The 2019 World Series: You Make The Call
- Thread starter Lose Remerswaal
- Start date
I picked the Nats in 7. Deeper starting pitching. Crazy that 3 of the starters from the '13 insanely stacked Detroit Tigers rotation will be starting games. I still can't believe the Sox beat that team.
EDIT- I'd love to see Anibel pick up the Game Seven victory.
EDIT2- Scherzer and Verlander are a push. Strasburg and Cole are a push. Washington hands down stronger at 3 and 4
EDIT- I'd love to see Anibel pick up the Game Seven victory.
EDIT2- Scherzer and Verlander are a push. Strasburg and Cole are a push. Washington hands down stronger at 3 and 4
I went with the Nats in 6. Last night not withstanding the de-juicing of the ball in the post season spells trouble for home run dependent teams. The Nats aren't as dependent on the long ball as the Astros to score; I think I heard the Nats have only hit two home runs in the post season. The Scherzer-Cole matchup should be a wash, and Verlander-Stasburg is close enough that small sample size rules apply,
I picked the Astros in 6 last series and I will here as well. Incredible SP matchups. I'd actually give the lineup edge to Washington at the moment because guys like Alvarez, Gurriel, and the catcher were pretty bad last series. Bullpen wise, Houston seems to have an edge. Nats will cause some problems for the Astros, but ultimately I think Houston comes out on top.
Teams with six or more days of rest are 6-7 in the World Series in the Wild Card era and 0-4 since 2012.
I give the Nats an edge on starting pitching, albeit slight, and the Stros a big edge on relief pitching. Hitting is an edge to the Stros. Defense, I'm not sure. Manager is Stros. (Though the Stros aces were arguably better than the Nats aces.)
All in all, the Stros are the better team, and probably match up better with the Nats than any team in the AL. However, the Nats, with their starting pitching, are probably the strongest NL matchup for the stros.
I think for the Nats to have a chance, they need, of all people, Adam Eaton and Victor Robles to have good series.
All in all, the Stros are the better team, and probably match up better with the Nats than any team in the AL. However, the Nats, with their starting pitching, are probably the strongest NL matchup for the stros.
I think for the Nats to have a chance, they need, of all people, Adam Eaton and Victor Robles to have good series.
How can I be the only vote for Stros in 4?
Did you people not see them beat the mighty, mighty Yankees? Clearly a team so skilled cannot possibly lose to the Nats! Might even be an annihilation.
Did you people not see them beat the mighty, mighty Yankees? Clearly a team so skilled cannot possibly lose to the Nats! Might even be an annihilation.
I said Nats in 7. Astros struggled vs a pretty weak rotation and won’t have much space to breathe against the Washington rotation. Nats also in the “nothing to lose” spot, without the weight of a dynasty around their necks. Talented and loose wins the series.
Voted Stros in 6. However I would really love Washington joining all other inconsequential teams that have only won one WS in this century and then sank for years into oblivion. Yes, I’m talking about those mediocre teams like the White Sox, Royals, Marlins, Phillies, Yankees, etc.
Rooting for the Nats but picked the 'Stros in 6. WSH pen is still suspect & Houston seems like the deeper team. I think we'll get some indication in the first 2 games, if WSH gets hammered, it may be the 2007 Rockies all over again.
I am rooting for the Nats, but I can't see them winning. I'm saying Astros in 5. They are a better team.
I don’t see how the Nats can win this series without the benefit of Aaron Judge cutting balls off in the OF for them. I say Astros in five.
I truly don't know what to make of this one, though I voted Astros in 6, because they are just a damn excellent team in all facets. But, their hitting has been pretty garbage in the playoffs, and the Nationals rotation is pretty bonkers. Not that the Astros are exactly lacking. I don't know. Gut says Astros, but the NL has to win from time to time... could well be this year.
I love that both League Championship Series have finished in a manner that the WS pitching match ups should feature Cole, Verlander and Grienke going against Scherzer, Strasburg and Corbin. Really looking forward to some great pitching duels in this one.
I think the Nats will win in 7, and that their starting pitchers kill themselves pitching relief in games 6 and 7, which means Scherzer pitches 3.5 times minimum.
Hmmm. Assumed the Astros had the better pitching, but forgot about the Kelpie (Scherzer) and his friends. Now not so sure.
I think the Astros didn't show enough pop in the MFY series as well and the Nats very leaky bullpen isn't any worse than the Yanks middle relievers and openers if Hudson and Doolittle are on. I also think the Nats are peaking at the right time. I'm sure that autocorrect hates the Nats, though, but it can't decide if they are the Nets or the Cats.
I think I was the first vote in the poll, and said Astros in 6. There are going to be some epic pitching matchups here, and the Nationals have deeper starting pitching, with Sanchez outshining Greinke substantially, but at the end of the day, the Astros' offense will chug along and beat out the Nationals' offense. I was close to saying Astros in 5, but I am really, really rooting for a Nationals win, selfishly, in hopes that this will fuel Expos' fans hopes that the Rays will relocate (permanently) to Montreal because it's so insanely stupidly obvious that that should happen.
Yup. The Nats are a good team, and they did well to knock off a great LAD team (STL was very pedestrian). I think I'll likely be rooting for them.
Still, I'd say Astros in 5. They are so deep, so well-balanced, so strong in all phases of the game. Brantley and Alvarez have really lengthened the lineup, and the pitching staff is fantastic. It's been hard to imagine who besides maybe the Dodgers could knock them out, and, well, LA didn't get that chance.
Cole and Strasburg with one last audition or two for the FA market, people say it doesn't matter much but of course it does.
If NY had pushed it to 7 and HOU had to use Cole in game 7 and go Greinke/Verlander/Cole again, I think this series would be much closer to a tossup, but that did not happen.
Cole/Scherzer in game 1, when was the last game 1 WS matchup with two guys this high level at this moment? I'm not sure if people realize just how dominant Cole has been pitching since HOU got Martin Maldonado back for him at the deadline. Since then 91.1 innings of 1.38 ERA, 1.57 ERA in the regular season down to a ridiculous 0.40 in 3 postseason starts, just 1 run allowed, all caught by Maldonado. He has 146 Ks in those 91.1 innings, that seems good (14.4 K/9).
Scherzer is the underdog (!), all he has done is finished top 5 in the Cy Young 6 years in a row and probably 7 this year. He struggled with injuries midseason and after he came back was not his normal dominant self even into the wild card game, but now he seems to be fully revved up and back to that, with a 7 1 0 0 2 11 gem in game 2 of the NLCS.
If NY had pushed it to 7 and HOU had to use Cole in game 7 and go Greinke/Verlander/Cole again, I think this series would be much closer to a tossup, but that did not happen.
Cole/Scherzer in game 1, when was the last game 1 WS matchup with two guys this high level at this moment? I'm not sure if people realize just how dominant Cole has been pitching since HOU got Martin Maldonado back for him at the deadline. Since then 91.1 innings of 1.38 ERA, 1.57 ERA in the regular season down to a ridiculous 0.40 in 3 postseason starts, just 1 run allowed, all caught by Maldonado. He has 146 Ks in those 91.1 innings, that seems good (14.4 K/9).
Scherzer is the underdog (!), all he has done is finished top 5 in the Cy Young 6 years in a row and probably 7 this year. He struggled with injuries midseason and after he came back was not his normal dominant self even into the wild card game, but now he seems to be fully revved up and back to that, with a 7 1 0 0 2 11 gem in game 2 of the NLCS.
This is pretty fascinating, all of the ripple effects from WAS ownership vetoing the trade of Bryce Harper to HOU at the 2018 deadline:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/10/the-astrosnationals-blockbuster-trade-that-was-almost-a-reality.html
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/10/the-astrosnationals-blockbuster-trade-that-was-almost-a-reality.html
Astros in 7. I think the Astros are a better (esp. offensive and bullpen depth), but the extra rest the Nats starters will have had is meaningful. End of the day, HFA nudges me to the Astros.
How so? Compare the rotations and the Nats' is infinitely better. They very well could get swept but that's because the Astros are on another level.
This made me laugh! I am glad to see I'm not the only one who thought that particular exercise in fellating Judge was a bit much. (He's so tall, I don't even need my knee pads to blow him.)
I went with Astros in 6 - they are a great team that just beat another great team, similar to the Red Sox last year after beating the Astros. And the long layover for the Nats concerned me even before seeing SemperFidelis' stats on past teams with similar layovers prior to the WS, especially for a "team of destiny" like the Nats who had tons of momentum before the break (one of the reasons the Sox '04 WS win felt like such a fait accompli after beating the Yanks was because they were able to almost immediately ride that momentum into the WS).
I will be rooting for the Nats, however, and this isn't one of those years where it would shocking if the underdog won, so if this ends up as Nats in 6 or 7 I wouldn't be particularly surprised (Nats in 4 or 5 would be quite surprising).
I will be rooting for the Nats, however, and this isn't one of those years where it would shocking if the underdog won, so if this ends up as Nats in 6 or 7 I wouldn't be particularly surprised (Nats in 4 or 5 would be quite surprising).
My comparison (Nats to 07 Rockies) was based more about the fact that both teams weren't that highly thought of for much of the season until they got hot late and through the NL playoffs, leading to a lot of people thinking they had a great chance in the WS. And then they run into a vastly superior team from the AL who had lost a bit of luster simply because they had to play a tougher opponent in the ALCS, and thus their season-long superiority was minimized.
Plus the layoff thing that SemperFidelis noted.
I think extended rest hurts position players more than pitchers. The 2007 Rockies hit .218 in the World Series.
But the Nats offense is relying on some older veterans (Kendrick, Zimmerman), so maybe rest is beneficial in this case.
But the Nats offense is relying on some older veterans (Kendrick, Zimmerman), so maybe rest is beneficial in this case.
I don't think the Rockies comparison is a good one, mostly because of the rotation (again, that 2007 Rockies rotation was laughably weak) but also because WAS has been playing like this for 120 games now including the postseason.
"since the Nats bottomed out at 19-31 on May 23:
Astros: 73-37, .667, best record in baseball
Nationals: 74-38, .661, second-best record in baseball (tied with Dodgers)"
"since the Nats bottomed out at 19-31 on May 23:
Astros: 73-37, .667, best record in baseball
Nationals: 74-38, .661, second-best record in baseball (tied with Dodgers)"