Which Pitchers Should be on the Astros’ Playoff Roster?

Man...Only missed the Harris/Rondon swap. Guess the team is just as concerned as we all are with how Rondon has pitched as of late.

 

Harris has been good lately. He hasn't been great in the playoffs though if my memory is right. Wasn't he a part of the blowup against the Royals in Game 4?

 

Rondon hasn't exactly been a postseason rock, on top of being terrible recently

Neither guy should see important innings unless they are forced into it.

 

Harris has definitely improved over the last month or so, and he has postseason experience from 2015 and 2017 under his belt. It may not be good experience, but it's enough for Hinch to trust him, apparently. Smith has postseason experience too, but none with Hinch so far. Also, Smith was acquired primarily for righties, and Cleveland has so many left handed and switch hitters, so Harris having better numbers against lefties than Rondon and Smith had to play a role.
Also, very happy to see Straw make it over Stassi. With Gattis being the EMERGENCY option if need be (probably, and hopefully not), and Stassi batting 158 since June 1, and apparently working TERRIBLY with the pitching staff (from what I heard), it was a no-brainer.

Go Astros!

 

Harris, Sipp, and Fields... That game probably cost us a chance at a World Series in '15 well ahead of schedule. Aided by Correa's error in the 8th (after he put us ahead in the 7th), our back-end guys just didn't have the swing and miss stuff to get out of the jam and pressure the Royals out on teams that year.

 

Little surprised that they left of Rondon and included Harris...but the rest is what I figured. Glad James is there. That arm is too good to leave off. Straw will be last year's Fisher. He's there primarily to pinch run for Maldanado and McCann.

 

Yes. Pitched 2/3 of the 7th inning in relief of McCullers, and did fine. Loaded the bases in the 8th without getting an out. If I was the manager, I'd have pulled him after the first hit, or if not, definitely the second, as he had stayed in the game too long at that point. For all the blame Sipp, Gregerson, and Correa get, it was Harris, for staying in too long and loading the bases. He deserved the loss. And, Game 4 should have never even happened. We should have won Game 2, but then Harris (yes, him) and Fields happened.

Also, in Game 4 of the WS, it was his job to strand the runner on second in the top of the 7th from Morton's double to preserve the 1-0 lead. He failed.

 

Tony Sipp appeared in all 6 games that postseason and gave up one hit and one unearned run that should have been an out, probably a double play.

I hate that people always group him with the other relievers that were terrible, him and Gregerson were awesome.

 

Gregerson, between 2015 and 2017, gave up only one ER in the postseason (a solo shot in Game 3 of the KC series that ultimately meant nothing). I know he failed to preserve the tie game in Game 4, but at that point, not much could be done, runners were at 2nd and 3rd with just one out, even if Butera wasn't walked, a sac fly or something would have given the Royals the lead.

 

This FO and staff has some serious balls.

They gave Rondon and Smith what, $12,000,000 in this offseason to come help fix the bullpen. And neither one of them have had bad numbers, but they leave them off the 25 man in the playoffs in favor of a kid that has pitched 7 or 8 times in the majors and a PR that's had what 8 plate appearances and 5 cameos running the bases?
Along with Devo as an allstar last year (who some were mistakenly arguing should get a nod this year as well) and Peacock, who was definitely your best pitcher last year and didn't pitch terribly this year.
But, they nutted up and made the call that they liked, ignoring time on club, past accomplishments, money, contract status etc., b/c they have the courage of their convictions, and it will probably open them up to some second guessing.
That's ballsy. I love it, regardless of what happens, come what may. It shows they are all in on bringing every single bit of advantage they can to the table, and that they believe in their process.

 

"[Rondon] had a tough month," Hinch said Thursday. "September (was) really his only bad month, he wasn't great in the second half as a whole, but most of that is weighted into September. Honestly, this is a very difficult offense to match up with and some of the things that he does and some of the execution he does didn't really match up well with very many areas of the lineup with the Indians."

Given the injuries to both McCullers and Charlie Morton, Hinch said the Astros valued length in the ALDS bullpen. Smith, a veteran sidearmer who functions as solely a right specialist, would ostensibly be on the club to face two Indians hitters — Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion.

James, a starter throughout his minor league career, provides the length Hinch requested. Harris' cutter and curveball repertoire matches up favorably with the Indians, Hinch said, something he failed to see in Rondon's arsenal.

"As we pieced together the bullpen, it looked less and less likely that I was going to find a perfect spot to use Hector," Hinch said. "He very likely, along with (Brad) Peacock and Joe Smith and Devenski, could find their way onto a future roster if we're able to beat the Indians."

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...LDS-playoff-roster-Indians-Straw-13281842.php

 

Harris is the one guy in there I'd rather not see. I would take either of Rondon, Smith, or Peacock over Harris. Sure, all three of those guys have been shaky, but we KNOW how Harris can get blown up in the post-season.

But I am also at the point where I trust pretty much everything this front office decides and does, so let's get these mofos.

 

Do these guys get to chill in the bullpen/dugout if not on the roster? I guess I never noticed but this years squad has some notable omissions (which is a great luxury).

 

Crazy - Devo, Peacock, Rondon, and Smith was supposed to be the core of the bullpen opening day, along with Giles as closer.

 

Doesn't Harris have like an 11 ERA against the Indians??

 

He pitched against them 3 times in May, there's more than a slight sample size issue using that logic.

 

I didn't really do a deep dive......I just saw double digits, and quickly noped my way off the site. Will Harris gives me stomach ulcers.

 

To me, this is where the data was incredibly important on making the final couple of decisions regarding the pitching spots.

Yes we all saw who was more effective than the other late in the season, but I’d be willing to bet they went through everything with a fine tooth comb.

 

I don’t really understand going with 6 outfielders... Let Kemp and Marisnick be your PRers, keep Smith, Rondon, or Peacock...

 

In a 5 game series, with 2 off days, you are highly unlikely to need 8 relief pitchers. Straw could help score an important run in every game, plus it give roster flexibility to pinch hit for anybody.