My question is this: we're not going to be forced to look at anyone's mouthpiece or retainer, or jock strap or anything. Right? It's not going to be cute or anything, right? No women's jewelry or anything, right? How old is So and so, no crap like that, just baseball, right?
According to Roger Clemens cooler weather was good for him. Kept his legs feeling fresh. Power pitcher need leg drive.
But not extremely cold weather. Didn't his back tighten up on him in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series in Chicago?
Odd to me that someone would have feelings about this at all. I wouldn't even notice such a mundane thing.
No s***. JV needs to take a breath and just pitch. He gets so hyped he ends up throwing a bad game. Hopefully he will relax. Hey Kate. Take care of JV before the game so he is relaxed.
I just think it's weird and can't remember another team not wearing them. I always get pumped for the world series hat and jersey with the patches.
Some observations/things swirling around in my mind this week: 1. In 2019, the WS was extremely weird, as we all know. Yes, it went 7 games, and I place that game 7 loss squarely on Hinch, for pulling Greinke while he was DEALING. And Harris immediately came in and the Nats took the game from there. Lesson learned - you can't just have a 'decent' bullpen if you want to win it all, you need a GREAT bullpen. 2. In 2021, we basically entered the WS with very little pitching, and our starters couldn't get the job done. And even then, we still took it to 6 games. But losing Lance left us massively undermanned. I firmly believe that we win that series last year with a healthy McCullers. Lesson learned - you need great pitching, from top to bottom. 3. I think this team learned the most valuable lesson in 2017, which was - never give up, always keep fighting, because you never know what will happen. 4. This is important: The Phillies will not be facing Yu Darvish in the World Series. Not even once. Think about it - the 2017 WS was so evenly matched.. do you think the Astros win that series if they did not get to face Darvish twice? Whether they just had his number, or whether he was tipping his pitches, I don't know, but I doubt we win that series if not for the Dodgers throwing Darvish out there twice in the games played. There is no dead weight in our pitching staff. We don't have a Darvish. Yes, the Phillies have some good/great bats. But those bats will be facing essentially an 'ace-level' pitcher with every pitch they see in this entire series. The same is not true of the Phillies staff. They have a few good arms, but nothing that will put the constant pressure on our batters like we have to put pressure on them. Bregman is healthy, Alvarez is better than ever, and Pena and Yuli are peaking at the right times. Yes, we lost to the Nats and Braves, but the Astros had weaknesses in those WS games that they simply do not have any longer. Dusty and Click and everyone else do truly seem to have learned their lessons... build up the bully to not just be good or great, but flat-out OP. Give the starting position players enough rest during the season that they are not gassed or injured when the WS rolls around. Keep our starting pitchers fresh with a 6-man rotation, so they are operating at peak power when the time comes. I know some people are 'afraid' of the Phillies because of what transpired in the last two WS in which the Astros played. Just ask yourself this: If either of those Astros teams played a series against THIS Astros team, who would win? The current team is by far the best this team has been, and that is even without Brantley. So, no, I am not scared.. strangely enough. I stressed over every inning, every pitch, against Seattle and NYY.. but now, I don't know, I am just not feeling it. It feels like the Astros are playing like they have gotten 'over the hump' and are playing on a whole different level. I believe in this team very strongly now. I cannot wait to watch it all unfold.
Phillies are fairly evenly matched with the Astros, despite what the records say. Their record is a product of having to sustain injuries and not being nearly as deep as the Astros, but in a seven game series, with a healthy Harper, things even out. They have a very strong TOR, strong backend bullpen guys and a very good, but streaky lineup. They are also on a roll. This Astros team, however, have put the breaks on a lot of streaking/hot teams all throughout the season, including the playoffs with the Mariners. They seem to step it up to another gear against what they perceive to be strong opponents. They are also more talented up and down the rosters, but again, in a short series it's easier to even things out by only playing your very best. Unlike the 2019 team, and because our offense struggled at times, we also had to learn how to grind out close games during the season, which has made us a very resilient team that seems more prepared for the playoffs. This series, much more so than against the Mariners, and especially against the overrated Yankees, will require the team to bring their A game, as this is a much stronger opponent. I believe this will be a closely contested fight, but ultimately, the depth and grit of the Astros will prevail. Astros in 7. (LFG!!)
AS he did in Game 6 in the 17 ALCS and then not so good in 17 WS. I think he is due. I would love to see a 1986 Mike Scott performance from him.
The other thing to add is if one of guys doesn't have for whatever reason, we have 4-5 other guys to throw at them. We have guys like Hunter, Stanek and Urquidy who can be dominant that has barely pitched in the post season. 2 who can go 4-6 innings easily.
