Extra rest in the postseason a 'balancing act' for Astros
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This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
HOUSTON -- In the wake of this year’s early exits by the 100-plus-win Dodgers, Orioles and Braves, the five-day layoff between the end of the regular season and the start of the Division Series under the current playoff format has been a topic of conversation.
The layoff hasn’t affected Houston, which is the only team that received a first-round bye -- and the only remaining division champion -- competing in a League Championship Series. The Astros, who snatched away the American League West title and a bye on the final day of the regular season, will face the Rangers in Game 1 of the ALCS on Sunday.
“We know what we’ve got to get done to get the team rolling,” Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña said. “Our coaches do a great job of preparing the game plan for us to get us on our A-game.”
After beating the D-backs in the final game of the regular season to clinch the AL West, the Astros flew home to Houston and were given one day off while awaiting the start of the ALDS against the Twins five days later. They did some light work at Minute Maid Park on the second day after the win and did fundamental reviews and live batting practice sessions for the next two days.
The day before the start of the series was a full workout day, as mandated by Major League Baseball, with the media on hand to do interviews.
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“The one thing we’ve been doing, and I think other teams have been doing too, is facing live pitching,” Astros catcher Martín Maldonado said. “Overall, I think it’s no different than what we do in Spring Training.”
Astros manager Dusty Baker said the fact the Astros had to play until the last day of the season to clinch a bye helped the players stay locked in longer.
“You look at the Dodgers, you look at the Braves, they [clinched] two weeks prior to that and they had a layoff,” he said.
Last year, Houston clinched the AL West with two weeks remaining in the regular season and still won its first seven playoff games.
The Astros swept last year’s ALDS against the Mariners and had three days before the start of the ALCS. After sweeping the Yankees, they had five days before facing the Phillies in the World Series. In fact, the Astros played only seven games in a 22-day span between the end of last year’s regular season and the start of the World Series.
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That’s a much different cadence than the regular season, when teams typically get one day off per week.
“I don't think we have any special recipe that anybody doesn't,” Astros pitcher Justin Verlander said. “It's difficult with days off. I think we embrace that. … I think that's the thing, going to the ALCS as many times in a row as we have, you definitely have times where you have days off. You are going to have four or five days off in a row; it just happens. So each individual guy has learned their routine of how to deal with the downtime to allow them to be what they need to be physically, mentally, to go out there and succeed.”
Verlander will make his Game 1 start against the Rangers on seven days of rest, having not thrown since beating the Twins in Game 1 of the ALDS on Oct. 7. He said he threw twice in the bullpen in the past week, instead of the typical one session between starts.
“It's a bit of a balancing act right now,” he said. “You're trying to get yourself as fresh as possible, but you're also trying to stay sharp. I have a tendency to lose a little bit of feel sometimes with an extended rest. My first couple innings the other day weren't too crisp. You try to keep the rhythm and tempo. But you can't fake game speed. You just can't replicate that in a bullpen setting. ... Hopefully when the lights go on, it clicks.”