Astros finally surpassed the Dodgers (and Yankees, again) in run differential. Keep it up! Into the postseason!
This team is nuts. Correa and Marwin are heating up at the right time. Springer Bregman Altuve Correa Marwin Reddick Yuli McCann/Gattis White/Maybin/Kemp That's bonkers.... if pitching can maintain its September then we should be favored over Indians at this point.
No they aren't, but they do have the 2nd best OPS in the AL, so they are still pretty strong offensively. Of course the old saying is good pitching beats good hitting and they have the lowest ERA in baseball by a considerable margin. Corey Kluber is the best pitcher in baseball right now (for all the talk about Sale's Ks, if Kluber hadn't gone on the DL, he'd probably reach 300ks too), and Carlos Carrasco isn't far behind. Danny Salazar is back healthy. They are rightfully the heavy favorite.
This Indians team is better than the one last year that likely wins the World Series if they didn't have overwhelming injuries.
My main concern with a possible Indians match up is the bullpen. I think Verlander and DK are more than capable of going toe to toe with their top 2, and I would give us the edge in whoever starts game 3. But I don't feel really good about anybody outside of Giles and Musgrove, and neither one of them are playoff tested. They have a very deep, and battle tested bullpen.
It's true... that Indians team is a juggernaut. But it's a new season, boys. They've never faced this Carlos Correa. He's absolutely dialed in right now and I know you guys remember what he did to the Royals (at the plate). I think he's going to go bonkers for the next month. Marwin is hot, Bregman is hot, Altuve is just always getting on base... this month's going to be FUN.
Correa being back, healthy, and hitting just makes the world of a difference. It's clear now his absence during those weeks and slow start coming back from injury is primarily why the team had been slumping.
Best hope is Morton, McCullers, and McHugh extending the pen by pitching multiple innings and pitching well. The bats can do everyone a favor by not majorly regressing. Yes the competition will increase, but that doesn't mean historical offense must start sucking.
Agree with 90% of this but they aren't a "heavy favorite". They won't even be a 2 to 1 favorite over us in the ALCS should both teams advance. Edit: Also they are going to have to probably go through NY which is clearly a better team than Boston at this point.
I actually feel good about getting a Charlie Morton or LMJ in the bullpen. LMJ would top 100 in the minors when pitching out of the bullpen. Serious gas. Morton has already hit 98mph this year as a starter and has typically been unhittable for his first two trips through the lineup. Should be ok.
Justin Verlander has been just as good his last 10 starts. I just think "Heavy Favorite" is an exaggeration.
Morton hit 100mph against the Yankees on SNB earlier this season as well. I feel really good about Morton - more so than LMJ - out of the pen. Here is Morton's stat line if you just look at the first two innings of his starts this season: Innings - 48 Strikeouts - 67 K/9 - 12.6 BB/9 - 2.3 ERA - 1.50 WHIP - .85
