Framber Shoves in Game 2; The Phillies Push Up Syndergaard. Will It Be an Advantage
In Game 1, the Astros scored 5 runs. In Game 2, the Astros scored 5 runs.
In Game 1, the Astros bullpen gave up 1 earned run. In Game 2, the Astros gave up 1 earned run.
So what was different in Game 2? The answer is Framber Valdez. Last night, he pitched 6.1 innings, allowing only 7 baserunners, two of which were erased on double plays. He struck out 9, inducing 15 whiffs on 51 swings by Phillies hitters.
Valdez induced the highest share of ground balls of any pitcher in the majors this season. And the ability to get ground ball outs was on full display Saturday night. Valdez induced 8 ground balls to produce 9 outs. One snuck through for a single, but two were turned into double plays.
The double plays also came at key moments. A fifth inning double play off the bat of Matt Vierling came at highest leverage point during Valdez's 6.1 innings (after a leadoff single, up 3-0). And a 6th inning double play came when the Phillies had gotten 2 on base for the only time against their best hitter Bryce Harper.
Ground balls are easier to field, and Astros fielders gobbled up 7 of the 8 grounders that Valdez induced. They only were able to snag 1 of the 3 balls the Phillies hit in their air. And most importantly, by keeping contact down, Valdez kept the Phillies in the park. No Phillie homered.
Ground balls and strikeouts were a winning combination for Valdez during the regular season. It worked just as well in the World Series.
In his post-game press conference, Phillies manager Rob Thompson announced that the Phillies would start Noah Syndergaard in Game 3 and Ranger Suarez in Game 4.
This move was unexpected, as Suarez had started ahead of Syndergaard in previous playoff rounds. Suarez, a left handed pitcher, was used in relied in Game 1 to face the Astros two left handed sluggers Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker (sandwiched around Alex Bregman).
The move means that Suarez is unable to pitch out of the bullpen in Games 3 and 5. And he is more likely to be used as a bullpen arm if the series comes back to Houston for Games 6 and 7.
Syndergaard was close to a league average pitcher this season, He had a 3.94 ERA in 134.2 innings pitched with the Angels and Phillies, striking out only 6.3 batters per nine innings. As a result, the Phillies have limited his innings this postseason. He went 3 innings in a Game 4 start in the Division Series and 1.1 innings in a relief appearance in the NLCS.
Syndergaard will not go long in Game 3 and we should see a lot of the middle parts of the Phillies bullpen. That should be an advantage for the Astros.
Or is it?
So far, the Astros have scored 10 runs in the two games of the World Series. And they have scored 5 apiece off of Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, the two aces for the Phillies. Those two have thrown 9.1 innings so are.
The Phillies bullpen has thrown 8.2 scoreless innings over the two games of the World Series.
So the good news is that the Astros have gotten to the best Phillies pitchers. And the bad news is that they have been shut down by more modest arms.
Over the long run, that won’t hold up. But they don’t play the World Series over the long run; they play it over the next 5 games.