*But with all the hullaballoo (sp.) going into the year that the Astros have the best 1-4 in baseball, what happens come playoff time? Considering that they're the likely favorites to win the NL Central, this will be a real issue IMO. Do you follow ritual and chop the rotation down to 3 or do you pitch Wade Miller as well? Although its unlikely, its very possible that Wade Miller could win 20 games with an ERA in the low 3's. But would you really want to take starts away from Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite in a playoff series? *Maybe more importantly, does Wade Miller return next year? I think it's 50/50. I don't know that management would want to break the bank for both Oswalt and Miller with Pettite signed and Redding and Hernandez on the cheap, and Oswalt is the obvious choice. I think they could get some top notch prospects in a trade and I fear they might explore that route.
I think they would go with a four person roation simply because Wade Miller is too good to not pitch. Also, they gave Miller more money than he would have gotten through arbitration, so I think his loyalty is on our side.
Also with the way Roger is pitching.. do you keep him at 3 for sure.. or consider moving him up in the rotation to get as many starts as possible in a series? I guess you'd probably keep it how it is.. Oswalt is our "ace" and all..
Just a question but would we want to use Miller in the bullpen just for the playoffs? I know that is way unconventional but damn that would be tough having Miller, Lidge, Dotel every night.
Not a chance. Clemens should and would be the Astros game 1 starting pitcher as of right now. You throw your best in game 1 because in a 5 game series that one game means a ton, and Roger has the most postseason experience of the bunch and is pitching like he wants his 7th CY Young award.
I believe the chronicle mentioned that even with the way Clemens has been pitching, Roy Oswalt is still our ace and he would still get the nod. I am sorry that I don't have a link but it was in the paper a couple of days ago.
Miller has #1 stuff. So I think you start him. He's capable of knocking off someone like Prior on a good day. So why not. If you can coax the other team to start their 4 you have an advantage. If they don't we may still win that game plus get 5 and 6 with Oswalt and Clemens. So I'd start him and I'm typically old school with a three man rotation. But I like the options that Miller gives us.
Clemens - Pettitte - Oswalt righty lefty righty and yes, this is premature given the fact we cant score any damn runs
Assuming the 'stros get to the post season then the questyion becomes when did they clinch? They might have had to burn their staff the last week-end to get in and cannot 'set up' a play off rotation. As of today, who among us think it is a lock that October is play time?
absolutely nailed it. why talk about it when the astro's keep losing game after game after game after game we're fighting to stay above .500 and avoiding another sweep, this time by the mariners. let's wait a while until we talk playoffs.
I consider Oswalt to be hands-down a better pitcher than Pettite. I prefer to go with the better pitcher, rather than the more experienced one. I'd make Clemens the #1. Not sure if his raw stuff is better than Oswalt's these days... but he's terrific at managing through crises.
