[Wild Card Game] Rays vs. Athletics

Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion. We have that now. This should be a decisive jog to the ALCS where neither team will have won anything either in comparison to us.

 

Our SPs vs. A’s:

Verlander - .155/.204/.304, 4 GS, 27 IP, 2-1, 2.00 ERA, 0.778 WHIP, 13.7 K/9

Cole - .136/.191/.341, 2 GS, 13 IP, 1-0, 2.08 ERA, 0.692 WHIP, 10.4 K/9

Greinke - .136/.191/.227, 2 GS, 13 IP, 2-0, 0.69 ERA, 0.692 WHIP, 7.6 K/9

Our SPs vs. Rays:

Verlander - .159/.229/.295, 2 GS, 12.1 IP, 2-0, 0.73 ERA, 0.649 WHIP, 9.5 K/9

Cole - .220/.231/.400, 2 GS, 12.2 IP, 0-1, 3.55 ERA, 0.947 WHIP, 17.1 K/9

Greinke - .261/.292/.522, 1 GS, 5.2 IP, 0-0, 7.94 ERA, 1.235 WHIP, 12.7 K/9

Limited sample size obviously, but on the whole our top 3 SPs pitched better against Oakland.

 

You know how many times in my career I've seen an orgy of evidence. Never. We have three Cy Youngs in our rotation, two 300k pitchers, two 20 game winners, two no hitters, the rookie of the year, the MVP, 106 wins, a 23-2 win, 6 all stars, 285 HR's, 4 30 HR guys, and entire lineup of .290 hitters. This my friends, is an orgy of evidence.

 

And those are just the common knowledge points... This 107 win team is truly greatness. I really hope the ball rolls their way all post season because anything can happen in October but we are the favorites no doubt.

 

This should be a landslide vote in favor of playing Oakland.

Against the A's, their only path to beating us is to outslug us. They can do it, but we have an advantage in every facet of the game.

Against TB, it will be a grind it out series. They have elite pitching that, in a short series, can match us step for step, and the games will turn on a random home run by an unheralded source or how the teams do with RISP. A lucky homers against verlander and/or cole are the path to beating our two aces, and it is well documented how we haven't done well with RISP. Add in the fact that we play like crap in TB, this is a no brainer.

 

I have kind of an odd criteria for my choice. I lean more towards the team that has few ex-Astros. This is mostly anecdotal because I don't have the patience to dig up numbers, but I've always felt like players of former teams perform noticeably better against their former teams. That extra motivation to stick it to the team that traded you or didn't want to keep you always feels like it manifests itself in the worst moments.

Having said that, I think I would prefer Tampa Bay. Sure CFM is on the team, but he's really really damn good even without the extra motivation. Beyond him, the Rays only have Matt Duffy (who barely played this season). The A's, on the other hand, have Fiers, Mengden, Grossman and Laureano (I feel like I'm missing one, too).

I realize this is probably not a logical reason to prefer one team over the other, but I feel comfortable with that considering that logic dictates the Astros should beat either of these teams.

 

To be the best, you have to beat the best. Bring it. I honestly believe that the Astros are the best team in baseball. I expect them to not only get to the Series, but win it. I will be shocked and disappoited if they don't. No pressure.

 

Of course....

 

I feel like the same pitching argument was made about Cleveland last year. Not saying these are equivalent situations, but I'm not concerned about Tampa Bay.

 

Doesn’t matter. Either one is losing to the stros. The Yankees are the only team in the AL that are a legit threat

 

haha I completely agree. Main reason I really did not want to face the Clips (of all lower seeded teams) last postseason

 

I think the A’s. 4 of the 6 losing pitchers in the games we lost against the A’s won’t pitch any meaningful innings in the ALDS. Also Manea will only be available for game 3 (unless for some reason the A’s pitch Fiers). The fact that we suck in that Tampon stadium and the rays have a good pen and all those left hand bats probably make them a harder matchup for us.

Frankly if it is the A’s and we take game 1 and 2 I would probably pitch Urquidy against Manea. Not necessarily concede the game. But if we do lose we would have the pitching advantage in prospective game 4 and 5.

 

. He is a pretty big boy. He can carry a tray of Gatorade pretty easily.

 

atleast the stros have an actual primetime game to start the beginning of the playoffs. they moved them over from the usual afternoon slot. #progress

 

8pm Saturday game. Lol my drunk ass may not even make it in the stadium

 

Baseball is just too random for this to be true. Any team that makes the playoffs is a threat to win the World Series.

 

people like to say this but it just isn't true. there's only a select few true threats. all of the teams in the playoffs aren't realistic choices to win the WS

 

Of course it’s true. Now to actually win the World Series it’s far more unlikely that the Brewers do it than the Dodgers. But if the Brewers out played the Dodgers for a minuscule 3 games and won the first round, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising.

 

i disagree. there's like 3 teams i can realistically see winning the WS this year. i expect 1 of them will. its been that way for awhile now where only a select few can be seen as true WS threats. i think people overreact a ton when it comes to the randomness, especially when you're talking about every single team in the playoffs can win it. they won't