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Tomorrow's permutations in the NL (and other notes) - UPDATED
2007-09-30 09:55
by Bob Timmermann

10:10 am PT - Dontrelle Willis (Florida) vs Tom Glavine (New York) - Willis is 11-3 with a 2.49 ERA in his career against the Mets. Glavine is 17-18 with a 3.83 ERA in his career against Florida.

10:35 am PT - Jason Bergmann (Washington) vs Jamie Moyer (Philadelphia) - Bergmann is 0-1 with a 3.29 ERA (7 games) against Philadelphia. Moyer is 7-4 with a 3.06 ERA against Washington/Montreal, but some of those games were played in 1986.

11:05 am PT - Brett Tomko (San Diego) vs Jeff Suppan (Milwaukee) - Tomko is 7-2, 3.70 against Milwaukee. Suppan is 3-3 with a 6.26 ERA against the Padres.

12:05 pm PT - Doug Davis Yusmeiro Petit (Arizona) vs Ubaldo Jimenez (Colorado) - Davis is 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA against Colorado. Petit will start instead of Davis as the DBacks have homefield clinched. Petit has never pitched against Colorado. Jimenez had no decision in his only other start against Arizona and gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings.

What do the oddsmakers think:

Florida is +195 and New York is -210, Washington is +204 and Philadelphia is -220, San Diego is +105 and Milwaukee is -113, Arizona is +212 and Colorado is -230

San Diego is 89-72, New York, Philadelphia, and Colorado are 88-73.

  • If New York, Philadelphia, and San Diego win - The Padres are the wild card. New York plays at Philadelphia Monday to decide NL East. Colorado's game wouldn't matter in any scenario where the Padres win.
  • If New York, Philadelphia, and Colorado win and San Diego loses - New York plays at Philadelphia Monday to decide the NL East. Then there would be a three-team playoff for the wild card. Colorado would draw a bye on Tuesday. San Diego would play at the park of the NL East loser. The winner of that game would host Colorado to decide the wild card. (This info updated.) (Also, Colorado could opt to play two games and be home for both of them, which seems idiotic.)
  • If New York and San Diego win and Philadelphia loses - The Mets win the NL East, the Padres are the wild card.
  • If New York, Philadelphia, and San Diego lose, and Colorado wins - The Mets would go to Philadelphia to decide the NL East. San Diego would play at Colorado for the wild card.
  • If Philadelphia and San Diego win and New York loses - The Phillies win the NL East and the Padres win the wild card.
  • If Philadelphia, New York, San Diego, and Colorado lose - The Padres win the wild card. The Mets play at Philadelphia to decide the NL East.
  • If Philadelphia and Colorado win and New York and San Diego lose - The Phillies win the NL East. The Padres travel to Denver for a playoff to decide the NL wild card. We have a winner!
  • If Philadelphia and New York win and San Diego and Colorado lose - The Mets play at Philadelphia Monday to decide the NL East. The loser of that game would play San Diego. San Diego would play at New York, but would be home to Philadelphia.

Other notes

  • The AL teams are now seeded: Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York.
  • Arizona is the #1 team in the NL. Chicago is the #3 team. The NL East winner will be #2.
  • Florida, Washington, and Texas do not have complete games this year and will likely be the first teams to finish a season without one.
  • Magglio Ordonez leads Ichiro Suzuki by a margin of .360 to .351 in the AL batting race. Matt Holliday leads Chipper Jones .340 to .339 in the NL batting race.
  • Jimmy Rollins has now come up to the plate a major league record 774 times.
  • Jake Peavy, barring a horrific outing in a possible playoff tiebreaker game, will win the NL Pitching Triple Crown with 19 wins, 234 strikeouts, and a 2.36 ERA. Randy Johnson was the last pitcher to do that in the NL back in 2002.
  • Scott Hairston has the potential of playing for both the NL West champ (Arizona) and the wild card (San Diego) this year. Byung-Hyun Kim of Florida has the potential to do the same except the teams would be Arizona and Colorado. Jose Molina has played for the AL West champ (Los Angeles) and the AL wild card (New York).
  • Since 1900, only five pitchers have started 30 games in a season and had a higher ERA than Philadelphia's Adam Eaton (6.29). Jose Lima has done it twice.

 

 

 

Comments
2007-09-29 21:18:05
1.   Eric Stephen
Bob, what about if Mets, Phillies win and Padres lose?

Wouldn't there be a playoff Monday for the NL East, with the loser playing SD Tuesday for the Wild Card?

2007-09-29 21:38:14
2.   Bob Timmermann
I knew I left out a permutation. I assume you mean the Rockies lose too.
2007-09-29 23:06:41
3.   Mark Linsey
Florida, Washington, and Texas do not have complete games this year and will likely be the first teams to finish a season without one.

The first teams, ever? No other team in history has had a season without anyone pitching a complete game, and this year there will likely be three such teams? Or am I misinterpreting this?

2007-09-29 23:16:19
4.   Bob Timmermann
3
It's going to go from zero to three.

The only pitcher I could possibly see going the distance on any of those three teams would be Willis.

2007-09-30 00:06:12
5.   Cliff Corcoran
On that last bullet point, it's really only five pitchers, as two of the six are Jose Lima.

Great stuff, Bob, I'll be rechecking this post all afternoon.

2007-09-30 00:40:09
6.   Gagne55
"If New York, Philadelphia, and Colorado win and San Diego loses - New York plays at Philadelphia Monday to decide the NL East. Then there would be a three-team playoff for the wild card. Colorado would draw a bye on Tuesday. San Diego would play at the park of the NL East loser. The winner of that game would host Colorado to decide the wild card. (This info updated.) (Also, Colorado could opt to play two games and be home for both of them, which seems idiotic.)"

So, East showdown Monday, east loser vs. San Deigo Tuesday, winner on tuesday vs. Colorado on Wednesday? Wouldn't that screw up the playoff schedule?

2007-09-30 00:54:21
7.   Chiron Brown
I don't understand why the Padres are not starting Peavy Sunday. All they have to do is win and they are the wild card. They're the only team whose destiny is completely in their own hands. Why not use their best pitcher? So they'll have Peavy for a playoff? If they lose Sunday they may end up having to play more than one extra game. It seems like a very non-aggressive approach to the situation. Maybe I don't have enough faith in Tomko. Go figure.
2007-09-30 07:33:23
8.   Ken Arneson
8 I went to Peavy's last start in San Francisco on Wednesday. He won, but he didn't have Peavy-like stuff--only struck out one batter. If he went today, he'd be following that up on three days' rest, and he probably wouldn't have Peavy-like stuff today, either.

There are so many ways the Padres can get in without him, and the worst that happens is that they use him tomorrow instead of today, when he's more likely to be the best pitcher in the league again. It's clearly the right decision, even if they are starting Tomko.

2007-09-30 11:31:49
9.   dzzrtRatt
8 Maybe I don't have enough faith in Tomko.

Impossible. "None" is too much faith in Tomko.

As he did with the Giants and Dodgers, Tomko tricked the Padres with one good game. Then you get all his comments about how he's figured out what he's doing wrong, the last pitching coach messed him up but now he's doing the right thing because the current pitching coach lets him be himself. Then he loses the next game, but hey, nobody's perfect. If his pattern holds, the game today is the one in which he will really explode. Especially against the Brewer lineup. If Tomko is their only option, one could make an argument they'd be better off forfeiting the game to prevent neck injuries from the outfielders watching the balls fly over the fence.

2007-09-30 11:33:40
10.   Bob Timmermann
And Tomko gets a 3-0 lead against a Brewers lineup that doesn't have Prince Fielder in it.
2007-09-30 12:50:45
11.   Humma Kavula
Tomko looking not so hot in the fifth.

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