Whoa. This goes contradicts another poster's claim that saving JV for Game 6 is buffoonery. Thinking more though, JV Game 5 prevents too much rest perhaps entering the WS.
I trust Hinch. I also trust at least one of Greinke or Verlander to win. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we win both and close it out. Greinke doesn’t get much respect around here - he’s a hell of a #3 pitcher though. If he’s hitting his spots he’s hard to beat. Just need our bats to heat up and I think we’re golden.
I'm imagining an MLB game in a good rain. Alvarez hits a high deep fly to center. Does CF: a) Curl up in ball and pray he doesn't get hit by ball. b) run away from where he thinks ball will land. c) run to about 20 feet behind where he thinks ball will land so he can pick up ball after it lands.
Paxton lasted 2.1 innings and was getting hit before he was pulled. Not saying we would shell him again cause he is a really good pitcher, but he was getting hit by us. It was their bullpen that hadnt been taxed at that point, that carried them.
What Nick said. Also, I can't think of any shoe technology that still has any grip that wouldn't destroy a soaked field. Baseball games are played on back-to-back days. Football groundskeepers have a whole week to fix their field after it gets torn up. Also, if you look at American football, it's a different type of sport. Playing in horrible weather has always been considered a boon for fans watching (well, not the ones in the stands), because it's already a messy sport. Baseball's a finesse sport. You don't want to watch balls flying out of pitchers' hands to the backstop every other pitch. Or routine ground balls just dying in the grass and throws to first frequently going into the home dugout. And if you think the playoff balls have been dejuiced, try hitting a soaked baseball any distance. Rain just doesn't play well with baseball. But, I'd think, particularly, it would be a nightmare for the field. I do think it would be interesting to play an exhibition baseball game in the rain. Maybe on turf with some sort of new waterproof ball with similar roughness characteristics to a leather ball. However, there are just a lot of safety and injury considerations that come from playing in the rain, so it's probably never going to become a thing, and, as Nick pointed out, really isn't much of a thing anymore in a lot of outdoor sports.
If Verlander pitches game 6 in Houston as originally planned, couldn't he fly back to Houston a day early to avoid the middle of the night travel? I thought he had done this during the regular season?
The Astros have to win this series before it gets to a Game 7. The World Series starts two days after Game 7, and I’d much rather they save Cole than burn him. That would potentially put Cole or Greinke in line for Game 1.
Is this really even true, though? Sure, football gets played in rain. But basketball & hockey are indoors. Golf and tennis get cancelled in rain. What other major outdoor sports are played in rain?
If we start Verlander in game 5 and win before 7, we will be perfectly lined up for Cole,Verlander, Greinke to start the WS. If we had to start Verlander in 6 and it went 7, Cole and Verlander wouldn't have been available on full rest until game 3, meaning one of them would have to be pushed back to game 4 and only been available once during the series on full rest. Verlander will now be available for game 2 regardless, so if we finish this the delay really could end up being a huge help
One of (if not both) Springer or Yordan need to get going. Yes, the pitching they have been facing is good but this lineup was historically good in the regular season for a reason. Can't keep relying on the pitching to be almost perfect.
