On Tuesday, the Astros officially set their roster for the AL Wild Card playoff game with the New York Yankees. Houston will take nine pitchers into the game. Including Dallas Keuchel, the Astros have Mike Fiers available along with relievers Josh Fields, Luke Gregerson, Will Harris, Pat Neshek, Oliver Perez, Chad Qualls and Tony Sipp.
Here is the full list of roster possibilities, with some thoughts after:
#Astros officially set Wild Card roster, team is taking 9 pitchers pic.twitter.com/NwIkwvz17w
— Daniel Gotera (@DTGoteraKHOU) October 6, 2015
So many interesting things here. First, they did not bring a third catcher, opting instead for an extra infielder. That's good news for Matt Duffy, who improbably made a postseason roster after winning the PCL MVP award this year. Jonathan Villar also made the roster on the infield, which would have been ludicrous to suggest six months ago. We'll have more on him in today's 3 Things.
Also surprising is that Preston Tucker made the roster. On the podcast Sunday, we indicated that Tucker could be the player left off for an extra pitcher. It appears the Astros want another left-handed bat on the bench with Tanaka on the mound.
The Astros can re-set their playoff roster for a possible ALDS series against the Royals if they win Tuesday, which is why you only see two starting pitchers here.
What are your thoughts? Are you surprised Stassi didn't get a nod? Worried that Vincent Velasquez isn't in the bullpen? What lineup do you think the Astros will trot out now? My quick reaction lineup looks like this:
1. Jose Altuve, 2B
2. George Springer, RF
3. Carlos Correa, SS
4. Colby Rasmus, LF
5. Evan Gattis, DH
6. Carlos Gomez, CF
7. Jason Castro, C
8. Chris Carter, 1B
9. Luis Valbuena, 3B