What are you talking about? LOL. They have these things called tiebreaker games that get played in the event of a tie.
So 2 of 3 guarantees us at least a playoff game of some kind. A sweep guarantees us at least the wild card, or a possible playoff for the AL West. Gonna be a wild weekend, but we are firmly in control of our future. With the Rangers and A's playing each other and a cushion on the Twins we are in good shape, but handling our business is the most important part.
I know what your are saying, but the pitcher (De la Rosa) struggles big time vs lefties, thats why i want to separate righties and mix them with lefties. On the other hand, RAsmus in last 30 games has an OPS over .780, same with last 15 games.
Yeah; I'm not even going to pay attention to Arlington this weekend - none of it matters if the Astros poop the bed in Arizona. Win these next three and then let me know where they go after that.
Exactly. You listen to some of the crazy scenarios being tossed around in the game thread ("see what happens in the first few innings of Angels-Rangers, and name a Friday starter based on that!"). The only starter that is scuffling right now is Kazmir... and even he's been the victim of some horrid fielding (mostly his own), and making mental mistakes. Astros need every win possible (and nothing has proven to be easy on the road... let alone a non-DH series for this offensively-challenged club)... then lets worry about the post-season if they're fortunate enough to play another game.
I saw some of that; the only thing I'd advocate (which they're doing) is starting Keuchel Friday so he can be available Tuesday, if needed. And that's his normal day to start, anyway - not sure why they initially slated him for Saturday. The Astros control their destiny. They need exactly ZERO help to make the postseason. That's all I care about.
He was on four days rest for the three starts prior to Sunday, which I assumed they pushed back to better line him up for weekend/possible Wild Card. When we went round and round in the other thread on trying to look ahead with the rotation... pitching him this Saturday, and not Friday, to kill any chance of him being available Tuesday was the exact kind of poor management I was hoping Hinch would avoid. He's pitched 29 times on four days rest these past two years; 5 days just 22. And we don't know how many of those five-day starts were a result of an off-day. Four days seems to be his preference.
Also allows McCullers to go on extra rest when he does in fact go... I'm pretty sure he's made more starts this year with "extra" rest than he has with normal rest (dating back to the 6 man rotation along with sending him down for a break). Hell, if they've clinched a spot in the post-season (whether its a game 163 or a WC game on Tuesday), I'd have no problem if they decide to hold LMJ back for THAT game. If Lance is on... and his stuff looks like it did on Monday.... he's a supreme weapon in a winner-takes-all game where both teams' offense (and post-season offense in general) tends to press.
Luhnow said they had lined it up at the start of the month (as they had many off-days to work with) to ensure that Keuchel pitched against both the Angels and Rangers... that was the only "tinkering" they really did (and really all it involved was pitching everybody on their regular spot in the rotation as is... and not skipping guys on off-days).
I don't know if I want Lance being the starter in Yankee Stadium for his first postseason start. His head might explode. The guy already gets incredibly pumped in front of 15 people in Seattle. There were moments early in that game where I thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest.
I was just giving the actual reason that schedules showed him pitching Saturday. As I had said, to me, being willing to pitch him on short rest or not was the only decision that Hinch had to make. You also had more complicated considerations in play, like the ones the guy in the game thread was drumming up. On the other side, if he wasn't willing to pitch him on short rest on Tues, pitching him Saturday would have given him the ideal 4 days of rest that you just alluded to for game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday.
Hopefully the Helo's are cooling off now and that other team in this state takes care of business for us.
He's going to have to make that sort of start at some point. The fans in Toronto and KC are actually MORE rabid/starving currently and its a much more intimidating environment than the "been there, done that NEW sterilized Yankee Stadium". Sometimes, increased pressure leads to even more focus. At other times, he could just completely choke (like he did in that one start in Arlington). Again, I'm going based on his stuff... if he's on, I think he could do very well in the post-season.
or the Halos sweep the Rangers while we sweep the D-Bags, thus knocking South Oklahoma out of the playoffs entirely. insert evil laugh here.
People seem to be blind to the fact that pitchers other than Keuchel performing and winning big, pressure-packed games is a requisite to making a deep run in the playoffs. As I've said, sure Keuchel is preferable for the WC game, but outside of Kazmir, who clearly isn't right, I'm pretty indifferent who pitches that game. Heck, Fiers has been our best pitcher since he's been here. If Hinch thought any of the other 3 on full rest > Keuchel (road Keuchel, nonetheless) on short rest, I would have been A.O.K. with that decision.
Road Keuchel is better than the other pitchers on the road, though. His ERA was 3.13 prior to the Annihilation in Arlington.
