Kremer or Suarez for Game 3

[Wavetrapper]

5 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Suarez has appeared to hit the wall this last month and Kremer has pitched well. It's an easy decision and Suarez can help the bullpen he's probably best suited for one or two innings after pitching a full season.

This is exactly as I feel 

[Frobby]

5 hours ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Suarez has appeared to hit the wall this last month and Kremer has pitched well. It's an easy decision and Suarez can help the bullpen he's probably best suited for one or two innings after pitching a full season.

I’d be comfortable either way, but I’d go with Kremer as the hot hand.  I guess that means he won’t take his regular turn on Sunday.   

[Earl Buck]

I am voting right after the solid performance of Kremer in the clinching playoff game. So recency bias means Kremer gets the vote for sure. 
But beyond this, the feel test to me is that Kremer seems to have a greater consistency. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

21 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’d be comfortable either way, but I’d go with Kremer as the hot hand.  I guess that means he won’t take his regular turn on Sunday.   

I'd agree with @SteveAthat game three of the wildcard series is closer to a bullpen game than anything else. The Orioles can with Kremer or Suarez, but if they don't have it going to be a very quick hook.

With the season on the line there isn't the leeway to let a starter to try and settle down. If it's the second inning and they're getting rocked then it's bullpen time.

[theobird]

Love what Suarez has done for us, but I’m going with Kramer for sure. He is finishing strong, has the better track record.

[dzorange]

14 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

Feels like Suarez has run out of steam. 

The last time we thought that he came back and had one of his best runs of the season.

But I agree with the rest, I'll take Kremer.

Edited 4 hours ago by dzorange

[Aristotelian]

1 minute ago, dzorange said:

The last time we thought that he came back and had one of his best runs of the season.

But I agree with the rest, I'll take Kremer.

Agreed, if they decided to start Suarez I wouldn't complain. Through August he was on a roll and I thought he was a virtual lock to be in the playoff rotation. 

Still, Kremer is pitching better right now. He also is the same or better in just about any metric now that Albert's HR rate has normalized. Kremer has better OPS splits vs both RHB and LHB, higher K rate, lower WHIP. fWAR and K/BB are basically identical. I can't think of an objective reason to go with Albert.

[Orioles0615]

Kremer has been the better pitcher this month, needs a super quick hook though 

[RVAOsFan]

16 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Kremer and to me it’s not close. I appreciate what Suarez has done this year but his lucky HR rate for most of the year is flipping and Kremer has the bette track record and can be trusted more.

I don't know about you, but I sure am glad the O's didn't trade him during the offseason.  

[justD]

I've enjoyed watching both this season, especially against right-handed hitters. 

I really like the calm and poise that Suarez brings to the mound, but teams seem to have figured him out, and he seems to have tired. 

Kremer gets rattled when things go wrong, but when they don't, he brings fire and an intense focus that really fits the postseason. 

So I vote Kremer, but with quick visits to the mound to either calm him down or get someone in to replace him, all hands on deck. 

[Sports Guy]

20 minutes ago, RVAOsFan said:

I don't know about you, but I sure am glad the O's didn't trade him during the offseason.  

I would rather have Cease than Kremer.  

[spiritof66]

I'd want to se who the opponent is and re-evaluate then, but right now it's definitely Kremer. If Kremer does start and pitches well, you have to figure he'll cover no more than five innings (or roughly twice through the lineup, again depending on the opponent). There will be plenty of innings left, and Suarez would be a candidate for them in a close game, even if Hyde insists on following Kremer with a LHer). 

[Sanfran327]

Jim and Ben made a good point after the game last night. Kremer seems like a guy that likes pitching in big games and seems to fare well, at least in regular season games. Suarez also has experience coming out of the pen, so if Kremer starts getting roughed up 2nd time through the order, Suarez could come in and give you 3+ comfortably. But in a longer series, you'll want/need a 4th SP, so if the Grayson long-man experiment never comes to fruition, both of them will be in the rotation for the ALCS if we get that far.

[Tony-OH]

I imagine it'll be Kremer, but there will be a quick hook to Suarez or GRod, assuming GRod doesn't get the opener assignment.

[e16bball]

2 hours ago, justD said:

I've enjoyed watching both this season, especially against right-handed hitters. 

I really like the calm and poise that Suarez brings to the mound, but teams seem to have figured him out, and he seems to have tired. 

Kremer gets rattled when things go wrong, but when they don't, he brings fire and an intense focus that really fits the postseason. 

So I vote Kremer, but with quick visits to the mound to either calm him down or get someone in to replace him, all hands on deck. 

Yeah, I think this is the reason you might linger over this decision a bit longer than you otherwise might. 

Dean is a thinker and a tinkerer and a guy who does seem to get lost in the emotions of the moment from time to time. If things go sideways early for him, it’s much tougher to see him getting things back on track. 

And there’s something about the steely focus and calm with Suarez that does give off a “he shrugged off a 1st inning homer by Witt/Carpenter to scatter 6 hits over 4.2 innings of one-run ball” vibe. 

That said, I too am going with Dean. He’s been genuinely excellent over these last 8 starts, not just with the ERA but with a very good FIP (3.23) and elite average EV (84.5) and xBA (.226) that speak to the fact that this isn’t just luck. Guys are genuinely having trouble squaring him up right now. The splitter gives him a real weapon to attack LHPs (.268 wOBA against him in that span) which probably is an important aspect for a guy who is likely to see Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene twice in his initial postseason appearance. Plus, the Tigers haven’t seen him since April 2023, so that’s probably a little advantage as well.