Tuesday bantering

With the detritus of our season being swept way like sunflower seeds from a messy dugout (Toronto groundsman glares at Teoscar Hernandez), there are lots of discussion points and many people wishing to discuss them:

First up, the Sportsnet Crew do a roundtable on the following topics:

• What was the high point for the 2018 Blue Jays?
• What was the low point?
• What’s one trait that you expect the Blue Jays’ next manager to possess?
• Who on this team stands out as an off-season trade chip?
• Beyond the big names like Machado and Harper, do you see free agents worth targeting?

Meanwhile Jeff Blair looks back at previous Toronto appointments and says the Blue Jays are in a familiar spot with the managerial opening.

And in something that is a slightly depressing read, Scot Mitchell at TSN grades the Blue Jays key players this year. It will come as no suprise that Yangervis Solarte danced his way to an F, while somehow Teoscar Hernandez scraped his way to a C grade.

The Sportsnet crew also do exit interviews with all the Jays position payers to assess their view of the team and their own performances this year.

Solarte lost me at ‘Personally i think i had a good season’. Fortunately most of the players have more insight...

And looking ahead to 2019, what can we expect? Some intrigue and excitement, just not a lot of wins...

Postseason news

With the Brewers beating the Cubs 3-1 in the National League Central tiebreaker game and the Dodgers beating the Rockies 5-2 in the NL West tiebreaker game, the 2018 postseason bracket is now complete.

The Dodgers take out their 6th straight NL West Title while the Brewers won their first NL Central title since 2011.

Today sees the NL Wild Card Game: Rockies at Cubs 8 p.m. ET.

Jon Lester (18-6, 3.32 ERA) is scheduled to pitch the NL Wild Card Game on Tuesday. Lester is 7-4 with a 3.71 ERA at Wrigley Field. The left-hander has started the first game of a postseason series 10 times and also also made a Wild Card start for the Athletics on Sept. 30, 2014, against the Royals.

The Rockies will counter with lefty Kyle Freeland (17-7, 2.85 ERA) on short rest. After a promising rookie campaign last season, Freeland has become Colorado’s breakout star of 2018, leading a young pitching staff in innings while breaking Ubaldo Jimenez’s franchise record for lowest single-season ERA as a starter. Freeland has not pitched in the postseason, but he is riding a streak of 11 straight quality starts.

I like both of these teams but i would really like to see Colorado advance to play the Brewers. That would be a high quality showdown of purple uniforms and craft beer.

Bad news Braves

The surprising Braves will face off against the Dodgers for the NLDS but...

A year for Yelich

NL MVP Award candidate and Marlins reject Christian Yelich had three more hits and an RBI in the Brewers win. Im looking forward to seeing more of him in the postseason.

Weirds of the year

Just in case you missed them, from lettuce to loose teeth, an eagle and a OriLOLe fail, here is the single weirdest moment from every team in 2018.