2016 Postseason Sploogapalooza

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Greetings from Petco Park, where the Padres continue to suck.

In light of the Giants (and possibly Red Sox?) fans behind me who are trying to troll by talking about how the Cubs won't win the World Series because of goats and Bartman or something, I propose the following 2016 postseason hashtag:

#FuckYourCurse

No because the only course of action is to not engage in discussions involving that word in the first place.  It's got nothing to do with nothing and only emboldens the stupid.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Funny how things change, as the situation has proved to have been fluid this month.

Coghlan looks like he's edged ahead of LaStella (if that is, in fact, the competition).  Not only has Coghlan suddenly proven his worth this month, but LaStella's been hitting the ball as softly as Matt Murton, has proven that he's really not so much of a plus defensive infielder, and his petulant little snit from 2 months ago may ultimately prove to be the deciding factor, since at this point it appears, by all objective estimations, to be a push.

Meanwhile, I think Almora may have pulled ahead of Szczur.  His late-game drop tonight of a well struck ball notwithstanding (and let's face it, his edge has always been his defense), this kid has just been walloping the ball while Szczur currently can't hit water if he fell out of a boat.

Montero has definitely earned his ticket, I think it's fair to surmise.

Finally,  Justin Grimm is doing his damnedest to give Joe pause.  Whether Hammel or Cahill (or both, if they go with a 12-man staff) supplant him, or Felix Pena--who cleaned up Grimm's scat-tastic performance tonight-- fills the spot, I'd say Grimm is far from a sure thing suddenly.

C Contreras
C Ross
C Montero

IF Rizzo
IF Zobrist
IF Baez
IF Russell
IF Bryant

OF Heyward
OF Fowler
OF Soler
OF Coghlan
OF Almora

SP Lester
SP Hendricks
SP Arrieta
SP Lackey

RP Chapman
RP Rondon
RP Strop
RP Edwards
RP Montgomery
RP Wood

This leaves 2 spots which, if they go with 14/11, means 1 position player and 1 pitcher.  Seems the position player spot now comes down to a battle of LaStella vs. Szczur, and the pitching spot is amongst Grimm, Hammel, Pena and Cahill--unless they go with 13/12 (still unlikely I think), in which case 2 of the latter group make it over both LaStella and Szczur.  I suppose if Almora's offense can be trusted (at least over Szczur), that they may well in fact go with 13/12, considering how flexible their offensive players are positionally, but that still strikes me as unneccesary.

[Tonker]

Funny how things change, as the situation has proved to have been fluid this month.

Coghlan looks like he's edged ahead of LaStella (if that is, in fact, the competition).  Not only has Coghlan suddenly proven his worth this month, but LaStella's been hitting the ball as softly as Matt Murton, has proven that he's really not so much of a plus defensive infielder, and his petulant little snit from 2 months ago may ultimately prove to be the deciding factor, since at this point it appears, by all objective estimations, to be a push.

Meanwhile, I think Almora may have pulled ahead of Szczur.  His late-game drop tonight of a well struck ball notwithstanding (and let's face it, his edge has always been his defense), this kid has just been walloping the ball while Szczur currently can't hit water if he fell out of a boat.

Montero has definitely earned his ticket, I think it's fair to surmise.

Finally,  Justin Grimm is doing his damnedest to give Joe pause.  Whether Hammel or Cahill (or both, if they go with a 12-man staff) supplant him, or Felix Pena--who cleaned up Grimm's scat-tastic performance tonight-- fills the spot, I'd say Grimm is far from a sure thing suddenly.

C Contreras
C Ross
C Montero

IF Rizzo
IF Zobrist
IF Baez
IF Russell
IF Bryant

OF Heyward
OF Fowler
OF Soler
OF Coghlan
OF Almora

SP Lester
SP Hendricks
SP Arrieta
SP Lackey

RP Chapman
RP Rondon
RP Strop
RP Edwards
RP Montgomery
RP Wood

This leaves 2 spots which, if they go with 14/11, means 1 position player and 1 pitcher.  Seems the position player spot now comes down to a battle of LaStella vs. Szczur, and the pitching spot is amongst Grimm, Hammel, Pena and Cahill--unless they go with 13/12 (still unlikely I think), in which case 2 of the latter group make it over both LaStella and Szczur.  I suppose if Almora's offense can be trusted (at least over Szczur), that they may well in fact go with 13/12, considering how flexible their offensive players are positionally, but that still strikes me as unneccesary.

If you go with Szczur over LaStella, that means you've got Fowler, JHey, Soler, Almora, Bryant, Baez, Coghlan and Szczur for the OF and only Rizzo, Zobrist, Russell, Baez and Bryant for the IF.  I think LaStella gets the nod on that basis.

[Quality Start Machine]

Funny how things change, as the situation has proved to have been fluid this month.

Coghlan looks like he's edged ahead of LaStella (if that is, in fact, the competition).  Not only has Coghlan suddenly proven his worth this month, but LaStella's been hitting the ball as softly as Matt Murton, has proven that he's really not so much of a plus defensive infielder, and his petulant little snit from 2 months ago may ultimately prove to be the deciding factor, since at this point it appears, by all objective estimations, to be a push.

Meanwhile, I think Almora may have pulled ahead of Szczur.  His late-game drop tonight of a well struck ball notwithstanding (and let's face it, his edge has always been his defense), this kid has just been walloping the ball while Szczur currently can't hit water if he fell out of a boat.

Montero has definitely earned his ticket, I think it's fair to surmise.

Finally,  Justin Grimm is doing his damnedest to give Joe pause.  Whether Hammel or Cahill (or both, if they go with a 12-man staff) supplant him, or Felix Pena--who cleaned up Grimm's scat-tastic performance tonight-- fills the spot, I'd say Grimm is far from a sure thing suddenly.

C Contreras
C Ross
C Montero

IF Rizzo
IF Zobrist
IF Baez
IF Russell
IF Bryant

OF Heyward
OF Fowler
OF Soler
OF Coghlan
OF Almora

SP Lester
SP Hendricks
SP Arrieta
SP Lackey

RP Chapman
RP Rondon
RP Strop
RP Edwards
RP Montgomery
RP Wood

This leaves 2 spots which, if they go with 14/11, means 1 position player and 1 pitcher.  Seems the position player spot now comes down to a battle of LaStella vs. Szczur, and the pitching spot is amongst Grimm, Hammel, Pena and Cahill--unless they go with 13/12 (still unlikely I think), in which case 2 of the latter group make it over both LaStella and Szczur.  I suppose if Almora's offense can be trusted (at least over Szczur), that they may well in fact go with 13/12, considering how flexible their offensive players are positionally, but that still strikes me as unneccesary.

If you go with Szczur over LaStella, that means you've got Fowler, JHey, Soler, Almora, Bryant, Baez, Coghlan and Szczur for the OF and only Rizzo, Zobrist, Russell, Baez and Bryant for the IF.  I think LaStella gets the nod on that basis.

Don't forget Zobrist in the OF.

If Soler's side is still keeping him out of games, this all changes, natch.

[SKO]

Finally,  Justin Grimm is doing his damnedest to give Joe pause.  Whether Hammel or Cahill (or both, if they go with a 12-man staff) supplant him, or Felix Pena--who cleaned up Grimm's scat-tastic performance tonight-- fills the spot, I'd say Grimm is far from a sure thing suddenly.

Grimm's allowed all of 7 runs in his last 33 appearances. That he's allowed runs in 2 of his last 3 appearances is nothing more than a fluke, probably. The stuff and the control have looked fine, and Joe is hardly the type to overreact to a few aberrations. If he doesn't make the postseason roster I'd be shocked. Hell, by your logic, Rondon would be far less likely than Grimm to make the roster as he's been absolute garbage ever since his arm started hurting. He's been scored on in 4 of his last 9 appearances with a 12.27 ERA and a 1.247 OPS against.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Finally,  Justin Grimm is doing his damnedest to give Joe pause.  Whether Hammel or Cahill (or both, if they go with a 12-man staff) supplant him, or Felix Pena--who cleaned up Grimm's scat-tastic performance tonight-- fills the spot, I'd say Grimm is far from a sure thing suddenly.

Grimm's allowed all of 7 runs in his last 33 appearances. That he's allowed runs in 2 of his last 3 appearances is nothing more than a fluke, probably. The stuff and the control have looked fine, and Joe is hardly the type to overreact to a few aberrations. If he doesn't make the postseason roster I'd be shocked. Hell, by your logic, Rondon would be far less likely than Grimm to make the roster as he's been absolute garbage ever since his arm started hurting. He's been scored on in 4 of his last 9 appearances with a 12.27 ERA and a 1.247 OPS against.

Yeah his control was great.  He walked back-to-back hitters with a 5 run lead and 1 out in the 9th inning.  INTENSE control.

[SKO]

Finally,  Justin Grimm is doing his damnedest to give Joe pause.  Whether Hammel or Cahill (or both, if they go with a 12-man staff) supplant him, or Felix Pena--who cleaned up Grimm's scat-tastic performance tonight-- fills the spot, I'd say Grimm is far from a sure thing suddenly.

Grimm's allowed all of 7 runs in his last 33 appearances. That he's allowed runs in 2 of his last 3 appearances is nothing more than a fluke, probably. The stuff and the control have looked fine, and Joe is hardly the type to overreact to a few aberrations. If he doesn't make the postseason roster I'd be shocked. Hell, by your logic, Rondon would be far less likely than Grimm to make the roster as he's been absolute garbage ever since his arm started hurting. He's been scored on in 4 of his last 9 appearances with a 12.27 ERA and a 1.247 OPS against.

Yeah his control was great.  He walked back-to-back hitters with a 5 run lead and 1 out in the 9th inning.  INTENSE control.

Ahh because I was specifically referring to one single outing as opposed to the fact that he's walked all of 9 guys total in the last three months. By all means if you want to kick him off the playoff roster because of one mediocre inning in a low leverage spot in a 100% meaningless game be my guest, and I will laugh heartily when that roster is announced and he's right there. If his arm doesn't fall off between now and October 7th, he'll be on that roster.

[SKO]

I mean, far be it from me to judge anyone for overreacting, but if you've concocted a scenario in your head where Felix Pena makes the playoff roster maybe walk that one back a bit.

[SKO]

TPD, but my guess is Chapman/Rondon/Strop/Edwards/Grimm/Wood (in that order) are locks, that last spot will come down to Hammel, Cahill, or Montgomery. Depends on how much Joe values a potential long reliever or a LOOGY. My guess is Cahill since he's been very good down the stretch.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

TPD, but my guess is Chapman/Rondon/Strop/Edwards/Grimm/Wood (in that order) are locks, that last spot will come down to Hammel, Cahill, or Montgomery. Depends on how much Joe values a potential long reliever or a LOOGY. My guess is Cahill since he's been very good down the stretch.

This sounds right.  Someone can look it up but I feel like 7 or so of Wood's last 8 or 9 or so appearances have been to face 1 lefty and then GTFO, so it seems he's being groomed for that role.  I think, though, that however silly it is (and Cahill's performance notwithstanding), that Montgomery's handedness will give him the edge over Hambone and Tubby.

[SKO]

TPD, but my guess is Chapman/Rondon/Strop/Edwards/Grimm/Wood (in that order) are locks, that last spot will come down to Hammel, Cahill, or Montgomery. Depends on how much Joe values a potential long reliever or a LOOGY. My guess is Cahill since he's been very good down the stretch.

This sounds right.  Someone can look it up but I feel like 7 or so of Wood's last 8 or 9 or so appearances have been to face 1 lefty and then GTFO, so it seems he's being groomed for that role.  I think, though, that however silly it is (and Cahill's performance notwithstanding), that Montgomery's handedness will give him the edge over Hambone and Tubby.

I don't think that second lefty will be all that necessary. If you get into a spot in the middle innings where you need to bring in a lefty you can use Wood, then you have Grimm/Edwards etc to bridge the gap to Chapman. If you get into a late inning situation where the game is on the line and a lefty like Harper is up, I'm betting Joe will just bring in Chapman and then use Rondon to close if necessary, or ask Chapman to go multiple innings. Either way the second lefty is probably superfluous.

[Oleg]

Crazy thought:

Maybe it comes down to Soler vs Contreras for one of the spots, depending on who wins the SeligCard game.

St Louis doesn't have a LHP who'll start.  SF has MadBum but he'll only start one game in the NLDS, most likely.  The Mets blow.

If Lester starts two games, potentially, we know that Baez will be at 3rd and Bryant in LF.
I'm guessing Maddon will play matchups and start Cogs in LF against the righties.

I think I'm just bracing myself for an NLDS roster without Soler on it.

[Saul Goodman]

Coghlan is doing his best to be such a garbage outfielder that he injures himself right off the playoff roster.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Anyone win the ticket lottery?

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Anyone win the ticket lottery?

I'm sure some people did.