Home field advantage vs. resting the regulars

I've been asked the same question multiple times today in a variety of ways. Are the Orioles more focused on gaining home field advantage throughout the playoffs or resting some of their veterans before the Division Series? Yes. The Orioles trail the Angels by three games for the best record in baseball. They finish up their series against the Blue Jays tonight, play three at home against the Red Sox and hit the road for the final time with four games in the Bronx and three in Toronto. The Angels have two more games against the Mariners and three against the Rangers at home, and three against the Athletics and three vs. the Mariners on the road. Manager Buck Showalter said he met with pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti today "and started to kind of nail down some things with where work days are concerned. Trying to give guys a little extra rest without giving them too much. Same way with position players." "You're not going to see guys sit three or four days," Showalter continued. "There's still some things. One, we want to make sure we try to keep Detroit and Kansas City from catching us. I was looking at Anaheim's schedule last night. They've got a pretty tough row there at the end, those six games, Seattle. So you're never going to cede that possibility. We'll continue to present. "I talked to Adam (Jones), I talked to Nicky (Markakis). Talked to J.J. (Hardy) and (Steve) Pearce. All those guys individually. Talked about what my plans were, but more importantly what they thought would be best for them. For instance, Nick gets today and tomorrow off and then he'll play Friday. Jonesy might get Thursday and Friday off. But I'm not going to have these guys sit around two or three days without playing. They don't want to. Keep that feel a little bit. "We're really going to have three days off before the playoffs start. I know that my plans are to give the team Monday completely off coming back from Toronto. I know some guys are happy to hear that, right?" Showalter doesn't think he'll need to arrange a simulated game during the break between the last regular season game and Game 1 of the Division Series on Oct. 2. "I need a lot of simulated things this time of the year," he said. But seriously, folks... "I don't know if that's going to do the job," he said. "I think the day off completely is important and we have a mandated workout the day before. I hope we don't get that shadow game but we might. I'd much rather be playing a shadow game than not playing at all. "Probably not, but don't hold me to it. I'm going to talk to the guys as we get closer to Saturday and Sunday at the end of the season. It's not like we're going to box everybody up and head down to Sarasota for a day or two. Probably not. I think if it was four days... I think three we should be all right. They're going to need the Monday day. It's kind of like the All-Star break." In the meantime, Showalter isn't concerned about the team getting stale, or any other dangers, now that it's clinched. "Our guys, they're going to play. They're going to play, especially with some of the emotion and the feeling in the ballpark, especially at home," he said. "Going to New York, there's a good chance the games will still matter there. And even Toronto. Those are still meaningful games for us, though. There's something to be gained. If we reach the point where we can't lose home field advantage to Detroit/Kansas City and we can't catch Anaheim, then we have a different dynamic. Then there's just completely, what our guys need to get ready and what do they not need. "I'd like to see Jimmy (Paredes) take some right-handed at-bats. We've got to make some decisions about how he fits in the future. These opportunities will be fleeting. They're going to go away. And you're going to be sitting in your study/office in the offseason going, 'Gee, I wish I had another look at him, I wish I had seen this,' because you can't miss on those evaluations." Every fan attending tonight's game will receive an orange "We Won't Stop" T-shirt, sizes extra-large or medium.