No way I'd go Lynn at Houston in the first cycle. Gio and Rodan (sic) away - Lynn and Cease at home. Pitch as pitch can after that.

Lynn is historically terrible on short rest and fantastic on extended rest.

I'm interested in the idea of starting him in Game 3, as it does seem to be a spot that is consistent with his stats.  It also sets up a firewall should the first two games in Houston go poorly.  If you are of the mindset to only use 3 starters, it also allows Rodon and Giolito to be the short rest guys.  However, I am not of that mindset.  Lynn is horrible on short rest, Rodon has battled shoulder fatigue this season and Giolito seems like a creature of habit.  I also like Dylan Cease in that Game 4 spot.  He pitched well last year in his playoff appearance.

On 9/13/2021 at 9:07 AM, Dam8610 said:

The splits seem to suggest the following would be optimal assuming things hold as they are now:

Game 1: Rodon

Game 2: Giolito

Game 3: Lynn

Game 4: Cease

Game 5: Rodon

Put your best pitchers against the Astros at Minute Maid, put Lynn and Cease at home where they seem to do better against the Astros. The White Sox don't have to beat generic team X, they have to beat the Astros, and the numbers suggest these are the best pitching matchups to do that.

I just relax and accept whatever decisions the team makes. That being said your post makes a lot of sense.  Of course I also might have reasons to question Rodon as the starter of the opening game.

Since he's been rested a lot in the 2nd half I'm not real sure he would be allowed to go more than 5 and possibly 6 innings. Ideally you would want a strong start and not use too much of the BP in the first game. That would suggest using Gio or Lynn in the 1st game. However there's also the fact Lynn hasn't fared well against Houston . I think TLR is more the type to say Lynn has earned the right to pitch the opener unless there is still a question regarding his health.

Then there is Giolito who dominated the A's last year in the playoffs which has to count for something. He may be one of those guys who ends up having a stellar post season career.

who has the tie breaker advantage. Sox or Astros?

1 minute ago, zisk said:

who has the tie breaker advantage. Sox or Astros?

Astros won the season series 5-2.

10 minutes ago, zisk said:

who has the tie breaker advantage. Sox or Astros?

Astros.  Sox need to finish with a better record to lock up the 2 seed.

10 minutes ago, WhiteSoxFan1993 said:

Astros won the season series 5-2.

If the Sox do not gain the home field advantage in the 1st round, I will be doing a deep dive into the Gamethreads for those 5 losses for a comprehensive, accurate and unbiased assessment of who is to blame for that predicament we will find ourselves in.

27 minutes ago, wegner said:

If the Sox do not gain the home field advantage in the 1st round, I will be doing a deep dive into the Gamethreads for those 5 losses for a comprehensive, accurate and unbiased assessment of who is to blame for that predicament we will find ourselves in.

I’ll save you the time, TLR.

29 minutes ago, wegner said:

If the Sox do not gain the home field advantage in the 1st round, I will be doing a deep dive into the Gamethreads for those 5 losses for a comprehensive, accurate and unbiased assessment of who is to blame for that predicament we will find ourselves in.

 

2 minutes ago, ShoeLessRob said:

I’ll save you the time, TLR.

Bah, honestly, that whole series in Houston was just a whoopin. Cease got shelled, Lynn got beaten around, Keuchel got beaten around, and the offense scored 8 runs in 4 games. Rodon was really good, you will probably find some wondering in that game about why Crochet was the option in the 9th inning- he took the loss, but there were 2 lefties up early that inning (Brantley, Alvarez) and they were the ones who beat him so?

4 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

 

Bah, honestly, that whole series in Houston was just a whoopin. Cease got shelled, Lynn got beaten around, Keuchel got beaten around, and the offense scored 8 runs in 4 games. Rodon was really good, you will probably find some wondering in that game about why Crochet was the option in the 9th inning- he took the loss, but there were 2 lefties up early that inning (Brantley, Alvarez) and they were the ones who beat him so?