World Series. Game 7. Who's Your Starter?
Being in the group of friends that i’m in usually sparks debates over random topics or sports. Well last night I sent this post to my buddy Sam about “Who would you want to start a World Series Game 7?”
At first glance there any one of these guys would be a solid choice. And many you could/can make a solid case for. But only two really came to mind when Sam and I started our debate.
Sam being the die hard, fan for life, juice box loving Astros fan he went with Justin Verlander. Guy had an amazing Postseason this year. Going Perfect in his first four games. Making three Starts and one relief appearance. He did however struggle when it came to the World Series. Making 2 starts, going 0-1, going 12 innings, and having an ERA of 3.75. Yes, The Astros did win the world series but when it came crunch time he didn’t do what he needed to do. The bullpen was what saved him. All in all he had an amazing post season. 4-1 Record, 2.47 Era, 8.4 K/9 those numbers are not anything to turn away from and he is one of the big factors why the Astros made it and won the World Series.
My pick for this however was Madison Bumgarner. If you take a look back at 2014 when the Giants last won a World Series Bumgarner was why they won it. He was a work horse. Having to go through the Wild Card to get there. In that Wild Card game of course he started. He pitched a complete game shut-out only giving up 4 hits, Striking out 10. The next two series again he went off. Going 1-1, making 3 starts, striking out 18 in 19.2 innings. Heres where he gets my vote. In the World Series he was 2-0 making 3 appearances with 2 starts. That third appearance was to CLOSE GAME 7 and you know what happened? He closed it out. An 18 out save to finish out the World series. He pitched 21 innings only giving up 1 run (which was a homer), had 17 strikeouts. His Post season performance in 2014 is one of the all-time greatest by a pitcher. Finishing with a 2-1 record, 7 appearances, 45 strike outs, 1.57 Era, and 52.2 innings.
So both make a solid case to be picked for a game 7. But you look at the stats. Is their really any other chose? One of the best World Series performances by a pitcher against a guy that didn’t win a game in the world series. Justins not a bad choice, but Mad Bum in the post season i’m taking him every time.