i keep waiting for the regression by fister but he may just be one of those pitchers that pitches beyond his xFIP. one pitcher that comes to mind is miguel gonzalez. hopefully no jinx but other than the rangers, it seems we're winning the games we're "expected" to lose and of course losing the ones we should win
Just wondering why he even went through the charade of saying he'd be alternating closers with Harris, Feliz, and Giles. Harris certainly deserves it (shaky last outing not withstanding), but I really would be enthralled if Feliz's stuff translates well to the 9th. This seemed like the perfect low-leverage save opportunity for him... ah well, Harris is the man going forward. If they get one of Keuchel/McHugh right and just get one more replacement level bat (whether it be Worth, Bregman, Reed, or PTBNL) in the lineup, there is no reason why they can't get back to .500 and contend for a playoff spot.
I don't know officially but that has to be the first time as an Astro that Gomez actually made contact more times than he swung and missed. Tonight he looked like a guy that was focused on being a good hitter more than being a power hitter. Kind of like George Springer when he moved into the leadoff spot.
I wouldn't complain about bullpen handling. The Astros have bookended days off around this series plus the delivers threw minimal pitches. There's still a rested bullpen good for tomorrow. Let's get the two game sweep and salvage this road trip.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Fister's 1st 4 games: 14 ER, <a class="hashtag" action="hash" title="#Astros">#Astros</a> went 1-3. Fister's last 9 games: 15 ER, <a class="hashtag" action="hash" title="#Astros">#Astros</a> are 9-0.</p>— Adam Wexler (@awexlerKPRC) <a href="https://twitter.com/awexlerKPRC/status/742908209082466305" data-datetime="2016-06-15T02:34:54+00:00">June 15, 2016</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
True, good point. I'm not really worried about over-using anybody in the short-term... but we do know that Harris wore down significantly last season (the entire bullpen did), and it came back to bite them all in September as well as the playoffs. There is much more depth this year. And some young/live arms that should respond pretty well to frequent appearances.
Yeah, he's taken way too many pitches this year for my liking, which I think has contributed to his increased SO #s. His BA when he's ahead in the count is .157 with 36 SOs. I feel as if he's not being aggressive like last year.