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Yeah I mean, I'm on board with playing him. Sox should be pushing the chips in and he's a very legitimate lottery ticket. Sure, the most likely outcome is that he posts an 0-fer series. But he's one of the few guys in the series with the talent to win the whole series singlehandedly.

He still sucks. Their starter isn't going longer in game one. He's a rookie pitching on fumes. The astros have limited his usage to around 30 pitches his last couple times . Him and Hagen likely to pitch the same amount unless they decide to limit Hagen to 1 inning just to have him for tomorrow too or have him extra fresh for game 3.

Looking at Paredes statcast at bats the last week+, if you throw him 4 seamers, he will kill you, if you throw him sliders/curveballs/sweepers/slurves, he has no chance at all, same with Pena. He's had 3 hits off breaking balls in his like last 35PA I really hope Teel/Bove actually uses this info because it's out there for literally anyone

I dig starting Hagen here for game 1. He’ll be amped. Hopefully he can harness that energy to avoid control problems, get on a roll, and give us three quick innings without giving up anything. LFGWS!!!! They need to make it to the ALDS and TAKE IT FROM CLEVELAND for me be content.

Just keep him low in the order. Should be fine. Even if its not fine.

The Sox have a clear bullpen advantage over Houston. Idk how the Sox managed to enter the playoffs with the bullpen being their strength considering they have the most blown saves in the league but thats where we stand

Sousa has dominated us lol Also their starters go a lot longer in games

Time to take the trashcan bangers out. Especially, Altuve.

Then Houston has the same problem . They carried 12 pitchers too and also a BP game in game 1 and their LH RP options are bad. King and Sousa suck.

As far as Colson batting against lefties is concerned, it's often best not to pay too much attention to a specific batter's platoon splits BUT Colson has continued to be much more competitive against lefty pitchers all season and there are scout-y reasons to believe that's kind of a legit phenomenon. In the final two months of the season, Colson struck out 49% (!!!) of the time against RHP and "only" 31% of the time against LHP. This is consistent with his overall season trend and strikeout rate is the least affected stat with small sample sizes. So if you're going to play him against RHP, you're definitely going to let him get hacks against LHP.

Totally good with it. No worries. The Sox are playing with house money so we don’t have to worry about being too conservative. Fly the freak flags!

I think we're going to the ALCS. I'm basing this purely off vibes. Plus, there are 12 teams in the playoffs. We have to beat the 12th seed and the 10th seed (based off regular season wins). We can do it.

I think Hagen's College World Series work would help him today.

This is certainly the place to be for Sox talk. Nice post. I tried reddit out... it's fun sometimes but not for GDTs. I quickly realized that when I was downvoted into oblivion for pointing out that JR has a hair length rule and more than likely made Castillo cut his hair. "He cut it for a fresh start", "You're an idiot", got downvoted into oblivion and trolled with a "reddit cares" for my effort. Like... guys like Castillo grow VERY attached to their hair, literally and figuratively. I highly doubt he would cut off his years of hair "for a fresh start". But I am the idiot, I guess. I'll say this, it sure seems like he has loosened up the hair length standard more now. I see way more guys with buns on the Sox and "sort of" long hair like Vargas, Mune and Chase. JR 20 years ago would have had them all cut that s%*# down sadly.

This is where I am. Meidroth has been one of the Sox best 2nd half hitter and that stadium is built for his power. Can't play Colson, he's been terrible and extra terrible against RHP. Stick Grichuk in LF , Meidroth at SS and Antonacci at 2nd base. Their LH RP aren't that good so just start Grichuk.

Houston is starting a rookie too. But he has pitched more in the majors than Hagen. Blubaugh is doubtful for more than 30 pitches. Probably about the same for Hagen.

Hagen Smith starting. Maybe Fedde or Davis Martin after him.

If they aren't going to start Colson against a lefty I'd still rather see Meidroth at SS and Sam at 2nd Base. Keep Acuna on the bench for late pinch running duties.

Jeremy Pena is outright awful vs anything not a fastball. Hopefully the Sox pitch him accordingly VS FB: .340avg (.534 xSLG) VS BRK: .185avg (.298 xSLG) VS O/S: .232avg (.374 xSLG) Isaac Paredes also sucks against breaking balls VS FB: .289avg (xSLG .409) VS BRK: .199 avg (xSLG .316) VS O/S: .280avg (xSLG .341)

We need to will a series win into existence. You must be pretty busy. I think you'd be normally be all over this playoff series. It is tough to make the lineup . Do you do matchup or go with our 2 hottest OPS guys for September in Grichuk and Doyle. Because of them the Sox got much better against LHP and because of the Colson slump against both hande Peters was bad in September and July but scorching hot in August. He seems beat up. Got hit by pitches a lot in September but overall his 2nd half has been underwhelming So very hard to say don't use Grichuk or Doyle even against RHP. So i wouldn't hesitate to get him out of the game and I wouldn't bat him 6th. Bottom of the order. Meidroth has had a really good 2nd half. One of our best OPS guys . I'd keep him near the top of the lineup against all pitchers. No way I bat him 8th. I want our best hitters near the top or middle of the lineup getting as many AB as possible. He shouldn't hitting 8th. Teel is showing good signs of life especially in the last week and his OBP has been outstanding in the 20 games he played in September. He also hit 3 HR in those 20 games. Pham made the playoff roster because Houston has a lot of LH Relief pitching Colson terrible in September and the 2nd half. I'd start Meidroth at SS . You have too. Antonacci at 2nd and Grichuk in LF . Game 1 is a BP game for the Stros starting RHP Blubaugh so after that maybe the have a bulk innings LHP. Their LH relief pitchers are Josh Hendrickson a 29 YO Aussie called up at the end of the season only 2.2 IP. Bryan King isn't very good . Neither is Bennett Sousa and that's it besides Hader for LH RP. Need to hit Blubaugh hard and start the game hot.

Am I the only one who thinks if Sox are facing a lefty; that, straight up, Acuna should be playing over Colson? Colson in his present mental state (and I do think most of it is mental) just is bad right now, both defensively and offensively. Acuna, not great, is clearly less bad than Colson right now against lefties, clearly the better choice. Sox can appease and pacify Colson’s hurt ego over the winter as they try to fix him; but for now, let’s do everything possible to win this series.

I expect Peters and Antonacci to see a lot of breaking balls away this series

We need guys with postseason experience, even if he is a glorified babysitter. But I do think he's a nice bat off the bench.

The dissenting view “The Astros have so much more postseason experience and the bigger names (Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Jeremy Peña), but when there's no clear favorite, go with the hungry young team that has enough talent and vibes to do damage and surprise.” -- Jason Catania, supervising editor -- breaking news @ mlb.com