2015 NLCS: cubs vs. mets, or: "if you say you predicted this in april, you're a fucking liar"

There is a nice symmetry to the whole thing that if the Cubs are finally going to get to a World Series or get their heart broken again that it be against the Mets considering '69.

as i have said before Cubs.

Even though I didn't start watching baseball until 1970, it's impossible for me not to see this series through the prism of 1969--I spent the first few years of my fandom reading again and again about this legendary summer I just missed. (I have a very vague recollection of my father in 1969 talking about what was happening.)

I'm okay with either. If the Jays weren't in this, I would have been rooting for the Cubs, so slight preference for them. The Jays-Mets, though, would have a great storyline in the big trade of a couple of years ago.

Rooting for Cubs in four ugly blowouts

I can't believe you're lining yourself up against Chipper

i mean LARRY

pond scum > small bears

pond scum?

go mets

I can't believe you're lining yourself up against Chipper

pssshht, he died when he retired. He'll climb out of his coffin someday to become a hitting coach, but feh for now

he did save freddie freeman from dying in the snow that one time

I heard* Freddie's messed up wrist dates back to that snowstorm.

*heard = made up

Excellent matchup, big market perennial underdogs + exciting youngsters + cespedes = must watch

great young kids at the bat vs great young kids on the mound. im rooting for the mets. the way deGrom fought those stress innings in gm5 has been uplifting.

murphy wright and granderson had great at bats against the best in the game.. theyre a tough lineup, man

was looking at the grantland NLCS preview, that Mets lineup is seriously potent. knew they had improved in the back half, but they're serious front to back. ding them for questionable defense, but high-K pitchers v. a high-K lineup and mets should be feeling confident.

what are the matchups looking like? guessing

Lester/Harvey
Arrieta/Matz
Hendricks/Thor
Cubs' trade deadline regret/deGrom

I think thor in 2, then degrom, then matz

xp lol it'll prob be hammel in game 4, who didn't exactly do great in his NLDS start but they can bullpen-game that one, as they did with reasonable success in the clincher

since when has granderson been competent against lefties? I kept assuming he was dead meat against kershaw/anderson/wood and he had like a fucking 1.200 ops in the series against them

granderson was terrible against lefties this season i think, he probably just had a good run over those games for some reason. i thought he was toast after his last two seasons coming into '15 but he was good this year, the second half in particular.

xxxp figured thor would need more time than that, but I guess one inning of relief doesn't really push the needle. and terrible counting by me re deGrom's rest. so series will go:

Lester/Harvey
Arrieta/Thor
Hendricks/deGrom
Hammel/Matz
Lester/Harvey
Arrieta/Thor
Hendricks/deGrom

except the Hammel day, that's a lot of good matchups.

too bad no battle of The Two Jakes

via Jonah Keri

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091116052445/muppet/images/f/fa/KeithHernandezandMookieWilson.jpg

@AdamRubinESPN 57m
Imagine Mets want to go to Noah Syndergaard as Game 2 starter, but haven't had chance to make sure he's feeling good after relief appearance

Gilmartin replaces Goeddel in pen

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2015/10/17/9559889/mets-postseason-sean-gilmartin-erik-goeddel-nlcs-roster

@ESPNStatsInfo: On this date in 1999, Mets beat the Braves in Game 5 of NLCS on Robin Ventura's "grand slam single" in 15th inning http://t.co/uO2prLizC3

Cuddyer at first tonight, Lagares in center

Keith w/ the first pitch

Syndergaard cleared for tomw's start

Jaffe picks Mets on rotation depth

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/16/nlcs-preview-new-york-mets-chicago-cubs-playoffs

Hendricks and Lester seem perpetually undersold. frankly I think each team's top three is a wash: Arrieta/deGrom FIP differential is .35 in Cubs' favor; Lester/Harvey is .13 in Cubs' favor; Hendricks/Thor is .11 in Mets' favor. it's just that Hammel game where Cubs' SP depth is exposed, though there's more than "you can pencil in a loss" at stake there: if that turns into a bullpen game there are ramifications for late innings of remainder.

still not sure how to explain fangraphs' preference for small bears (56/44 odds despite home field for mets). at least one game strongly in mets' favor on SP front, and despite love for cubs' young guys those offenses are both intimidating. even with a slight edge there for cubs (and definite edge in relief) i don't see how that makes up for a game that looks like a freebie for the mets and then some.

(another angle on odds right now: Cubs have highest odds to win WS, despite KC already being up 1-0. seems off.)

shaky start :)

Murphy has 4 HR in a 6-game stretch for the first time in his career

he hit one (1) homer this year off lefties. in the past 6 games, he's hit 2 off kershaw, one off grienke, and now one off lester

amazin'

unlike yr cleanup hitter, Michael Cuddyer

things changed utterly in about 90 seconds there

yeah that was pretty abrupt

laggers totally misjudged that tho

tugged on Superman's cape

these errors are disquieting

ULP

BRUISED THE APPLE

Love Ron Darling making a skee-ball reference there

Mets radio guy did same

‏@jonahkeri
Jon Lester apparently needing to have David Ross catch every game is pretty nuts. Huge downgrade from Montero, especially against a RHP.

great throw, woulda had laggers if montero weren't standing in the mets dugout to receive the throw

lagares

looks like TC is going to use his starter + Familia only any time he can

Schwarber's third straight postseason game with a homer, tying a Cubs record set by Alex Gonzalez

(via Posnanski)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRoTSvwUYAEj1D5.jpg

dwright

lol cubes

ban the new york bear hunt

Matz's pitch count a little too high to pace a no-hitter, but maybe Collins will leave him in

My grandpa, RIP, would be positively glowing right now at this series

ok, a little unnerving...

i dislike those foul territory bullpens

not watching, is there a single cubs fan who doesn't look miserable

ofc it's pretty dire for the Cubs atm, but if there is one team that can have faith in the near future, it's the Cubs

bartolo in line for the W

"Ray Bradbury"

MVP

bartolo in line for the W

― mookieproof, Wednesday, October 21, 2015 10:49 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

never liked cappadonna much anyway

MVP

― johnny crunch, Wednesday, October 21, 2015 11:01 PM (8 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fuck Murphy for real

signed,
mets fan

you gotta be shittin me

ho hum 7 gm hr streak going into the ws

I expected nothing this season so I'll take the series win over the cardinals as a bonus, if nothing else.

ho hum he only disapproves of their "lifestyle" ty jesus

sry i mean 6 gms

Enjoy your little "career," Garbage Time Bryant.

Lol

Early life (edit)
Daniel Murphy was born in Jacksonville, Florida

well there's your answer right there innit

kris bryant will not die sober

I heard the Yankees need a second baseman.

i hope they do sign him, a. bc the mets shouldn't have him any longer than absolutely necessary and b. they will blow a ton of money on him and he will subsequently blow and therefore won't be a prob for the red sox

iirc the red sox like to sign middling players who do well in the postseason

goddamn you and your relative accuracy

fortunately they dont need a 2nd baseman

He just looks so... normal.

maybe they can both sign him and he splits time between the two?

xp its always the quiet ones who have hateful opinions about people their idiotically rigid interpretation of jeezus prevents them from coexisting with

Fowler has been one of the better trades of the summer. Love this guy.

congrats on the pennants Mets. I remember how some of the mets fan here were demolished by the continuous news of needed TJ surgeries over 2014 and this winter, now the pennants is yours! this is awesome. truly awesome. celebrate!

all snark aside, again 'grats to fearless leader morbs, j-crunch and any other ILB mets cru people

ugh go away Wilpons

grats Mets fans. my gramps was a fan of the Amazin' squad, being from NYC and I went to a spring training game or two with him, around the Ron Darling/Howard Johnson/Strawberry era. nice to see y'all back in it.

amazin' amazin' amazin' amazin' amazin' amazin' amazin'

Congrats to the Mets and to Daniel Murphy's hypnotist!

It's so cool to see teams overhaul themselves midseason and turn to a different squad in the second half and the postseason. The Giants won in much the same way, by building around their core players and filling in the holes as the season progressed instead of blowing wads of cash on free agents that are rarely worth the money during the offseason (yeah, the Mets are cheap because of lol Wilpons but still, the process works).

well they did have those pitchers (and Granderson) al year, but i see your point, bb

Sure, those were the core guys but the offense sucked for most of the first half. Then Wright and D'Arnaud came back from the DL, they traded for Cespedes and bullpen help, and suddenly it was a different team. The talent that they put on the field now is a lot better than that of a 90-win team.

As someone whose hometown team recently swept two ALCS and, after breaks of six and five days, played like the fucking 1899 Cleveland Spiders, hope the Mets can stay sharp.

Cespedes aggravated his shoulder doing pushups. :( Expected to be fine for the WS.

Also:

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2015/10/22/9591252/jeff-wilpon-struggles-to-open-a-giant-bottle-of-champagne

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CR85BW9UYAAn4Go.png:large

rip niese

didnt realize maddon said murphy was better this series than bonds in the 02 ws

deGrom will start Tuesday.

NYT ran a 1908 parody account of Wednesday night's game today. Someone read and tell me if it's funny. (Layout and fonts are nice.)

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/the-mets-beyond-belief

That's great.

Harvey made it to today's optional workout! Cespedes got a cortisone injection.

@Buster_ESPN 5h
Mets expected to go with a rotation of deGrom, Syndergaard, Harvey, Matz in the World Series, in that order.

apparently Game 1 starter has NOT been officially announced!

missed this re Bartolo:

https://twitter.com/OGTedBerg/status/657055697947987968/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

cute how they'll playing a metaphorical game of keep away from Bartolo in the pic up there

*they're