Jose Altuve. Carlos Correa. Alex Bregman.
Those are three formidable members of the Houston Astros, whom the Red Sox will be tasked with shutting down when the American League Championship Series gets underway Friday at Minute Maid Park.
But it's possible that the Astro who holds the key to the best-of-seven series won't throw a pitch or swing a bat.
At 73 on Thursday, Brent Strom is the oldest pitching coach in the game. But in some ways, he may hold a key to the series.
When the Astros beat the Red Sox three games to one in a four-game set in Houston earlier this year, it was because of the attack plan carried out by the Houston pitching staff, but designed by Strom which limited the Sox to just nine runs in the four-game set, including four in the first three games, all Houston victories. When they met a week later at Fenway and the Astros took two of three, it was more of the same as the Sox were limited to just four runs in the first two games.
It was Strom who order the Astros to throw a slumping Rafael Devers nothing but fastballs -- more than 50 in a row at one point -- pitch after pitch, inning after inning, negating the slugger for the series. Such a bold strategy is unheard of in modern baseball, but it worked for Houston and exposed what was, at the time, a huge vulnerability on the part of Devers.
So it's not a stretch to suggest that the Sox' chances of advancing to the World Series may be linked to how well the Sox can combat what Strom has in store for them.
"His ability to use the information and also his experience (sets him apart),'' said Alex Cora, who worked on the same coaching staff with Strom in 2017. "He's been in the business a long, long time but he's been able to adjust (to the modern game) and also make the information department adjust to what happens on the field. We always talk about attacking (hot spots on hitter's charts), but sometimes you have to deviate from that and make adjustments and he does that.
"The communication with his catchers, he takes that very seriously. It's very important to him. And he's a great human being. He's amazing. He's one of the best.''
If there's one benefit the Sox foresee, it's that there's a big difference between shutting down a team in May or June and doing it in October.
"The regular season is the regular season,'' said Cora. "During the playoffs, you have more time to prepare for the opposition. It's a more team-oriented attack than an individual attack. Over 162 games, it's a lot different. The mentality of the players, there's a lot of stuff that goes on during a particular series. You're still trying to get yours. You're still trying to get your numbers, although you still want your team to win.
"But when October comes, it's not about hitting 30 or 40 (homers), it's about winning games and teams transform into something else. The way we attacked the Yankees and the way we approached the Rays is kind of like a reflection of that. You're not trying to put up numbers and win games; you're trying to (only) win games. It's kind of a team approach.''
Part of the Red Sox' offensive success against the Rays in the Division Series was that they made more consistent contact, cutting down the strikeouts considerably. It will take that same sort of discipline against Houston to enjoy similar results.
"With our experience,'' said hitting coach Tim Hyers, "with some of the guys who've been (deep into the playoffs before), I think we can keep putting the ball in play. I really believe they're going to be focused and narrow in on their game plan, when to take chances and when not to take chances, when to give up some 'team at bats' and I think that's the reason we can continue to make better contact, the way we did in the last round.''
Mostly, however, the Sox will need to make adjustments -- from pitcher to pitcher.
"(Strom) is really good at changing speeds, changing eye level and pitching to weaknesses, in a unique way,'' said Hyers. "I think they're very creative in how they go about it. They're unpredictable, but they also, to me, go after weaknesses as good as anybody. For example, Devers -- throwing him so many fastballs in a row,. That was unique and at the moment, that worked very well.''
Hyers joins Cora in believing that being able to react for whatever Strom has the Astros ready to do.
"We have a little more time to prepare,'' he noted, "and I think we can help our players with a few more techniques, with some video, with some prep stuff in the cage, to help them see what could possibly be one of their attack plans. But it's still going to be a handful. It's still going to be a big challenge. It will be a lot of cat-and-mouse game -- a lot of hoping we can predict what they're trying to do and hopefully stay one step ahead.''
It helps, too, that the Sox are at least a little more familiar with the Houston starters. In May and June, the Sox were getting their first looks at Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia, two young pitchers in the rotation. Now, there's video on which they can rely, to say nothing of a few at-bats to call upon.
"Because of the unique angles from their young guys, (having seen them before) will help a lot,'' said Hyers. "We already have a little bit of a database with some of our hitters. It's still a challenge and it's still a handful. But it really helps that we have a few ABs under our belts against them.''
What's unknown is whether Strom will order up the same strategy and attack plan for the Sox this weekend that worked earlier in the season.
"I don't see why (they'll change), until we prove them wrong,'' said Hyers. "I don't expect that much of a difference. Then again, we were sputtering (offensively) at the time, things weren't going as well, so I think a lot of that plays into it. They'll have some adjustments up their sleeve, but I think, for the most part, they'll stick to (what worked last time), see how we react to it and then they'll go to Plan B.''