Astros heading into the playoffs: It just doesn’t matter!

In his first real starring role, back in 1979, Bill Murray goes out on a limb and plays a comical, slacker, non-conformance camp counselor in the movie Meatballs. At one point Murray gives a “motivational” speech to the kids from his lower middle class, everyman camp for their upcoming competition with the high end, privileged camp, Mohawk.

“Sure, Mohawk has beaten us twelve years in a row. Sure, they’re terrific athletes. They’ve got the best equipment that money can buy. Hell, every team they’re sending over here has their own personal masseuse, not masseur, masseuse. But it doesn’t matter. Do you know that every Mohawk competitor has an electrocardiogram, blood and urine tests every 48 hours to see if there’s any change in his physical condition? Do you know that they use the most sophisticated training methods from the Soviet Union, East and West Germany, and the newest Olympic power Trinidad-Tobago? But it doesn’t matter. It just doesn’t matter. IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER. I tell you, IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!”

In some ways, this summarizes what the Astros attitude should be heading into the 2017 playoffs – IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!

  1. If they can’t surpass the Indians for the best record in the majors, IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!
  2. If they have to play a taxi tested tough Yankees team coming off a wild card win, IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!
  3. If they have to play a Minnesota Twin team that has battled their way into the wild card, IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!
  4. If they have to play the Red Sox immediately after playing them in the last series of the season, IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!
  5. If they have to play the unbeatable, twenty-two wins in a row Indians to go to the World Series, IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!
  6. And if they have to play the Dodgers, Nats, D’Backs, Cubs or whoever to win their first WS, IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER!!

The Astros know that no matter how they go at this, they will play three very good-to-great teams if they are going to win the first Houston MLB baseball championship, and it does not matter what order or where they play them. They just have to go out and win eleven games starting next Thursday and they will stand on top of the baseball world.

They just have to win eleven playoff games. Nothing else matters….

 

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133 responses to “Astros heading into the playoffs: It just doesn’t matter!”

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  1. You nailed this one!
    I made a comment yesterday about Bregman’s post game interview after Tuesday night’s win, but I didn’t elaborate. What Bregman was talking about Tuesday night was Nick Martinez, the Ranger’s pitcher that they would face Wednesday afternoon.
    This tells me what the Astros are focused on and it is showing on the field. They are focused on their next game. They are healthy, happy and focused.
    I think the only thing that matters to them is how well THEY play
    I like their chances to play well.
    There are some REALLY good teams in the playoffs. The winner will be the team that is most ready to play their best, and then does it. I hope it is our team.

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    • Kind of off topic but did anyone see the FOUR infielders on the right side against Joey Gallo? Bregman was the farthest left and even he was like 10-15 feet right of 2nd base with Altuve and Correa out in short right field. I’m sorry but if I’m a “professional” hitter I shouldn’t be paid if I can’t spoil that shift.

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      • Gallo is sitting on 39 HR and has struck out 191 times in 440 AB. He’s hitting .209 on the season. His career average is sitting at .199. He’s 10-36 on balls hit to left field which looks solid, but 5 of those left the yard. Basically, his bat control stinks. If he were smart he’d take the gift.

        However, this is a huge tangent, go look at all the 36 guys with 30 or more home runs this year. There are 9 sitting on 29, and 4 more with 28. Here are the number of guys who have hit 30+ in the last ten years:
        2017 – 36
        2016 – 38
        2015 – 20
        2014 – 11
        2013 – 14
        2012 – 27
        2011 – 24
        2010 – 18
        2009 – 30
        2008 – 28

        Ridiculous.

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  3. Loved the meatball reference, loved when Davis was at 3rd on Gallo and 5 people had to tell him , no the other side of second, and when McCann went to throw to 3rd after a strike out on Gallo, and no one was there and he had to reload and throw to Altuve in RF.

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  4. As to Gallo, this is way off topic, but that is how my mind works these days. Several years ago I went to the state basketball tournament in Austin. It was small school finals. One team had a tall kid (probably 6′ 3″.). He would come down and set up on the far right hand side of the foul line. They would feed him the ball, he would pivot and shoot. It was almost immediately 12-0. The coach called a time out and was screaming at his player “Go STAND ON HIS SPOT.” The kid did, made him move 1 step in any direction and his shooting fell apart. The moral is if you can do only 1 thing, a good coach/manager takes that away.

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  5. Joey Gallo hijacks blog! Dan, totally with your premise. I don’t who we play and where. Our guys like road ball. Not sure if we are the most talented group, but we’re as healthy and rested as anyone, and seemingly have the momentum back. We are as ready as we’ll ever be.

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      • And the English language somehow allows me to reply: I don’t ” ” either.
        You leave the word care out and it doesn’t make any sense and, yet, the reply leaves the word care out and it makes perfect sense.

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      • How about the phrase, “I couldn’t care less” which in effect means I could care so (two negatives couldn’t and less equals a positive) so in this case the correct phrase would be, “I could care less who we play”. How’s that for some more grammatical expression.

        Let’s hang the Redsox’s out to dry tonight.

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      • Hey Zanuda,

        I just want to clarify that the correct sayings is “I couldn’t care less”. When you say “I could care less” you are saying that there is more to care about, but the first sentence is saying you have no more to “care”. I don’t mean this as a dig, but just wanted to make the correction.

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  9. Dang…..they took Rodriguez outta the game!! By the way what was the deal with Joe West and Gattis?? Look you guys……NO MORE ERRORS…..that makes 2 in this game already.

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    • When Maybin was called out on the “no check swing” you could see West mouthing something at Maybin. He’s not a jerk umpire in the league for nothing.

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      • I think C.B. Bucknor is probably the worst umpire in MLB, but I despise Joe West and Angel Hernandez more. Both of them are just antagonists and think they are above the game. I yearn for the day they are no longer umpires.

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  12. Guys like Joe West are what’s really unfair in baseball. He knew Peacock had been a sort of a scrub pitcher in the past, and already made his mind up about him. Trust me, if it had been Sale or Verlander…..he wouldn’t do that. Hopefully he will retire soon like Bob “balking Bob” Davidson did this year.
    BUT….our pitchers probably think they’ve died and gone to heaven the last 3 weeks!!
    Getting multiple run support like this is SOO cool! Nice to see Martes had a good inning…..he needed that! Correa is on 🔥!!!

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    • Yea he struck out but had to swing at a ball that West previously called a strike. Even Kalas said there’s a ball and then said but West called it a strike. if we weren’t beating the pants off the RedSox’s a few would probably be thrown out by West.

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    • Nope…needs to be Max…actually he needs to be the backup catcher. Gattis needs to be DH. Beltran needs to go on the dl so he can still travel with the team but not have to worry about half-assed jogging to first

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  15. Brad Peacock said his slider wasn’t working tonight, but I think he didn’t want to throw his slider tonight. I think he is saving it. He only had 2 Ks tonight because he was the 3-pitch Peacock instead of the 4-pitch Peacock. But, he only walked one batter.
    Remember how the Astros played when they went to Yankee Stadium in late May? They are playing like that now.
    The large roster is really helping the Astros keep their bullpen fresher. This is not like 2015, when Hinch had to roll the same guys out there night after night.
    I didn’t see the Astros with 99 wins or more in the spring. I thought they would have a tougher time with division opponents. But they haven’t because they are a lot better. The Angels are in second place, 21 games behind.

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    • Because I can’t see the games, I didn’t know he was holding back a pitch…..but maybe Verlander, who has been in the post season, MANY times gave Brad a bit of advice! I’ll use my imagination and think he did!! You pegged Peacock exactly right, and boy has he been nails this year. If Peacock hadn’t stepped up, and anchored a fill in rotation of Martes, Paulino, and Musgrove….when the entire rotation was on the DL, I’m not sure this club would be where they are now. He will be rewarded for it when the season is over, so will Marwin. Mr. Fister is the Red Sox starter tomorrow night…..let’s see if our guys can lay it on him as well! If there is anyone who knows what he throws it will be Gattis and Strom. Let’s get *100* tomorrow!!⚾⚾

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  16. Look at Lance McCullers Sr’s career….had a few good years and more than a k and inning until injuries took their toll, and he was out of baseball by age 28. Hopefully Jr sticks around longer but I don’t have a good feeling

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  17. I wish the playoffs were starting today. My goodness, this team is really clicking right now and, if it is possible, they look even better than the team we saw in May, June and July. I hope the 3-day layoff between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs doesn’t slow them down because, as they look now, I don’t think there’s a team in baseball that could beat them 3 out of 5 or 4 out of 7 games.

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  18. Rodriquez got a pretty quick hook. We”ll see him again soon, but at this point, in keeping with the theme, I don’t care about our historic lefty pitching matchup issues. Our guys are hitting everyone right now. Even Sale can’t look forward to starting a game against Springer, Bregman, Altuve, Correa, all guys with an OPS well over .900 against lefthanders.

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    • When Carlos starts whacking it to right field like he has been lately – wow! If I heard right – in the first 20 games after coming off the DL, Correa had 1 HR and 7 RBIs. In his last three games he has 11 hits, 3 HRs and 10 RBIs. He is dialed in big time.

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  19. Correa reached the 5.0 WAR mark for the season with his performance last night.
    According to Fangraphs, Altuve is sitting at 7.6 WAR.
    The national broadcast teams have to be looking forward to doing Astros games. Remember the shifts on Pujols and Gallo? and the Fact that the Astros strike out less than anyone and are second in home runs? The Astros are different!
    Collin McHugh led Astros pitchers in WAR in 2016 with 3.1 WAR in 33 starts. Peacock leads Astros pitchers in WAR this season with 3.7 WAR in just 21 starts.
    If I remember correctly, Correa took Boston by storm in his rookie season visit there. Didn’t he hit one far over the green monster and stun the crowd there?

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  20. Irregardless of momentum, matchup advantages and disadvantages will come into play against each team we face.

    Most likely we can get by the Sox, but will have big problems doing what we’ve done of late offensively vs the Tribe, and the Nationals.

    Personally, I want to see the Yankees take CLE out. And I wouldn’t mind facing the DBacks, or Dodgers in the World Series. Even have a few Cubs friends who would make for a great visit here – lots of trash talking to go around. I’m excited either way IT JUST DOESNT MATTER. Okay, I’m getting it now!

    At present, we look awesome and hitting on all cylinders even with key players sitting out. Full strength, there may actually be a place on this team for certain players (McCullers, Hoyt, White). We can always adjust the roster.

    It’s truly exciting times to think of how there are multiple guys hitting the baseball in crucial situations. When we have 2 outs, No Problem. Rally time.

    I think Kevin said he wasn’t worried because we have Verlander. It’s like that move alone breathed fire into🔥 this team. Correa looks possessed again. There’s not a player on the potential playoff roster that would surprise me if they won the big one for us – make a diving catch, deliver a wipeout pitch, or crush it into the gap.

    I’m really looking forward to experiencing it with fellow Houstonians during the recent aftermath & years of baseball struggle.

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  21. Wow, I didn’t realize this, but the Yankees are about to trail Boston by 2.5 with 2 games remaining for them and 3 remaining for Boston. The implication is that if Houston does not sweep Boston, the Yankees cannot win the division. However, if Houston can sweep Boston and the Yankees can sweep the Blue Jays we could have a tie for first in the AL East.

    I’ve just researched this (5 second google) and determined that there would be a tie breaker game at NY between the two teams to determine who won the division and who gets to play Minnesota. This would be fantastic! Let’s see some sweeps!

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    • Todd and Geoff discussed it last night. But the reason I don’t like that scenario is that one team won’t be 100% vs the Indians. Although, it would be nice that NY/BOS Aces will be taxed, I’d rather CLE be depleted coming into the ALCS (in theory).

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  22. I’m not a happy “woo” girl today. They sent Reddick back to Houston to see their doctors about his back. Hinch said the first day that he could possibly play I the first game of the ALDS. Can’t get the party going without Reddick……so go get a shot and get back in right field kid!
    It’s going to come down to Kemp or White for the last roster spot on the series with Boston. Who do you think it should be? I’ll let you know who I think K it should be after I hear your pick. Hello Mr. Fister!

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  24. Well, I guess it’s like most things. I think differently about it. I would just as soon play Boston and win, play Cleveland and win and play the NL champion and win. There are so many good teams here that it would be the best thing for us to beat the best teams and be the best team, so that years from now they talk about the 2017 Astros as one of the great teams in baseball history.
    If we get beaten in the playoffs, I want that team to win it all so that we can say the best team had to go through Houston to get there.

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  29. We found out that in a playoff atmosphere on the road, the Astros can win with one great bat and 8 silent ones, as long as we have great pitching.
    We found out that Charlie Morton should skip the fifth inning, again.
    We found out that Ken Giles has nerves of steel, but should not throw an 0-2 slider right down the middle with no break.
    We found out that Marwin Gonzalez really is a left fielder.
    Carlos Correa has an unlimited number of ways to amaze us in the field.
    We found out that letting Francisco Liriano issue an intentional walk is not a good idea.
    Jeff Bagwell will never be a broadcaster.
    Devenski has his mojo back.
    The Astros have to win two and Cleveland has to lose two. The Astros only control half of that.
    I wonder how big of a mistake it was for Fiers to throw over Valbuena’s head. Right now, it looks like a big one.

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  31. Agreed, it just doesn’t matter. As one that started with the Colt 45s, there have been highs like this year and lows like the death of Jim Umbrict. We all hope we win the World Series but as long as they are competitive, it remains enjoyable. It’s a game for our enjoyment and Astros 2017 have delivered. They are already WINNERS.

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  32. Have enjoyed reading the Boston sports sections over the past couple of days. There is concern that their hobbled squad will be limping into the post season. They reallly want to clinch today. The last thing they want to do is go into Sunday needing a win which would force them to use Sale. Assuming (which I do not) a win with Sale, Porcello would have to go on Monday in a potential one game divisional playoff against the Yankees. And then they’d have to play a Wild Card game on Tuesday. The Astros are doing post season work right now. Everything they do counts, at least until/if the Tankees lose.

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  33. Oh bleep! The Tankees? Are they predestined to lose? I’d rather take seven in a row from the Sox and really shake up the MLB establishment..

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  34. I have a different feeling this year about the playoffs. I know if this team plays its best no one can beat it. I also know that even if they are not hitting on all cylinders they can still win many games. I’m ready to have the time of my life the next month

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    • Me too. Can you imagine how good this team would’ve been had Beltran been even half way decent, and we wouldn’t have had the massive injuries?

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  36. How about Charlie Morton talking about hanging his cleats up after the 2018 season is completed. Last night his third bonus of the season clicked in as a result of him making his 25th start of the season.

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    • Thy are REALLY trying to lobby for Judge to get the MVP instead of Altuve.
      They are ALWAYS slanted to the AL east. We should be glad we’re not playing the Yankees today, or it would be nauseating to listen to them😠

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      • Becky, You are stating the obvious. If you aren’t the Yankees or RedSox you ain’t squat. And yes these guys are biased. Hell, the Astros could beat the RedSox and the Yankees every game and the announcers would still find a way to talk about how great they are. I sometimes have my issues with our broadcast team but they are not nauseating as these guys.

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      • That is an accomplishment for anybody but Altuve should be the MVP. Day in, day out he has performed consistently. If you look at the stats Altuve definitely leads Judge in more categories.

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  40. I’d love to be in Hinch’s, office wen he tells McCullers he will be sitting on the bench in the playoffs. The kid has some serious mental focus problems. I’d love to know *who* tells these guys to keep towing pitches in the ground……’cause it ain’t working.

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  44. You may think me crazy but if Fiers is on the playoff roster, he needs to pitch some tomorrow. I wouldn’t let McHugh go through the order more than twice. My pitchers for the playoffs. Verlander, Keuchel, Peacock, McHugh, Morton, Giles, Devinski, Harris, Musgrove, Liriano, Gregerson. That’s if we use 11. No LMJ, Sipp, Matrtes, Fiers. If LMJ is on the roster, it’s in relief and we swap out Gregerson. As my T-ball coach said to me when I was 8, not everybody makes the team and not everybody who makes it is guaranteed to play.

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  45. Good news that we won’t be seeing Chris Sale tomorrow. I just hope our guys can watch every strike Sale throws on video this week! He’s not had a very good month so who knows, maybe he won’t pitch lights out on Thursday, but my money is on Verlander!! If you’re Hinch, do you try to use a young kid like McCullers in the bullpen in the series next week? My vote is NO, unless it’s the 8th inning and the Astros have an eleven run lead!

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  46. I wonder if Luhnow/Hinch would have the gumption to sit Gregerson for the ALDS and give Hoyt his spot. Hoyt has just pitched better in September than Gregerson and is tough on RHs as well. My guess is they will want the veteran in there, but Hoyt, while struggling for much of the season, has definitely pitched better than Gregerson in September. This is just a thought.

    Also, I think LMJ killed any chance he had of being in the starting rotation. He may be in the bullpen, but it will be interesting to see how the Astros play this. Unless they plan on having McHugh in the starting rotation I don’t see a reason to put him on the ALDS roster. His stuff just doesn’t seem to play well out of the bullpen.

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    • I agree100 % LMJ need to watch true professionals the rest of the way , take the off season, drop the attitude, you haven’t done crap yet in the Bigs, , grow UP, get stronger, learn how to be tough, and then lest see if he can pitch 100 innings !!!

      I have no issue with Hoyt over Gregerson, go with 11 pitchers fro this series, we can reload to play the Twins (-:

      Have a great Sunday everyone , game 162

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    • I’ve never been a fan of Gregerson, as my comments over the years have shown. So yeah, I’ll definitely choose Hoyt over him.

      I think 2018 will be crucial for Lance,and he may end up being traded.

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  47. I guess I’m in the minority on LMJ. I see a guy who was an All Star, but barely pitched due to injuries in the second half. I see a guy who got through the first three innings in his starts once he returned and then got beat up a bit when the lineup turned over. For the ALDS I’d stick him in the pen, but only because JV, DK, and BP haved earned a start. The dilemna after that is McHugh v Morton v LMJ…and I think the latter two give you something more out of the pen than you get from McHugh.

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    • Where I agree with you is if they are going to put McHugh on the ALDS roster then he should absolutely be a starter. I’d even consider a rotation of JV, DK, Morton and McHugh with McCullers and Peacock in the bullpen. I am very comfortable with that rotation and a bullpen with McCullers, Peacock, Devo, Musgrove, Giles and Harris could be lights out. The 7th guy in the bullpen would then be Liriano, which leaves both Gregerson and Hoyt off the ALDS roster. I am perfectly fine with this if they go this option, but I just don’t think they will.

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  48. Hinch said he and the coaches and the “office” are going to sit down and discuss everything and figure out a roster to face Bahston.
    Now, I’m pretty sure that every one of them want to beat Boston and aren’t going to let fuzzy feelings rule the day. This is a different time and a different hour than they went thru in 2015 and they are going to use every resource they have to pick the best 25 guys.
    The Stat guys are going to present the numbers, the coaches are going to give their opinions, the medical guys are going to put in their opinions and then the top brass and Hinch are going to pick their roster
    We have to trust them because they want to win so much and they know more than we do. They don’t want to blow this and I think they will make what they think are the best choices.
    Rather than speculate, I’d rather wait and then give my two cents about their job.

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  49. On a different matter, I think that they need to think long and hard about LMJ and other young pitchers. If LMJ hasn’t looked like a guy who is to be plugged in as your #3 guy in the rotation by opening day of 2018, I suggest he go to Fresno and be one of their starters and work on perfecting all of his pitches and settle on them and how he is going to throw them and dominate in AAA and then bring him up when he is needed, to show the team he is ready to stay. He has never had to do that and maybe he needs to, while we have five other starters in our rotation.
    After 2018 is over and Keuchel and Morton are free agents is not the time to find out LMJ can’t be relied on in the long term as a starter. We need to find out next spring, so we can make plans and get Martes and Paulino and Armenteros ready to join the rotation if need be and not back us into a corner waiting for LMJ to suddenly become dependable.
    Tonight was playoff baseball and he made some lousy pitches to playoff hitters that cost his team runs. He threw some meatballs in critical situations and he was too wild and walked guys he shouldn’t have. I trust his stuff for one inning out of the bullpen, but multiple innings is asking for trouble from a guy who gets in trouble and is not very good at getting out of it.

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  50. OP….we gotta remember McCullers never had ONE start at AAA. He was brought up from Corpus, and inserted in the rotation expected to perform. He was a little young (still is) when he was brought up…..and immature. I know I’ve ridden him a bit this year, and that was because I was expecting more from him. He gets in trouble BIG time when he has runners on base. He loses focus and starts missing the strike zone…..next thing you know he’s walked two guys with no outs, and has to be rescued out of his mess. Unfortunately today Hinch chose to put Sipp in, and he let those runs score. If McCullers gets a start in the playoffs it will only be 2-3 innings at the MOST, and maybe let McHugh piggy back him. Peacock is going to be the 3rd starter, we know that for sure, and who knows Morton might take the 4th game and bring back Verlander for a 5th if needed. I’m just speculating, and I trust Hinch and his coaches to settle the rotation by Wed. McCullers is expecting to get a start you can take THAT to the bank.

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    • I agree with both Becky and 1OP. But would interject that some starters don’t always translate to good relievers. If they come in with traffic on base, they may not adapt well. Sort of the “Vinegar Bend” Mizell effect who said he couldn’t pitch from the stretch because no one had ever got on base before.

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