2018 Standings and Playoff Race Discussion

[82brewcrew82]

Cubs with the walk off slam tonight. Man, can that team finish. Now five back in the division and the WC quickly becoming the only real path.

[BruisedCrew]

Cubs put the capper on a “perfect” day.

[buckybrewer232]

Cubs with the walk off slam tonight. Man, can that team finish. Now five back in the division and the WC quickly becoming the only real path.

 

Makes me sick.. Hamels with another great outing for the Scrubs as well..

 

Remember a couple weeks ago when everyone was saying SPs available like Hamels, Happ, Lynn, Archer, Gausmann, etc. didn't provide any real upgrade to what we already have??

[adambr2]

Cubs with the walk off slam tonight. Man, can that team finish. Now five back in the division and the WC quickly becoming the only real path.

 

Makes me sick.. Hamels with another great outing for the Scrubs as well..

 

Remember a couple weeks ago when everyone was saying SPs available like Hamels, Happ, Lynn, Archer, Gausmann, etc. didn't provide any real upgrade to what we already have??

 

Archer has not been. As for the others, when your entire pitching staff besides Wade Miley goes into a collective funk at the same time, pretty easy for anyone else to look better.

[adambr2]

Cubs with the walk off slam tonight. Man, can that team finish. Now five back in the division and the WC quickly becoming the only real path.

 

We are not winning the Central I agree, but we are 3 back, not 5.

[Boomer5]

5 back in the loss column is 5 back. I know on the internet we are supposed to argue everything but this is not a fact that is up for that treatment.

 

The loss column is all that matters in the playoff chase.

[NYChez]

Cubs with the walk off slam tonight. Man, can that team finish. Now five back in the division and the WC quickly becoming the only real path.

If by “finish”, you mean having 2 guys get hit by a pitch in an inning and another reach on a infield grounder, allowing one hard hit to score four runs, then yes, they know how to finish.

[82brewcrew82]

Cubs with the walk off slam tonight. Man, can that team finish. Now five back in the division and the WC quickly becoming the only real path.

 

We are not winning the Central I agree, but we are 3 back, not 5.

Five back in the loss column is all that matters.

[82brewcrew82]

Cubs with the walk off slam tonight. Man, can that team finish. Now five back in the division and the WC quickly becoming the only real path.

If by “finish”, you mean having 2 guys get hit by a pitch in an inning and another reach on a infield grounder, allowing one hard hit to score four runs, then yes, they know how to finish.

This isn't the first time. Chalk it up to whatever you want to.

[homer]

Cubs with the walk off slam tonight. Man, can that team finish. Now five back in the division and the WC quickly becoming the only real path.

If by “finish”, you mean having 2 guys get hit by a pitch in an inning and another reach on a infield grounder, allowing one hard hit to score four runs, then yes, they know how to finish.

This isn't the first time. Chalk it up to whatever you want to.

 

Didn't Brewers just have a walk off a week ago?

[adambr2]

5 back in the loss column is 5 back. I know on the internet we are supposed to argue everything but this is not a fact that is up for that treatment.

 

The loss column is all that matters in the playoff chase.

 

You're right, it is not, because the actual standings read 3 back, not 5.

 

This argument makes less sense to me everytime I hear it. Part of the reason the Cubs have lost 5 less games is because they've played 4 less games than us. So they have to make those 4 games up by the end of the season and by your logic you are projecting them for wins in all 4 of those extra games.

[82brewcrew82]

Didn't Brewers just have a walk off a week ago?

And that means the Cubs aren't good at finishing?

[NYChez]

That was such an awesome win by the Cubs that they should all go on 48-hour benders.

[adambr2]

The Cubs are absolutely better than us. That doesn't mean we can't beat them in a playoff series; however, I really see no point in hanging on every game they play the rest of the way. They are probably 85% or better to win the division.

 

We're closer to being passed by the Cardinals than we are to catching the Cubs.

[lowblow]

Why do you have a minor league system? So that you can develop assets to use in your major league club or trade for other assets that will hopefully help the major league club win. Either you trust Stearns or you don't, but he seems to understand that you have to take chances when there are opportunities. With Bryant out for such a long time, Darvish adding little or no value and Morrow out, I would argue that 2018 is likely to be the Brewer's best chance in the NL Central for at least the next three years. Moreover, with the Dodgers' injuries, it almost seems like the opportunity for the Brewers to get to the World Series is there for the taking.

 

I'm surprised that he didn't push more chips into the middle of the table to get another starting pitcher. But I guess it comes down to a point I made a couple weeks ago. Small market teams have very little margin for error.

 

Unfortunately for the Brewers, I think their competitive position isn't likely to improve in the next few years as both the Phillies and the Braves keep getting better and neither the Cubs or Dodgers are going to get any worse.

[SomewhereInTime]

5 back in the loss column is 5 back. I know on the internet we are supposed to argue everything but this is not a fact that is up for that treatment.

 

The loss column is all that matters in the playoff chase.

 

What if I told you the win column has exactly the same amount of meaning in the standings as the loss column. This is why they use games back or winning percentage. The Cubs are more likely to have less losses than us when they've played less games, so that's why the current standings base the rankings off of best record, not losses.

[clancyphile]

Why do you have a minor league system? So that you can develop assets to use in your major league club or trade for other assets that will hopefully help the major league club win. Either you trust Stearns or you don't, but he seems to understand that you have to take chances when there are opportunities. With Bryant out for such a long time, Darvish adding little or no value and Morrow out, I would argue that 2018 is likely to be the Brewer's best chance in the NL Central for at least the next three years. Moreover, with the Dodgers' injuries, it almost seems like the opportunity for the Brewers to get to the World Series is there for the taking.

 

I'm surprised that he didn't push more chips into the middle of the table to get another starting pitcher. But I guess it comes down to a point I made a couple weeks ago. Small market teams have very little margin for error.

 

Unfortunately for the Brewers, I think their competitive position isn't likely to improve in the next few years as both the Phillies and the Braves keep getting better and neither the Cubs or Dodgers are going to get any worse.

 

The Braves have a good farm system and always have - it's a quality system the Crew is close to matching, but not yet. The Cubs and Dodgers have money to throw at their problems. The Phillies have a decent system, but Philly is still a big city.

[trwi7]

The Braves have a good farm system and always have - it's a quality system the Crew is close to matching, but not yet.

 

We're not even close to the Braves farm system.

[lowblow]

....and the Phillies have a big TV contract. They will be a big player in the free agent market in the off season. I think they will be the Cub's biggest competitor for Bryce Harper (I truly doubt that he will return to the Nats - he wants to win too badly and they appear to be snake bit and unless Lerner wants to really subsidize the team already at their financial limit).

 

Atlanta can afford to compete in the off season as well because they have a bunch of young cost-controlled players who show tremendous promise. If the Dodgers don't lock up Kershaw early, I would bet that the Braves will be a big bidder there.

[Boomer5]

5 back in the loss column is 5 back. I know on the internet we are supposed to argue everything but this is not a fact that is up for that treatment.

 

The loss column is all that matters in the playoff chase.

 

What if I told you the win column has exactly the same amount of meaning in the standings as the loss column. This is why they use games back or winning percentage. The Cubs are more likely to have less losses than us when they've played less games, so that's why the current standings base the rankings off of best record, not losses.

 

Until you can figure out a way for the Brewers to be able to subtract losses from their W/L record, the loss column is and always will be the only thing that matters.

[Boomer5]

Why do you have a minor league system? So that you can develop assets to use in your major league club or trade for other assets that will hopefully help the major league club win. Either you trust Stearns or you don't, but he seems to understand that you have to take chances when there are opportunities. With Bryant out for such a long time, Darvish adding little or no value and Morrow out, I would argue that 2018 is likely to be the Brewer's best chance in the NL Central for at least the next three years. Moreover, with the Dodgers' injuries, it almost seems like the opportunity for the Brewers to get to the World Series is there for the taking.

 

I'm surprised that he didn't push more chips into the middle of the table to get another starting pitcher. But I guess it comes down to a point I made a couple weeks ago. Small market teams have very little margin for error.

 

Unfortunately for the Brewers, I think their competitive position isn't likely to improve in the next few years as both the Phillies and the Braves keep getting better and neither the Cubs or Dodgers are going to get any worse.

 

The Braves have a good farm system and always have - it's a quality system the Crew is close to matching, but not yet. The Cubs and Dodgers have money to throw at their problems. The Phillies have a decent system, but Philly is still a big city.

 

We aren’t anywhere near the farm system of the Braves.

[adambr2]

5 back in the loss column is 5 back. I know on the internet we are supposed to argue everything but this is not a fact that is up for that treatment.

 

The loss column is all that matters in the playoff chase.

 

What if I told you the win column has exactly the same amount of meaning in the standings as the loss column. This is why they use games back or winning percentage. The Cubs are more likely to have less losses than us when they've played less games, so that's why the current standings base the rankings off of best record, not losses.

 

Until you can figure out a way for the Brewers to be able to subtract losses from their W/L record, the loss column is and always will be the only thing that matters.

 

So hypothetically, if one team were to finish a season 90-72, and in some crazy circumstance their rival sits at 81-71 and has 10 games to make up, the 81-71 team should be considered to be...ahead? If the loss column is the ONLY thing that matters.

[DaSpark]

Until you can figure out a way for the Brewers to be able to subtract losses from their W/L record, the loss column is and always will be the only thing that matters.

 

You can't subtract from the W column either. So, doesn't it matter as well? Yes it does. That's why the standings are calculated using both the wins and losses of respective teams. Yes, the Cubs have 5 less losses, but they also have to play 4 more games than the brewers from here on out. On average you can expect the Cubs to lose at least 1 of those, if not two. Of course, they could win them all, but that still doesn't matter.

 

Anyway, if your logic was correct (it isn't) I assure you that MLB would show the Brewers 5 games back on their standings page.

 

Back to reality though, right now the biggest thing that matters is these two games coming up against the Cubs. Brewers will be either 1,3, or 5 out after this series. In my opinion this could either make the race tight to the end or make it very hard for the Brewers to realistically keep up with the Cubs.

[TURBO]

5 back after the mini Cubs series would be the straw that breaks the camel's back imo.

 

If we looked like we have the capability to go on a run, and nothing in the second half can even come close to suggesting that, I wouldn't feel so gloomy about our chances.

[Boomer5]

Until you can figure out a way for the Brewers to be able to subtract losses from their W/L record, the loss column is and always will be the only thing that matters.

 

You can't subtract from the W column either. So, doesn't it matter as well? Yes it does. That's why the standings are calculated using both the wins and losses of respective teams. Yes, the Cubs have 5 less losses, but they also have to play 4 more games than the brewers from here on out. On average you can expect the Cubs to lose at least 1 of those, if not two. Of course, they could win them all, but that still doesn't matter.

 

Anyway, if your logic was correct (it isn't) I assure you that MLB would show the Brewers 5 games back on their standings page.

 

Back to reality though, right now the biggest thing that matters is these two games coming up against the Cubs. Brewers will be either 1,3, or 5 out after this series. In my opinion this could either make the race tight to the end or make it very hard for the Brewers to realistically keep up with the Cubs.

 

You can add wins but you can’t subtract losses.

 

It’s just math.