Anyone got that clip of Strom talking to Maton. Maton threw 3 pitches in a row that made Pederson look silly right after.
I know Dusty isn't going to do this but I would bat Yuli 4th, Tuck 5th, Bregman 6th, and Yordan 7th. Alvarez is completely lost right now.
I'd leave Alvarez where he is. He could go off at any time. Plus the pitchers do still respect him and he has drawn walks a few times.
At home I'm hoping Alvarez flips the switch. He's one of our best hitters, but he's lost against the lefty breaking ball at the moment. He's more than capable of waking up at just the right time though. I would probably stick with a similar lineup to game 5.
That's the thing, early on in the series they weren't giving him anything to hit. And the hitters behind him weren't making them pay for it. Then he fell into a slump on the road. The pitchers definitely still are wary of him, and if they aren't, he can make that change really quickly. Hoping he snaps out of it back at home.
I think he's been pressing for a variety of reasons. The rest of the team slumping put more pressure on him to deliver at the plate. Being unfamiliar with Truist Park. Having to play in the outfield for 3 straight games. He also may have been banged up a bit after attempting that catch late in Game 4. I think returning to being the DH in MMP will help a lot. Along with some of the guys starting to emerge from their slumps last night, especially Correa.
Going to take awhile to sift through the post-mortem that seemed to be all of yesterday in here (prior to the game). I do see the people who watch more NBA playoffs than MLB playoffs have a little harder time comprehending how any given night any team can be the "better" team, regardless of what happened in the 1 or 2 (or 3) games prior. It is tough to predict anything that's going to happen from here on out in this series... but that's part of the romanticism that is the baseball playoffs.
Agreed. Using Urquidy for that one inning really turned the rest of the series into a mess. Would have been a simple rotation of Game 6 Urquidy and Game 7 Garcia. Now they want to send Garcia out on short rest which I'm not a fan of as well.
Urquidy pitched what amounted to a bullpen session yesterday. He would have pitched anyway in the pen to prepare for his game 6 start. I know those 14 pitches are more Taxing and stress filled but I’d still start Urquidy for game 6 as long as Strom gives the nod.
Sometimes organized chaos, especially when its the last series of the season... with no tomorrow... works out. The Braves are being rightly second guessed for their SP choice in a game where they could have won the World Series. I'm definitely not a fan of short rest starts earlier in the playoffs. But by this point, its an all-hands-on-deck situation for both these upcoming games. They needed to win last night with 5+ innings from the bullpen, in a game where Pressly and Javier were not available. Even though Urquiddy got the win, it was really Maton's 2 pressure-packed innings pitched that was the biggest difference maker. Now, they pretty much have access to everybody including Urquiddy (who could certainly start or finish a game 7).
We're all probably superstitious to some level, but whether you attend the game or not does not actually affect anything. If you have the means to go and your son would have a once in a lifetime experience, then I say go for it.
I am honestly ok with whoever they start for Game 6 and 7. For one thing they’ll only be looking for 3 innings max out of whoever it is so it isn’t like they’re needing 6 shutout innings. For Game 6, Garcia on 3 days rest isn’t ideal, but he is young so his routine may not be as key to his performance as it would be for a veteran; Garcia has been tandeming and coming in relief and spot starting for 5 years prior to this season. Odorizzi would also be fine to start; he’s looked great and should be rested enough to go 2-3 innings. Urquidy only threw <20 pitches last night so he should be fine to throw 30-40 pitches tonight if they want him to. Javier is rested and would be good for 2 innings if they wanted to use him as an opener. For Game 7, any of those Game 6 options who aren’t used in Game 6 would make a fine starter; otherwise, Greinke should be good come out and go 2-3. If I’m the manager I throw Garcia for 40 pitches, followed by Odo for 50 pitches, followed by Javier for 40 pitches, hoping those 3 get thru 6 innings, after which you can go back to the Maton-Stanek-Graveman-Pressly well to finish it out. That would leave Greinke and Urquidy for hopefully 5 innings in Game 7, after which you can go to Maton-Stanek-Graveman-Pressly one last time to win it all.
Thoughts on pitching: Fully empty the mag in Game 6. Do not even think about Game 7. Do not adjust the approach if we get out to a lead or deficit. (as a note, the Braves did not do this in Game 5 and it may have cost them) The starting pitchers' routines have been screwy all postseason. I wouldn't overanalyze working on 3 days rest. Especially for a very young arm like Luis Garcia. Don't give up on Christian Javier -- especially if we need someone to get through a 3rd or 4th inning. He has electric stuff and the two HRs off him in Game 4 were flukey (one oppo, one that would have been caught by a speedy LFer). Consider Odorizzi as the second pitcher in Game 7 if we are short on available arms. Game 7 the crowd will be insane and can lift him -- I don't think he has as good of stuff as our other pitching options.
To your first point, every pitcher should be available in Game 6 except for two. Framber because he's been a disaster in this series(plus he'd be on a single day's rest). And Urquidy because we need a Game 7 starter. I know Greinke on 3 day's rest is a possibility, but I'd much rather have Urquidy on the mound. He's been terrific in World Series starts.
What’s the point of the first sentence of this article? Now I don’t care about anything else you’re writing.
