I don't take it as a taunt at all; I also see that he has been getting better at bats since coming off the IL, and yesterday he absolutely tore the cover off the ball. That was great to see, and hopefully points to even better things to come. If he continues along that route, then there really is no argument for Yainer, other than having him replace Maldonado full time. But I reckon that any lineup that has Brantley and (hopefully) Chas hitting 7 and 8, along with a slugging Abreu, should be able to withstand Maldy's bat in the 9 hole. Side note - seeing Brantley in the lineup feels a bit surreal, since it seemed like it was never going to happen again. The fact that it appears like he hasn't missed a beat, even with all that time off, is pretty amazing. Now if only Javier can get his mojo back...
Same all the way around. I loved the signing for the reasons you mentioned I dreaded seeing him in the lineup because he was unfathomly bad (like almost as bad as maldonado) I got hope in June, I lost hope in August, and after getting back off the IL i had more confidence when the eye test on his bat speed matched the player he was before. It's been a roller coaster for sure
It's beyond not missing a beat for Brantley, he's hitting the ball over the wall! He basically stopped doing that last year with any regularity.
Yainer is still rocking, just only in 1 start a series, lately. Yainer has the 3rd best xwOBA on the team. Altuve is an xwOBA beater so I'd guess Diaz is probably the 4th best hitter on the team while being the best defender at the toughest defensive position. Astros have a lot of good hitters now so they are hitting great most games. It would probably be better with Diaz in the lineup more.
Every time he hits another Hr, which is like every game he catches seemingly, I hate Dusty Baker even more.
He would have 37 homers at his current pace if he had the plate appearances Gunnar Henderson has right now. And he got off to a slow start because the fool wasn’t using him with any type of consistency until Yordan got hurt. Just mind blowing the level of incompetence it takes to not start him everyday.
Utter cowardice by ownership and the front office, Click didn't stand by and watch scrubs get force-fed ABs over good players all year long.
Luckily the first half of his sophomore year will still be his freshman year. He should be nice and fresh. And for that we can finally thank Dusty!
Not a HR but that double was awful sexy. Ops up to 864. maldy at 604. Is the city and organization ready to thank Dusty yet?
Any other manager and you wouldn't consider having to thank them for allowing some of the best players on the team to play every once in a while, but with Dusty it's almost a miracle.
Bat on Ball Skill Yainer Diaz is very similar to Jose Altuve. Yainer Diaz really can have Triple Crown Potential. Miguel Cabrera type Numbers.
He needs to learn to control the strike zone better. I’m already seeing some signs of that happening. It’s probably the easiest hitting skill (not easy mind you) for a guy to learn.
