The Red Sox will go with Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi in the first two games of the ALCS against the Astros, but it’s anyone’s guess as to who might be available for game three.
The uncertainty stems not from an uneven rotation, but from an uncertain group of relievers. Manager Alex Cora’s other available starters – Eduardo Rodriguez, Tanner Houck, and Nick Pivetta – will be available out in the bullpen for the start of the series, writes MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer. That’s a strategy that worked for Cora in the ALDS. Pivetta proved crucial out of the pen against the Rays, a performance redolent of Eovaldi’s own in the 2018 World Series. Houck tossed seven innings of relief in the series as well, yielding just a pair of runs.
Whereas the Red Sox were able to patchwork their bullpen for a four-game series win against the Rays, they will likely need an even more dynamic approach to survive a seven-game tilt against the Astros’ potent offense. There is definite potential for this series to turn into a slugfest, not only because these two clubs boast the first and fifth ranked offenses in the game by runs scored in the regular season, but because the Astros are likely to be without Lance McCullers Jr. Results of the MRI on his sore forearm have yet to be revealed.
McCullers may not be viewed nationally as an ace, he’s been nothing short of stellar in the postseason. He owns a 2.83 ERA in 57 1/3 career postseason innings.
And while McCullers can boast the distinction of having started a game seven of the World Series back in 2017 (a win), he could be replaced by another righty who’s held that honor. Zack Greinke started game seven of the World Series in 2019 for Houston (a loss), and though he’s not likely to put up a full starter’s load, he could be used as an opener in McCullers’ stead, writes The Athletic’s Jack Kaplan. Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier, and Jake Odorizzi are also candidates to pick up bulk innings if McCullers is unavailable.
What we do know is that Framber Valdez will take on Sale in game one, while Luis Garcia will go head-to-head with Eovaldi in game two, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The Red Sox have the experience edge, but Valdez is no stranger to postseason success. Garcia, meanwhile, has at least gotten his feet wet in the playoffs: he had a scoreless two-inning outing in 2020 and 2 2/3 innings as the starter in game three versus the White Sox.
Why not have Nate start Game 1 on regular rest? Then he can start Game 5 on regular rest, and be available for bullpen duty three days later in Game 7.
Agreed. Supposedly though Sale believes he found what was wrong in that bullpen session when he almost came in in the 9th and both he and Cora are excited. To me he looks like his arm is tired coming back from surgery. Hoping he’s right and I’m wrong.
Why use E-Rod out of the pen? I get it in a 5 game series but in a 7 game series a #3 starter is really important. I would go E-Rod game 3 and either Huock or Pivetta game 4. What’s he planning on doing if it goes 7 games? Sale and Eovaldi twice each with 3 bullpen games? That’s crazy to me. This has to be overblown. I’m still guessing E-Rod starts game 3 and one of the other 2 starts game 4. Basically… It seems like Cora will use either Huock or Pivetta out of the pen and this article is acting as if he’s going to use both of them and E-Rod out of the pen instead just to get extra attention and clicks. (I’m talking about the original article. Not the MLBTR article.)
G1 10/15 Relief
G3 10/18 Start
G5 10/20 Relief (maybe)
G7 10/23 Start
There is really no way of telling what Cora will do. No matter his plan, if he sees an opportunity, he’ll exploit it and go for the win.
Exactly. while I still think Cora escaped the Houston saga without truly being penalized, he is refreshing with his playoff pitching strategy of mostly playing to win games one at a time. Only concern is if there’s an arm injury, there will be a lot of second guessing. Not from me as I assume the medical staff has cleared these decisions. Others though will pile on if something happens.
Look around MLB and you’ll see Cora isn’t doing anything different than other playoff teams in terms of winning games one at a time. Managers manage differently in the postseason than the regular season. Scherzer closed out Game 5 last night, 3 days after pitching 7 innings. Cora is not exactly re-inventing the wheel here.
Cora wasn’t manager in the LA/SF series. But he was in the BOS/TB. Cora did circles around Cash, when it came to handling the pitching staff.
So… The plan is to continually use E-Rod on 2 days rest and have one of those days be a start? I guess it could work but it could also backfire. He’s used to being a starter. It definitely has been done before but we aren’t talking about Max Scherzer or Randy Johnson here. 3 appearances over the span of one week could be pretty tough for a pitcher like E-Rod. Especially when one of those 3 appearances is a start. I’m not saying it can’t work. I will say it’s highly unorthodox to demand that kind of short term production from a pitcher as unheralded as E-Rod who has an ERA over 5.00 for the season. I know he’s probably better than his numbers but still… I only remember that happening very successfully with guys like Max Scherzer and Randy Johnson. E-Rod is nowhere near that class. It could definitely work but it’s also definitely a risk.
It’s a lot more common than it use to be. I remember when this started, but not who. But the idea is that all starters throw a BP session between starts, so if you are going to throw 25 pitches, why not do it in a game.
I wouldn’t question anything Cora does. He’s on another level
Cora puts milk in the bowl before his cereal.
Steve that doesn’t make me feel very good, because I do the same.
I hate soggy cereal, milk first keeps it crisp.
I put the bowl first 🙂 then the cereal then the water
Monster
Heheheh …. yes tstats, bowl does help!
Cereal with water? Ugghhh … you’re a cereal killer!
I’ve seen people eat cereal in orange juice and in prune juice, makes my stomach queezy just watching.
Hahahaha I’m so funny guys jk jk
Anyone like Cocoa Puffs with chocolate milk to START??
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery
You mean you guys don’t put the bowl, then ceral, then orange juice?
Can someone explain the need for milk or a bowl? They put cereal in a box for a reason-so you can eat out of it.
Joe, actually they put cereal in a bag within a box ;O)
Without milk there can’t be any snap-crackle-pop.
Drizzle a little bit of chocolate syrup on honey combs. It’s killer.
I eat cereal dry and drink a glass of milk. It’s always crunchy.
Cora puts milk in the cereal, then adds the bowl.
Gonna have to try this cocoa puffs is my favorite anyways
If Cora told me to sit down, I wouldn’t even look behind me to see if there was a chair there.
Joe – That reluctance to question Cora is what led to a whole lotta controversy and jobs lost.
If Cora told you to tape a buzzer under your jersey, would you just go with it?
No comment.
He also cheats. So yes, another level.
That’s what I’d have done, but Cora is managing like he has a crystal ball. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cora has every AB mapped out for the entire series,
My pure guess, from a baseball perspective, is that he is intentionally having the SPs overthrow, exchanging longer outings for better, but shorter outings, and then using his entire BP and/or starters to wrap it up. Maybe his strategy is to give Eovaldi an extra day of rest in order to get 6 innings out of him.
Joe here’s the thing, by using Nate in Game 2 he won’t be able to start again until Game 6 on October 22.
So does that mean he pitches in only two games max?
He won’t relieve in Game 1.
He won’t relieve in Game 3.
I suppose he could give some innings in Game 4 on the 19th, but how much can he give when he’s starting 3 days before and 3 days after?
BTW – Speaking of Nate, remember the discussion we all had in August about why the Sox went something like 3-11 after the trade deadline? Nate confirmed yesterday what most of us already knew, the team was upset that more wasn’t done at the trade deadline to help them immediately.
Sure it all worked out in the end, but keep in mind how different things would have played out if not for the great comeback sweep in DC.
Yeah, he admitted they were childish about the trade deadline, and it almost cost them everything.
Glad they finally manned up because it turns out they actually had the best deadline.
Game 2 (10/16) start
Game 4 (10/19) relief
Game 6 (10/22) start
IRT the trade deadline, Bloom did better than anyone else. Schwarber > Rizzo, Kimbrel imploded, and Robles has out-performed all the other RPs that were traded. Iglesias? Shaw?
LAD has done well, but they gave up a top-60 and a top-50 prospect. The RS did great and gave up our #14 prospect.
I wasn’t quite sure of the logic behind the remark to begin with. Do you make trades for the sake of making trades? Or do you make trades to make the team better?
The NYY gave up 6 prospects for Rizzo & Gallo, and it didn’t really have much impact at the end of the day. The WS gave up five years of control of a pretty good player for Kimbrel. Could you imagine the reaction in here had we done what the commenters wanted and picked up Kimbrel. TO gave up their two best prospects and missed the playoffs entirely.
Seriously, it is almost impossible to imagine a scenario, even in retrospect, that would’ve worked out better for us.
“what most of us knew”
The Red Sox did excellent at trade deadline, and one players opinion doesn’t change that. This confirms nothing. Other than vindicating you, when you were once again wrong. Shall we recap
Bloom is a bad GM
Cora is a bad manager
Kiki was a bad signing
Sox didn’t do enough for bullpen in offseason
Renfroe was a bad signing
Schwarber was a bad trade
Iglesias was a bad pickup
Shaw was a bad pickup
“There goes the playoffs” after the trading deadline
I don’t think anyone could be more wrong about stuff that you. Now you’re questioning Cora on his rotation. Please give up your baseball prognosticating and go take up badmitton. Its annoying to see all the hate spewed.
NYY’s trade deadline acquisitions didn’t have an impact?
When they acquired Rizzo they were just 53-48, a whopping 8.5 games behind the Red Sox and also behind Oakland & Seattle for a Wild Card spot.
The Yankees immediately went 23-4 after the trade!!!
They finished tied with the Red Sox, and ahead of both Oakland and Seattle!!
Kimbrel to the Red Sox never would have made any sense, the bullpen was great up to that point. It was the starting pitching and a leadoff hitter that was needed, along with some bench depth.
Home field advantage in the ALCS would have worked out better for us. And never forget, if not for that comeback sweep in DC the Sox would have either been forced into a tiebreaker game or missed the postseason altogether. Let’s not act like an ALDS win was always a given. Devers saved the season in Game 162 with some huge heroics.
Denny you know I’m really, REALLY getting fed up with the lies and false accusations directed at me. You’re ignorant, you’re a bandwagon fan, and you’re full of crap. Stop accusing me of saying things I never said buddy, final warning..
No one has ever won a championship in August. Yankees went on a streak. So what. They follow that with a losing streak. Now they are cleaning out their gutter, and putting up halloween decoration. Schwarber is considered the best pickup at trading deadline in the entire league, and you hated the move. I forgot Robles too.
Kimbrel? What are you talking about.
You said the Red Sox would not make the playoffs after trading deadline. Now they’re in ALCS. But, youre not satisfied, they should’ve somehow beaten out TB for East Champions. Red Sox were in 2nd place at trading deadline, to TB. They finished season in 2nd place. What does the Yankees have to do with that?
And I’m fed up with a Red Sox ‘fan’ who hates everything the team does. I showed you the list. Everyone of them is accurate. You can call them lies, and I can copy and paste your responses at every move.
Do you think you’ve been supportive of the team AT ALL this season? Just negative trash talk all the time. Now they are in the ALCS where I’d think you would take a backseat (considering you said they wouldn’t be here). Nope, now youre hating on the pitching rotation. Give it a rest.
Kimbrel to the Red Sox never would have made any sense, the bullpen was great up to that point. It was the starting pitching and a leadoff hitter that was needed, along with some bench depth.
========================================
We didn’t need a starting pitcher. We were within two weeks of having a rotation of Eovaldi, Sale, ERod, Pivetta, Houck, Richards & Perez.
We needed some bench depth and we got it.
And it cost us very little.
And the NYY got hot after the deadline, but lost 11-13 right afterwards. And Rizzo was largely redundant. He’s a better glove than Voit, but Voit’s OPS in Aug/Sept was .832, while Rizzo was at .768. And while I definitely think the NYY will keep Gallo, some of their writers are suggesting that he be non-tendered.
Joe – LOL! I’m not gonna re-hash what we needed or didn’t need at the trade deadline. I could provide a bunch of evidence again, but I know that won’t change your mind.
Getting back to the original topic, the Red Sox DID go into a tailspin right around the trade deadline while their divisional rivals, who made GFIN trades to improve their teams, did immediately go on long winning streaks. On top of the W/L records of all the teams to prove that out, we now have a leader in the Red Sox clubhouse publicly acknowledging the lack of deadline trades for immediate help was a huge downer for the players.
I’m not talking about how the season ended, or how the trades worked out. I’m talking strictly about the PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT on players for the Red Sox, Rays, Yankees and Blue Jays right around the trade deadline. People here insisted the losing streak at the trade deadline had nothing to do with the trade deadline. Those people were wrong. It was obvious then, as the Red Sox crashed and burned while the Rays/Jays/Yankees soared. And Nate’s verification sealed it.
Denny you’re an ignorant full of crap liar and I will prove it.
I will reference specific posts of mine in which I praised the Iglesias signing, praised the Schwarber trade, praised Bloom for good moves, praised the bullpen, and was optimistic about the Red Sox winning the ALDS.
I will do so ONLY if you agree that once I do, you will get your sorry bandwagon ass off these boards for the rest of the year.
Are you man enough to accept that deal Mr. Bandwagon Liar?
“We needed some bench depth and we got it.”
Joe your recollection of the timeline is way, way off.
Shaw wasn’t acquired until mid-August.
Iglesias wasn’t acquired until September.
And I know you’re not talking about Schwarber because he’s not a bench player, but regardless he wasn’t available to play until mid-August anyway.
Even you yourself acknowledged that 3-week period directly after the trade deadline was critical and probably the toughest part of the entire schedule.
6 games against Tampa
4 games against Toronto
3 games against the Yankees
Sox went 2-11 in those 13 games
THAT is when we really needed trade deadline help, but all we got was Robles and Davis.
As I explained before, the tailspin factor was way overrated. We went 12-16 in August. We went 1-2 in one-run games, and 1-4 in 2-run games. Minor, but it counts. And we played 16 of the 28 on the road. 12-16 isn’t that far off from what our record should’ve been. And we did outscore our opponents.
So let’s go into the nitty-griity behind the mini-slump.
Was it the hitting? We had a slightly higher RPG in August than the rest of the year, so it likely wasn’t that.
Was it the rotation? We had a very slightly higher ERA in August, so that likely wasn’t it.
By process of elimination, that leaves the BP, and the BP had a bad month. Or more specifically, it was Barnes and his 13.50 ERA. And I doubt that the trade deadline had anything to do with that.
As much as these things get publicized, hot and cold streaks can mostly be traced to schedule and luck in close games. There is no voodoo out there.
Joe as always I appreciate the support you provide, but expanding the time period to August 31st is a bit much. I wouldn’t expect the euphoria or lethargy from the trade deadline to last longer than 2-3 weeks.
It’s a common and well-justified belief that what happens – or doesn’t happen – at the trade deadline has a psychological effect on players. I’m sure if I pointed out trade deadline acquisitions during the past 4 Red Sox championship seasons, you’d concur that trade deadline acquisitions those years provided a shot in the arm. And the lack of meaningful trade deadline acquisitions in 2019 contributed to a tailspin.
I don’t believe isolating stats by position is relevant. You look at the Jays who had a huge favorable run differential for the season, obviously that didn’t translate into a postseason berth. The Red Sox led the league I believe in comeback wins during the first half of the season, I think that missing drive right after the trade deadline was the biggest factor in the losing streak. Swinging at first pitches, not putting out max effort, stuff like that. The players thought the front office didn’t believe in them, because of the trade deadline inactivity. And nobody believed the planted rumors that the Sox were pursuing Scherzer.
If you want, we can narrow the window to two weeks, or 14 games. We went 6-8. The NYMs traded for Baez & Hill and were inspired to go 4-10. Houston traded for Graveman and were inspired to go 6-8.
TB actually traded away their closer and still went 9-5. Seattle traded away their closer and went 8-6. Most of this is just normal variance.
Heck, it isn’t like they sat out the trade deadline. They traded for a top-tier hitter that was going to miss 11 games.
I haven’t understood many of Cora’s decisions, but he obviously knows more about this team – and baseball in 2021 – than I do. Keep doing it Alex!
I hate to say I like the red Sox after the up and down season but it’s hard to see them losing this series in my expert opinion
Alex Cora just wins games period. Guarantee you Boston is not in last place in 2020 if Cora was managing. Ownership learned just how important he is and that is why he was brought back. As long as Austin Davis and Matt Barnes sit in the bullpen I really don’t care how he mixes the pitching. Walks kill, as long as Boston doesn’t revert back to walking everyone and having a million baserunners I think they will beat Houston. Cora will manage the innings and we will be like “how the hell did he do that”.
Astros in 6 games.
Possibly 5. I don’t see how the Red Sox are able to win 2 games with Cora managing them.
The Rays won more games than the Astros, in a much tougher division.. The Sox offense is much better than the version that put them 5th in runs—Dalbec was useless for more than half the seeson, Hernanddez wasn’t hitting, and they didn’t have Scwharber. Boston may lose, but the Sox have every bit a strong an offense as Houston.
The Rays won more than the Astros, but I thought we’d sweep them in the playoffs.. I feel okay against the Astros, but I think they are tougher opponent. The Rays advantage is that, at least until Bloom picked up Shaw & Iglesias, Robles, etc., the Rays were twice as deep as us.
That’s a huge advantage over 162 games, but less so over a 5-game series.
Joe – Did you just say you thought the Red Sox would sweep the Rays in the ALDS? Or did I misunderstand what you said?
Your reading comprehension is spot on.
Eovaldi has been a top-tier SP for almost two months now, and absolutely dominated the NYY in the WC game.
ERod had a 2.11 ERA over his final 5 games in regular season.
Sale had a 3.16 in the regular season, with basically no bad games. It’s possible that I should’ve put a little emphasis on his final game against Washington, but I was confident that we’d see the good Sale, even if he wasn’t going to be vintage Sale.
TB is a better regular season team, but I think our rotation is such that we should win more in the playoffs because of our big 3 SP. Perez and Richards actually had okay years as our 4/5, but other teams simply have better 4/5 SPs.
But irt to the 1-2-3, I think we can compete with everyone outside of LAD.
Two cheating franchises. No one wins.
Lol, very well put!