MuckRaker96 said:

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Alvarez is 1-for-19 with a single, 2 walks, and 10 strikeouts. His average is .053 for the ALCS.

Put Tucker in at DH so he doesn't have to worry about playing the field. He might get a ball and go yard and he's got much more speed to where if he gets on, he can move around the basepaths against Gary "No Throw, but Also Not Really Hit" Sanchez.

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Farmer1906 said:

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Yuli Gurriel - the most unlucky player in the postseason.

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crowman2010 said:

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I got a feeling Urquidy pitches out of his mind tonight. Just my $0.02

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Bregxit said:

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Not sure why but I am a bit nervous that we don't officially know who is starting tonight.

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mazag08 said:

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BMX Bandit said:

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titanmaster_race said:

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mazag08 said:

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But I'd be lying if I said I had enough confidence in our offense to win. We are flat awful at the plate. Even a perfect Cole might not be enough.

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That's an extremely miserable take.

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not even in his top 10 for the week.

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Ya, because you were so right with all your takes last night.

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Quote:

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Urquidy probably isn't the best option to start the game because of his reverse splits. The rookie right-hander's best secondary pitch is his changeup, and because of that, he was actually much more effective against left-handed hitters this season. He had a .521 opponent OPS, including his time in the minors, against them during the regular season and a .823 opponent OPS against righties, including his time spent in Double A and Triple A. And the Yankees always begin their lineup with at least two dangerous righties, DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge.

That might leave Brad Peacock or Joe Smith as the best candidates. Both righties are essentially right-handed specialists, with Peacock able to neutralize them behind his sweeping slider and Smith behind his sinker-slider combo from a sidearm delivery. Peacock, because of his background as a starter, would seem to be the more logical choice of the two. Smith hasn't started a game since high school.
Peacock probably improved his case to start with his eight-pitch eighth inning on Friday against Brett Gardner, LeMahieu and Judge, his first appearance of the postseason. The Astros could ask him to pitch only the first inning. If not just one, he likely won't go more than two. His longest outing since his second return from the shoulder issue that derailed much of his season lasted 1 1/3 innings and five batters. He hasn't pitched in games on back-to-back days since last year but shrugged that off as a non-issue because of how he feels physically.

"I felt amazing out there," he said. "It's been a while since I pitched in a game, but I've been throwing a lot of bullpens these last couple games and I felt really good."
Peacock has faced LeMahieu only three times in his career and retired him in each. Judge has gone just 1-for-7 against him, though the one was a home run in Game 6 of the ALCS in 2017. It's unclear who will bat third for the Yankees in Game 6, though the switch-hitting Aaron Hicks would make a ton of sense. Hicks, the left-handed-hitting Gardner and the right-handed Gleyber Torres have each batted out of the No. 3 hole for the Yankees during the postseason.

Smith has retired LeMahieu in each of their two career meetings. He has stymied Judge to the tune of an 0-for-6 with three strikeouts. Urquidy has never faced the Yankees.

Regardless of which pitcher the Astros open with, they will have the rest of their bullpen ready behind the starter. Urquidy is the only long-relief candidate, but leverage relievers Will Harris, Josh James, Ryan Pressly, Roberto Osuna and Smith can each pitch one-plus to two innings. Harris and Pressly are the Astros' best non-closer options against lefties, Harris because of his cutter-curveball combo and Pressly because of his power curveball and slider. Hctor Rondn and Bryan Abreu seemed to have been relegated to low-leverage situations.

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