Gregorious, Gardner and Hicks (S) are the only LHB they have, and I'd rather have any of our RHP face them than any of our LHP. Pitchers Zack Britton L Luis Cessa Aroldis Chapman L Chad Green J.A. Happ L Tommy Kahnle Jonathan Loaisiga Tyler Lyons L Adam Ottavino James Paxton L Luis Severino Masahiro Tanaka CC Sabathia L Catchers Austin Romine Gary Sanchez Infielders Edwin Encarnacion Didi Gregorius L DJ LeMahieu Gleyber Torres Gio Urshela Outfielders Brett Gardner L Aaron Hicks S Aaron Judge Cameron Maybin Giancarlo Stanton
NYY carrying 13 pitchers signals to me that they are going to (obviously) rely on their bullpen heavily. That being said, their pen depth isn't nearly at the level of TB's but their top end guys are just as good. It is great that Britton should be marginalized in this series to an extent.
Can also be used as another option to pinch run in addition to maybe running into one with that lefty swing at Yankee Stadium.
Lefty bat, POWER. Straw has speed, but is not a good bat. Tucker stole 30 bases in minors this season.
Just spitballing here. If we're looking at Urquidy carrying a lot of the load in Game 4, I think we should consider an opener. Let a pitcher with more experience take the heat of starting the game in the most hostile environment in baseball. Maybe open with Joe smith or Josh James. Or if Peacock shows he is effective earlier in the series, I could see opening with him. Peacock brings a lot of playoff experience to the table and does well vs righties. Thoughts?
Peacock to Urquidy sounds good to me. If they can give you 5-6 competitive innings you're in great shape.
I dare not jinx him (knocking on wood as I write this), but Bryan Abreu is another one of those great under-the-radar stories of this Astros season. Kid just straight up skips AAA and now has earned a spot on the ALCS against the powerhitting Yankees in one of the MLB biggest series in years. Yeah, he had some help with other players vacating their spots, but this kid's got the stuff in Hinch's opinion to be here. After this season is over, it'd be nice to go back and recognize the great stories that weren't necessarily at the front and center of everything like Harris and Abreu.
If you can pitch you can pitch, but this has uber driver disaster written all over it too. It could go wither way, but now that he's on the roster, Hinch is going to throw him into the frying pan with a little grease because temptation will strike at some point. Hinch will want to play with his new toy. We've seen McCullers hit three batters and get out of it before, so it's not like a veteran is any easier to predict, but this should be a popcorn moment. We'll all be rooting for him.
Brad Peacock has 5+ era in the postseason. He's not my starter. I don't like going with a rookie either, but I'd rather put my trust in the unknown than someone who has been racked in the pressure starts.
He's not gonna get high-leverage playoff innings. He'll come in mid-innings when they're down 1-2 runs or extra's after the back of the pen is exhausted.
