On the second day of the 2022 postseason, the first two games delivered the longest scoreless game in postseason history, and the second-largest comeback in postseason history.
The National League games weren't bad either, although the Mets were the only team to stave off elimination and force a do-or-die Game 3. The Guardians, Mariners and Phillies advanced to the divisional series as quickly as possible.
OK, that's probably the wrong way to put it. The Guardians and Rays, no longer supported by the Manfred Man in extra innings, needed 15 before somebody could put a run on the board. That somebody was Oscar González, who homered off Corey Kluber in his old digs to send Cleveland to a 1-0 victory and a date with the Yankees.
The Mariners look destined for an ordinary loss and a do-or-die Game 3 when they fell behind 8-1 to the Blue Jays, only to see the Blue Jays bullpen falter thanks in large part to a scary collision in shallow center field with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth.
Watching Cleveland's pitching staff hold the Rays to one run over 24 innings makes me think the White Sox could've been there. Watching the Blue Jays squander such a cushion -- at home! -- makes me think the White Sox could've been there.
Or maybe this is what the pressure of the postseason does to sounder teams, and the White Sox would show why they lost the season series to the Royals. That's probably most likely, just because they didn't have a strong-enough strength to counter some really glaring weaknesses. At least we have our blood pressures intact.
Spare Parts
Chris De Luca highlighted a quote that I missed during Rick Hahn's end-of-season press conference, which reinforces the point I made in P.O. Sox about Hahn being in a great spot personally, regardless of what it means for everybody else.
“There’s only 30 of these jobs, and I’m fortunate enough to be able to do this in my hometown,” Hahn said. “Whether we won this division by 10 games or lost it by 10 games, I’m ridiculously blessed to be able to have this opportunity.”
Tony La Russa might've been hired without a process, but the Royals didn't conduct a search the last time they hired their manager, telegraphing the Mike Matheny move by adding him to the front office as Ned Yost contemplated retirement. With Dayton Moore gone, both Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred lost their protection, and their loss in the AL Central's loss, because both held the Royals back.
New Detroit GM Scott Harris is also making his initial changes to the Detroit Tigers' coaching staff and front office. One of the casualties is hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh, one of the few White Sox coaches to actually be hired away by another team. He was the White Sox's assistant hitting coach under Frank Menechino in 2020.
Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney team up for a lengthy dive into the way Jed Hoyer has overhauled the Cubs' developmental programs during this second rebuild. It's hard to tell how much is legitimately useful and how much is certain companies making a quick buck off a team that'll try anything on players who don't cost much, but I'd love to read a similar story for a number of other teams across the league to get a cross-section of dominant trends.
