The 2010 World Series kicks off in two days, which means both teams are busy figuring out who will be on their respect rosters and what their starting rotations will look like for the series.
San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy conducted a press conference today and indicated that his rotation will be Tim Lincecum in Game One, Matt Cain in Game Two, Jonathan Sanchez in Game Three, and Madison Bumgarner in Game Four. That would set up the Series so that Jonathan Sanchez would start a potentially dramatic Game Seven. Of course, as we saw this past weekend, when you get that far into the series everybody is on a short leash.
Lincecum made an appearance in Game Six against the Phillies, throwing 16 pitches. Normally this might be an issue, but Lincecum did not throw his normal side session that day. If that’s factored in based on his normal work, then Lincecum is basically going to be pitching with an extra day of rest. Throwing in relief in the playoffs is a bit more stressful than throwing a normal side session, but 16 pitches is still a limited amount of pitches (even on top of his warm-up pitches).
On the other side of the diamond, Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington has been relatively quiet as to his rotation plans. However, the talk from around the Rangers would seem to set it up for the most part. Cliff Lee is going to starting Game One, setting up another “dream matchup” this postseason. Lincecum-Halladay was viewed as a dream matchup coming off their first round starts, and Lee-Lincecum will get just as much ink.
After Lee, the Rangers expect to see C.J. Wilson starting Game Two and Colby Lewis starting Game Three. Where it gets interesting is what the Rangers do for Game Four. There is some discussion of Tommy Hunter and Derek Holland as potential starters. However, don’t be shocked if the Rangers roll out Cliff Lee on short rest for Game Four and a potential Game Seven. He’s been their ace so it would certainly make some sense if they went with him as frequently as possible.
Here are your projected matchups for the 2010 World Series. As you can see, following Game 3, I’ve posted the various potential Rangers pitchers for subsequent games:
Game 1: Tim Lincecum vs. Cliff Lee
Game 2: Matt Cain vs. C.J. Wilson
Game 3: Jonathan Sanchez vs. Colby Lewis
Game 4: Madison Bumgarner vs. Cliff Lee/Tommy Hunter/Derek Holland
Game 5 (if necessary): Tim Lincecum vs. Cliff Lee/C.J. Wilson
Game 6 (if necessary): Matt Cain vs. C.J. Wilson/Colby Lewis
Game 7 (if necessary): Jonathan Sanchez vs. Cliff Lee/Colby Lewis
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