Well, you've got his schedule wrong, I think. If he sticks to his normal routine (four days rest), his next start should be Saturday, Sep 26. Right? From there, it gets tricky because his next normal start after that (Oct 1) would be an off day. Need will probably dictate when they bring him back but my guess is that he'd throw Friday (Oct 2) and then be available Oct 6 for what I assume will be the date of the WC game. That'd be on 3 days rest. There's NO WAY they're going to burn him and not have him available to pitch a WC game **IF THEY CAN AVOID IT**. If Hinch has anybody but Kuechel take the mound for the play-in game, he should be fired. Again, UNLESS they need him to help clinch the postseason spot earlier. Gonna be a fun - but rocky - next few days... Lots to think about/juggle.
Great post; I was wondering about that last night. Aggressive should never be confused with dumb. You cannot run yourself out of innings in the postseason. I'm still mentally scarred by Bass getting gunned down at 3rd after the failed suicide squeeze in game 6...
Presuming he does exactly what Pettis is advocating for. He's run through stop signs before, and he often does make the wrong decision himself. This is also presuming that Pettis' early season aggressiveness was not some organizational mandate to basically force OFers to make a throw on every base hit. The way they were sending guys, it was almost like it was being done by default (and has since changed with "new" data).
Single Ground out Double Single Walk Single attempted suicide squeeze (why, for the love of God, why call for a suicide squeeze in the first inning after that start)
seems like the same people bah humbuging about altuve getting caught are the same people never liked him to begin with or wanted to replace him with some minor league god. many of the CS for altuve came out of desperation mode, in games, where we couldn't muster two consecutive hits. Yeah, I would like hinch to not always give him the green light but what can you do. they're like the harden turnovers, just accept the incredible ways they happen and shrug it off.
I prefer the team lean toward being aggressive on the bases. All too often defenses are lazy, scared, or over amped in the moment of attack. See Valbuena ( who sometimes isn't even on the bag to receive a throw ) or see Rasmus ( who almost killed fans with his throw ). I like smart base-runners, but I prefer them to be aggressive. I think it more demoralizing to sit on the basepaths and wait for hits that are unlikely to happen. If it takes three hits to score a run, the Astros more often than not seem incapable of delivering.
I like Altuve. With the tying or winning run in scoring position late in the game, I'd like to see him batting. That being said, he is an awful base runner and has been. He gets picked off way too much. That is not a sign of aggressiveness or blame on the coaching staff. He also gets thrown out too much on advancing from first to third. Adding up his pick offs, caught stealing and trying to gain an extra base, he leads the league. This is not a one year outlier. He has exhibited poor base running acumen his entire career. He hustles, he works hard, he can hit, he makes the plays he should make, he is an inspirational guy, I want him starting at second base and teamed with Correa and Springer for years to come, but he is a bad base runner.
Keuchel would have to pitch on short rest for a possible WC game on Tuesday 10/6/15. Pitches this Sunday, then next Friday and then the following Tuesday on 3 days rest (if playing WC).
Interesting... especially since I have tickets for Saturday's game........... (And by "interesting" I, of course, mean, "****") So he's still lined-up to pitch Friday and then, if needed, can go on three days rest Oct 6.
Or would you let him go on short rest during the week so that he's fully rested for the WC game instead? If I know I have to use him on short rest in an important game, I'd rather do it in a game where it's "we'd really really really like to win" vs. "win or go home"
Altuve is -2.9 in runs added from baserunning, that ranks 121 out of 147 qualified players. With his speed there is no reason he should be that low, he runs himself into a ton of unnecessary outs. By comparison George Springer + 5.6 Colby Rasmus + 4.8 Jake Marisnick + 3.7 Carlos Gomez + 3.0 Carlos Correa + 2.3 Nobody is saying he's a scrub, it's not even that big of a deal, but it is something he can improve.
Did you actually read seaclubber's post? He's not running into outs occasionally; he's doing it at a rate that is exceeding the totals of multiple players *combined.* That's unacceptable. You cannot run into outs in the postseason; *especially* in a possible winner-take-all play-in game where your postseason could literally consist of just 27 outs. Altuve has been terrific this year. But, man... he/Pettis have to be smarter on the bases.
Only problem is you lose the ability to have Keuchel go twice during the ALDS. You have to pitch him in the play-in game but hopefully it won't come to that.
