It's just hard to rely on someone who has never pitched out of the pen and also coming back from injury like Garcia or McCullers. This team wins a lot of close games and that is especially going to be the case in the playoffs. The ability to get 7 from Framber or Brown then go to Abreu and Hader is a great formula...but if Hader isn't back I don't trust anyone in this pen to lock down a 1 run lead in the playoffs in the 8th inning. If you're only able to get 6 out of Framber/Brown, then we have to hope we make it through both the 7th and 8th unscathed. Walter returning would definitely be a plus, but as we saw with Dubin, there's no guarantee he is going to come back the same pitcher he was before going on the IL.
So you’re saying he wasn’t sick? Or should be playing through it? Of course none of us know when he was at his worst… maybe it was Friday? He didn’t look all that great after coming in on Saturday and while the whole team was awful yesterday, it did seem like he’s still dealing with something and some of those balls up the middle he usually gets to (or at least gets a glove on it). Still a weird take (wanting him to play subdued) unless you think he’s not really sick?
