Harden to pitch last game of season or 1st game of

by Vegas Ace on Sep 26, 2006 10:59 PM PDT Comment 4 comments

the play-offs???

Reading an excerpt from Susan Slusser's SF Chron article tonight, I wondered if the the A's management would be so stupid as to pitch Harden in the last game of the season rather than the 1st game of the play-offs. "He threw 76 pitches in all, and he's expected to be around 100 his next time out, which is the final regular-season game at Anaheim on Sunday."

Is this a no brainer decision or do we have to worry about Macha's "inside the box" decision-making patterns. Any comments?

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I would be very surprised

if Zito wasn't the Game 1 starter

by OaklandSi on Sep 26, 2006 11:06 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i had the same thoughts...

during the game tonight. he's like our johan santana, albeit just off the DL. someone who dominates and strikes fear at the heart of opponents. i'd take my chance on him pitching the 1st game, rather than bury him on the 4th or 5th game of the ALDS, when the series could've been over. if we face the twins, harden's got a nasty record against them. he one-hit them once last year in oakland...and won another close contest in minnesota.

by arch on Sep 26, 2006 11:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

1st or 3rd...?

If he was to pitch on Sunday that would place him on exactly 4 days rest for what will be game 3 of the division series. It cannot hurt to give him one more warm up to work on all of his pitches and build further arm strength that could be needed in a very crucial game.

"Rebuild This"

by JSCHWAN on Sep 26, 2006 11:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't see any way

that they DON'T start Harden on Sunday. He's been on the DL almost all season and needs to stretch himself out so he can go 7 innings in the playoffs. This team won the West essentially without Harden, so he is pure gravy. I don't want to see them push it. If Zito, Loaiza, and Haren can't get you two wins in 4 games, you're not going too far, anyway.

by boilerdan on Sep 27, 2006 10:42 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs