The A’s and Royals have released their rosters for tonight’s one-and-done game. And it’s pretty understandable they’re set up this way given a one-and-done situation. First the Athletics:
The complete A’s 25-man Wild Card roster: pic.twitter.com/xYEUa02nxb
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) September 30, 2014
Now the Royals:
Royals 25 man roster for tonight. 9 pitchers. 2 catchers 7 infielders 7 outfielders. pic.twitter.com/ie8Ohl6hpu
— Jake Lebahn (@JakeLebahn) September 30, 2014
The A’s have are apparently going to be prepared to use a starter like Hammel as a reliever. The Royals are going to rely on Danny Duffy to be a lefty option out of the pen, apparently. If things go weird we could see, like, six or seven pitchers thrown at this bad boy from each team.
Which, again, makes sense given the stakes and the format. But, as I have come to do, I will be trying extra hard tonight to forget how un-baseballish this all is and just go with the excitement of an elimination game. Perhaps pretending that they’ve played six already and that they’re tied 3-3.