re: ATL Thread 10/29: Braves win 2-0. 2-1 series lead.

How's the weather in Denver right now?

Was just wondering in case Manfred wanted to move Game 3 on a whim like the ASG

quote:

---

We need this one tonight badly

Someone says this every. single. damn. game.

---

While you’re right—we tend to overreact (all fans of all teams), there was a point in Game 1 where it became one. Our #1 broke his leg and had to leave for the rest of the Series with 1 out in the 3rd, we got great (but extended) outings from Minter, Jackson, and Matzek, and started off with 5-0 lead. I’m not sure when it was exactly, but at some time it absolutely became a must-win.

I didn’t expect to win Game 2 on the road against that team with Max and the way he’s been pitching lately. So I never felt it was a must-win.

But tonight, with Anderson at home, with probably 2 bullpen games in a row to come, I do think tonight is a must-win. If we lose tonight, we may not even make it back to Houston. Regardless, from here on out, we can’t afford to lose any games where we get good outings from Anderson or Fried and our big 4 high leverage pen guys.

ESPN just showed a stat where, in a series tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 has won the World Series 69% of the time. And most of those I’m sure were in normal circumstances. We literally have only 2 starters for the next 5 games and only 4 relievers we can trust. Tonight’s bigger for us than most teams toed 1-1 in Game 3.

Well, the ‘stros are doing what I figured by going with offense over defense in the outfield. They’re going Brantley in RF, Alvarez in LF, and Tucker in CF. I’ll re-post what I did in the Game 2 thread regarding their OF. But it could play a big factor to our advantage tonigh, especially with the rain.


7) We move Joc out of the lineup and are fine. Who are the Astros taking out of their lineup? Alvarez is their DH, hits 4th, is hitting .410 in the postseason with 2 home runs, 9 RBI, and an OPS of 1.299. In the regular season, he hit .277 with 33 home runs, 104 RBI, and an OPS of .929. But he only played 42 games in the field this year, all in LF. He DHed 98. Only played in 2 games last year, both at DH. In ‘19, he played 10 games in LF and 74 at DH. I don’t think you can take his production out of the lineup, probably put him in left, but he’s a liability in the field.

Brantley has started in LF in the playoffs and hits 2nd. Hitting .352 in the playoffs with 9 RBI and an OPS of .778. Hit .311 in the regular season with only 8 HR, 47 RBI, and an OPS of .799. Played 84 games in LF and 8 in RF. In ‘18, he played 134 games in LF and 7 at DH. In ‘19, 120 games in LF, 9 in RF, and 25 at DH. In ‘20, 19 in LF and 26 at DH.

Tucker hits 6th and played RF. Hitting .298 in the postseason with 4 home runs, 15 RBI, 4 SBs, and an OPS of .957. Hit .294 in the regular season with 30 home runs, 92 RBI, 14 SB and an OPS of .917. Played 133 games in RF this year, 4 in CF, and 4 at DH. In ‘20, 42 games in LF, 7 in RF, and 10 at DH. In ‘19, 11 in LF, 11 in RF, 4 at 1B, and 1 at DH.
In ‘18, 20 in LF, 3 in RF, and 1 at DH.

Siri played CF tonight. It was his rookie season, and only played in 18 regular season games—4 in LF, 5 in CF, and 9 in RF. He’s the only player on their roster listed as a CF, though Chas McCormic did play 33 games this year, despite being listed as a LF. And his offensive numbers are pretty meh.

I’d imagine they’re not going to want to keep the top 3 guys in the lineup because they’re big parts of it. Alvarez has only played LF in his MLB career, so I assume he starts there. But he’s only played 52 total games there in his career. As opposed to 174 at DH.

Then I guess they play Brantley in RF since he’s actually played there, though only 17 total games compared to 357 in LF.

Tucker is hitting to well to take out of the lineup, I think, so he probably plays CF, since he’s the only one of the 3 to ever play there in a MLB game. But he’s only done it 4 times total. He’s their every day RF, playing in 133 games there this year. But it took him a while to settle in there, because he’s only played there 154 games total. He’s played 73 games in LF, 4 at 1B, and the aforementioned 4 in CF.

So there’s a HUGE offensive gap between their top 3 OFs and their 4th. But the 3 of them have only played a combined 4 games in CF, all by Tucker, their place every day RF. So, they’re gonna have to either sacrifice a ton defensively to keep all 3 in the lineup, or take a huge bat out of the lineup and play rookie Siri in CF. Regardless of what Dusty does, no DH gives the Braves a HUGE advantage there the next 3 games in Atlanta.

now weather showing good from 8 PM to 7 Am



might change 10 minutes from now

Predicting a big game from Riley tonight.

That’s why I’m predicting (mostly hoping) he will have a big game. He’s become too good to slip further into this slider chasing slump.

Cold here boys, getting field ready

Hank Aaron is nothing more than a symbol at this point. Older crowd might like him but me? No. Just another whatever position he played.

quote:

---

I think all that is fair. Even with 100% perfect weather every Astros fan would be nervous AF with these 3 in the OF. Add on this shitty weather with likely wind, and it could lead to some ugly plays. But there is zero doubt playing all 3 of them is the right move for what they bring to the plate

---

Oh, no doubt. They’re all 3 too good offensively to take any out of the lineup. There’s just no way playing Siri in center was worth taking any of those 3 out of the lineup. I didn’t mean to do all that research yesterday, I just wanted to glance at there numbers and take a guess as to which 3 they’d go with. But then I realized how big a drop off there is offensively, and how little experience at least 2 of those 3 guys would have playing whatever position they wound up in. Truist is pretty symmetrical, so it may not be the factor it would be if we were in the same situation at Minute Maid with all the ridiculousness of that park.