Rotate. Whoever is hot, plays. Matchups. The thing is not to allow a player to go 2 for 25, if you have another one that is capable of playing.
Each guys plays about 67% of the time unless one or two take the job with their performance. It's not like either Carter or Gattis are playing well where taking them out of the lineup would be a problem. He might want all three to be full time starters, but that's not possible unless one of them is permanently in AAA.
That said, Gattis in May has been the Gattis we're hoping for: 0.235 BA, 7 HR, 19 RBI, and 0.832 OPS in 22 games. That's a 50 HR / 140 RBI pace for 162 games. So he's probably earned his spot, meaning you'd rotate Carter and Singleton, with an occasional off day for Gattis.
Dating back to April 21, Carter has had a .757 OPS, and a 37 HR/105 RBI pace. It isn't as if he's been abysmal, although it does feel that way.
I'm learning that Major and Cangre are posters I can have intelligent Astros discussions with. Most people don't dive into the full roster and match ups like I do.
Looking at Jon Singleton's stats, you will see that Jon has put up similar albeit slightly improved AAA stats for 2105 versus 2014. In particular, his K% has dropped from 21.8% to 18.8%. It is clear that Singleton can rake at AAA. Similarly it is clear from his 2014 stats that Singleton is a certified cluster **** in The MLB. Is drop 3% in his K% good enough for Jon to turn the corner in the MLB? Is that the tipping point? I am unsure that is a good bet. The Astros do have a long term financial commitment with Singleton . I would not be surprised to see the Astros having a long term plan on making Singleton 's swing MLB ready. Maybe having Jon work on his swing 100% of the time in AAA is a better plan that 67% of the time in the MLB? As a side note, the Astros currently would like to play Colby Rasmus and Preston Tucker everyday, but they more or less play the same LF position. Tucker played first in college, so he might be a better candidate to take playing time from Carter or Gattis. Who would you rather have playing first Tucker or Singleton?
At the end of the day, there's only one way to find out. That's why you replace a pitcher rather than getting rid of Carter. How do we know where in the process they are with this? Or if Singleton is ahead of or behind schedule?
I like Preston Tucker, because he pack a powerful bat. But it seems because his defense is average or a bit below, the Astros won't commit to him. I'm guessing the Astros are going to force him to prove he belongs in the line up each and every game. But being in the AL where the designated hitter has a place, I wonder if Tucker can force the Astros hands. As has been said before, Tucker has played first base in college, and primarily OF in the minors (Left Field, Right Field).. So he would give flexibility. But heck if he can be a .900+ OPS, he has a place on the team.
I'd like to see Singleton back up in the majors hitting in the lineup we have now as compared to last year's lineup. He'd have a little more protection and I don't think he'll be leaned on so heavily as he was with last year's juggernaut that we ran out there most days.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well that’s one way to get to an .828 OPS. Evan Gattis in May: .235/.264/.565/.828, 17 Ks, 4 BBs, 7 HR, 3 2B, 2 3B</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/603239274964774912">May 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Gattis has produced in May.
Even his season numbers are a 31 HR 98 RBI pace. In 2015 (non steroid era) those are outstanding numbers. This isn't a fantasy team we are running here where he might be killing our batting average category. This is a real baseball team, and fact is Gattis is producing. Even Carter, who by all accounts has been "terrible", is on pace to drive in 77 runs. That is 65th in all of baseball. Considering he probably "can't do any worse" and he is still producing, I don't think he can simply be removed. And Carter has also drawn 22 walks which is 19th in baseball. So for a guy with a terrible batting average, he has at least helped himself in getting on base by the walk some. I think this front office and Hinch wants them both (mainly Carter at this point) to do better, but they also understand that batting average is not very important and if guys are producing runs, that is what helps win.
This isn't true. It may not be a very good predictive stat, but if you're at whether someone has actually been useful to the team in reality thus far, it's a pretty useful one. Whether Gattis or Carter SHOULD be producing or not with their numbers, they have been getting people home in reality and helping to win games. Gattis, in particular, has hit almost all of his home runs in situations where they tied the game or took the lead. Not a lot of meaningless HR's. Again, not predictive, but it does show how much they have contributed thus far.
I agree with this And for some, rbi actually can be predictive. Not for all, but there are some people who just hit better in certain situations
Do you guys hear yourselves? You are saying that since Carter has gotten lucky with when he has gotten his few hits and that he "can't do any worse" he should remain because he is still contributing. Never mind his league low for first basemen wRC+, .wOBA, wRAA or being bottom 5 in a dozen other categories, he has contributed. I got you guys. thanks for explaining
Baseball is a human game with human decision makers. No one is going to bench anyone having success just because underlying stats tell us they shouldn't be successful. The goal in baseball is to score runs. Carter's job is generally considered to be a guy that drives people in. He has a 1.000 OPS with runners on base and he's driving people in. And the Astros are winning baseball games as a result. It's that simple.
You must be really old to be refuting sabermetrics in favor of RBI's. Did you go to school sir? May I ask where?
LOL. Excellent no-content response. You may have missed it, but the ultimate stat-head Astros leadership seems to be on-board with keeping Carter in the lineup too. Quoting sabermetric stats without understanding the purpose of the game leads to ... stupidity.
