The problems with the Astros’ offense start with Alex Bregman and Jose Abreu.
The Astros have scored 16 runs in their seven losses. That’s two runs a game. I don’t care who you are, teams will struggle to win games with that run production.
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Concerning the bullpen, Pressly pitched one third of an inning on Tuesday and had not been used since Saturday of last week before that short outing. He needs more work.
The same is true with Bryan Abreu. He had last pitched on Sunday before pitching last night. Your high-leverage relievers shouldn’t have pitched one-third of an inning in a week or not for four days in a row.
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The Astros don’t need Belt or Solano as a replacement for Singleton. They need either as a starting caliber option over Jose Abreu. Which is why I prefer Belt. Him being another left-handed bat is a plus, too.
It’s getting to the point where Crane and Brown just need to cut their losses on Abreu and admit it just didn’t work out.
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The problem is the amount of “cut your losses” piling up:
Abreu $19.5M
LMJ $17.7M
Graveman $8M
Urquidy $3.5M
That’s nearly $50M out for the year or ineffective…
… and that’s being generous and not counting Montero’s $11M
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I would guess that LMJ, Graveman and Urquidy are covered by insurance.
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Singleton back in the lineup at #6, I never thought I’d miss Dusty’s middle of the night lineup epiphanies, but here we are.
Who would underwrite McCullers’ arm? The policy would probably be cost-prohibitive.
Either way, that’s something that only affects the pocketbooks of Crane and the other owners. The bigger issue is the CBT number, and every penny of an insured salary still counts for that.
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I don’t disagree. However, Abreu plays nearly every day, and the others don’t nor wouldn’t if they were healthy.
Dana Brown needs to remove Singleton from the roster and, at a minimum, have a discussion with Espada about where in the lineup he bats when he plays. Espada’s love affair with Singleton isn’t to the level of Dusty playing Maldonado twice as much as Diaz last year, but it’s still too much.
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Sometimes you need a left handed automatic out instead of a right handed automatic out.
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No shit, which is why i said a platoon replacement for Abreu quasi at some point
I don’t think this is just an Espada thing. Brown and the brain trust brought him into the organization last season and have kept him around under two managers. Espada is a guy who plays the numbers, and the numbers he’s getting from upstairs must say to use Singleton when Abreu gets a day off (god knows why).
Agreed. Either way, it’s maddening how much the Astros’ front office and coaching staff trust Singleton.
That is great for the pocketbook but not for the luxury tax threshold. Those salaries still count and limit your options.
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This sounds a little like the ruminations about keeping Meyers around.
Is the jury still out on him?
Could the same thing happen w/ Singleton?
The jury is not out on Singleton. He was convicted and received a death sentence 10 years ago, but the governor keeps delaying his execution for some unknown reason.
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KPRC’s Ari Alexander reports Framber has been scratched for tonight and the Astros are calling up RHP Blair Henley to start in his place. Seventh rounder in 2019 from UT, never been a prospect list guy. No word on Framber.
I blame the eclipse
Don’t you just know he looked at it without proper glasses!
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