Daily Briefing: How Should Atlanta Manage Its Pitchers?

The FanGraphs Newsletter, October 28, 2021 [READ IN BROWSER]( By Jeffrey Bellone - October 28, 2021 SERIES TIED: After a rough Game 1 loss to the Braves, Astros manager [Dusty Baker]( [spoke confidently]( about his team: “I’ve never seen these guys worry. They know they can play.” His confidence was reflected in his decision to stick to the script and start José Urquidy in Game 2 rather than go with a fully rested Luis Garcia, the star of Game 6 of the ALCS. Part of the logic of having Urquidy pitch Wednesday came down to his fly ball tendencies and the availability of the DH, which allowed the Astros to run out their best outfield defense (in Games 3, 4 and 5, the Astros will likely be somewhat compromised in the field by starting Yordan Alvarez in left). In Urquidy’s disastrous first postseason outing, he only managed to get five outs while allowing five earned runs, mostly due to command struggles that led to a grand slam by Kyle Schwarber. But when Urquidy is right, he throws endless strikes and gets weakly hit fly balls and pops ups with a plus fastball that he throws over 50% of the time. 👉 [Urquidy Rebounds as Astros Tie Series with Game 2 Win, by Luke Hooper]( FIGURING IT OUT: Last night, the Astros got to Max Fried early, scoring five runs in the first two innings on their way to a 7-2 rout. It was a mirror of the first game of the series — and it was also a window into how Brian Snitker plans on managing his pitching staff for the series’ remaining games. With Charlie Morton out until next year, the Braves will be stitching together innings the rest of the way. That plan started last night. 👉 [How Should Atlanta Manage Its Pitchers? by Ben Clemens]( This newsletter is made possible due to the generous support of our members. If you are reading this email or use FanGraphs in your daily baseball routine, please consider supporting us. [BECOME A FANGRAPHS MEMBER]( [Despite a Rough Night, Eddie Rosario Has Had a Run to Remember This October]( by Jay Jaffe [A Conversation With Cleveland Pitching Prospect Daniel Espino]( by David Laurila [Contract Crowdsourcing 2021-22: Ballot 5 of 11]( by Meg Rowley [Contract Crowdsourcing 2021-22: Ballot 6 of 11]( by Meg Rowley [It's Never Too Early for (More) Sleepers*]( by Nicklaus Gaut [2021 Roster Review: Minnesota Twins]( by Paul Sporer [2021 Peripheral Prospect Shortlist: Hitters]( by Alex Chamberlain [Pitchers Had Another Bad Year Hitting. But No. 9 Hitters...]( by Marcus Kellis ⚾️ ROSTER REPORT For the latest roster information, please visit our [RosterResource]( pages. [The 2021 Fielding Bible Award Winners]( via Sports Info Solutions [No, MLB Teams Aren't Stupid by Shifting]( by J.J. Cooper, Baseball America ($) [Visualizing the Infirmary: Introducing the Four-Year Injury Map]( by Derek Rhoads and Rob Mains, Baseball Prospectus ($) [The best hitting and pitching tools in the Astros-Braves Fall Classic]( by Kiley McDaniel, ESPN [@fangraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [RSS]( [FORWARD]( [SUBSCRIBE]( Copyright © 2021 FanGraphs Inc, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the FanGraphs Newsletter. Our mailing address is: FanGraphs Inc 1200 N Hartford St. Apt 312Arlington, Va 22201 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](