Adjusted rotations, schedules, and the wildcard...

[floplag]

I noticed today that the As have adjusted theirs to line up for the final week and they are lining up to have Gray and Samardjia pitch in the final 2 games of the last weekend series against Texas.  On looking at this i took a look at the post season schedule and noticed something, there really is no significant penalty for the play in game as much as i thought there was.

 

Why does the season end on Sunday, yet the DS not start till Thursday?

 

If you take into account the As situation, they have JS on Sat and Gray on Sun, factoring in normal rest they would both be available to open the DS on normal rest.

The only outlyer in all this is whoever pitches the play in game, who likely wouldn't be avail till game 3 but even that is normal rest as it wouldnt be till Sunday.

 

Am i remembering this badly or wasn't there less time between these games in previous years?
 

[Angel Oracle]

I wonder if the delay until that Thursday is due to the worry over a 163rd game needing to be played to determine the remaining entrant into the WC game. 

[floplag]

I would have thought the default schedule should be as is without trying to account for all that, and adjust. 

 

Am i wrong, ash this always been like this cause i don't recall this kind of delay in the past... maybe i just didn't care since we weren't there but this is kinda silly really.  

 

Being given 4 days from end of season to start of actual playoffs is kinda ridiculous under the current format and really negates the advantage of winning the division. 

 

Any WC team can use thier "Ace" for the play-in WC game and he will still be a factor in the regular playoff series with game 3 on regular rest and possibly game 5 on short.

 

too many travle days and what ifs.. makes it all kinda moot.

[Stradling]

They fixed the travel day part during the playoffs. They only days off this year are travel days. In years past some series would play game one then have a day off for no reason. This year isn't like that.

[Chimi]

With the NFL on Thursday nights, that probably isn't the most ideal day to start the ALDS for MLB.

[floplag]

i went back and looked it up and it was exactly the same last year, so perhaps my assumption was wrong.
in '13 the WC play in game was on Oct 2, and the DS started the 4th with games on the 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th so... i guess i was wrong.

 

Interesting, i guess it isnt as much a big deal as  people are making it out to be in many ways since youll have to have 2 or three guys get it done on the mound anyway to win so.. much ado about nothing.

[Jeff Fletcher]

There's really no way around this. You need Monday for game 163 (which we just had last year) and the playoffs start on Tuesday. You could have both WC games on the same day (as they did in '12) but that still doesn't solve much since the AL and NL will always be staggered in later rounds so you don't have off days on the same day or Game 7s on the same day.

Also, it is still a penalty if your ace can't go until game 3 of the division series because he can only pitch once in the series. The game 1 and 2 starters are both available to also pitch game 5. Plus, you may be down 2-0 by game 3.

The bottom line is teams that win the division can start any pitchers they want in any order and wild card teams can't.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Jeff Fletcher

[stormngt]

If we face the mariners:  Hernandez pitches WC game

Iwakuma pitches Game 1

Whoever pitches game 2

Hernandez game 3

Iwakuma game 4

Hernandez game 5

 

Who says they are not afraid of the Mariners?  Their pitching alone makes them a solid WS contenders

[ScottT]

The main advantage to winning a division is avoiding the coin flip game.  

[Jeff Fletcher]

If we face the mariners: Hernandez pitches WC game

Iwakuma pitches Game 1

Whoever pitches game 2

Hernandez game 3

Iwakuma game 4

Hernandez game 5

Who says they are not afraid of the Mariners? Their pitching alone makes them a solid WS contenders

Hernandez on 2 days rest in game 5?

Game 3 is Sunday. Game 5 is Weds.

[T.G.]

The A's adjusting their rotation for the last series in Anaheim worked well for them.

[tomsred]

No way they would pitch Hernandez on two days rest.  They would use Paxton.

[Angel Oracle]

If we face the mariners:  Hernandez pitches WC game

Iwakuma pitches Game 1

Whoever pitches game 2

Hernandez game 3

Iwakuma game 4

Hernandez game 5

 

Who says they are not afraid of the Mariners?  Their pitching alone makes them a solid WS contenders

I can't see Hernandez pitching on 2 days rest in game 5, unless it's for just 4-5 innings. 

Paxton is the secret weapon.   Dude is the real deal.

 

It would likely be.

Iwakuma in game 1

Paxton in game 2

Felix in game 3

Young in game 4

Iwakuma in game 5, with Paxton (normal rest) available if Iwakuma struggles

Edited September 15, 2014 by Angel Oracle

[stormngt]

OK. Iwakuma twice and Hernandez once.

In a seven game series those two cam pitch 5 times.

Hernandez on 2 days rest in game 5?

Game 3 is Sunday. Game 5 is Weds.