MLB Playoffs 2017 Thread (Houston Astros Win World Series 4-3 over LA Dodgers)

[Skin Blues]

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Both KC and Astro built their offense focus on contact and athleticism, which Jays seriously lack of.

The Royals have been one of the lowest scoring teams in the league the past few years. They almost finished last in the AL this year, too. And the 2017 Astros hit 238 home runs, which has a lot more to do with scoring runs and winning games than making contact or being athletic does. We should focus on scoring runs, and not arbitrary methods of achieving that. Reminds me of when we were leading the league in on-base % and runs scored, and people complained about too many home runs and not enough speed on the bases / left handed hitters / etc

[polo007]

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[polo007]

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[Schad]

The Royals have been one of the lowest scoring teams in the league the past few years. They almost finished last in the AL this year, too. And the 2017 Astros hit 238 home runs, which has a lot more to do with scoring runs and winning games than making contact or being athletic does. We should focus on scoring runs, and not arbitrary methods of achieving that. Reminds me of when we were leading the league in on-base % and runs scored, and people complained about too many home runs and not enough speed on the bases / left handed hitters / etc

Yeah. It's fair to say though that the Astros built in part by getting athletic guys who hit a lot of dingers, because it's massively advantageous to begin with a 3B, SS, 2B and CF (plus a superutility guy who posted 4+ WAR) who all produce gaudy offensive stats. Their athleticism allowed them to have the roster composition that they do, but the athleticism itself isn't really the driving force, it's the fact that they're really good at hitting baseballs.

[Schad]

Also: can we finally put to bed the silly idea of a "winning mentality" developed over years of being competent? Houston is a few years removed from losing 100+ in three consecutive seasons, hadn't gone to the ALCS since moving to the AL, and hadn't won 90+ games in 12 years. Most of their key offensive contributors had never won a playoff series. All of that took a back seat to the fact that they were really, really good at hitting baseballs.

[manjusaka]

The Royals have been one of the lowest scoring teams in the league the past few years. They almost finished last in the AL this year, too. And the 2017 Astros hit 238 home runs, which has a lot more to do with scoring runs and winning games than making contact or being athletic does. We should focus on scoring runs, and not arbitrary methods of achieving that. Reminds me of when we were leading the league in on-base % and runs scored, and people complained about too many home runs and not enough speed on the bases / left handed hitters / etc

are you sure? I am talking about Royals championship year only, yes, they we low on HRs, but they rank #7 among all MLB teams in run scored. They did it with speed and balls-in-plays to squeeze runs.

Astros hit homers yes, but they don't wait for BB to get on base. Again they attack with swinging the bat.
We have more BB than the Astros 542 vs 509, #10 in HRs, among the playoff teams only Astros, Yankees, and Cubs got more.
However, we are #26 in runs scored and second in GIDP.

I won't complain on how many home runs we hit, but the problem is, we only have home runs, nothing else.

[Skin Blues]

The Royals have been one of the lowest scoring teams in the league the past few years. They almost finished last in the AL this year, too. And the 2017 Astros hit 238 home runs, which has a lot more to do with scoring runs and winning games than making contact or being athletic does. We should focus on scoring runs, and not arbitrary methods of achieving that. Reminds me of when we were leading the league in on-base % and runs scored, and people complained about too many home runs and not enough speed on the bases / left handed hitters / etc

are you sure? I am talking about Royals championship year only, yes, they we low on HRs, but they rank #7 among all MLB teams in run scored. They did it with speed and balls-in-plays to squeeze runs.

Astros hit homers yes, but they don't wait for BB to get on base. Again they attack with swinging the bat.
We have more BB than the Astros 542 vs 509, #10 in HRs, among the playoff teams only Astros, Yankees, and Cubs got more.
However, we are #26 in runs scored and second in GIDP.

I won't complain on how many home runs we hit, but the problem is, we only have home runs, nothing else.

It sounds like your ideal hitter is Kevin Pillar. Attacks the ball and doesn't wait for a walk, makes contact, and very athletic. And he's been one of our worst hitters over the past few years. There's nothing wrong with athletic players, or attacking the ball, but scoring runs should be the only goal. Forcing the situation to only target players that play a certain way is how you end up with Kendrys Morales while trying to get a lefty power bat rather than taking the best overall options available.