Fourth Playoff Starter

[Elster88]

Who should get the fourth start in a playoff series?

[Edgy MD]

Elster's on fire.

The team went into the 2000 post-season with Whoever as their fourth starter. I'm OK with that. With health and hot hands and lefty-heavy vs. righty-heavy opponents, it'll sort itself out.

[MFS62]

Matz - because the opponent may not have any ( or may have limited) game experience against him.

Later

[seawolf17]

My vote right now is Matz too, but I'm 50/50 with Colon there.

[Lefty Specialist]

Matz I need to see a little more of (even though I went with him). He's been okay, but not lights out. But he's a lefty and if there's one person who should NOT be the 4th starter, it's Niese.

Colon you get the feeling will do whatever it takes. Start, relieve, bring candy to the bullpen, whatever. An excellent guy to have. And if Boras decides Harvey shouldn't start in the NLCS, he can slot right in.

[Ceetar]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Matz I need to see a little more of (even though I went with him). He's been okay, but not lights out. But he's a lefty and if there's one person who should NOT be the 4th starter, it's Niese. Colon you get the feeling will do whatever it takes. Start, relieve, bring candy to the bullpen, whatever. An excellent guy to have. And if Boras decides Harvey shouldn't start in the NLCS, he can slot right in.

Let's see how Niese does the rest of the season, since he's a good pitcher in general and certainly likely to straighten out (not that a Quality Start in the playoffs is the worst thing)

Anyway, Matz or Niese. Gotta get the lefty in there. You could actually make a case for getting time for both.

Dodgers best hitters by OPS: Adrian Gonzalez, lefty. Ethier, lefty. Justin Turner, reverse splits, Joc Pederson, lefty.

[TransMonk]

I think it depends on how the other three line up, whether the series starts at home or away and how much the team will be able to lean on Harvey.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'd put Colon and Niese on the roster and see what the situation is when (and if) Game 4 comes around. Are the Mets up 2-1 or down 2-1? And who was pitching better at the close of the regular season. There's always a chance that deGrom starts Game 4.

[Gwreck]

I don't see much chance the Mets would start deGrom in game 4 on short rest.

If you're up 3-0, you don't have a game 4.
If you're down 1-2, you still need to win game 5.
If you're up 2-1, you get to save him for game 5.

[Benjamin Grimm]

If deGrom had a short outing in Game 1 and the Mets were down 2-1, I'd consider starting deGrom in Game 4. It's not a likely scenario, but it could happen.

[Elster88]

During the game today Howie said that Terry already confirmed that they won't use Matz out of the bullpen during the playoffs.

Did they already decide that Matz won't start?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't think so.

[Elster88]

Bump

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Wouldn't Colon be your game 1 starter because he's a veteran with postseason experience and wouldn't be overly amped-up?

[Elster88]

I voted Matz. I'd rather Colon be a long man out of the pen.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I went with Matz, though I can see gping with Colon due to his experience. Preferably, any post-season starts for Matz would be at CitiField. I just don't want to see Niese out there as the fourth starter. I would use him as a LOOGY, preferably to start an inning.

I think Colon will do whatever is asked of him to help the team win. I look at Colon as the long man should any of the starters falter and have to come out of a game early or if a game goes extra innings, then Colon becomes the guy hat can give you 3-4 innings, if necessary.

[Elster88]

Ed C said today that Terry says that he hasn't made up his mind between Colon and Matz yet.

[Edgy MD]

Niese may be used out of the pen, but his track record doesn't betray the kind of splits you'd look for from a LOOGy. I wouldn't be looking for short workdays from him.

[Frayed Knot]

But as Gary pointed out today, he's got good numbers against Adrian Gonzalez and he's the biggest (only?) Dodger LHB threat.
As a result, Niese could wind up being nothing more than a super-specialist here - at least in the first round.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: But as Gary pointed out today, he's got good numbers against Adrian Gonzalez and he's the biggest (only?) Dodger LHB threat. As a result, Niese could wind up being nothing more than a super-specialist here - at least in the first round.

Turner has reverse splits, Ethier is lefty, Grandal is both but a little bit worse from the left side. Pederson is lefty. Those are the top 5 qualifying Dodger lefties.

New stud Seager is lefty too.

While Niese might not translate as a LOOGY specifically, the lineup's lefty enough that he should be a good choice for 2-3 innings.

Also why I favor Matz over Colon.