Medlen

cajunrevenge

cajunrevenge

Well-known member
Now my love for Medlen is rivaled only by thethe but should the series go to 5 games Minor deserves to start it and he would be on regular rest. This begs the question what to do with Medlen. Medlen only threw 74 pitches and he had an extra days rest going in to the start. Thus the options as I see them

Option #1 - Use Medlen on short rest in place of Garcia for game 4.

Option #2 - Use Medlen out of the pen for games 4/5

Do you go option 1 if we lose game 3 and go option 2 if we win game 3?
 
It's a little rash, But I'd go with a Medlen/Minor tandem. And then go with a Medlen/Wood Tandem for Game 2 of the NLCS. Though I'd bring Medlen in for game 4 if we lose game 3. I think the team facing elimination brings their game 1 starter on short rest.
 
If it goes five games I'll take my shot with Minor again. As far as game four, anyone on the playoff roster but Garcia please.
 
thethe said:
If Freddi starts Garcia down 2-1 we will still hear how he made the right call.
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Well, he hasn't been that awful.

Pretty decent actually.

That said, probably Meds if we lose Game 3.

Certainly agree if it gets to a Game 5, gotta go with MM.
 
The way I see it Medlen in the pen makes it more likely we win both games but Medlen starting over Garcia makes it more likely we win game 4.
 
Game 3: JT

Game 4: Wood/Medlen

Game 5: Minor/Medlen

When we win game 3, start Wood game 4, if its close or have the lead, bring Meds in til Kimbrel time. Call me crazy if you will, but I just really like that wood kid, I think he can get it done.

NO Freddy Garcia please.
 
Five said:
Game 3: JT

Game 4: Wood/Medlen

Game 5: Minor/Medlen

When we win game 3, start Wood game 4, if its close or have the lead, bring Meds in til Kimbrel time. Call me crazy if you will, but I just really like that wood kid, I think he can get it done.

NO Freddy Garcia please.
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I like Wood too. The fact is that Wood is not stretched out enough to start on a whim. Impressively, Wood has filled two holes this season, both at the front end and back end of our staff.
 
If we don't go Meds/Minor in game 4/5 regardless if we win game 3 it's a failure. This is the playoffs and Garcia has no business starting in a LDS. Possible LCS and WS sure. But in a short series it's time to man up and get **** done.
 
thewupk said:
If we don't go Meds/Minor in game 4/5 regardless if we win game 3 it's a failure. This is the playoffs and Garcia has no business starting in a LDS. Possible LCS and WS sure. But in a short series it's time to man up and get **** done.
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This. This is what I was trying to say.
 
I'm all for using smaller sample sizes to make decisions in the playoffs, but going on the two games against the Dodgers to conclude we would want Minor in a hypothetical game 5 is too much. Medlen's problem in game 1 was he was amped up too much. He needs to keep his fastball and change in the lower part of the strike zone and he wasn't doing it on a consistent basis. I think if he came back in game 5 he would be able to get a handle on the adrenalin and pitch his normal game.

Minor pitched a great game, but everyone seems to have forgotten how shaky he looked the first couple innings when he was bouncing every curve.
 
Minor only let up 2 hard hit balls all game. Medlen cannot say the same.

I'm not advocating one over the other because I think the difference is honestly largely negligible, but watching the 2 pitch the last 2 days Minor was clearly better. Whether that had to do with Medlen being over pumped or whatever who knows. That makes 2 post season starts that Medlen hasn't been as sharp in as he was in September. Maybe Medlen isn't a high pressure playoff pitcher, who knows.
 
zitothebrave said:
Minor only let up 2 hard hit balls all game. Medlen cannot say the same.

I'm not advocating one over the other because I think the difference is honestly largely negligible, but watching the 2 pitch the last 2 days Minor was clearly better. Whether that had to do with Medlen being over pumped or whatever who knows. That makes 2 post season starts that Medlen hasn't been as sharp in as he was in September. Maybe Medlen isn't a high pressure playoff pitcher, who knows.
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Minor pitched better on October 4 than Medlen on October 3. No doubt about that. I just would look back a bit and take into account a slightly larger sample to make the decision on who should pitch in a hypothetical game 5. Btw I thought Medlen pitched well in last year's Wild Card game. Not a great game in the sense he didn't overcome the error Chipper made behind him. But he was doing well up until the error.
 
After last year's wildcard game and game 1, I just don't trust Medlen in a win or go home game. Sure, he's been great the last couple months, but he had nothing in game one. I say Medlen in game 4 and Minor in game 5 if necessary.
 
nsacpi said:
Minor pitched better on October 4 than Medlen on October 3. No doubt about that. I just would look back a bit and take into account a slightly larger sample to make the decision on who should pitch in a hypothetical game 5. Btw I thought Medlen pitched well in last year's Wild Card game. Not a great game in the sense he didn't overcome the error Chipper made behind him. But he was doing well up until the error.
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You have to consider your opponent as well. Maybe Minor is better built to handle the Dodgers than Medlen (not saying he is just musing) though it's not out of the question, in general fastball changeup guys like Medlen and Minor pitch better to their reverse split than normal because of the effectiveness of the change on the other handed batter. Dodgers have a pretty righty heavy lineup as well. A-Gon is the only great hitting lefty they have. While they have Puig and HanRam for righties. OF course HanRam still hit minor so that point is largely negligible, but Minor and Co embarrassed Puig. Only reason he got a hit waas because Johnson had to hold off because of the runner.
 
CyYoung31 said:
I like Wood too. The fact is that Wood is not stretched out enough to start on a whim. Impressively, Wood has filled two holes this season, both at the front end and back end of our staff.
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zitothebrave said:
You have to consider your opponent as well. Maybe Minor is better built to handle the Dodgers than Medlen (not saying he is just musing) though it's not out of the question, in general fastball changeup guys like Medlen and Minor pitch better to their reverse split than normal because of the effectiveness of the change on the other handed batter. Dodgers have a pretty righty heavy lineup as well. A-Gon is the only great hitting lefty they have. While they have Puig and HanRam for righties. OF course HanRam still hit minor so that point is largely negligible, but Minor and Co embarrassed Puig. Only reason he got a hit waas because Johnson had to hold off because of the runner.
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There are a couple right handed batters in the Dodgers lineup (Uribe and AJ Ellis) that have negligible splits or even slightly reverse splits. I don't think they are one of those teams where you say you want a righty or lefty going against them.

Both Medlen and Minor have significant conventional splits this season, more so than earlier in their careers. This is not surprising because both have improved their breaking pitches, which helps more against same handed batters. Earlier in their careers they featured the changeup more which of course is THE pitch for getting opposite handed batters out.
 
gtcway said:
After last year's wildcard game and game 1, I just don't trust Medlen in a win or go home game. Sure, he's been great the last couple months, but he had nothing in game one. I say Medlen in game 4 and Minor in game 5 if necessary.
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Medlen actually pitched really well in the play-in game last year. If not for the error he would have gone 6+ innings giving up only 2 runs and would have exited with the lead. Now his bad start does make me weary of bringing him back on short rest though. I am really leaning towards Garcia for 5 innings then Medlen for 2 innings to get thru 7 for game 4. I know thats not the sexy option but he has pitched very well in his 3 starts with solid peripheral stats.
 
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