Episode 1125: Effectively Arrieta

## Summary

*Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jake Arrieta’s effective wildness (and free agency), the Astros’ offensive struggles, and Yu Darvish’s bases-loaded walk, then answer listener emails about sequencing wins in the playoffs, a Dodgers fun fact, postseason managerial specialists, why hitters telegraph taking all the way, whether hitters can read fielders to tell which pitch is coming, a curious commercial for the MLB shop, the lowest-scoring and highest-scoring postseason teams, games in which everyone on a team had a negative WPA, Joe Maddon’s bullpen management, two-PA pinch hitters and one-PA pinch runners, overlooked team traditions, and more.*

## Topics

* Impact of win timing in the playoffs
* Bad playoff fun facts
* Body language when taking a pitch
* Pitchers drawing walks with the bases loaded
* Best and worst offensive playoff performances
* Hiring a postseason manager
* MLB Shop Commercial
* Reading fielder position to predict pitches
* Overlooked team traditions
* Players with two pinch hit or one pinch run appearances
* Chicago Cubs' bullpen and Joe Maddon's decision making

## Banter

* Jeff says that Jake Arrieta "can't locate for beans" but was effectively nonetheless in his recent start. Jeff and Ben try to estimate what Arrieta's free agent contract will be.
* Houston Astros' recent offensive struggles
* Yu Darvish drew a four-pitch RBI walk against Carl Edwards Jr. Jeff says he was "aggressive with his passivity".

## Email Questions

* Christopher: "Does the timing of wins in a short series affect the chances of winning a series overall?"
* Andrew: "Chris Taylor became the first Dodger CF to put his team ahead with a homer in the sixth inning or later of a postseason game since the 1952 World Series. Fun fact or terrible?"
* Landon: "Why do players routinely use body language to convey that they are taking all the way? Is there some advantage to announcing to the pitcher that you are taking that pitch all the way no matter what?"
* Andrew: "How many times in MLB history has a pitcher walked with the bases loaded?"
* Elliott: "Would a team benefit from hiring a postseason only managerial staff?"
* Aaron: [Writing about a MLB Shop commercial that features families wearing AL or NL gear] "Is this a thing? I don't know anyone who supports a league and buys gear for all the teams in that league. This seems like MLB has some market research on this but I don't know of anyone who roots like this."
* Michael: "If position players often know what pitch is coming to shift their position, how come you never see batters taking a peak at defenses to get a clue as to what pitch is coming? Surely if they are moving in the field depending on the pitch they would take to the plate that the opposing team may be doing the same thing."
* Jeff: "In today's Cubs-Dodgers game every Cubs player had a negative WPA. Has anything like this ever happened in a game, playoffs or otherwise?"
* Cory: "Are there some mini traditions that other teams that have escaped national notoriety?"

## Stat Segment

* Jeff uses the Play Index to look at the best ever offensive performances in playoff series.
* By OPS, the best ever team offensive performance in a playoff series was the 2002 Angels who had a 1.030 OPS in the ALDS.
* This year the performance by the Houston Astros in the ALDS was the third best all-time.
* The 1918 Red Sox won the World Series by scoring just 9 runs in 6 games.

## Notes

* All of the Chicago Cubs' runs so far in the NLCS have been scored via home runs.
* In the 2017 season there were eight pitchers who walked with the bases loaded. Four of those were on four pitches.
* Yu Darvish was the first pitcher to walk with the bases loaded in the playoffs since 1977.
* Since 1974 there have been 110 games where every player on a losing team had a negative WPA.

## Links

* Effectively Wild Episode 1125: Effectively Arrieta
* Yu Darvish Drew a Four-Pitch RBI Walk by Jeff Sullivan