Astros won the season series vs. the A's but lost the last two 4 game series finishing with 2 wins and 6 losses. Meanwhile the Astros have never won a season series vs. the Rays since moving to the AL and they generally play terrible in that ugly Hefty Bag roof covered stadium. Any preference on who the Astros divisional round opponent is?
I finally decided on the A's. The Rays have resilience while the A's have tenacity. We can break tenacity more easily if we're playing our best.
I want Oakland. Won't have to face Manaea until game 3. I think Fiers/Anderson/Bassitt/Bailey are much less dangerous compared to Glasnow/Snell/Chirinos and of course Charlie Morton. Greinke dominated the A's in 2 starts. He was 2-0 with a .69 ERA and .692 WHIP. Verlander and Cole pitched well against the A's with ERAs right around 2 and sub 1 WHIP. Greinke gave up 5 runs against the Rays in his start this year, and Cole had a 3.55 ERA against the Rays as well. Also Tampa is loaded with left handed bats (Wendle, Meadows, Choi, Kiermaier, Lowe, Sogard).
October baseball is so fickle. Requires a ton of luck and the best team doesn’t always win. That said, hats off to the Stros for putting them in as good a position as possible. Both WC matchups will be very tough, we can rest assured that we’re not overlooking either. It’s so hard to choose between the two. I agree with RedFish that OAK is the better matchup on paper...but part of me wants to face TAM. They are better/tougher to beat, but so be it. Every team is tough at this point. Murderers row got this. Plus we could turn Tropicana into Minute Maid 2. However, there is a compelling argument to shove it to the city of Oakland whenever given a possibility, maybe I would prefer the A’s...
“Doesn’t matter Brian” In all seriousness I’d prefer the As. I like us at home and we’ve had some big offensive games in OAK but we should be able to dispose of either so bring it
It's best to look past inferior teams, otherwise you give them credibility, visibility, and belief they wouldn't have otherwise. I've seen Luck get squashed in two decades now, once with the Oilers, and once with the Colts. It might exist, but it doesn't amount to squat in baseball.
I'll take either. We will be an extremely tall order for TAM or OAK to knock out. I'm just thrilled, assuming we make the second round, that NYY and MIN will knock one of themselves out. Just take care of wildcard winner first!
We hit Fiers pretty good this season, I'd rather they burn Manaea in the Wild Card game and save Fiers for us...should they win.
AJ Hinch put it best a couple of years ago when he said he doesn't like preferring a team over the other, because they could end up beating you if you get too excited. I'm looking forward to an entertaining couple of Wild Card games.
Nah, he ain't wrong. You play your best and you beat anybody. Unless their best is better than yours when it matters, then you're ****ed.
Rolling out JV, Cole, Greinke, Urquidy and JV in a five game series I'm not worried about either team. Miley can chill on the bench.
I didn’t pick either. I think it’s going to be tough regardless. Picking an opponent always feels wrong to me. The Astros are a great team, but I’m still worried. I mean, 1 WS win in their existence. Just hope we get the Astros best ball.
