Josh Beckett pitched teams to World Series championships in 2003 with the Marlins and in 2007 with the Red Sox.
Beckett’s teams have won every postseason series that he has pitched in. He has pitched in 10 postseason games, starting 9 of those.
Last season for the Red Sox, Beckett went 4-0 in the playoffs with 35 strikeouts and an ERA under 2.00 as they rode him straight to their second World Series championship in 4 years.
Ryan Dempster can be that same guy for the Cubs in 2008.
Lou must think so also. He’s given Ryan the ball in Game 1 of the NLDS on Wednesday. Dempster could come back and pitch Game 5, if needed.
You want Ryan to pitch at home because of his dominance at Wrigley this season. He just feeds off the energy of the friendly confines and pitches late into ballgames, giving us a chance to win.
Dempster is 17-6 this season, going for his 18th win tonight at Milwaukee. His previous career high was 15 in 2001.
The reason I choose Dempster is simple.
Zambrano has been too inconsistent as of late. He could pitch you a no-hitter one night and have you warming up the bullpen in the 3rd inning the next. Riding Big Z through the postseason would be too risky.
Harden has the nasty stuff to lead this team through the postseason, but he usually doesn’t take us deep into games. That would leave everything in the hands of our bullpen.
While Dempster isn’t flashy, he can get the job done. He has all season long.
The only concern I have with Dempster is the man we are counting on so much this postseason has just 1 inning of postseason work.
That came late in Game 2 of last years NLDS with the Diamondbacks. In his 1 inning, he struck out 2.
Dempster just needs to do what he’s done all season long. Be solid, and keep us in ballgames. Our offense will do the rest. A month from now we may be comparing what Dempster just did to what Beckett did one season ago.
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2 comments:
I agree with you. I also have to write the same assignment, but Dempster has the best shot. He is more consistent and although i do love Zambrano, his inconsistency worries me..ever since he pitched a no-hitter things have been slightly worse for him.
I like Dempster pitching game 1, he was a lot better at home this year than on the road.
I wish Harden would pitch game 2 instead of Zambrano, Big Z has struggled his last 2 starts.
Cubs got the Dodgers in the NLDS, they should beat them, have more pitching depth and a deeper lineup.
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