Which 5th starter should go this weekend, Santiago or Axelrod?

[caulfield12]

DISCUSS...

[pettie4sox]

Maybe Santiago because the Royals haven't seen too much of him. I'm not sure about Axelrod but did he start a game against KC in his career?

[Balta1701]

What happens to the rotation for upcoming series if they both go (and everyone gets an extra rest day)?

[pettie4sox]

What happens to the rotation for upcoming series if they both go (and everyone gets an extra rest day)?

 

I like this.

[Balta1701]

I like this.

Either that, or if everyone's ready to go, Skip Sale for a week.

[caulfield12]

TUES Quintana

WED Peavy

THUR Off day

FRI Liriano (extra day of rest)

SAT Sale (extra day of rest)

SUN Axelrod or Santiago

MON Quintana

TUES Peavy

WED Liriano

THUR Sale

 

Maybe you pitch him (SALE) Monday in the opening game of the series against DET with 7 days of rest (3 extra)...and avoid matching him with Verlander on Thursday, in order to try to get an early victory in the series. That would also allow you to push Quintana back or out of facing the Tigers.

 

Of course, the downside is you end up losing two games to KC with Axelrod and Santiago both starting.

 

Which puts even more pressure on Sale and Peavy to win in Games 1 and 2 before facing Scherzer and Verlander in Games 3 and 4.

Edited September 4, 2012 by caulfield12

[Balta1701]

Of course, the downside is you end up losing two games to KC with Axelrod and Santiago both starting.

Why? It's not like the other starters in our rotation have beaten up KC lately, and it's not like Axe and Santiago have been automatic losses lately either.

[caulfield12]

Axelrod has 5 ab's against him by current Royals hitters. 0/5 with BB and 2 K's.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...hector-santiago

Current Royals hitters are 0/11 against Hector in his career.

 

 

[LittleHurt05]

Why? It's not like the other starters in our rotation have beaten up KC lately, and it's not like Axe and Santiago have been automatic losses lately either.

 

The pitching hasn't been the problem vs. KC either. It has been the inability to hit Cy Mendoza, Cy Chen, & Cy Guthrie.

[caulfield12]

Why? It's not like the other starters in our rotation have beaten up KC lately, and it's not like Axe and Santiago have been automatic losses lately either.

 

 

Therein lies the dilemma. Have Sale start the opener, and then you can push Quintana back.

 

Do we trust Quintana at this point in the season to go out and beat the Tigers and set the tone in the all-important Game 1 Monday?

 

That means Liriano (coming off a couple of shaky starts), Santiago and Axelrod against the Royals.

Or Liriano, then Axelrod, then Santiago, so you don't have 2 lefties two days in a row with similar fastballs.

 

Then Sale/Peavy/Liriano/???? (Quintana/Santiago/Axelrod/Humber) against the Tigers.

Dangerous to go into the match-up with Verlander throwing our 5th/6th/7th/8th starter. But maybe a better strategy than using Sale against him again.

Edited September 4, 2012 by caulfield12

[Balta1701]

Therein lies the dilemma. Have Sale start the opener, and then you can push Quintana back.

 

Do we trust Quintana at this point in the season to go out and beat the Tigers and set the tone in the all-important Game 1 Monday?

 

That means Liriano (coming off a couple of shaky starts), Santiago and Axelrod against the Royals.

Or Liriano, then Axelrod, then Santiago, so you don't have 2 lefties two days in a row with similar fastballs.

I like the concept of a couple days extra rest for Sale, with him taking Quintana's spot, thus giving Quintana also a couple extra days of rest before he goes. So yeah, I'll go Liriano and then the rookies this weekend, with Sale leading off against the Tigers and Quintana moving back a couple days as well.

[lostfan]

Either that, or if everyone's ready to go, Skip Sale for a week.

I wouldn't mind skipping Sale completely. In the Detroit start he looked like he was running out of gas around pitch 80, or whenever he gave up that 3-run homer.

[southsider2k5]

I wouldn't mind skipping Sale completely. In the Detroit start he looked like he was running out of gas around pitch 80, or whenever he gave up that 3-run homer.

 

That wasn't a bad pitch either. Farmer really felt that the Tigers were stealing signals and passing the pitch on.

[caulfield12]

Of course, it's Mendoza/Chen/Guthrie against us, haha.

 

Wouldn't have it any other way.

 

 

But going....

 

Sale vs. Porcello

Peavy vs. Fister

Liriano vs. Scherzer (rematch)

Quintana vs. Verlander

 

Might be the better option. It all depends on how Quintana looks tonight, and Santiago/Axelrod this weekend. I wouldn't be 100% opposed to Santiago getting that start in Game 4 over Quintana if he beats the Royals this weekend.

 

You have to go with the livest arm. The only concern I would have is using Liriano and Santiago back to back. They're a lot more similar than going Liriano and Quintana. Then again, if Axelrod pitches another gem, you could change things up by using him, but I still am not ready to trust Axelrod against Verlander YET.

 

Want to see how all 3 guys look the next time out first.

 

 

[elrockinMT]

What I find kind of amazing is that our 5th starters and throw ins at that are the only ones with wins over the last week or so. What soes that say about the rotation? Tired arms or just bad luck? Regardless I wouldn't see it as a bad thing if both Axelrod and Santiago go again and then set up the usual suspects to face Detroit with an extra day or so of rest

[caulfield12]

Then you have another poll question...

 

Who do you most trust to beat Justin Verlander in Game 4?

 

A) Chris Sale

B) Hector Santiago

C) Dylan Axelrod

D) Jose Quintana

E) Phil Humber

 

Those are our five options, realistically.

[lostfan]

That wasn't a bad pitch either. Farmer really felt that the Tigers were stealing signals and passing the pitch on.

Up to that point, he was lights out, then it fell apart.

[flavum]

It's all hands on deck from here on out.

 

If Quintana stinks in the first inning tonight, we may see Axelrod for 6 innings tonight.

 

And as far as pushing back Sale, I think he'll get this next start vs KC, and if he's dead armed, I don't think he'll face the Tigers. It may be a good idea to just skip him a full start and try to get a fresher arm for the last 4 starts, and line him up for the Game 163/WC/ALDS1.

[balfanman]

Therein lies the dilemma. Have Sale start the opener, and then you can push Quintana back.

 

Do we trust Quintana at this point in the season to go out and beat the Tigers and set the tone in the all-important Game 1 Monday?

That means Liriano (coming off a couple of shaky starts), Santiago and Axelrod against the Royals.

Or Liriano, then Axelrod, then Santiago, so you don't have 2 lefties two days in a row with similar fastballs.

 

Then Sale/Peavy/Liriano/???? (Quintana/Santiago/Axelrod/Humber) against the Tigers.

Dangerous to go into the match-up with Verlander throwing our 5th/6th/7th/8th starter. But maybe a better strategy than using Sale against him again.

 

I'm not so sure that I trust any of our starters (Sale included) to set a positive tone at this point. They are all pretty much hit or miss.

[Jake]

I pick Santiago, but I'm warming to the idea of using them both.