I hear you guys - it is awesome we are tracking for the playoffs after four seasons of futility. It's like walking the desert for four years and then stumbling onto Lake Michigan. But this team is that good and it's time to be greedy. I will agree that post season success in baseball is much more random, but I want to avoid Toronto as much as I want to open up against NY with home field advantage. We would get more media coverage playing the Yankees, I think they are a much more vulnerable team, and again, it's time to get greedy and win it all.
This thread title really bugs me. The Astros have Keuchel who is arguably the best player in the AL this regular season with his defensive value added to his pitching value (He leads AL in RA9-WAR which incorporates defensive value). Come playoffs, He's going to go from pitching every 5th game to every 3rd (i.e. No question he's projected to be the best player in the playoffs in the AL) Even against a right handed hitting lineup, he's projected to be the best player in the AL playoffs. I'm not saying the Astros win the World Series as baseball playoffs can be a crap shoot. I'm not even saying the Astros make playoffs. But if they do and they face the Blue Jays in Division Series, Keuchel scheduled for games 1, 4, and 7 is much more intimidating than the Blue Jays lineup for 7 games. Hopefully, the Blue Jays will try Price in games 1, 4, and 7 if the two teams meet so that the Astros have the pitching advantage every game.
Not worried about anything other than winning the division. Just get there and see what happens. No matter what happens this year, we are still right on schedule for this: Spoiler
Oh absolutely. But is that really being "hot", or do we just pick the team who happened to win and they say "they got hot"? I think you could just as easily subscribe it to the randomness of baseball. Being "hot" seems meaningless because it's not something you can determine until after it happens.
Yep, nice to have meaningful games in late August. Not even saying September yet, since in the past we were pretty much out of it by the all star game.
And frankly, I'm more concerned with the Astros securing home field advantage. I think that'll prove more beneficial than any match-up. This is a much better team at home - I'd like 3 of those games to be in a packed, rocking MMP. And to that end, I do hope it's the Yankees, only because it (verly likely) guarantees us night baseball. Toronto-Houston is almost certainly 3pm fodder.
I just seem to recall they destroyed us when we went up there. I'm sure Geddy Lee of Rush is thrilled, though. It's his team. They have a legit shot this season after so many bad seasons.
Am I missing something or is that division series still best of 5? Ideally it would be Keuchel (games 1, 4) Kazmir (games 2, 5) and McHugh in game 3. Really fun to be even speculating on this these days.
The Astros are scary as well....... Keuchel 2.28, Kazmir 2.41, McCullers 3.10 The pen will all of a sudden be far better pen with Fiers and McHugh both available to come in.
Everyone is talkin about their high powered offense, which they should be, but since the all-star break their rotation/bullpen is right up there with the best in the league
We've sucked on the road. We also started Roberto Hernandez & Oberholtzer for 2 of the games, and the third was a blown save by Gregerson. We swept them 4 straight at MMP.
There have been MLB teams in the past that have won 100-115 games in the season, with a "murderers row" type lineup. Only to get their asses kicked in the first round of the playoffs by some team that only won 85-90 games. How a team is performing in the middle of the season has almost zero relevance to how they'll perform in the playoffs, if they get there. I think that is true to an extent in all pro sports, but especially true in baseball.
