With pitchers fried, Braves’ Fried tries to win title
HOUSTON — At this point, they’re all fried.
Starters, openers, closers and the rest of them. So
many pitching changes by the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of who’s on the mound.
“Everybody that’s in the World Series right now is gassed, everybody,” Braves
manager Brian Snitker said during Monday’s day off. “Both teams, all the players.
It’s been a long year.”
Fortunately for him, he can now give the ball to Max Fried.
With five full days of rest, the 27-year-old lefty will
start Game 6 on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park as Atlanta again tries to win its first championship
since 1995. The Braves missed a major chance
Sunday night, wasting an early four-run lead at home in what became a 9-5 loss that cut their lead to three games to two.
Luis Garcia starts for Houston. For how long, we’ll see.
It’ll be a big ask for the AL Rookie of the Year candidate as he’ll start on just three days’ rest.
“We think that he’s the best for the job. We realize that he has a short leash,
but then everybody out there has a short leash and operating on low rest or
not full rest,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
Not a surprise considering both teams have employed at least five pitchers in every game so far.
Houston relievers Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek
each have worked four times. Teammates Kendall Graveman, Brooks Raley and Yimi García have been
summoned three times apiece.
Braves relievers Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson, A.J. Minter and Will Smith all
have three appearances already.
They’re fighting fatigue — and the familiarity hitters now have with their repertoires. But that’s how it adds up when there’s
such a premium on finding the proper edge every inning. Many people play a role in factoring those equations.
“The organization gets together because we have quite a few pitching guys
here in the analytics department, and it’s probably
bigger on the pitching side of things, bullpen side of things, matchup side of things,” Baker said.