29 minutes ago, Leonard Zelig said:

Not having a 3rd or 4th starter may complicate that.  

We don’t need a 4th starter for this round and I believe you can change your playoff roster for each series.

On 9/27/2020 at 6:27 PM, SoxBlanco said:

Do we have any idea of game times yet?

both games are 2pm central on ESPN.

We have a shot, I'd say because of are 2 studs. Gio and Dallas could win both. if we split, we might be done. Dunning, Cease, and Lopez i don't think could win game 3. I hope to God i'm wrong if we lose game 1 or 2. The other question is can these kids handle the pressure?? THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGE WE HAVE FOR THE KIDS IS NOBODY IN THE STANDS. anything can happen in a best of 3 and we have the starters and the offense to do it if our kids can handle the pressure. 

Only thing I worry about is can Giolito harness his emotions and pitch under control. If he can manage that we win the game and hopefully the series. 

2 hours ago, RG23SoxFan said:

Guess I have confidence in our hitters facing a lefty, not necessarily otherwise.   You don't have to look further than yesterday to see that we have a tendency to make average pitchers(Alzolay) look like all-stars.  I am pretty confident Kuechel could hold his own or more against Bassitt for 6 innings, but if it turns into a battle of bullpens it turns into a coin flip.  I just like the idea of having a major pitching advantage if we get to a game 3.  If we tee off on Bassitt in game 2 then whoever we run out there should be good enough for us to win and we have a rested Kuechel for game 1 of ALDS.    

ALDS doesn't start until Monday 10/5.  No reason to hold anything back in the Wild Card series. 

1 hour ago, Leonard Zelig said:

Not having a 3rd or 4th starter may complicate that.  

Having Collins on the bench, allowing McCann and Grandal to both bat, is worth more than Gio, Jace Fry, or the 6+ ERA safety blanket Jimmy Cordero.

Especially now that Bummer and Crochet are in the pen.

 

It's no surprise that when I got a 9 day banhammer, the Sox go on an abhorrent streak. The baseball gods were upset by it. The Sox are 34-18 when I'm not suspended from here. 1-7 when I am suspended. 

The time is now. This team will dispose of Billy Beane's goon squad in 2 games. Easy wins. 

Edited September 29, 20205 yr by Yearnin' for Yermin

9 minutes ago, Yearnin' for Yermin said:

It's no surprise that when I got a 9 day banhammer, the Sox go on an abhorrent streak. The baseball gods were upset by it.

No.

How have playoff rosters for this round not been announced yet?

@Squirmin' for Yermin - Yermin sighting in this video...

https://www.mlb.com/video/lucas-giolito-on-matchup-vs-a-s

 

1 hour ago, Quin said:

Having Collins on the bench, allowing McCann and Grandal to both bat, is worth more than Gio, Jace Fry, or the 6+ ERA safety blanket Jimmy Cordero.

Especially now that Bummer and Crochet are in the pen.

 

I agree for this series, but Eloy’s status figures into that as well. 

The sox definitely need to get a lead in the first 5 innings because the pen of the As is a lot better than the Sox pen which has been surprisingly good but has no real depth.

54 minutes ago, Dominikk85 said:

The sox definitely need to get a lead in the first 5 innings because the pen of the As is a lot better than the Sox pen which has been surprisingly good but has no real depth.

Colome, Bummer, Marshall, Heuer, Foster, & Crotchet doesn’t reflect depth?  I mean, Jace Fry is actually a decent middle reliever and he shouldn’t the field until game three at the earliest unless something horribly goes wrong with Gioltio or Keuchel.

57 minutes ago, Dominikk85 said:

The sox definitely need to get a lead in the first 5 innings because the pen of the As is a lot better than the Sox pen which has been surprisingly good but has no real depth.

I dunno.  Teams can’t really score against Heuer, Crochet, Bummer, Foster or Colome.  How much more depth do you want? 

8 hours ago, HahnsKiddieTable said:

Only thing I worry about is can Giolito harness his emotions and pitch under control. If he can manage that we win the game and hopefully the series. 

We’ll find out early. If he struggles, it’s typically the first inning.

I'm sick of hearing things like "this series is over if we lose either Gio or Dallas' start, we can't win game 3". Sure, the rest of the starters aren't elite, but few teams have 3 elite SPs. This team still knows how to win games when Cease, Dunning, and Lopez start, going a combined 16-11 (starter's record 8-7).

• Dylan Cease - 6-6 (5-4)
• Dane Dunning - 6-1 (2-0)
• Reynaldo Lopez - 4-4 (1-3)

Game 3 isn't a lock with any of these guys, but quit acting like the season is over if we lose today or tomorrow. Lot of baseball to play and I'm not writing them off yet.

4 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

We’ll find out early. If he struggles, it’s typically the first inning.

Not sure if a playoff game will follow a typical script. Maybe the lack of fans makes it just another game. We will see. 

46 minutes ago, MiddleCoastBias said:

I'm sick of hearing things like "this series is over if we lose either Gio or Dallas' start, we can't win game 3". Sure, the rest of the starters aren't elite, but few teams have 3 elite SPs. This team still knows how to win games when Cease, Dunning, and Lopez start, going a combined 16-11 (starter's record 8-7).

• Dylan Cease - 6-6 (5-4)
• Dane Dunning - 6-1 (2-0)
• Reynaldo Lopez - 4-4 (1-3)

Game 3 isn't a lock with any of these guys, but quit acting like the season is over if we lose today or tomorrow. Lot of baseball to play and I'm not writing them off yet.

Great post, but IMO there is a big difference between Dane Dunning and the other two guys.  Despite a terrible final start, Dane still has a 3.99 FIP on the season.  He’s shown a bulldog mentality on the mound and doesn’t seem like the type of guy to buckle under pressure.  He should hands-down be the #3 starter.  And honestly, we just need a good four innings from him before switching to the bullpen.  If we can get that, there’s a halfway decent chance we can win a game three.  Obviously the deeper Giolito & Keuchel can go the better, so we can deploy more arms in game 3.

1 hour ago, MiddleCoastBias said:

I'm sick of hearing things like "this series is over if we lose either Gio or Dallas' start, we can't win game 3". Sure, the rest of the starters aren't elite, but few teams have 3 elite SPs. This team still knows how to win games when Cease, Dunning, and Lopez start, going a combined 16-11 (starter's record 8-7).

• Dylan Cease - 6-6 (5-4)
• Dane Dunning - 6-1 (2-0)
• Reynaldo Lopez - 4-4 (1-3)

Game 3 isn't a lock with any of these guys, but quit acting like the season is over if we lose today or tomorrow. Lot of baseball to play and I'm not writing them off yet.

Whos saying that though? We will be going against a lefty starter so yeah we should be favorites in game 3 pretty much no matter what

Still can’t believe they are playing these games in the middle of the day and for cable subscription only. Pretty infuriating to not be able to watch my team in the playoffs after 12 years of suffering. 

41 minutes ago, TheFutureIsNear said:

Still can’t believe they are playing these games in the middle of the day and for cable subscription only. Pretty infuriating to not be able to watch my team in the playoffs after 12 years of suffering. 

Cycle through free trials of Youtube TV, Hulu, Sling, Fubo, etc.

1 minute ago, jenksycat said:

Cycle through free trials of Youtube TV, Hulu, Sling, Fubo, etc.

Even just subscribe to one of them and its cheaper than cable. 

The winner of the Sox and A's Game 3 on Thursday (if needed) would play in the next round of playoffs on Monday. So almost 4 days of rest before the next series. Therefore, you could execute as close to a bullpen game in Game 3 as possible. It's winner moves on and loser goes home. Obviously depends on the bullpen work in games 1 and 2, but Sox could have a ton of flexibility in Game 3 if Giolito and Keuchel both get past the 6th.

Then for example, you could start Dunning in Game 3 and be on high sensitivity alert for a pull. Any dip in control thru walks or missing spots and you bring on one of our experienced arms to get us out of the jam (i.e. Heuer, Marshall, Foster or Crochet). Maybe Dane gets you 2 or 3 innings. At the next full inning, bring in another starter, like Cease. Repeat the same scenario and monitor him closely and have a quick yank. Bring reliever in to end any high risk situations. Try to save Colome, Bummer for final two innings. That strategy hopefully has Dunning and Cease get you thru maybe 4 or 5 innings and saves you two of your high leverage arms for the in-between innings like 6th and 7th. 

Obviously, it's not advisable in a larger series format, but with the rest until the next series, Sox could consider it against the A's if needed.