Nm, you caught it. Wild Card is so unpredictable. In a sense, the Astros winning Game 1 could be the most important win of their entire season.
In the prediction thread I mentioned: Houston vs Rangers ALCS and Houston vs DBacks WS. Let's make that happen
Agree - on the pitching that dominates. That is easier said than done, but pitching that can truly go into a playoff game and shut the other team down. The other model I have noticed is to have a really good defense, and have an offense that limits strikeouts and mistakes and turns the order over. The Astros are like that the last 5-6 years and the Yankees with Jeter were like that too. I remember when Luhnow took over, and a few years into his rebuild he made a comment that two guys that both have an OPS of .900 are not equal, and one may be far more valuable. That he wanted hitters that could hit the best pitchers, hitters that could turn the screws on a pitcher and hit an ace or top reliever, even if it means they don't feast on poor hitting as well.
Agreed. I also love that they were able to pivot so quickly from the "we don't care about strikeouts, as long as we hit for power" model that was with them in 2015... to what they rolled out for 2017. The Royals at the time basically laid the blueprint and Luhnow and the nerd cave expanded upon that and then some.
