I completely agree. I would have made Santana beat me with the bases loaded.
Who knows, but Kaplan has an article in The Athletic today where he basically says Dusty is coming back if he wants too, barring something really egregious managerial wise. I should stress that Kaplan said that was his opinion, not something he had heard.
Not defending Dusty, I would have walked him and made a lesser hitter beat me, but AJ Hinch wouldn’t have walked him in that spot either.
If being a complete buffoon isn’t egregious enough, I’m not sure what would be.
I would love to avoid Lynn, Giolito, Rodon and their bullpen in the playoffs, but if the Astros have their heads on straight and are healthy, they can beat anyone in a five-or-seven game series.
Preaching to the choir there HH. I wouldn’t mind seeing him gone now.
Why do you say that? Because Hinch would not walk anybody, any time? That sure does not make it the correct decision.
Dusty is obviously 100% a Crane move, and I would imagine that in-game strategy is at best distantly secondary to whatever PR goodwill Crane thinks Dusty buys him.
Hinch ordered IBBs when it was called for.
I hope you are right, but this team worries me. They look like a team that’s good for 162, but not necessarily at team that good for a best of 7 against REALLY good pitching. We do not have a “shut down” guy like a Cole or Verlander, and it’s concerning.
I remember one. But Jim’s point (and yours) stands, today you needed to walk their best guy.
This team can beat anyone in a seven game series. Unfortunately, they can also lose to anyone in a three game series, so getting to play a seven game series at some point this year is far from a certainty.
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Hinch famously did not walk anyone in 2019, but issued 17 in 2017, for example. He’s issued 6 this year, which is low, but historically he’s issued about average for a manager in the AL.
Would I love to have Verlander at the top of this rotation? Sure. However, the Astros have been really good against the best teams in baseball all year. It’s the crappy to average teams they have shit the bed against.
The reality is the AL playoffs are going to feature four really good teams.
I guess it was only called for a handful times in 5 years. Including only once? In 2019. It was s very rare case when he called for it.
Again. I would have walked him
This is a fireable quote from Baker, as far as I’m concerned. One guy is leading the AL in home runs and hitting .275; the other is hitting .220 this season.
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2 outs and runners at 2B and 3B, Perez is hitting .500. Before tonight. Way to play those percentages, Dusty.
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He ordered 57 in his five season with the Astros. No, he wasn’t a guy to issue a lot of IBBs, no manager in the AL is. But to suggest he’d never do it, no matter the circumstance is silly. Tonight called for it.
Perez is hitting .319 at home with a .968 OPS, and .279 with a .928 OPS in August.
Before tonight, Santana was hitting .143 in August with a .385 OPS. Since the All Star Break, Santana is hitting .151 with a .444 OPS.