I think it's important for the Astros to beat Lynn when they face him is that matchup will probably be the easiest the Astros have in the first three games. Giolito will probably dominate us and Cease vs Urquidy/Garcia doesn't look promising either.
The Astros have started nearly all their ALDS series home games at this time since 2017, minus one primetime game 2 in 2019. It has not impacted attendance or the fans being into it.
That wasn't the case from 2015-2019 which also featured day games. That is part of my concerns as tickets have typically sold out soon after the pre-sale (well before times are announced). Not so much this year.
Astros haven't faired well against Lynn in previous years, but did beat him well this year. Cease is tough and the Astros got to him early with a 3 run HR. In the end, these hitters understand the slightly more deliberate nature of post-season AB's. They also tend to do better against pitchers with more info on them... I would guess they know what they don't do well against Giolito, and they try and improve upon that.
You have a strangely high opinion of Chicago's rotation. Not saying they aren't good, but this isn't Schilling and Johnson.
Agreed. They're still going to have a packed house. And they're still going to make some serious noise. But its only human nature for fans to get somewhat used to these sorts of games/environment... vs the novelty that was definitely there in 2004/2005 and 2015/2017.
And even then, the Astros hitters and collective lineup is better (vs. the rest of the field) vs. Chicago's rotation is vs. the rest of the field.
Lynn is almost like a rich man’s Odo - his fastball is great but he doesn’t really have a good breaking/off-speed pitch and the Astros hit fastballs well. Cease has been fantastic in the second half and there’s a huge drop off in quality in our rotation after LMJ and Framber.
Or a low opinion of Houston's. Not counting the Astros, the White Sox are by far the best rotation in the AL.
Not an issue IMO. Fans are ready for vindication of that 2017 team, and this is their first opportunity to show out and give their support in the playoffs.
You got Chicago's rotation backwards. We own Lance Lynn and hit Cease really hard in both his starts. Its Rodon and Giolito that messed us up in their starts. If Rodon's velocity is still down I think we have this series.
I think attendance will be a little down. I know a company that has a block of 1,000 seats and they we’re not gobbled up by employees like you’d think. It’s now been extended to allow folks to bring fam. I think it’s a combo of start time, covid and the fans are excited but not as rabid as in years past. We have gone to a ton of playoff games in the past. My last statement to my wife was … I’m not risking covid for ALDS (plus the stupid game times mean the kids can’t go). The inference is that we will revisit if we make the ALCS. I think I’m going if it’s the WS.
I'd feel better about this matchup if Greinke, and to a lesser extent Garcia, hadn't imploded over the past month. For instance, xwOBA since September 1 for each starting staff:
