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We just watched a team lose a best-of-seven in part because it couldn’t get its #2 starter to the mound a second time. The Guardians didn’t have much choice in how they used Gavin Williams in the ALCS, based on his ALDS usage. The Rays do, and yet they’re slotting their #1 for Game Six and their #2 for Game Seven. Moreover, they wouldn’t be asking Rasmussen to do something radical. They’re not treating him like he’s Jim Bunning in ’64. They’re asking him to do what top MLB pitchers do in October, work on the fifth day in an effort to win a championship.
The Rays think they’re making sure Rasmussen makes his next start on five days’ rest, then the one after that on five days’ rest. I think they’re helping him make one start on five days’ rest, and his next on 120 days’ rest. As good as Rasmussen has been this year, it’s just very hard for me to take him seriously as a #1 if he can’t work effectively on four days’ rest in the World Series.
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