I’d also say that there was no excuse to keep him in for the next hitter after too much rest and a brain fart like that.
Abreu should have gone to second and tried to turn two, but I wouldn’t have hammered him for taking the sure out at first base, either. He just can’t get nobody out on that play.
It was as easy a double play as they come. But yes, he let the tying run get on base all because he was a complete dipshit.
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In the middle of a year where Abreu has such high usage, I get why Espada might have wanted him to get a bit of a break to recharge his batteries in advance of this long stretch of consecutive games with such weird lineups. Still, Joe handles the bullpen like I handle shots of tequilla.
I hope there aren’t hookers involved.
A Bear walks into a bar. Bartender asks what he’s having.
Bear says I’ll have a Jack and………Coke.
Bartender says, hey why the big paws?
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It doesn’t excuse Abreu’s performance tonight, but five days off between appearances is too long for any high-leverage reliever. Abreu could have been used in last night’s 6-0 win in the ninth inning to get work in, for example.
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I understand Espada erring on the side of caution, and I’m not going to blame him for a night where the team played Little League defense.
All of these things are true, but they don’t excuse Abreu from making a really bad decision.
Argh
I watched the replay. Was he in an awkward position for a throw to second when he caught it?
Didn’t look like it to me. I thought he had plenty of time to turn and make a good throw. To make it even more frustrating, if he doesn’t snag that ball, it was right at Peña who was literally standing on 2B. He ran the runner back to 3B and had to wait for Whitcomb to get to the bag. Everything that could go wrong there did.
He was nearly inside the 2B-3B line, so the angle wasn’t great. Still should have made it, but whether Altuve could have completed the DP is another matter.
Abreu was on the circle, two feet directly in front of the rubber when he had the ball to throw. Pena was covering 2B and was nearly on top of it when Abreu decided to chase the runner back to 3B. That’s a fairly routine 1-6-3.
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“hooker” is not the preferred nomenclature
Thanks for posting that helpful screenshot, Matt. That makes the mental mistake painfully obvious. I cannot imagine an MLB player making that kind of mistake, and it cost them a win.
Agreed. Which is why I started my comment with “It doesn’t excuse Abreu’s performance tonight.”
You’re right about the pitch to Santander. It was above the strike zone and Santander flattened out his swing and made good contact. Credit to him.
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No, Cyril, when they’re dead, they’re just HOOKERS!
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