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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — No team in Major League Baseball has played more postseason games than the Houston Astros since 2017. This team, in the playoffs for the sixth-straight season, knows all there is to know about the postseason, yet the Astros have never experienced a playoff run like 2022.
“Well, we really don’t know the effects of it,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said, referring to his team’s five full days off since ending the regular season.
Due to MLB’s new playoff format, the top two teams in each league receive a first-round bye, so they wait while other teams play a best-of-three Wild Card series.
“We really don’t know the effects of being off,” Baker added. “We’ll find out here soon. We don’t know if rust or being off that long. We won’t know until we get into it.”
“To be determined, I guess,” Astros pitcher Justin Verlander said of the extended time off. “We’ll see how we come out.”
Verlander will see firsthand.
The 39-year-old will start Tuesday’s Game 1 of the American League Division Series vs. Seattle, which will be his first playoff appearance since Game 5 of the 2019 World Series. He was sidelined for nearly two full seasons due to elbow surgery.
“My wife would probably say I’m a bit different attitude-wise,” Verlander said of his playoff mentality. “I think most people around me that are close to me can tell that I just kind of focus in a little bit more. I’m a little less jovial. I think this season, which is the only real data I can draw from, is just allowing myself to be more present and just enjoy the ride, and not try to overdo pressure, just accept it. It’s a different game in the playoffs. It just is. You kind of get in the grind of the regular season, things, you’re just kind of like on this consistent ride, and then all of a sudden the playoffs are just a different animal. It’s a different game. There’s a lot of, a lot more pressure.”
Game 1 of the best-of-five ALDS is set for 2:37 p.m. Tuesday at Minute Maid Park. Game 2 is Thursday in Houston.
Full ALDS schedule: Houston vs. Seattle
- Game 1: at Houston, Tuesday 2:37 p.m.
- Game 2: at Houston, Thursday 2:37 p.m.
- Game 3: at Seattle, Saturday, Time not yet announced
- Game 4: at Seattle, Sunday, Time not yet announced*
- Game 5: at Houston, Monday, Oct. 17, Time not yet announced*
* – if necessary