OnlyBucs

725453464F4354424A210 wrote: The NL Central made up half of the NL playoff scene.



Brewers, Reds, Cubs all lost in two games, and all three teams managed a combined THREE runs in six games, one of them a 13 inning tilt.  They were shut out in four of the games. The Brewers scored 2 runs in one game, the Cubs scored 1 run in a game.



The Reds never scored, however I understand they still have a guy standing on third base somewhere.






The NL Central teams were exposed. Once they couldn't beat up on the Pirates, they showed themselves to be pretenders.

2B7D6B7F706A7A717C6B597E74787075377A190 wrote: The NL Central made up half of the NL playoff scene.



Brewers, Reds, Cubs all lost in two games, and all three teams managed a combined THREE runs in six games, one of them a 13 inning tilt.  They were shut out in four of the games. The Brewers scored 2 runs in one game, the Cubs scored 1 run in a game.



The Reds never scored, however I understand they still have a guy standing on third base somewhere.






The NL Central teams were exposed.  Once they couldn't beat up on the Pirates, they showed themselves to be pretenders.




I wonder if I would have won the number of wins prediction with ten if the Bucs had been in a harder division?

And the cards get booted losing game 3 so appropriately for a NL Central team-by shutout.



All division series will be against division rivals. There are no central division teams from either league. The 7 central teams were a combined 2-14. This is a glimmer of hope for Bucs fans as the central divisions match up next season in interleague play

More accurately, THEY should be the ones to hold that glimmer of hope. ((((((

517776617767140 wrote: The NL Central made up half of the NL playoff scene.



Brewers, Reds, Cubs all lost in two games, and all three teams managed a combined THREE runs in six games, one of them a 13 inning tilt.  They were shut out in four of the games. The Brewers scored 2 runs in one game, the Cubs scored 1 run in a game.



The Reds never scored, however I understand they still have a guy standing on third base somewhere.






The NL Central teams were exposed.  Once they couldn't beat up on the Pirates, they showed themselves to be pretenders.




I wonder if I would have won the number of wins prediction with ten if the Bucs had been in a harder division?


Good question. The three game sweep of the Brewers in August and the three of four they won over the Cubs at the end of the year don't look all that great now.

This has been a crazy mixed-up season. No way did I think the Cubs or the Cards would have gone out of the playoffs in such Pirate like fashion.

With all the rule changes and crap needed to get the full 60 games in for all teams sure didn't make things any better for the NL Central.

I am not too optimistic that the Bucs will be able to do much in 2021 to catch up to the rest of the division even as weak as it seems right now.

I am hoping that a few guys like Reynolds, Bell, Newman can rebound and that they finally find a place where Tucker can fit defensively and concentrate on his hitting.

As for the pitching, the kids will be the source of success. I am not counting on the vets on the staff like Williams and Musgrove to be more than 4 or 5 starters. We need Keller to keep progressing, Taillon to get back to what he was before his latest TJ surgery and for the other kids to break out.

All we can do now is wait and see how BC reorganizes the development side of the team and do it with a very, very limited budget. We all know that BOB is not going to spend his money.

As for Shelty, we are stuck with him because BOB would not be willing to eat the last 2 years of his salary even if it was at LM for managers.

This off-season is going to be a very interesting one in Buccoland for sure.

Counting on? 



Here's what I'm counting on:  BOB will be BOB.  Huntington,....Cherington, rather, won't do much of anything that really matters.



And, of course, Shelton will continue to be Shelton.



We'll be lucky to finish .400, and I will....count on....them continuing to bark about some future that still hasn't arrived in The Burgh.



The best "future" next season is that it will be some anniversary of a club that makes us continue to love the team today. That's about it.

764354545F6654545F5854310 wrote: Counting on? 



Here's what I'm counting on:  BOB will be BOB.  Huntington,....Cherington, rather, won't do much of anything that really matters.



And, of course, Shelton will continue to be Shelton.



We'll be lucky to finish .400, and I will....count on....them continuing to bark about some future that still hasn't arrived in The Burgh.



The best "future" next season is that it will be some anniversary of a club that makes us continue to love the team today.  That's about it.
________-

That is the post of day. All we can expect next year is the can being kicked further down the road.

I wonder if I'm the only one watching? Until the World Series, every series is played without a day off. I like the bubble, but kind of wish they would have played a series in one of the domes back east

All four series can be clinched today. Dodgers Padres game was pretty interesting. One take I have on the Padres, they seem to be pretty long in woofing, but pretty short in temper when the favor is returned.



It's readily apparent that at least for the first few rounds, scoring primarily via the HR is the way of baseball for the time being. IDK what kind of statistics are on all of this, I know they showed the Rays had scored almost 80 percent of their runs from the HR so far in the playoffs.



I really think the only thing that's going to change all of this is making the strike zone bigger. That way pitchers don't have to nibble, and the hitters are going to have to be more protective, instead of hunting the one pitch.



Baseball is slowly morphing into a cross between hard ball and soft ball right now.