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2023 ALCS: Rangers vs Astros


Helobious

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Thread for the games/matchup discussion for anyone that doesn’t want to wade into the cesspool of the Hate thread. Made that mistake a couple times. 
 

Texas has the hot hand but I believe they went 0-93 or something like that against Houston this year. I’m just so fucking sick of seeing the Astros in the WS and so is everyone else.

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32 minutes ago, slorch said:

A yankee fan has a problem with a good-natured rivalry thread between the two MLB teams in Texas that happen to be meeting in the ALCS.

giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47sb4d4f39d37pgl7mig

I think he's just upset that the Ranger fans except for Vic don't want him rooting for their team and of course the Astros fans continue to dunk on him so he wants his safe space...  You'd think he would just walk away and get ready for next year but I gotta hand it to him he's the Timex of Surly
 

 

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10 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

The best Offense in the MLB needs to show up. 

I still have nightmares of the last series against the cheaters where they had 50+ hits in 3 games and broke records. We made their average offense look like world beaters.

Why do you care if the Braves offense shows up?

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I'm still shocked the Astros have made it this far again. Amazing run for a team gasping for air against bad teams a few weeks ago. Of course, the Rangers also have overcome a lot, especially with their pitching injuries. 

Some great head-to-heads are shaping up. Garcia vs. Alvarez? The advantage I'd give to Houston, though not by much. Seager vs. Tucker? Right now Corey's hitting better than Kyle. Altuve vs. Semien? Bregman vs. Jung? Garver vs. Abreu?  Brantley vs. Carter? All tough calls. A bunch of guys on each side can rip it during any given AB, so it just depends on who's feeling it and gets a mistake to hit in a key situation. 

I haven't checked the defensive stats, but Jung and Seager vs. Bregman and Peña is a great matchup. On the right side I must give the edge to Texas. Each team is good in the OF, with Tucker being the most celebrated defender. Catcher is a runaway win for Heim over Maldonado, whether behind the plate or to the side of it (unless maybe "intangibles" really are a huge deal, in which case it tightens up.) 

The real key will be which team gets better pitching. Eovaldi, Dunning and Montgomery are tough starters. Who really knows about Max's availability? Verlander and Javier have been on a roll, but Valdez remains a wild card. In the end the bullpens might be the difference, and there the Astros have an edge. In part that's because of their ability to coax needed middle innings out of Urquidy, Brown, Maton and maybe France. Abreu and Neris are great setup guys, while Pressly is the obvious pick to close. 

Add it all up, and I see the series result as Houston in 7. An epic battle is coming. 

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3 minutes ago, Pimphand said:

Why do you care if the Braves offense shows up?

I guess I should have caveated in the AL, touche. But an interesting look at trends/streaks and to your point:

The Braves are slumping offensively in the post-season. They led the MLB in batting average in the regular season with a team BA of .276 but are only batting .196 in playoffs.

Rangers are hot in playoffs (sweeping top AL teams): batting .282, 7 HRs, 29 RBI, 32 runs in 5 games.

Gotta keep the train rolling and the Asteroids pitching isn't that great...

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5 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

I'm still shocked the Astros have made it this far again. Amazing run for a team gasping for air against bad teams a few weeks ago. Of course, the Rangers also have overcome a lot, especially with their pitching injuries. 

Some great head-to-heads are shaping up. Garcia vs. Alvarez? The advantage I'd give to Houston, though not by much. Seager vs. Tucker? Right now Corey's hitting better than Kyle. Altuve vs. Semien? Bregman vs. Jung? Garver vs. Abreu?  Brantley vs. Carter? All tough calls. A bunch of guys on each side can rip it during any given AB, so it just depends on who's feeling it and gets a mistake to hit in a key situation. 

I haven't checked the defensive stats, but Jung and Seager vs. Bregman and Peña is a great matchup. On the right side I must give the edge to Texas. Each team is good in the OF, with Tucker being the most celebrated defender. Catcher is a runaway win for Heim over Maldonado, whether behind the plate or to the side of it (unless maybe "intangibles" really are a huge deal, in which case it tightens up.) 

The real key will be which team gets better pitching. Eovaldi, Dunning and Montgomery are tough starters. Who really knows about Max's availability? Verlander and Javier have been on a roll, but Valdez remains a wild card. In the end the bullpens might be the difference, and there the Astros have an edge. In part that's because of their ability to coax needed middle innings out of Urquidy, Brown, Maton and maybe France. Abreu and Neris are great setup guys, while Pressly is the obvious pick to close. 

Add it all up, and I see the series result as Houston in 7. An epic battle is coming. 

To me it can be summed up... quite simply Texas has a decided managerial edge (see postseason W/L for both) and Houston has a decided bullpen edge.  The rest you could make cases for either side honestly.

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9 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

I'm still shocked the Astros have made it this far again. Amazing run for a team gasping for air against bad teams a few weeks ago. Of course, the Rangers also have overcome a lot, especially with their pitching injuries. 

Some great head-to-heads are shaping up. Garcia vs. Alvarez? The advantage I'd give to Houston, though not by much. Seager vs. Tucker? Right now Corey's hitting better than Kyle. Altuve vs. Semien? Bregman vs. Jung? Garver vs. Abreu?  Brantley vs. Carter? All tough calls. A bunch of guys on each side can rip it during any given AB, so it just depends on who's feeling it and gets a mistake to hit in a key situation. 

I haven't checked the defensive stats, but Jung and Seager vs. Bregman and Peña is a great matchup. On the right side I must give the edge to Texas. Each team is good in the OF, with Tucker being the most celebrated defender. Catcher is a runaway win for Heim over Maldonado, whether behind the plate or to the side of it (unless maybe "intangibles" really are a huge deal, in which case it tightens up.) 

The real key will be which team gets better pitching. Eovaldi, Dunning and Montgomery are tough starters. Who really knows about Max's availability? Verlander and Javier have been on a roll, but Valdez remains a wild card. In the end the bullpens might be the difference, and there the Astros have an edge. In part that's because of their ability to coax needed middle innings out of Urquidy, Brown, Maton and maybe France. Abreu and Neris are great setup guys, while Pressly is the obvious pick to close. 

Add it all up, and I see the series result as Houston in 7. An epic battle is coming. 

Fuck all that. Houston in 4.

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9 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Fuck all that. Houston in 4.

Bochy has gotten swept 3 times in the playoffs all with the spanish fathers.  Twice in the NLDS vs St Louis and once in the World Series vs the MFY.  To be fair getting the spanish fathers to the World Series probably offsets being swept 3 times with the spanish fathers. 

I don't see that happening here esp with as on point as Eovaldi has been this postseason

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2 hours ago, Gut Wagon said:

Add it all up, and I see the series result as Houston in 7. An epic battle is coming. 

Rangers are one of the streakiest teams I've every seen.  Particularly 2nd half of the season.  I feel like this ends in 5 one way or the other.  Of course, considering you never know what you are going to get with the Rangers, and Stros play better on the road than at home, a 7 game series would also be fitting.  So yeah, who the F knows.  But it's going to be fun.

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5 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Rangers are one of the streakiest teams I've every seen.  Particularly 2nd half of the season.  I feel like this ends in 5 one way or the other.  Of course, considering you never know what you are going to get with the Rangers, and Stros play better on the road than at home, a 7 game series would also be fitting.  So yeah, who the F knows.  But it's going to be fun.

Astros take game 1 for sure. No one is winning 6 straight playoff games. I think it goes back to Texas 1-1 and just turns into a best of 5 from there.

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41 minutes ago, kevwun said:

You have to go all the way back to last season to find a team who won 7 straight playoff games.  I think you might remember it.

I mean even his beloved MFY have won 12 consecutive postseason games two different times but Helo gonna Helo

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Outside of the hate  thread and just talking straight up the series. I’m not sure what to think about the series. Rangers are red hot and confident which can carry you all the way. Nationals won like that and Phillies made it to the WS getting hot. I think the Astros don’t get rattled or nervous given the experience but if they lost the series it’s not like I would be shocked to see it. Gonna be a good series though and I don’t think it’s gonna be a 5 game series and will go 7. 

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2 minutes ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

He's got nothing better to do unless Hal wakes up from his coma and clears out their front office, Yankees ain't winning shit till that happens.

My understanding is that they had 3 days of very stern meetings last week in Tampa, sir. Nothing is off the table for changes with that franchise! ... Well, except for hair length and spending money in a way that makes any sense for actually winning titles. 

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Bullpen is obviously the key for the Rangers; only one run in 13 2/3 so far this postseason, but outside of Game 1 vs Baltimore, none of those were especially what you’d think of as ‘high pressure’ innings, outside of the fact that it’s the playoffs. LeClerc and Sborz have looked much improved and I think Martin Perez still has some crucial outs left in him, but fucking Chapman terrifies me and you know we’re going to see him at least once with the game on the line…

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24 minutes ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

Outside of the hate  thread and just talking straight up the series. I’m not sure what to think about the series. Rangers are red hot and confident which can carry you all the way. Nationals won like that and Phillies made it to the WS getting hot. I think the Astros don’t get rattled or nervous given the experience but if they lost the series it’s not like I would be shocked to see it. Gonna be a good series though and I don’t think it’s gonna be a 5 game series and will go 7. 

Skipper is right. I could maybe see 6 games. I really think 5 games is most likely. Someone is getting steamrolled. 

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33 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

We're letting the Yankee dipshit establish the ALCS thread? That's what this is? Jesus Tittyfucking Christ. 

Texan by birth, yankee fan by destiny. I have every right to start this thread as a baseball fan living in this state. 

28 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

My understanding is that they had 3 days of very stern meetings last week in Tampa, sir. Nothing is off the table for changes with that franchise! ... Well, except for hair length and spending money in a way that makes any sense for actually winning titles. 

He’s conducting a “thorough internal audit”… and not bringing in any external parties to conduct said audit. I’m sure they’ll learn a lot.

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16 minutes ago, Helobious said:

Skipper is right. I could maybe see 6 games. I really think 5 games is most likely. Someone is getting steamrolled. 

Maybe so. I think both teams have had enough inconsistent play this season to be worried the chair is about to get yanked out. Playoffs are weird. I know every season I’ve been confident we’ve lost(rays and Red Sox in the alcs and nationals and Braves in the WS). I’m honestly not sure what I feel about this series. Should be a good one. 

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15 minutes ago, Helobious said:

Texan by birth, yankee fan by destiny. I have every right to start this thread as a baseball fan living in this state. 

He’s conducting a “thorough internal audit”… and not bringing in any external parties to conduct said audit. I’m sure they’ll learn a lot.

You sure are right, little guy. You can make any ol'thread you'd like. Bless your heart.

If no one else does it, I'll show up a couple of hours before game time on Sunday and start a real series thread. You can stay here in this thread and post hawt takes in a vacuum. We'll see if @immamac has the ability to block visibility of a thread from a poster. If so, you can just post here and wonder where the rest of us went. Win-win.

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38 minutes ago, Ignatius said:

Bullpen is obviously the key for the Rangers; only one run in 13 2/3 so far this postseason, but outside of Game 1 vs Baltimore, none of those were especially what you’d think of as ‘high pressure’ innings, outside of the fact that it’s the playoffs. LeClerc and Sborz have looked much improved and I think Martin Perez still has some crucial outs left in him, but fucking Chapman terrifies me and you know we’re going to see him at least once with the game on the line…

The 3 batter minimum for guys like Chapman was actually designed to kill off that team's fans.

Bad Chapman is obvious in about 3 pitches, much less batters.

If Astros are patient and he's in there in a high leverage situation, I'll probably just shut off the TV and scroll through some doggo videos.

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Keep Aroldis off the mound and the Rangers have a shot to win this.  

Hope the Rangers nuke-boys show up like they have been this postseason.  I think maybe that Carter kid is going to be the difference.  Look at this fucking shit.  It's insane.  Except it isn't really that insane because Seager's numbers are even better somehow.

Carter
GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
5 14 3 6 3 0 1 3 6 1 3 1 0 .429 .619 .857 1.476
 
Seager
GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
                                 
5 14 6 6 3 0 1 3 11 0 2 0 0 .429 .680 .857 1.537

 

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58 minutes ago, SpiralOut said:

Keep Aroldis off the mound and the Rangers have a shot to win this.  

Hope the Rangers nuke-boys show up like they have been this postseason.  I think maybe that Carter kid is going to be the difference.  Look at this fucking shit.  It's insane.  Except it isn't really that insane because Seager's numbers are even better somehow.

Carter
GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
5 14 3 6 3 0 1 3 6 1 3 1 0 .429 .619 .857 1.476
 
Seager
GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
                                 
5 14 6 6 3 0 1 3 11 0 2 0 0 .429 .680 .857 1.537

 

And Alvarez’s are better than either of them.

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3 hours ago, closetojumping said:

If no one else does it, I'll show up a couple of hours before game time on Sunday and start a real series thread. You can stay here in this thread and post hawt takes in a vacuum. We'll see if @immamac has the ability to block visibility of a thread from a poster. If so, you can just post here and wonder where the rest of us went. Win-win.

like when pop-pop has kinda lost it, and you give him an office with a secretary and a phone that can't access an outside line and he goes in every day and barks orders at people and goes to lunch and stuff but he's not really still working.

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8 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

like when pop-pop has kinda lost it, and you give him an office with a secretary and a phone that can't access an outside line and he goes in every day and barks orders at people and goes to lunch and stuff but he's not really still working.

You just described my entire working life. Or, at least what I aspire to my working life being some day. 

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12 hours ago, closetojumping said:

You sure are right, little guy. You can make any ol'thread you'd like. Bless your heart.

This site is owned by a fucking Aggy. 

Zero-point-zero reason to give a shit who starts this thread. The Astro fans will be in their thread, Ranger fans the same, & you’re actually worried about this? 

Welcome to MLB on Surly, ctj. We know you’re new. 

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