I have more faith in the 2nd coming of the Christ happening next Monday than I have in Lance McCullers pitching like a man in the playoffs. But that's just me.
I didn't want Verlander on July 31st, but he's turned things around in a big, big way. Assuming he doesn't go backwards the next few weeks, he's 100% the #1 starter in the playoffs. My rotation would be: #1: Verlander #2: Keuchel #3: Peacock/Morton tandem #4: McHugh/McCullers tandem #5: Verlander or Keuchel (both will be fully rested) If you're down 1-2, then maybe Verlander goes on short rest in game 4, and Keuchel on normal rest in game 5. Don't care at all about L-R alternating for starting pitchers - I can understand it within a game where you mess with their lineup, but I can't imagine players actually get screwed up because they faced the opposite-handed pitcher the previous day.
Definitely. But Keuchel hasn't been the same pitcher since he came back from injury. He has outstanding outings mixed in with clunkers. Improving recently, but still mixed results (2 out of his last 4 have been poor). Verlander has been outright dominant for a while now (just 1 bad outing in 2 months) and even more so as an Astro - he seems to be trying to play the Randy Johnson role.
I really like the tandem idea... all of McHugh, McCullers, Peacock and Morton can likely give you at least 4 strong innings and there's enough variety in their pitches to find an effective combo for most opponents. The only issue is westher or not LMJ is even healthy enough to give you 4 innings. Frustrating to have such a talented arm w dominant stuff that simply can't stay healthy.
McCullers was so dominant the first half of the season (won AL pitcher of the month in May and was an all-star). Combining that with DK and Verlander for the playoffs would have been awesome. Just don't think there's enough time to turn things around (and can he stay healthy). Would love to see him surprise us and get back to form.
3.13 ERA over his last 7 starts. If we play the Yankees, I prefer Keuchel. If it is the Red Sox, Angels or Twins, I prefer Verlander.
Sure - but then take a look at Verlander. He's giving up far less baserunners, striking out far more, giving up fewer runs, etc. It's outright best-pitcher-in-the-game dominance right now. In 13 games post-ASB, he's at 2.04 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and 104 Ks in 88 innings. He's even *better* than than at as Astro (0.86 ERA, 0.63 WHIP), but smaller sample size (3 starts). That said, I'd be OK flipping them knowing Verlander is available full-rest for game 5, and if we win sooner, then he'd be there for game 1 of the next series.
Keuchel is 5th among Astros starters in ERA since the ASB and 5th in ERA among Astros starters in the last 30 days. While I think Verlander gets the nod as the recent data gives him the edge, the recent data doesn't matter enough for any of the other starters to start before him as they don't have the same track record as Verlander. On a side note, Peacock could be second in ERA (>100 IP) after tonight in the AL if he throws 6 or more shutout innings.
At this point I'd start the best 4 seasons and in that order, and if it's close, rely on who is hot to tie break. Except for Verlander who by virtue of his performance this year would pitch 4th, whereas I'd bump him to 2nd for team morale because frankly everyone believes in him right now and that has merit for an emotionally bent team like ours. He pays for our lunch and It fits the personnel. That's inspite of the fact he has had subpar season overall. So for me that orbital order is; 1) Keuchel 2) Verlander 3) Peacock 4) McHugh Would not base the rotation on matchups or opponents because strongly believe that baseball players are creatures on habit and roles and players thrown out of roles, like Liriano for example, are combustible and less reliable than they would be in the role they played all season.
While I agree baseball players are creatures of habit, I'm not sure Liriano is a good example. He was a nuclear wasteland before the Astros. He's a nuclear wasteland for the Astros. If anything, he's pitched slightly less combustible for the Astros.
No. That is more of a value during the regular season so you don't go into a series with only RH starters. In the postseason, I see no value. If it was a LH heavy team, it would encourage Keuchel to start game 1.
