To me it's pretty obvious that they are going to get a mid-teir starter. There is no way they are comfortable with Fiers in a win or go home scenario.
I'm starting to think you look more at box scores than actually watch these games. What Fiers doesn't do well outweighs what he does do well (curveball, when down in the zone, = his one quality pitch). If he catches any portion of the plate with his fastball, its hittable (or foul-off-able). If he works deep into counts, where he's forced to throw something over the zone, it becomes even more hittable. I know he's had a solid run.... like he has pretty much every season in the big leagues... but he also has bouts of what happened early this season, and what will likely commence at some point in the season to come. The Chris Carter of pitching? Not ready to go there... but it still wouldn't surprise me if he implodes to the point of being demoted again, and I know full-well that Chris Carter was hitting meaningful HR's in the playoffs in 2015.
Lots of people here have argued that the postseason is moving to shorter outings by starters and then lots of hardthrowing bullpen guys. Sure - if that were true, I'd agree with you. But he hasn't really struggled to go 5 innings. Since the end of May when he started this roll, he's gone 5 in 9 of 10 starts (not including today). He's gone 6 in 7 of them, including each of the last 3. Is there any evidence of more foul balls in the postseason, or is this just a memory of KC in 2015?
This is an extension of my point(s) earlier. He just looks like he is on the cusp of faltering on every pitch, even during his recent success.
What he does well is not give up baserunners or runs, which is sort of the point of the sport - he strikes out a whole bunch people as an added bonus. You arbitrarily deciding that he doesn't look "good" doing it or that he should get outs in some other way doesn't mean anything to me. Real results trump "doesn't look good" theory any day.
So, you are just looking at the box score.... Smoke/mirrors pitching has been around as long as baseball has. Fiers will consistently struggle against lineups that can work counts and foul off his stuff. His FIP has been screaming for a regression/return for some time now.
"Let's talk baseball" As the self-proclaimed arbiter of this tangential conversation... I declare that both Nick and Major are wrong.
In his last 10 starts (since the streak began), Fiers has pitched the same number of innings as innings-eater Verlander and 1 fewer than Gray. This is where we see the flaws in the eye test. What you see is what you want to see, rather than what is actually happening.
First of all, I have never made one pro-Verlander post.... and I don't see Luhnow going after him unless Detroit basically eats all his salary and takes back a mid-tier prospect only. Secondly, he's not just failing the eye-test. When Fiers struggles, its not a fluke. Its because he has hittable stuff that requires the ut-most control/precision to be effective. When he's off, he can be hammered... or hit at-em balls... or be bailed out by BABIP. And right now, I'd take Gray in a heartbeat... box scores be damned... over Fiers. Like I said, he's the 6th starter once Keuchel comes back.
This is why I have never really trusted him even with the recent success. This is just who he is and you can't count on him in the playoffs. Now Peacock I trust !!!!!
This forum is ridiculous. Majority of you were singing Fiers' praise the last 2 months. Now suddenly "this is who he really is."
He went 4 against Toronto, he failed to get to 4 today. Forget KC... watch any quality lineup, including the Astros. I expect quality lineups to permeate the post-season. There are no 2005 Astros in the mix.
I pull for every Astro to be successful but I never sang his praise. I've never really believed he was all of a sudden a stud and I always felt he would go back to "who he really is"
I'm just ****ing with yall. After Feliz gives up this run (eta ****, or 2) it's time for a patented Stros late-inning-bomb-dropping. eta: if yall want to talk playoff baseball, Fiers (or Peacock or McHugh or whoever) as your #3/4 starter is a good data point. You tell him to "go as hard as you can for as long as you can" and then turn it over to the pen, even if that's in the 5th inning. Look at what the Indians did last year: vs Boston: Bauer went 4.2, Kluber did Kluber things (7, 0R), Tomlin 5 vs Toronto: Kluber 6.1, Tomlin 5.2, Bauer .2, Kluber 5, Merritt 4.1 vs Chicago: Kluber 6, Bauer 3.2, Tomlin 4.2, Kluber 6, Bauer 4, Tomlin 2.1, Kluber 4
