This is a preview of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter, an e-mail newsletter about all things
baseball, featuring analysis and opinion about the game on and off the
field from the perspective of the informed outsider. Joe Sheehan is a
founding member of Baseball Prospectus and a contributor to Sports Illustrated and Baseball America. He has been writing about baseball for nearly 25 years.
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"The Astros were the second-best team in baseball when facing a starter a third time, racking up a .291/.350/.558 line, second only to what the Rockies did, and of course that’s a park issue. The Nationals were third in MLB to the Mets and Indians in the number of plate appearances their pitchers faced hitters a third and fourth time, and as a group, they were effective relative to the league: .243/.313/.419, fourth-lowest OPS allowed. (The Astros had the best mark: .206/.251/.391. Astros starters were better the third time around than most teams’ starters were the first time around.) The Nationals don’t have the pitching depth to change that strategy in the World Series, so if you’re looking for an early angle, it’s the Astros facing the Nationals’ starters the third time around. The Nationals have to win that battle most nights to win the World Series."
