By this logic, Tampa Bay has a better rotation than the Astros. I said Washington is the one team where the Astros won't have a clear advantage in their starting pitching. If one team has a fourth starter that can go deep into games and keep them competitive and the other has a starter that can only go a few innings, then the guy who can go deeper is the better starting pitcher.
I think we'd rather Greinke start on the road for a possible WS because of his bat is pretty good for a pitcher.
The main goal should not be thinking about the World Series. Have to try your best to win the series at hand against (in my opinion) the second best team in the league. Worry about the World Series when you get there.
A lot of yall are talking WS. That's a long way away. Worry about this series then let the chips fall where they may
Not to mention if we want Verlander for game 2 of the WS on regular rest he would need to pitch game 5 right? If he pitches game 6 on Saturday he would not be available on regular rest until game 3 which would be far from ideal. And really no good If you go JV game 6 and Cole game 7. You don't get them on regular until games 3 and 4 of the world series and in that scenario you have Cole only one time at optimum. I am thinking if JV 6 and Cole 7 were to happen and we advance then Hinch would seriously have to consider running Cole out for game 3 and JV for game 4 so we would have a fully rested Cole to start a WS game 7 and JV on 3 days out of the pen. Ideally we wrap in 6 so if needed we could have two JV starts and two Cole starts. That's our best shot because if this series goes 4 you can't get both JV and Cole twice on regular rest which is a big GULP. Of course there is a massive amount of work left to do to be worrying about the world series. Hinch should line it up to get us a series win and let the next series worry about itself.
Honestly, if we can win one more game in NY...I’m not terribly opposed to starting Urquidy in G6. Home start could really help him.
We can't let Tanaka dominate us again. Hopefully we can get to him this time like we did in the 2015 Wild card game. He went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs, 3 BB, 4 hits. Got to come up with clutch hits with men on base.
Since we're ahead in the series I would still use Game 4 to throw Urquidy/bullpen with Grienke, Verlander, and Cole lined up to finish it out in Games 5, 6, and 7. Hinch and Luhnow are much smarter than me so we'll see how it goes. I'm just nervous of the idea of a bullpen day in Game 6 so late in the series.
that means you're essentially punting the matchup with NY going with tanaka. The stros aren't going to give any games away, nor should they. your pitching matchups need to atleast give you a chance. Game 6 (if necessary) will basically be what tonight's game would of been, except its at home. both teams having a bullpen day and hopefully its two more days of NY going deep into their pen. I'd honestly rather have the home crowd for the uncertainty bullpen day game instead of dealing with the trash yankees atmosphere/environment throwing garbage on the field
This and close out in no more than 6. If you go 7 then we can't get both JV and Cole 2 starts each on full rest.
A historical win rate of 37% for pitchers going on short rest makes it a little harder. But yea. If you are facing elimination I guess you pitch Cole on 3 days. He is most likely better on 3 days than any bull pen combo we could construct. Once again. THANKS MILEY for turning into a quivering jello mold.
Well if the Astros are up 3-2, you pitch Urquidy in game 6 (allow Cole his regular 4 days rest); however if they are down 2-3, you pitch Cole. And go all available hands on deck in game 7. But I have a feeling that Greinke is going to pitch even better in game 4 than he pitched in game 1.
My point is if there is a series where you know you may have to throw a bullpen game, I would rather do that earlier in the series, when you have a series lead, and there is less at stake.
perhaps but the flipside is not holding back your best pitchers. hou's best interest is to get this series over with asap. and not hold back to where you're prepping for the worst. It shouldn't get to that point, especially when everyone is on full rest
