Setting the 25 Man Roster for a Playoff Series vs. the Houston Astros
Now that the trade deadline has passed and the pool of playoff eligible players are known, I thought that it might be interesting to ponder what the Active roster might look like for a seven game series. I understand that the Rays would have most likely have to survive a one game Wild Card to have gotten to this point. I considered posting a FanPost on the roster in a one game playoff vs the Athletics, Indians, Red Sox but there were too many variables to be considered.
The first thing that I noticed when looking at the Astros roster construction is how right handed their pitching staff is. The starters have Wade Miley as the only lefty and considering the addition of Zach Greinke, Miley may be moved to the bullpen for the playoffs. The Astros current pen does not have a single lefty leaving Miley as the only lefty on the staff.
On the hitting side of the roster Houston is a little more balanced with a potent lineup that is again mostly right handed but Yordan Alvarez is one scary hitter that has to be considered. Alvarez, Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick are the three left handed hitters available to the Astros.
For this exorcise I am going to assume that everyone on the Rays current 40 man roster with the exception of Honeywell will be healthy and available. This will probably not be the case but that is the parameters that I have set.
STARTING PITCHING
2) Blake Snell
I went with a three man rotation because the Rays have been doing it all year ad with travel days off during the playoffs, the opener may not be needed.
BULLPEN
4) Emilio Pagan
8) Jalen Beeks
9) Brendon McKay
10) Oliver Drake
11) Chaz Roe
The pen will not be an easy call for the Rays. I went with an eight man pen and a extra bench player due to the off days. Notable players left off the roster include Yonny Chirinos, Kittredge, Poche, and Yarbrough. Oliver Drake was included for his ability to get out lefties and quite frankly Poche scares the hell out of me.The Chaz Roe inclusion is sure to raise some eyebrows but his K/9 numbers beat out Kittredge in the end.
STARTING LINEUP
12) Austin Meadows RF
13) Tommy Pham LF
14) Brandon Lowe 2B
15) Nick Lowe 1B
16) Ji-Man Choi DH
17) Travis D`Arnaud C
18) Kevin Kiermaier CF
19) Matt Duffy 3B
20) Willie Adames SS
BENCH
21) Yandy Diaz IF
22) Avasail Garcia OF
23) Jesus Aguilar 1B/DH
24) Michael Perez C
25) Eric Sogard IF
Mike Brosseau, Daniel Robertson, Guillermo Heredia, Joey Wendle and Mike Zunino left off the roster. It came down to a tough decision between Sogard and Wendle in which Sogard is slightly more valuable in a pinch hitting role. Probably for Adames with Duffy sliding over to man short. Perez instead of Zunino may be another controversial call but an extra lefty on the bench may be a necessity with such a righty dominated staff. Also Zunino sucks