Starting Pitching

[FWHORN]

Amid all the great hitting and offensive explosion last night, it is worth talking about the one major hole in this Ranger team as they head into the World Series, starting pitching.

Holland couldnt get that third out in the fifth and no Ranger starter made it out of the sixth in the ALCS. The bullpen got all four wins while starters took the two losses and 4 ND's. Games 1 and 6 the starter was literally one out away from being winning pitcher and both times couldnt get that third out. It is hard to believe the Rangers can do that in the Series and be victorious.

CJ likely pitches game 1. Holland would be going on 4 days rest if they set up the rotation like the ALCS but I think that Harrison likely goes in game two and Colby in game three (or flip flop those two) with Holland only getting one start in game 4.

The move of Ogando to the pen was genius and he (with Adams, Feldman and Neftali) have saved the Rangers so far but the pen can only be perfect so many times. In addition, you have to think that going to that well is an every other day possibility to avoid wearing out those arms and ending up with a critical game where one or ore of them is unavailable. Wash has used his pen perfectly so far and the Ogando/Feldman factor has been huge. I expect them and Gonzalez to play big roles with Uehara/Tatyama the throw them in when the game is lost pair once again.

To win the series the Ranger starters are going to have to be a factor. Starts with CJ Wednesday.

 

[ViperHorn]

At the moment Texas has no starting pitchers, but with only a few notable exceptions (Ryan, Lee, Jenkins, Perry) championship level starting pitching has always been absent in Arlington. If Texas wins the Series, it will be bullpen driven.

 

[TheNewGuy]

Sounds a little foreboding, but I saw a few stats last night during the recap on MLB network that say otherwise.
1) The Cardinals starter/reliever splits have been basically identical to the Rangers.
2) Rangers had something like the 5th worst starter ERA in history for a pennant winning team, and all four worse ERA teams went on to win the World Series.

Also, I do believe that this bullpen is THAT good (and deep), and can continue to be against either NL club. IMO starting pitching just needs to level out a little bit to give us a great shot of winning it all.

 

[TheNewGuy]

One more thought: the Win vs ND thing is really overrated. 4 2/3 vs 5 full makes no difference. We just need the starters to pitch 4-5-6 "decent" innings to have a shot at winning every game, and the way Feldman has been pitching, we really don't even need that on some nights.

 

[ViperHorn]

NewGuy, Wilson and Holland haven't shown they can go the 4 innings. Wilson is the concern as he is supposed to be the ace of the staff. Another postseason failure by Wilson, and he will lose more leverage in the FA market. More importantly, he lose more Nolan trust which is the kiss of death.

 

[TheNewGuy]

Wilson certainly has been the anomaly so far, still hoping he can get it together for the series. Holland looked better last outing (walk/K ratio and control was much improved), although still way too prone to the HR. Colby looked strong until he let it slip away late in game three.

Bottom line for me still comes down to hitting and the bullpen, as the series is shaping up to have its share of runs scored. I don't think either team's starters are going to thrive, so whoever can win innings 5-9 likely wins the series, and in that regard I favor the Rangers.

 

[ViperHorn]

NewGuy - second paragraph +1.

Don't forget Wilson also spit the bit during the playoffs last year. If it happens once - it is an anomaly. If it happens in two different years it is a disturbing trend.

 

[Crockett]

Playing four games without a designated hitter, starting pitching may not be as relevant in the world series as it was in the ALCS. Would be great to see Holland and Wilson show up with the dominant performances that they come up with now and again, but batters definitely seem to be reaching their stride while starting pitchers falter this post season. Milwaukee had great starting pitching this season, but not so much in the playoffs. Verlander, the best starter in baseball, won against the Rangers allowing four runs in 7 1/3, which while good wasn't exactly great.

 

[majorwhiteapples]

You have to look at as 63 innings. How do you get the most production out your pitching staff for 63 innings. Starters for 4-5 innings or about 30-35 innings. Closers for 7 innings that leaves about 20-25 innings to really hash through. I think that the Rangers have the depth in the bullpen to get through those 20-25 innings. I don't think the Cardinals have that depth. I don't think there pitching staff is any better than the Rangers. It is going to an interesting series.