Great Post HH. In fairness to Jake…the pitch he struckout looking on in the first AB was definitely a ball. 2nd AB was not a good one though.
As far as Yordan play off the wall…I think he was trying to decide whether to go for it or play it off the wall. By the time he finally decided to go for it he was a bit late and couldn’t recover IMO.
Fair enough. Dusty has demonstrated a knack for pulling the right levers in the Postseason. Just struck me as odd that he’s been the one reliever they haven’t used.
I suppose it’s alright to keep a bullet in your gun for the unexpected.
Absolutely. And situations should dictate your moves. Dusty is more aware of that than Scott Servais (Jim and I also talked about situational managing a lot, one of the many reasons I love watching a game with Jim). So in the 6th yesterday…you don’t have a lefty reliever, so you’re gonna face Raleigh from the left side. Do you go with Stanek and challenge him with the 100-mph fastballs, or do you use Neris and his slider? Dusty went with the latter, and it worked out perfectly. Situational managing.
Fair. Think I lashed out a bit due to all the negative crap I see Astros fans on twitter say about Carlos.
Feels like that should’ve been a much closer play than it was.
Haniger didn’t field it cleanly
Nope. It rolled up his arm a little, and that fraction of a second cost him a play. The throw was good, just a bit late arriving.
Peña’s also pretty zippy.
It tells me that Hensley is a better bet for the 2023 25-man than Mancini.
He reminds me more and more of Omar Moreno. But with a steeper up-and-down trajectory.
Hensley has looked good since the day he came up. Great eye—and a confident eye, if that makes sense. A month into his career and he’s already the kind of guy a pitcher must hate facing.
From what I recall about that AB, Raleigh is still waiting for a FB. Neris got at least two strikes with his off-speed split finger, and I do not recall what pitch he hit to ground out.
I’m perfectly happy with Altuve flashing the leather and his teammates handling the offensive output so far this series. Maybe he will knock the cover off the ball in Seattle or, God willing, be the ALCS MVP.
Same pitch iirc.
eta: Yep, 4 splitters in a row according to gameday
It was the same pitch. Couldn’t tell if they were splitters or sliders, but Raleigh got nothing but off speed and was just impatient.
I have not looked at any data but to my eyes Pena has an extra gear in plays at the plate that could be close.
I think that he may be the guy I would have chosen to be on 2nd, from the entire roster.
Another dynamic that Correa didn’t bring.
I’m not saying better than Correa but different and could benefit the team in different ways.
Another thing about Peña that’s been present all season:
He’s willing to hit singles.
That’s almost anathema in today’s game. And that’s probably a big reason why he’s doing well in the 2 hole.
Splitters, I think.