Join us on Discord!

Brewers (85-53) @ Cubs (78-60)

First Pitch: 7:40 PM at Wrigley Field

Line Score - Pre-Game

Box Score

Posted at 4:40 PM. Updates start at game time.

Remember to sort by new to keep up!

As in how well followed, knowledgeable are locals on the team. How much merchandise do you see for the team out and about.

https://bsky.app/profile/redsoxstats.bsky.social/post/3mugljziq7s27

Earlier this year I began tracking the Lineal King of Major League Baseball and then updated it back in August. As we start September I figured this was as good a time as any to update it again.

As a reminder for the rules:

*We start with the first batter of the regular season.

*If the batter gets out, the pitcher is King.

*If the batter gets a hit, sac fly, walk, or HBP, the batter is King.

*This battle takes place every time the King is hitting or pitching.

*At the end of the year there will be one King of Major League Baseball (2026)

The Kings Lineage

After August 13th 2026, the King was Masataka Yoshida of the Boston Red Sox so we start with August 14th.

1. Yoshida opens the game with a single in the 1st before striking out in the 4th to make Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler (1) the King... for two batters because Willson Contreras (2) singles right after that. Conteras walks in the 6th and then strikes out against Pirates reliever Luke Weaver (1). Weaver mops up the 8th and leaves the game as king!

2. On August 15th Weaver enters the game in the top of the 9th and immediately gives up a double to Red Sox player Wilyer Abreu (1) and the game ends before Abreu comes to bat again.

3. August 16th sees Abreu ground out in the first to Lake Bachar (1) who gives up a walk to newly acquired Adley Rutschman (1). In the 4th Rutschamn strikes out vs Pirates reliever Hunter Barco (1) who then gives up a single to Jarren Duran (1) who turns around and strikes out vs Pirates reliever Kirby Yates (1) in the 7th. Yates cleans up the 7th and ends as king.

4. Yates enters the game against the Tigers on the 17th and gets through the 7th cleanly and keeps the crown. He next enters a game on August 21st vs the Dodgers and gives up a single to Tommy Edman (1). In the 8th Edman strikes out vs Luke Weaver (2) who, after getting two more people out, ends the game as the new king!

5. The next time out for Weaver is on August 24 against the Padres. He enters the game in the 8th and gives up a double to a newly called up Dustin Harris (1). The game goes into extras though and Harris bunts into a double play in the 10th against Pirates reliever Camilo Doval (1). Doval gets out of the inning and is our new king!

6. On August 25th Doval walks Padres hitter Ty France (1). France walks in the 9th as well and is the new king!

7. On the 26th we see France line out in the second against Pirates starter Bubba Chandler (1). Jackson Merrill (1) doubles right after him, then triples in the 4th, and finally loses the crown by flying out in the 6th vs Lake Bachar (2). Bachar comes back for the 7th and gets them 1-2-3 and exits the game as king yet again.

8. On August 29th Lake Bachar gets the start vs the Cardinals and gets them 1-2-3 in the first. He follows it up with a 1-2-3 second as well. Then he gets the first out of the third before giving up a homer to one Joshua Baez (1). In the 4th Baez comes in and strikes out vs Pirates reliever Carmen Mlodzinski (1). Here's where it gets a bit of drama! In the 5th, Mlodzinski gets the pirates 1-2-3. In the 6th he starts off with a pop out, then there's an error by the shortstop to let walker get on base. According to the rules, this does NOT transfer the king powers. The very next batter gets on base due to another error by the shortstop. The very next batter again reaches on a fielding error by the center fielder. Mlodzinski gets out of the inning with two more pop outs and leaves the game. The second of these errors was technically ruled a fielders choice and the runner being safe on an error, but a fielders choice according to the rules also does not transfer the crown (a sac fly does though). Perhaps the distinction seems small but I do feel a sac fly is a hitters win while a fielders choice is a pitcher win. I'm willing to hear arguments to the contrary for next season though (I will maintain these rules for this season otherwise who know where we'd be).

Carmen Mlodzinski does not enter the game on August 30th and the pirates did not play on the 31st, so that means entering September our LINEAL KING OF BASEBALL IS PIRATES RELIEVER CARMEN MLODZINSKI!

The potential final update will be at the end of the regular season. If the king is in the playoffs it will continue through the playoffs otherwise we will crown the 2026 king then and there.

Thanks for reading along with this goofy game with me.

Not gonna lie, after that shitshow my team put up tonight, I could use another Q&A to start the month. And this time, I'm adding a twist: 2 questions in one.

Baseball is about at unpredictable as it gets when it comes to American Sports. Sometimes, we see an incredible season from a player on a team far from it, and on the flip side, we also see players on playoff teams, maybe even championship teams, put up a disaster of a year. So, I'm curious. What's your strongest example for both questions, and why?

For the former, Cal Ripken Jr's 1991 is absolutely ridiculous. He played all 162 games for the 67-95 Orioles, putting up an absurd 11.5 WAR (9.2 on offense, 3.5 on defense), homering 34 times, driving in 114 RBI, racking up a slash line of .323 (210-for-650)/.374/.566, adding up to a .940 OPS, and for all his efforts, he took home the AL MVP.

And for the latter, Tim Lincecum in 2012 comes to mind. Now, I love Big Time Timmy Jim, but his stats from that year are brutal. He pitched in 33 games (all starts), going 10-15, racking up a bloated 5.18 ERA (107 ER in 186.0 IP), striking out 190 hitters, while walking 90, and tallying a paltry 1.468 WHIP. His hitting stats weren't much better, hitting .089 (4-for-45), driving in just 3 runs, and racking up a .285 OPS. All of this added up to a -1.7 WAR. But he did step up in the playoffs, putting up back-to-back scoreless outings out of the 'pen in the Fall Classic, as the Giants swept the Tigers for their 2nd title in 3 years.

In a year where everything has gone wrong for Seattle (worst pitching staff in the second half, Raleigh + Donovan + Crawford + Emerson + Raley + Miller playing through injury), this stands out as exceptionally cursed.

Teams stack their lefties to face Seattle, and the RH OFs the Mariners brought in to deal with this both lost 100 points of wRC+ the moment they joined the Mariners. That's... that's all the wRC+ there is. That's all 100 points.

Not sure what's more impressive, Ward getting traded during a good year and turning into a pumpkin on literally day 1, or Refsnyder faceplanting so hard he retired midseason.