NFL/MLB Playoff Open Thread: Fun Differential Edition
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What can you say, October 8 is apparently the optimal day for the Seattle Mariners to play a playoff game:
October 8, 1995 ➡️ October 8, 2022. #SeaUsRise #Mariners #MarinersMoments #PostSEAson pic.twitter.com/lGSMAdXDhZ— Mikaela Mattes 🎙 (@mikaelamattes) October 9, 2022
When Toronto (4-1) and Seattle (slant to Ricardo Lockette) sports cultures meet, something’s gotta give.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider has gotten some criticism for pulling starter Kevin Gausman too early. I think that decision is reasonable. What was a massive blunder was bringing in a lefty to face Carlos Santana, a choice Schneider defended thusly:
“Especially, we like that with Santana right-handed as opposed to left-handed … There’s always going to be times where I could sit here for about six months and second-guess myself, but right now I don’t.
Um, what? Like a lot of switch hitters, Santana has extreme platoon differentials, but they’re the exact opposite of what Schneider seemed to think. This year Santana hit 265/387/402 against lefties and 178/266/366 against righties; last year it was 283/342/376 versus 184/309/327. Hitting righthanded, in other words, Santana remains a productive hitter, and frankly he should not be in the lineup against righthanders at this stage of his career. The rest, as they say, is history:
Note the announcer immediately pointing out that Santana was hitting from his strong side. Smooth, John!