Which Pitchers Should be on the Astros’ Playoff Roster?

Smith and Rondon have been there before aswell....

 

I thought peacock would make the playoff roster until yesterday’s game. No way devo will be on the playoff roster.

Verlander
Cole
Keuchel
Morton

Osuna (closer)
Presley (8th)
McCullers (7th)
Rondon
McHugh
Sipp (lefty specialist)
Smith
Harris if Hinch go with 12 pitchers

 

I wonder if Hinch has the stones to not only put James on the roster - but use him in a high-leverage situation. His stuff is electric but I'd be horrified to hand him the ball.

BTW, I thought this the minute they maneuvered to make Straw eligible for the postseason that he's a lock. His ability to win a game with his legs..... you just can't dismiss that. They carried Fisher each round last year (iirc).

 

Rondon is in. I think we're blowing the recent outings out of proportion. His last couple of outings were good. The 3 before that were bad. The 20 before that were very good. Had a 1.45 ERA for the month of August. His era was 2.15 as soon as 2 weeks ago. He's in but Pressley has taken over the primary setup man role.

I'll try this again for 11...

Verlander, Cole, Morton, Keuchel

Osuna, Pressley, Rondon, McCullers, McHugh, Sipp, Smith

McCullers and McHugh give you the flexibility for long men out of the pen...but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see James in over Smith.

 

Ultimately not allowing runs is technically a good outing, but Rondon allowed multiple baserunners again in his last outing. He has allowed multiple base runners in all but one of his last 8 outings and over his last 11 appearances he has one clean inning, and a WHIP of 2.57. Hell his WHIP for the entire season is a less than stellar 1.32. All that traffic will inevitably turn into runs.

He will likely be on the roster, but he has struggled in almost every outing for the last month, its not just 3 bad outings. If he sees a high leverage inning before extras, I think it's a major mistake.

 

I'd love to see James because he's also one of the few guys that can go multiple innings in the pen. McHugh and Peacock could as well, at least in theory, but those guys have struggled recently. I'm concerned that Keuchel, in light of his last 6 weeks or so, is going to get lit up in the first inning for four or five runs. So we'll need a patchwork of guys that can go multiple innings. Also, who knows if Morton is truly healthy. His comments make it seem like he's going to pitch through some discomfort. So he might be another guy that will only go a couple innings. With these two guys (Morton and Keuchel) as two of our starters, I'd want either James or Valdez on the roster as guys who can pitch 3-4 innings in relief.

 

With his velocity looking better yesterday and another extended layoff (he won't pitch until at least 10/8), Morton should be good to go. I'd love to have James on there as well. I'm just not sure they'll put in in there. It would have to be in place of Joe Smith, IMO.

 

I want James in there for sure. Sipp may get an edge as a lefty. VERY frustrated with Peacock, but I'd rather have him (simply because of his experience last year) than Smith/Harris/Devo if it comes down to the last spot. Hopefully we won't need to use anyone outside of Verlander/Cole/Morton/Keuchel/McCullers/Osuna/Pressley/Rondon/McHugh/James.

 

As Jeff Passan and Jefferey Todd would say No way in hell you bring Devo, Peacock or Harris. Your swing vote will be at James and Smith.

Those two are the only ones you watch for.
Devo blew his chance he was a fence player.
Peacock blew it yesterday.
Harris never has a shot. He shows signs of greatness but wow.

As far as Stassi well Straw took his spot. Need that speed

 

I will just change that one but Hinch somehow is in love with Harris

 

James is a near lock right now.

He could realistically come in out of the pen with the bases juiced with no outs and strike out the side.

You don't bench 101mph with fastball control. You put them in high leverage situations. Hinch has already stated how much he likes the guy's demeanor, so he obviously trust him.

 

I think James makes more sense against the Indians with so many switch hitters and left handed hitters. I would rather have James facing Lindor, Ramirez, Brantley, Kipnis, Alonso, and Melky hitting left handed than Smith. I think Smith would be limited to facing Encarnacion and Donaldson, and in that case I would again prefer James. If James makes a mistake he might get away with it because of his stuff. If Smith makes a mistake it is basically a BP fastball.

 

This is pretty much exactly where I'm at.

 

Doesn't Marisnick play this role in the post-season? I think carrying Marisnick and Straw is pretty redundant-- does it make sense to have both?

 

I was thinking the same thing because I forgot Maybin was on the roster along with Fisher last year. Marisnick + Straw is the same redundancy as Maybin + Fisher.

 

I would be terrified to give him the ball in a short series as well. I do believe he should be the next man added though if we get to the ALCS and go 12 pitchers in the longer 7 game series.

I think we have enough bench speed with Marisnick and Kemp. Those 2 are basically replacing Maybin and Fisher from last years playoff roster. I dont think there is room for Straw.

 

If they go with 13 it will come down to 1 of Gattis, Stassi and Straw. If the go with 14, Straw would most likely make it.

 

I've seen a lot of lists without Josh James on the roster. I realize the kid is inexperienced, but that seems crazy to me. He's pitched as well as anyone on the team in September. In his last five outings, he gave up only three earned runs in 18 innings. How can you NOT put a guy with stuff that good who's pitching that well on your playoff roster?

 

In a late inning pitch hitting situation, I trust Kemp more than Gattis. If Gattis isn't your regular DH, I'm not sure what purpose he really serves, you can't even put him in the field.

He will probably be on the roster, but White and Gattis feels redundant. I would take the extra speed/defense weapon over him.

 

Harris has gone 13 consecutive games without allowing a run including the entirety of September. He has pitched 13.1 innings during that time. He has allowed 5 hits and 2 walks.