For sure, it's a real thing in baseball. But unless last night really rattled this Brewers' team, I haven't been concerned about their ability to handle pitchers, especially shaky ones. They've had a nearly perfect approach against basically every pitcher they've faced.
As for the Rays sending guys out on short rest, I could easily see this Brewers team absolutely devouring any pitchers on short rest. The moment a pitcher has shown a weakness, this team goes for the kill. If I'm the Rays, I'm terrified of that scenario.
Yeah, the Brewers still have the advantage in the series if they lose, but you have the soon-to-be Cy Young winner starting against god-knows-what on the Tampa side. They have some decent pitchers, but Cash burned through his trust tree last night.
The Brewers kinda need to win this one. They have Miz on the mound, and other than Ashby and Senzatela, their bullpen should be in decent shape. On the other side, the Rays burned Martinez yesterday, and used damn near everybody.
This is probably the most *interesting* pitching matchup in the series so far. On one side, you have Gasser, who is the biggest wild card the Brewers have pitched thus far. On the other side, the Rays have Freddy. This should be fun!
To be clear, I don't begrudge Stearns for going to his hometown team at all. I only hold *some* contempt for Counsell.
In Stearns' case, this thread is more about the horrendous season the Mets just had, and the increasing Brewers' success. It has to be a slightly bitter pill.