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[The Athletic] The Astros Will Win It All

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by lnchan, Oct 5, 2021.

  1. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    https://theathletic.com/2912486/202...s-players-and-scouts-offer-their-predictions/

     
  2. JonRetro

    JonRetro Contributing Member

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  3. Squirtle

    Squirtle Member

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  4. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    3 Keys to the Series for Houston:

    Get to Morton. He’s the best pitcher on either team and if Houston can knock him out early and gain a bullpen usage advantage along with the Braves loss of confidence from losing with their ace on the mound, it’ll tip the odds. I believe Game 1 has outsized importance in this series.

    Run on D’Arnaud. He has been pretty bad defensively lately and turning singles/walks into doubles makes a big difference in games between teams this evenly matched. Siri/Meyers could be difference makers here.

    Careful with Duvall and Rosario. It’s been much talked about how hot Rosario has been, so it’s best to pitch him conservatively until they know if he’s cooled down. And Duvall is custom made for the Crawford Boxes; I have a big fear of him leaving a few balls up there. Atlanta’s lineup is deep, but aside from Freeman there’s no hitter who has an elite track record. Riley, Swanson, D’Arnaud, Soler, and Peterson will strike out if pitched to well. Albies is a good hitter as well but doesn’t profile to be as dangerous in this series as Rosario and Duvall.

    If Houston wins Game 1 by knocking out Morton early and having Framber produce another gem, this series tips HEAVILY in Houston’s favor.
     
  5. rockbox

    rockbox Around before clutchcity.com

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    Most people think the Astros will win because that is what the betting odds indicate. Betting odds move with better's sentiment. Also, all these guys have been wrong more often than not. The Stros are the favorite and if they don't go on a team cold spell, which they have done during the season, the Braves will have a hard time keeping up offensively. Their pitching staff is not good enough to shut us down.
     
  6. lnchan

    lnchan Sugar Land Leonard

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    Nick_713 likes this.
  7. Elienator

    Elienator Member

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    McCullers reduces the margin of error for the offense going into a slump. You could expect at least 1 shutdown game from him which means the Astros could steal at least one win without running up crooked numbers.

    Without McCullers, you can't expect Valdez/Garcia to be as good as they were in Games 5/6 of the ALCS. You can hope they will pitch well enough to give the Astros offense a chance though.

    This is where the Astros contact heavy approach helps. They are less likely to go into prolonged slumps and if the pitching can just keep games within reach they have a good shot. The Braves have a much more boom or bust offense. I don't think they're going to win the series if they are scoring 3 or 4 runs a game (they've won 3 times only scoring 3 runs and 1 time only scoring 4). You can do that against an injured Dodgers team or a the Brewers.

    It obviously guarantees nothing, but it does mean they still have a good shot even with the loss of McCullers (and Verlander).
     

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