Stick with a 5 man rotation. Keuchel, Verlander and Cole are workhorses all more than capable of 200 innings with no DL. Verlander-10x (counting 34 innings in October) Keuchel-2x (could have easily been 3 this season, Astros were cautious bringing him back from surgery and he amassed 27 innings in October) Cole-2x Its likely theres maybe 2 or 3 DL stints amongst them but as long as they make it to October healthy and sharp..its okay. Astros had a much more difficult time sorting this out in 2017 than they will in 2018 thanks to the additions of Verlander and Cole. I more than trust McHugh and Peacock to make stints starting games and making extended inning appearances out of the bullpen (throw Martes and Devo in that group) when the situation presents itself. McCullers threw a career high 145 innings (postseason included) in spite of a DL stint and a July and September where he was getting crushed. Morton threw 175 innings (postseason included) in spite of a DL stint.
Cole might be the only one of the three that will sniff 200 IPs. As long as the Astros have a comfortable lead in The West, be prepared to see all 5 starting pitchers take a DL rest. First things first: The Astros want to make the playoffs with as many fresh starting pitchers as they can.
So...no ones going to mention that we lost Maybin? Signed with the Marlins. Good signing for a young clubhouse, IMO. I’ll never forget his LF gaffe @NYY, but thankfully we overcame it. Cheers to Mr. Maybin and thank you for your help in getting us our ring!
I dont think you can lose someone you never initially intended to sign/retain. He will get his ring and I will remember his late season heroics to carry the team and my free Taco Bell taco I never got from his stolen base in the WS. Thank you Cameron.
Sorry, buddy, you caught me on a wrong evening. Looking back, I agree with you, but I'm not sure I agree with all of you. Let's talk again.
He'll get a ton of ABs in Miami...if he's hot he's hot, to paraphrase Jerry Reed. If Jake's not, he's not.
The difference in game time is pretty much all about pitchers and batters dicking around between pitches. Not commercials. Not pitching changes. Just dicking around. Get on the mound, get in the box, play ball.
http://www.sbnation.com/a/mlb-2017-season-preview/game-length Interesting article comparing game times from 1984 to 2014 in games that were nearly identical in runs scored, hits, baserunners, pitches, etc.
They can talk all they want about sign-stealing: I call bullshit. It may have specifically been an issue in the World Series (longer series would lend themselves to teams cracking their opponents signs) - but the primary driving force behind MOST mound visits is the rise of scouting data: they're discussing the best ways to pitch guys because they have ample information about hot/cold zones; pitch likes/dislikes, etc.
