Hinch is just a figurehead acting on behalf of Clutchfans. He will do as we say or will disappear into obscurity.
I agree with you--only suggesting what might happen given that he's been a career RF, that we have a superior defender on the bench, and that CF is perceived to be more taxing. (If nothing else, CFs have more opportunities than RFs.)
True, but I'd say career RF is a bit of a misnomer. He was always a CF and only ended up in RF thanks to Fowler then Gomez. Not sure on that CF always having more opportunities stat... and as it is, corner OFers run on every fly ball to CF.
On average RFs get about 70% less opportunities regardless of how often they run. CF isn't harder to play than RF. It just has more opportunities which makes range there more important. If anything, RF has harder plays...just not enough to make it as valuable a position as CF.
You can strongly disagree all you want, but CFs have an easier job per play than a RF as they don't have to deal with wicked slices, hooks as often, or bad bounces off the wall. CFs are expected to cover more ground and have to make hard plays more often, but corner OFs have opportunities to run things down in the gap as well.
I disagree with this as well. You're intimating that slices, hooks, and bounces are more difficult than overall space coverage (including quick jumps, speed, etc.) over a larger area. I'd argue that the former is a skill that one learns based on hand-eye coordination--things all ML OFers should have in spades--and improve with practice, which is available to all. However, the spectrum of athleticism, speed, and ability to read and break on a ball appears to have a larger spread within ML OFers imo--and is not something you can just add easily with practice. I think the latter is what makes a better CFer and why it's "harder".
Let's predict today's lineup: CF Springer 3B Bregman 2B Altuve SS Correa DH Beltran RF Reddick C McCann 1B Gurriell LF Aoki
Or on the flip side, how do some MLB teams survive with less than stellar OF's put in CF? (In Astros-centric history, they've not only survived, but won games, in years where they put Berkman and Biggio in that position). Hell, they made a move to go to Chris Burke (who has limited CF experience) in the NLCS! Just to get his bat in the everyday lineup. I think there's validity to both points. Yes, on average CF's get more opportunities... but they're not all difficult plays. There are also some corner OF's that literally can't play anywhere else... and then there's guys like Springer who run/track every fly ball that's on that half of the field (Regardless of whether it was to RF or CF), and he's going to give up his body on every play regardless of whether he's in CF or RF. And in the end, above average CF's who can hit get paid more, and are in much higher demand, than above average corner OF's who can hit.
Barring some type of unexpected, epic collapse, I think the top five is set in stone (when those five are all playing, which will be most days).
Marisnick came in as a defensive replacement, and he did play CF. It's just one game, but that never happened to Gomez or Fowler, so I'm guessing Springer doesn't have an issue with it.
I didn't know where else to put this. I went to a bar last night for trivia, I didn't give very much help to my team, but one of the bonus questions was "Please write up to 25. Name all the members of the Astros roster, not the 40 man but the main one. One point for all correct, one subtracted for all incorrect" I grabbed the paper and flew through 24. I probably could have done numbers for most too, it felt good to contribute lol. *The one I forgot: Gustave. If only trivia was happening during the last inning lol.
