A lot would depend on why there is a Game 5. If the Astros are up 3-1, you may see Garcia. If the Astros are down 3-1 and they throw anyone other than JV, you guys better be gathering my bail money.
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Totally agree. Iâll be right there with you if they skip a rested JV for Garcia/Urquidy.
This is pretty much what Iâm seeing. The Phillies are all out of fucks to give and theyâre going to come in and let it fly. Iâm not going to say Iâd rather face the Dodgers, but in some respects facing the Dodgers would be more comfortable because theyâd roll into town and say, Yeah, well, here we are, whereas the Phillies are going to storm into town and say AHHHGHGHGHGGPPHHHTTTH!!!
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When I realized the Phillies were singing together in their champagne flooded clubhouse I thought: Uh-oh.
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Even if youâre up 3-1 going into game 5, I still think the best way to line that up is Verlander 5, Framber 6, and whichever of Javier/Mccullers started game 3 for game 7. Never give up a game, throw the best guy you have that is rested. And I think thatâs what Dusty will do too.
For the record I would line the rotation up the same way they did in the ALCS. Iâd rather have Javier start two games than McCullers.
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The only counter to this I have is I wouldnât hate having McCullers throw twice in Houston, Game 2 and 6.
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I was going to say they could have done that in the ALCS but I guess his elbow ruled that out.
Grist for the mill: Home/Road splits for Framber and LMJ:
Home:
Framber: 7-4 3.54 ERA 100 K 30 BB 1.263 WHIP .240 BAA
LMJ: 2-1 1.50 ERA 29 K 13 BB 1.033 WHIP .178 BAA
Road:
Framber: 10-2 2.27 ERA 94 K 37 BB 1.078 WHIP .209 BAA
LMJ: 2-1 3.57 ERA 21 K 9 BB 1.585 WHIP .268 BAA
Framber is a road machine, and LMJ one at home.
ETA:
In the Postseason, Framber has made six road starts. Heâs 4-1 in those. Heâs made five starts at home, and heâs 1-1. LMJ is 0-2 in his eight road starts and is 2-0 in three home starts. The history numbers certainly favor LMJ throwing twice in Houston and Framber on the road.
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My simple minded way of looking at it:
Framber is my second best pitcher so he throws game 2.
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I donât disagree. You need the first two in Houston, and Framber gives you a better chance at Game 2 than does LMJ, but he also gives you a better chance in Game 3. It would not be out of the question to go with:
Game 1 (H): Verlander
Game 2 (H): McCullers
Game 3 (R): Valdez
Game 4 (R): Javier
Game 5 (R): Verlander
Game 6 (H): McCullers
Game 7 (H): Valdez
This not only gives you Verlander, Valdez and McCullers two games each on full rest, it takes advantage of the splits.
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At this point Iâm cool with whatever Dusty decidesâŚheâs made some tough decisions that to this point have worked out. Knock on wood he continues to pull the right strings for one more series.
Will Smith has NL experience also
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A couple of days ago, MLB was worried that the World Series schedule may get pushed back. Now theyâre worried people will have forgotten itâs coming up.
Been watching several things talking about the upcoming weather in PhiladelphiaâŚrain, rain and more rain Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for several consecutive rain outs. Even talk Philly might be able to go with a 2-man rotation of Wheeler and Nola, which sounds ridiculous, but heyâŚyou never know.
DAS!!! Get on it!!!
They were made to play in rain, which was fairly hard at times, during the last game with SD. To me that is as ridiculous as a two-man rotation. I would hate to lose because of the weather, but we have four games under a roof to prevent that. We must win these first two in Houston.
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Maybe not âwhite hotâ, but a lot more dangerous than their record or September performance might suggest.
They were 22-29 when Giraldi was fired. That means they were 65-46 afterward, which is a .586 pace, good for 4th in NL, and done without Harper for a couple of months. During that time, some of their young guys have been getting better and getting experience, so the overall trajectory has been up. And their big late season addition was getting Harper back in late August.
They started September being swept by the Giants and also were swept by the Braves early in the month, and then lost 2 of 3 to the Braves later in the month. But theyâve slayed that dragon since. They also took 2 of 3 from the BlueJays in Sept and the only bad series, I think, was the Cubs series. They clinched against the Astros with a Nola/Alvarado/Eflin 2 hitter. Though the Astros may not have been psyched up for the series, youâd have to toss out the blow out second game win since it seemed that the Phils had partied pretty hard the night before. And the rubber game Astros won was 3-2.
Whether taking down the Cards, Braves, and Padres in the post season constitutes âwhite hotâ or not, theyâve been steadily building toward this and are dangerous.
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Any team is dangerous in the playoffs, and a hot team especially is.
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