World Series 2023 (Diamondbacks-Rangers)

[Callison]

I'm pretty sure Josh Sborz is what some might call a bullpen "project."

You talkin' to me bro? A guy that can close the WS is about a universe away from "project".

[Callison]

bad ball-strike calls

Glad ONE other poster else mentioned this. Was thinking paranoia mighta got me, but now that there are 2 of us, I feel better. Some of the bad calls against the Phils were huge.

[bkox]

You talkin' to me bro? A guy that can close the WS is about a universe away from "project"

You have to stop looking at one or two appearances and making judgments on those. The guy had a 5.50 ERA this year and a negative bWAR.

[zambonir]

You talkin' to me bro? A guy that can close the WS is about a universe away from "project".

But he was until the post-season started. Which is exactly the point. There are really no projects or sure things in the world of relief pitching, and especially not the post-season. Sborz was worse than Dylan Covey all year long. If he'd been on the Phillies he likely would have been the guy who lost his roster spot to Kerkering. Who turned out to be a "project" himself. And meanwhile the best closer in the entire post-season still blew his last appearance (albeit not a save).

[mdougherty12]

Arizona missed their chance at accomplishing the feat of winning the World Series after having a negative run differential in the regular season.

[zambonir]

Had a team with a negative run differential ever even made the playoffs prior to 2020? That year three did, while Houston got in with a losing record but + differential.

[mdougherty12]

Had a team with a negative run differential ever even made the playoffs prior to 2020? That year three did, while Houston got in with a losing record but + differential.

The 1987 Twins were the only World Series-winning team I found that had a negative run differential, but it wasn't an exhaustive search. They won a weak AL West that year with an 85-77 record (and a -20 run differential).

[zambonir]

An expected W-L of 79-83!

[Callison]

You have to stop looking at one or two appearances and making judgments on those. The guy had a 5.50 ERA this year and a negative bWAR.

Yeah, I do.

But I see performance and respect it. Let's watch and see if Sborz didn't earn a big pay day.

[zambonir]

Much like Covey he made $733,000 this year (the major league minimum) and he'll enjoy twice that in arbitration if he's lucky. Check back in 2026 for any real reward. Meanwhile Soto is looking at $4-5 million because he's older and used to close for a last-place team.

[zambonir]

The funny thing is Sborz was probably a lot better than his ERA (he had a 3.75 FIP and respectable 1.146 WHIP) in the regular season. And he also would have never pitched the 9th inning of Game 5 if it hadn't been a five-run lead. But he'd already done a great job keeping it 1-0. When you're a reliever you only have to have three or four bad games in the regular season to trash your stats. And you also only have to have one or two good ones in October to look like a stud.

[bkox]

Rangers had their parade today... not sure why they didnt wait til Saturday. More people could have been off work etc

[zambonir]

Ours was on a Friday too after winning on Wednesday. I suspect the weekday thing is very much on purpose (in terms of logistics and transit - yes, even in TX - and law enforcement hours/pay).

[bkeich]

Rangers had their parade today... not sure why they didnt wait til Saturday. More people could have been off work etc

The Cowboys are losing a big game this weekend, didn’t want to interfere with their sadness