Last yr going into the AL playoffs against the Yankees his hottest pitcher was Barry Zito...............I thought he totally screwed up the series by pitching Zito 3rd and not 1st game(1st game allowing him to make 2 starts in a 5 games series)...........This yr his best pitcher going in is Zito again...yet he is starting Hudson in game 1. Now I am not saying Hudson and Mulder are not quality pitchers but I dont think anyone watching baseball can say Hudson and Mulder are as good as Zito has been this yr........Doesnt it make sense to use your best pitcher 2 games in a 5 gm series and not just 1 ???????
Art Howe......Can someone explain to me????
- Thread starter maverick2112
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I dont know why but you can put Valenzuela and Ryan and the Yankees would find a way to win it, (last year Schilling/Johnson was a miracle even with them pitching on 5 out of 7 games). Please never bet against the Bombers on a playoff game, because it will not be good at the end.:nono:
Dunno Howe's reasoning for the rotation, but Zito just pitched on Sunday, so given that I'm sure he may as well give Barry the standard 5 days rest. Before pitching on Sunday, Zito had pitched 5 days before that. Hudson last started on the 25th, Mulder on the 27th.
Now............Howe is in the position where his team has to win 3 out of 4 gms with his best pitcher(Zito) only pitching once. How fruggin idiotic is that. He pulled the same stupid move last yr. Why play the whole regular season, only to not play your best pitcher twice in a 5 game series in the playoffs. Maybe Fletcher can explain this to me......
Not saying I agree with Howe's decision, but I think he was going by numbers and past history.
Hudson pitched even better than Zito the final two months and absolutely owned the Twins in his career coming into today's game..56.3IP, 1.76ERA, 1.07WHIP, 5-0 in 8 starts.
On the other hand, Zito has had more trouble against Minny than any other team in his career...28.6IP, 5.97ERA, 1.47WHIP, 1-2 in 5 starts. But he did pitch very well in his two starts vs Minny this season.
Three excellent pitchers..hard to go wrong with any of them going in any particular order..I probably would have gone with Zito though and not relied too much on his history against them, especially when he shut them down twice this season.
Hudson pitched even better than Zito the final two months and absolutely owned the Twins in his career coming into today's game..56.3IP, 1.76ERA, 1.07WHIP, 5-0 in 8 starts.
On the other hand, Zito has had more trouble against Minny than any other team in his career...28.6IP, 5.97ERA, 1.47WHIP, 1-2 in 5 starts. But he did pitch very well in his two starts vs Minny this season.
Three excellent pitchers..hard to go wrong with any of them going in any particular order..I probably would have gone with Zito though and not relied too much on his history against them, especially when he shut them down twice this season.
Hudson has not been as good in the last yr and a half as he was before that....and Zito has been on fire the lasy yr and a half........the thing I cant understand that as a manager if I am going down I am going down with my best players playing and best pitchers pitching. If ever oakland can get past this 1st round then with 3 solid starters and the next rounds being best of 7 then they are definitely in better shape.
