Goal should be home-field advantage with any possible playoff matchup (including WS). While Oakland is the closest in the division, the Astros likely aren’t that worried…. And even if they were, they don’t have that many games left with each other. Also regardless of whether they’re still winning, the Astros have a lot of things they need to tighten up before the end of the season. Who’s their top 3 starters for a rotation (does Garcia deserve a spot?), Tandem vs. as needed Javier?, Graveman for 1 or 2 innings?, Bregman back to above average form… if not, does Diaz’ bat warrant more run somewhere in the lineup?
Emailed a former co-worker who's a lifelong ____dians fan about Maton this morning. Quote, "There's nothing special about Phil Maton. He loves to hang offspeed pitches. Needs to throw the fastball more." I JUST tuned in...sounds like he threw the fastball more. And, I guess there's nothing special about Garcia either.
Relief pitchers are inherently flawed (hence why they’re relief pitchers). The best organizations and coaches are able to unlock their strengths. Every guy who’s now “elite” was at one point nothing special, thus they became available. Very rarely are guys groomed from the minors to be simply back of the bullpen/high-leverage types.
