Quote:
Originally Posted by Parallex
Yeah, Ol'timey guys will get ornery about the ace starting game two but it makes a ton of sense since it will allow them to use the lefties out of the pen more effectively and there is no difference between game 1 & game 2 in terms of value. Not sure why it's Shoemaker and not Walker... Shoemaker has the better splits vs. Lefties this year (which is a small sample size) so I guess that would be the argument.
Tough draw, Tampa has so few weaknesses... but it's a three game series that's as close to a crapshoot as you can get in baseball so we have the proverbial punchers chance.
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Yes, partially because Shoemaker has better splits against lefties, but primarily, it's because Shoemaker is actually Shoemaker/Ray, due to the fact that Shoemaker will only be able to throw 50-60 pitches (at most).
With them being a rightie and a leftie, that causes problems for Tampa's lineup.
Walker earned his position as one of the 3 starters, but he doesn't match up well against the Rays. Getting Ray into game one (along with Borucki and probably Kay), and having Ryu in game 2, gives the Jays the most left-handed innings they can get out of the first 2 games. And that gives them their best chance of winning.