Per 790, the team got into their hotel rooms at 4:00 AM after the late game last night and had an early first pitch today. I think all of us Rockets fans have seen the effect travel oddities can have on a team's performance on back to backs. Today felt like the baseball equivalent. Just a very tough spot to have to play a game, not even mentioning the distraction and frustration of the Altuve call last night. Big big win in a "trap game". They should be fresher for the next 2 games...and luckily we are playing a below average team.
790 just said Hinch didn't seem to worried about Jose's knee in the presser. The knee obviously is still affected by his injury from last month so it won't take as much to aggravate it. With his teammates picking it up offensively AND defensively, hopefully resting Altuve until the homestand this weekend is considered.
I know the lead is only 3... but at this point it is almost worth sitting Carlos, George and Jose. They cannot contribute hurt like they are capable. Give them some time off and see what happens. I would rather play the WC game with them close to 100% than at 50%. Right now we are winning games because of Tyler White, Alex Bregman and others.
Why do we think Springer is hurt? Did he have an incident today? Thought he looked good during the Boston series. Correa who the hell knows. Altuve definitely looked a bit dinged up
Carlos problems are his swing mechanics (per the radio announcers) and timing. Resting him won’t fix those issues but more reps at the plate might... so the best answer seems to be to play him. Altuve is the one guy who probably would benefit from more rest because it ups the odds of his knee strengthening considerably and he needs the least reps to get back into rhythm based on his past.
He has been a grimace machine when hitting. In the 9th tonight it took him a while to get the batting glove off.
George has been favoring his left thumb. In the game he slammed his helmet to the ground while favoring that thumb. In past games he's been swinging and kinda dropping the bat in the box cuz it hurts after the swing
And apparently, per the ESPN broadcast last night, he can't get around on a fastball anymore due to his injury...
If the Astros had a similar lead in the division as last year, I'm sure Altuve and Springer would be getting some more days off with their nagging injuries.
Of course they would. Even if they need surgery, which they probably do, a little rest would be beneficial esp for a knee.
I would be for that if it doesn't cost us the division title. I want no part of a one game wildcard scenario. If the A's drop off, then I would be all in. Conversely, going into the playoffs with lingering injuries to key guys worries me as well.