I'd very much like home field advantage in some of the playoffs please. Especially if we play the Yankees.
Especially since they already used this excuse earlier in the year with Javier (who very well could also take longer to get ready... yet he had him up/throwing and into the thick of it). AL Managers have one in-game job to do... mange the pitcher(s). I'm sure Dusty wishes he had the built in "pitchers spot coming up in the lineup" so it would make it easier on when to take out his starters or do the overrated NL double-switch, but you don't get that luxury in the AL. You really have to know your pitchers, know who's available in the bullpen, have contingency plans already lined up/available should things start to take a turn, and most importantly be flexible/non-robotic when it comes to decisions (i.e. - just because the original plan was that Javier should pitch at some point, doesn't necessarily mean he has to be the first one out no matter what). This is why I think AL managing (while previously scoffed at) is actually more challenging. You don't get an automatic relief pitcher decision made for you simply because you pitcher's spot is coming up to bat in the 6th or 7th innings in a run scoring situation. You don't get to script or robotically manage mid-inning decisions. Becomes even more challenging when you have more than enough arms and implement systems where you may have a different closer any given night (like the Rays have done in past years). Thats above/beyond what Dusty is able to compute... that's next-level managing that hopefully Click has a good list of names who can grasp/embrace some of those concepts.
They're peaking, that's for sure. But they're likely looking at a first round matchup against the Rays even if they do overtake them (at that point, I'd presume the Yankees are the best record in the AL and locked into playing the wild card). The Astros would be just fine settling in as the 2nd best division winner. That's the same spot they had in 2017.
Not going to lie.. the Yankees are looking scary. Of course anything can happen in a 7 game series but the Yankees don’t even have to try and they put up 4 runs. I hope we just go into the playoffs hot and our pitching is locked in.
The yankees getting Gallo and Rizzo at the deadline really jumpstarted the bats with that team. What once was a ok but inconsistent lineup is now deeper and a lot more power. Now they're riding with a ton of confidence but lets assume its a bit too early to do so. atleast we're getting our guys back in Breg and Tucker. Hopefully the stros handle some business this weekend in Arlington......
There is that, but still not enough to make up for Correa being a Top 20 offensive player in the league right now.
La Russa v Baker... that could be interesting. You'd hope, against the White Sox, you're ahead going into the 8th, otherwise you're staring at Kimbrel (assuming he gets his 8th inning jitters resolved) and Hendriks in the 9th. Starting pitching also profiles similar to the '18 Indians team the Astros beat in the ALDS that year (Cease/Giolito/Rodon vs Kluber/Carrasco/Bauer). Not a picnic by any means.
The Yankees play their worst when their confidence is high and they think they deserve to win just because they are the Yankees. Right now, they are playing their best because their fan base was having a sh!tstorm about how bad they were. They were bad there for a while. So it might just work out dandy for us that right now they are taking it out on other teams and by October, they may be back in the 'we deserve it mode' and ripe to be beaten .
wasn't there some disagreement in this thread about ejections recently. I think when CC got called for those outrageous strikes against KC
The Indians had a 22 game winning streak (longest in AL history) around this same time of the year that the Yankees are streaking. They passed the Astros during that win streak and the Astros couldn't catch back up.
MLB's nightmare: Astros win World Series with Rays making ALCS and Brewers and Reds having played the NLCS.
Astros being in the World Series shouldn't be an MLB nightmare...hate brings attention, added viewership.
Over Boston, NY, and Chicago? Only way MLB would like Astros in the WS is if it is against the Dodgers.
