It will come out in the Wash

The stage is set. The competitors are ready. After seven grueling months, the MLB postseason officially begins on Tuesday as the Nationals host the Brewers for the National League Wild Card Game.
The Nationals enter the game as a very heavy betting favorite (-180) thanks in large part to the right arm of starting pitcher Max Scherzer. The three-time Cy Young Award winner and seven-time All-Star hasn’t quite lived up to his unrealistic expectations this season though, posting a still terrific 2.92 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 243/33 K/BB ratio across 172 ⅓ innings.
Since returning from the injured list with his back injury though, Scherzer has registered an underwhelming 4.74 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 54/8 K/BB ratio over 38 innings in seven starts.
He’s clearly the Nationals’ guy, and the one they want with the ball in his hand in this must-win situation, but Nationals’ manager Dave Martinez also has Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin at his disposal on Tuesday. If Scherzer struggles early on in the game, or doesn’t look like himself, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see Martinez employ a quick hook.
Checking out how this version of the Brewers’ lineup -- sans Christian Yelich -- matches up against Scherzer historically, it has been a comedy of epic proportions. Here’s a glimpse:

Mike Moustakas - .167/.189/.278, 11/1 K/BB in 37 PA

Yasmani Grandal - .063/.167/.063, 9/2 K/BB in 19 PA

Lorenzo Cain - .000/.063/.000, 7/0 K/BB in 16 PA

Ryan Braun - .000/.000/.000, 5/0 K/BB in 14 PA

Eric Thames - .333/.455/.566, 3/2 K/BB in 11 PA

Sure, there’s some small sample sizes in there, and Scherzer isn’t at his best at the moment, but that’s not very encouraging if you’re a Brewers’ fan. Even with that limited data, it would be shocking if Eric Thames didn’t find his way into the Brewers’ lineup for this one.
Brewers’ manager Craig Counsell also announced Monday that both Lorenzo Cain (ankle) and Ryan Braun (calf) will be ready to return to the starting lineup for Tuesday’s critical battle.
On the other side, it will be an all-around team effort for the Brewers’ pitching staff in trying to silence a Nationals’ offensive attack that outscored every team in the Senior Circuit except the Dodgers during the regular season.
Brandon Woodruff will get the ball to start the game for the Brewers, and he’s expected to work at least the first couple of innings. The 26-year-old right-hander has been terrific this season, compiling a 3.62 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 143/30 K/BB ratio across 121 ⅔ innings. He also missed a couple of months of action with an oblique strain though, and since returning on September 17 he has made only two starts -- throwing two scoreless innings in each with a 7/1 K/BB ratio over those four frames. Woodruff threw 37 and 38 pitches respectively in those two outings.

As we did with Scherzer on the other side, we can take a quick look at how the Nationals have fared against the Brewers’ hurler in the past, though the data on that side is even more limited:
Anthony Rendon - .111/.111/.111, 2/0 K/BB in 9 PA

Adam Eaton - .167/.167/.167, 3/0 K/BB ratio in 6 PA

Trea Turner - .167/.167/.167, 1/0 K/BB in 6 PA

Brian Dozier - .500/.600/1.250 (with the team’s only HR), 1/0 K/BB in 5 PA

Ryan Zimmerman - .250/.400/.250, 1/0 K/BB in 5 PA

There are few things in the world more exciting than postseason baseball. It all begins on Tuesday as these two squads battle for the right to take on the Dodgers in the National League Division Series.

 I am picking Washington Nationals to prevail.

Ausmus Out ?

Buster Olney of ESPN reported late Sunday that the job of Angels’ manager Brad Ausmus could be in jeopardy after just one season at the helm.
By Monday afternoon, that fate had been sealed, as Ausmus was officially dismissed from his job as the Angels’ manager. He received a three-year deal from the Angels to replace Mike Scioscia last winter.
In his first season on the job with the Angels, Ausmus posted a disappointing 72-90 record, marking the first time that the Angels have lost 90 games in a season in the last 20 years.
While Ausmus is out, the man that hired him (general manager Billy Eppler) will reportedly retain his job. Eppler of course, is the guy who tried to fix the Angels’ pitching problems last offseason by handing $28.5 million to the trio of Matt Harvey, Cody Allen and Trevor Cahill -- only to see the right-hander’s combine to register a 6.37 ERA across 185 innings, ultimately resulting in Allen and Harvey getting released.
Billy Eppler should be gone as well.

Nearly all of the initial speculation has revolved around Joe Maddon, who has an extensive history with the organization. Maddon coached in the Angels’ organization for 31 years -- and was briefly the interim manager there during both the 1996 and 1999 seasons. He left the Halos when he took his first managerial job with the Rays in 2006.
While nothing is set in stone, there’s certainly a lot of momentum building here, to the point where it would be surprising if Joe Maddon wasn’t named as the next manager of the Los Angeles Angels.
Meanwhile in Chicago, Cubs’ president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told reporters on Monday that interviews with candidates to replace Maddon will begin next week. Mark Loretta is believed to be an in-house candidate who will be interviewed for the gig while Joe Girardi and David Ross are also gaining traction to be the team’s next manager.

Keeping Rendon

Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post reported Monday that the Nationals have offered superstar third baseman Anthony Rendon a seven-year contract in the range of $210 to $215 million.
The offer reportedly came in early September. Rendon, who is coming off the best season of his career in which he hit .319/.412/.598 with career highs in home runs (34), runs (117) and a league-leading 126 RBI.
While Rendon is interested in remaining in Washington, he's also planning to explore the free agent market to see what kind of deals are out there. He and his agent Scott Boras are reportedly seeking something similar to the eight-year, $260 million extension that Nolan Arenado received from the Rockies.
Depending on how far the Nationals advance in the postseason, he’ll have more time to showcase his elite talents for potential suitors while attempting to lead the Nats to a World Series title.

American League Quick Hits: Edwin Encarnacion (oblique) will start taking simulated at-bats on Tuesday in New York. He’s still expected to be ready for the start of the ALDS, but the Yankees won’t make an official determination on his status until seeing how he feels on Wednesday… Red Sox’ assistant general manager Brian O’Halloran announced Monday that the team expects Chris Sale (elbow) to be healthy entering spring training. While that sounds nice, he has still yet to have his follow-up visit with Dr. James Andrews and hasn’t resumed throwing, so that optimism should be taken with a grain of salt… Red Sox’ president and CEO Sam Kennedy said Monday that while there is a way to keep both Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, it will be difficult. The Red Sox are trying to get under the luxury tax threshold, and it seems likely that one of them will be donning a new uniform next season… Mitch Haniger (back, groin) is expected to be fully healthy for the start of spring training… The Orioles sent Chandler Shepherd outright to Triple-A Norfolk… Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reported that the Mariners will reassign pitching coach Paul Davis within the organization while parting ways with third base coach Chris Prieto and bullpen coach Jim Bower… 

National League Quick Hits: The Braves announced Monday that Freddie Freeman may need offseason surgery to address the bone spurs in his right elbow. He says he feels fine -- and he’ll be able to play through the postseason -- but the issue will need to be corrected prior to the start of the 2020 season… Andy Martino of SNY writes that Noah Syndergaard is “unlikely to be the subject of trade rumors this offseason… Martino also notes that the Mets and Zack Wheeler’s agent discussed parameters for a possible contract extension in July, though they never came close to an agreement… Ken Rosenthal and Robert Murray of The Athletic reported that the Diamondbacks have cut ties with pitching coach Mike Butcher after four seasons in that role… Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told reporters on Monday that there is no surgery planned on Javier Baez's left thumb… Epstein also announced that Kris Bryant is not expected to require surgery on his injured ankle.

Meaning they want to get him healthy so they can trade him for pitching.