Nobody is calling him a troll. He's annoying as F. Every point he just made, he's been making ad-nauseum over and over again... until it doesn't work out for him. He's using the logic of "if this player is struggling, never play him... replace him."
Jed Lowrie has been the better player than Gattis this season. Jed Lowrie has certainly been a better player than Vilar this season. If you want to avoid wear and tear on Lowrie, you DH him. How has Lowrie done against lefties this year? Only nearly 60 points higher than Gattis. Lowrie is hitting a cool 320 against lefties this season. The Astros were looking at a possible sweep to the Angels. Jed Lowrie should be starting. As for Tucker versus Rasmus. I have less of an issue with Rasmus starting. Neither has especially hit lefties well this season. Last I checked they were both hovering around 200 against lefties. Today it worked out for the Astros. However this idea that you "save" Lowrie for heroics in the 9th is nonsense. So no, Hinch doesn't get any credit for "saving" Lowrie for the 9th.
Lowrie kills lefties, so what does Hinch do? He sits the guy vs lefties (Doubront, Heany) instead of sitting him vs Gray. Sometimes i feel like Hinch does not look at numbers of hitters vs lefties and righties, because they don't make sense many times. Tomorrow, Hamels is not one that dominates lefties, he is equally good, i want Tucker playing, lets give the guy one game vs lefties, he will do better than Gattis. Lets give Tucker a chance of 3 of 4 games in Texas. Like the Bad News Bears said in the Astrodome, Let them play!!!!! Let Tucker play!!!!!!
Do you have intimate knowledge of Lowrie's thumb situation and which activities help/hurt it more? I actually thought that his ability to swing the bat is what will most be affected if its not at 100% or it gets re-injured... so no, if he needs a "day off" (implied as just not swinging the bat/running the bases the entire game), perhaps he can't simply DH.
I don't disagree with you. There is no magic wand where a manager can magically make a team special. They make a difference on the margins in setting their line ups, making pitching changes and small things like a runner in scoring position with less than two outs. Some managers are good at it, most are mediocre and a few are bad. I have never been a believer in Joe Madden. I think he is phoney and I think it eventually he wears out his welcome like most managers. However he has strategically been solid from what I have seen this year. From his handling of his pen, to she. He pinch hits. I don't think that Hinch is terrible. I think he is mediocre. I don't believe his line ups are especially good and I have found his pinch hit decisions to be questionable. He isn't the reason the Astros have struggled at times but I don't think he has helped the situation overall either.
Do you have intimate knowledge of his thumb? Do you have any information to suggest that he wasn't available to DH and run and swing? I didn't think so.
I read your remarks as snarky. If they weren't snarky, I am sorry. As far as intimate knowledge of Lowrie's thumb, no I don't have any information that you do not have.
4-3 would've been too easy a choice 3-4 is basically hoping TEX will lose 1 extra game outside the matchup. Rangers pushed back Hamels to face us. Considering how things have fallen this year, 2-5 is conceivable and would be disastrous. We could easily go 1-3 @Arlington. Stros remaining schedule (save TEX) is 5 home games and 6 road. Our road opponents (SEA, ARI) aren't good, but they don't suck either. Just seeing what posters thought Great to have Springer back... he can make a difference.
If that is truth, then he would NOT pinch hit. If he was able to pinch hit in a very important moment, he can DH.
I know he hurt the thumb on the basepaths... I know the last thing he was able to do was swing a bat. If you're giving a player rest for recovery from an injury... those are the activities that I'd try and limit (which unfortunately, DH'ing does encompass running the basepaths/sliding and swinging). I wasn't being snarky... I just think its presumptuous to just assume that if a player needs rest, he can easily DH just "because". In this case, Lowrie isn't resting a leg injury nor is he an older player that simply can't play everyday. He's resting a surgically repaired thumb that is most at risk for re-injury with him running the bases regularly. This is why its pretty hard to criticize a manager over day-to-day lineup decisions... most people aren't privy to the entire scope of information they're dealing with. I guess he could be completely transparent and disclose everything.
unbelievable...that i missed the Cinderella team's amazing comeback win...and spent my time watching Texans football... SMDH... Cant believe that happened... down to the last strike, then the infamous 3-2 Angels lead...The entire thing was magic.
2-2 I'll take and 3-1...The series hangs in the balance in my opinion as to if Keuchel wins or not. 2-2 split doesn't do much for the Rangers so I'd take it
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/149180686/astros-rally-for-big-win-against-angels lol at the kid throwing a tantrum at the end of that lowrie homerun.
Still getting chills watching that 9th inning comeback over and over!! Can't believe it, what a HUGE win!
Good lord; can we get back to talking about one of the greatest, most improbable wins in team history? That 9th inning... it had shades of Fisk's World Series homer in '75 (or, if you prefer, Hatcher's game 6 homer); allusions to Roy Hobbs (Correa literally hitting the ball so hard, it got stuck in a player's glove) and then the Rahim Moore (sorry for the sport crossover) whiff on Lowrie's homer that I *still* can't believe wasn't caught. That was not only amazing but such a tremendous pallet cleanser after the Texans' trip into the ditch... WowWowWow... And we now we get, essentially, four playoff games in September. Wow, again. How awesome has this season been*? * Even though I can't explain or understand 95% of it. Seriously, this team is insane and totally confounds me. At some point, I'll probably learn to just relax and enjoy it.
