The starting lineup in the playoffs will be… 1. Altuve 2. Pena 3. Yordan 4. Bregman 5. Tucker 6. Gurriel 7. Mancini 8. McCormick/Meyers 9. Maldy If we are in it for a while, Vazquez will get a couple of starts and so will Diaz.
AL playoffs - all 6 teams clinched, just WC seeding remains. current WC1- Blue Jays 90-69. 3 games @ Orioles WC2- Mariners 87-71. 4 games home vs Tigers WC3- Rays 86-73. 3 games @ Red Sox. Rays eliminated from WC1 Mariners hold tie breaker over Blue Jays. Rays hold tie breaker over Mariners. Blue Jays secure WC1 and home playoff series with of combination of 2 wins and/or Mariner losses. Mariners need 6 wins and/ or Blue Jays losses to move up and host the playoff series as WC1. Mariners need combination of 3 wins and/or Rays losses to clinch WC2. Rays need combination of 5 wins and/or Mariner losses to move up to WC2.
4 game ALDS pitching blue print. Game 1: 1-5 Verlander ( 6 days rest) 6 Brown 7 Abreu 8 Montero 9 Pressly Day off Game 2: 1-5 Framber ( 7 days rest) 6 Brown 7 Stanek 8 Neris 9 Pressly Day off Game 3: 1-5 McCullers 6 Stanek 7 Abreu 8 Neris 9 Montero Game 4: 1-5 Javier 6 Brown 7 Abreu 8 Montero 9 Pressly 2 other pitchers ( from Garcia, Urquidy, Maton, Smith, Martinez) available any game starter does not go at least 5. No RP pitches over 3 innings or more than 2 consecutive games or 2 games in 4 days. 2 off days before ALCS.
I'm guessing 12 Pitchers and 14 Position Players. Trim 2 pitchers and bring all the position players on the current roster.
i still find it hard to believe they are going to roll out a -1 WAR player at 1B with Mancini available. Seems they would be better off (with the FB pitchers at least) starting Chas and Meyers in the OF with Mancini at 1B. Hell, start Hensley at 1B if they want Mancini elsewhere.
This, especially with Valdez being such a "feel pitcher". He is a horse, but his arm isn't used to this........
Mancini should be in the lineup every game. He has been in a slump but he is very streaky. He is due to get red hot. It could happen in the playoffs. We are all hoping Gurriel gets hot in the playoffs and he hasn’t been hot all year. If somehow both get it going we can beat anyone.
Maybe but I feel like he gets a bit overvalued. He's only had 2 seasons in his career with an OPS over .800 (his 1st full season and his 3rd...none since he missed due to cancer). I'm not seeing this great hitter that has to play every day. On Baltimore...sure. He was the best player on a bad team. Guys like that tend to fall back to the pack once they end up on a team as good as the Astros. That said, there aren't many better options without a healthy Brantley so you're probably right.
Diaz is the other option. He is also streaky plus he hasn’t had quite the success Mancini has had in his career. Injuries being the main reason probably.
So what if Yuli goes 1 for 5 in gm 1 but the one hit is a double that knocks in a run? Is that "getting hot"? What if in gm 2 he goes 0 for 4 with a walk that kept an inning going (and they score a run in that inning)? Would it be good if guys "get hot"? Absolutely. However it's about getting key hits especially with RISP. It's great if someone can get on a role like Yordan did against BOS last yr in the ALCS. It usually comes down to a few clutch hits each gm with different guys stepping up each gm.
I don't know off the top of my head what good hitters "fell back to the pack" when they ended up on the Astros. I don't think that was true of guys like Brantley when they got here. Maybe you've got examples? Regardless, he doesn't have to be a great hitter to be a better option than 38-year-old Yuli who's got a .646 OPS this year. And if I was to pick a player to overproduce in the postseason, I'd rather take the untested bat over the one who's been pretty bad over 300 playoff plate appearances.
Framber (and Luis) were gassed in the playoffs last year too. I just don't know what else the Astros could have done to manage their pitchers work load this season. 6 man rotations, extra days off between starts, they did everything they could to keep their rotation fresh for the long run. It's like Framber is a victim of his own success and health this season.
I'm not saying they fell back to the pack when they came to the Astros. I'm saying they seemed like better players when they were on bad teams and are really just average when in compared to the players on a really good team.
So many interesting decisions to be made for the ALDS: roster decision, Game 2 starter, in game decisions. Our clear advantage is the depth of our pitching. I could make a strong argument that whoever starts Game 2 should be on a short leash and be asked to go all out for 4 innings, with everything beyond that a bonus. I would gladly take 4 scoreless from Framber in Game 2. We have the luxury of deploying Javier, Garcia or Brown for multiple innings. For example, if we are ahead in Game 2 and Framber is fading after 4, I could easily see the argument for throwing Javier to get 2-3 innings, or hell, he can close it out if he is cruising. You can start Garcia if there is a Game 4. Or Brown or Garcia can get you the fifth and sixth innings of game 2. We have an incredible advantage in depth of pitching and the in game decisions to maximize this advantage will be critical. I would assume this will all be scenario’ed out and it’s going to come down to in game managerial observations/decisions by Dusty and the pitching coaches. Someone mentioned Kevin Cash’s decision to pull Snell after dominant 5 innings. I have a feeling we will be facing that kind of a decision in Game 2 or 3.
Blue Jays clinched WC1 last night. Mariners and Rays both lost. Mariners magic # is 2 vs Rays for WC2. Rays magic # is 4 vs Mariners for WC2. 5 total games left. Mariners win and Rays loss today and AL playoffs are completely set.
They could have given him a rest in the middle of the season or possibly put him on an inning limit. Let’s see what happens, he could have had a bad start and will be back to the good Framber.
I am not ruling out tandem starts in the playoffs. We have great depth. Even Urquidy is better when he only has to go 3-4 innings.
