Well, baby girl did it again.. Cheered her lil heart out for us. someone’s getting a big toy this weekend. Lol leggo!!
If We get a solid start in game 3 with Garcia and take the W, we will put some serious pressure going forward on the Braves pitching staff.
Agree on Game 4; kinda curious why Javier was used in Game 2 when he typically needs 3 or 4 days between outings.
Agreed. However, Boston had a similar scenario going into game 3, with the Astros starting pitching situation in game 4 on, and the Astros bullpen actually served as a catalyst. The Astros just need to keep hitting. They've actually been very consistent this post season, regardless of home/road in scoring runs, making contact, moving runners over, etc. Not having the DH will hurt the lineup some.
These guys still need to pitch here/there. Last time Javier pitched before last night was a full week prior (7 days rest is enough... 10-11 days rest is too much). Given that they're probably not going to let too many of their relief pitchers get AB's, there will be a natural limit as to how long these guys go in these next 3 games. Luckily the Astros have the bullpen depth to withstand that and nobody is overworked.
On paper, Atlanta would really benefit from games being pushed back a day, that would make Fried available to pitch game 5. As is, it seems like they are gonna have to scramble in games 4 and 5 with their starter options being pretty terrible on top of a pen thats seen a ton of work. The baseball postseason is always weird from game to game so you can never say anything confidently, but if we get to Anderson tomorrow we should be in really good shape. This offense is capable of starting an avalanche if the level of pitching drops off.
If Siri would just stop chasing, he would be a heck of a ball player. I've never seen anyone that is good enough to play in a world series chase as many balls in the dirt.
It would also help the Astros too though. Valdez and Urquidy could pitch Games 4 and 5 respectively if the series is pushed back a day. That allows us to avoid a bullpen game in Atlanta.
He's definitely a chaser. Then again he wasn't exactly our most heralded prospect coming up from the minors. He did punch out a good amount too. He's fun to watch thouogh.
The good news is the lack of DH also hurts the Braves. They probably have to chose between either Pederson or Soler. Pederson hasn't been great at the plate this series, but is at least a competent defender. Soler is the better bat, but a significant downgrade in defense. With thin starting pitching depth, they'll either have to limit some of the scenarios when they can use their longer inning bullpen arms or have to make some tough pinch hitting decisions.
Agreed. Dumb no DH NL rules. I bet if you polled the Braves team, and the Braves fans, they'd much rather have the lineup they put out there in games 1 and 2 for these next 3 games... and not have to worry about performing a pitching change simply because their spot in the lineup came up. People are romantic about the NL rules... till you actually watch an extended amount of games without a pitcher flailing away or a manager being forced to take him out in the 5th because of a scoring opportunity. Announcers did foreshadow that this could very well be the last time you ever see a pitcher bat in a game given the upcoming CBA negotiations.
I think the Braves team is well aware that the Astros either drop a bat or play an OF defensive alignment that the Astros have purposely avoided.
One bullpen game for us>Two consecutive bullpen games for Atlanta As for the DH, Brantley and Yordan hit RHP far too well to not start them both in game 3. You can always go to the defensive alignment if we get a lead. Atlanta has a lefty heavy pen anyway, so you might want Brantley out mid game either way.
Have they really "avoided" it? The first time they really got a chance to do it... they did it (against San Francisco). All those games where we held our breath with Yordan playing the field on the road has finally come full circle, and him being out there is actually the least of the change. Which OF adjustment scares you the most... Tucker in CF or Brantley in RF? Also Truist RF is actually a lot shorter/smaller than I thought it was (still bigger than MMP, however).