to go full conspiracy theorist, but the rumours the balls are juiced can really only increase after a game like that. But if it gets exciting games like this, maybe juicing the balls is alright.
Coors Field has yielded the second-most homers (502) of any ballpark in that period, behind only Yankee Stadium (542). But as it turns out, there are eight ballparks with a higher percentage of homers that weren't either barreled or solid contact, led by Minute Maid Park.
Since the advent of Statcast™, 16.1 percent of home runs at Minute Maid Park have been neither barreled nor solid contact. Several have been among the most improbable hits in that span, including Alex Bregman's home run into the Crawford Boxes on May 24 against the Tigers, which had an exit velocity of 88.3 mph and a launch angle of 27 degrees. A batted ball with that combination of exit velocity and launch angle had a hit probability of 7 percent, and had never before gone for a home run since Statcast™ was introduced.
Of Altuve's 27 homers at Minute Maid Park since 2015, six have been classified as struck "poorly/under," meaning he got under the pitch and lofted it high in the air for what frequently results in a flyout. All six landed in the Crawford Boxes.
