If only the Astros had a GM, manager and coaches who interact with the players every day and know their strengths, weaknesses and health as they may play out in any given series. If they only gave this some serious thought, the Astros may have a chance to get past Boston. EDIT LMJ pitched three games in September. He gave up 0, 1 and 0 runs in the first 3 innings of those games. I'll take him for 3 innings in any given game.
Gregerson still strikes guys out and induces ground balls. HRs have obviously become a serious problem.
It seems like when Gregerson loses it, he really loses it. He gets behind in the count, his body language gets bad and the other team knows they can just smack him around. He's the last pitcher I want to see in a big spot.
Would love to see pitching usage as such: 1: Verlander 1-6 Devenski 7-8 Giles 9 2: Keuchel 1-6 Musgrove 7 Harris 8 Giles 9 3: Peacock 1-5 Musgrove 6-7 Devenski 8 Gregerson 9 4: Morton 1-5 McCullers 6-8 Harris 9 5: Verlander 1-6 Devenski 7 Harris 8 Giles 9 Loogy: Liriano
While that is a bit of an exaggeration... you do have your wish, as he's literally the last pitcher you will see in a playoff game this year. If he's coming into a game, its either because the Astros are comfortably (and I mean comfortably...10+ runs) ahead, or everybody else has failed and in that case, they're likely not winning the series.
I admit to irrationally disliking Gregerson as much as I irrationally loved Hank Conger two years ago.
White's been relatively solid offensively this season, but Centeno hasn't exactly been reliable since his hot start. It's just my opinion, but if they end up having to go to the bullpen early in some of these games or if any of these games go to extra innings, I just think the extra arm would be more valuable than the extra bat. I think there are other lineup options they could have considered against lefties that don't include Centeno. But overall I'm not upset or anything. The 24th or 25th guy in this series shouldn't make that much of a difference either way.
I expect Centeno may be a regular late-inning replacement in this series... he's better defensively than either McCann or Gattis... and there are going to be several games where Gattis is already the DH, and won't be able to catch regardless. They were likely always going to carry 3 catchers... the choice was between Centeno and Stassi... at that point, his defense and LH stick is probably why he got the nod.
No...since he has Gregerson and Harris pitching the 9th in games 3 and 4, I assume he has them losing those games.
I don't want Gregerson pitching to the tying run (and definitely not the winning run) because of the HR issues. Usually you can tell when he has it and when he doesn't, so you just have to be quick with the hook if his slider isn't looking great.
as I said 2 weeks ago...I'm fine with Gregerson on this roster. He's still decent. And McHugh being left off was the only logical conclusion once we all realized the Peacock was the clear 3rd starter. If a game goes into the 12th or 13th, I'd rather have Gregerson come in for 1 than the possibility of McHugh out of the pen for 3. I fully believe McHugh will be on the ALCS roster and the 4th SP, assuming Morton takes well enough to the pen.
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2017/10/5/16431170/ranking-the-andrew-miller-imitation-hopefuls 3. Houston Astros The sabermetrically inclined A.J. Hinch is the most likely to join Francona in utilizing this strategy throughout a series, and, given the composition of his Astros rotation, he is also the most likely manager to need to this October. Beyond Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel, Houston’s starters are far more effective in shorter stints than six-plus-inning starts. Brad Peacock and Charlie Morton are Hinch’s likely choices to start Games 3 and 4 against Boston. As a starter, Peacock had a 0.92 ERA the first time through an opposing lineup—the best among the 156 pitchers who reached at least 30 innings in that split. Morton was third-best on that list, with a 1.25 ERA the first time through the order. The third time through a lineup, though, Peacock and Morton ran 8.84 and 7.18 ERAs, respectively. Hinch is surely aware of these drastic splits, so it’s unlikely that any Astro other than Verlander or Keuchel will pitch more than four or so innings this month. That limit will leave plenty of innings still to go around. At midseason, the top option to take those extra frames—specifically the higher-leverage ones—was Chris Devenski, the second-year reliever with a career 2.38 ERA. But perhaps due to fatigue from his heavy first-half usage, Devenski has looked like a different pitcher over the last three months. Since early July, he’s been used like a typical reliever rather than a multi-inning ace, while producing league-average rather than All-Star–caliber results.
