Another outstanding performance by our bullpen. Looked like a game early that would be an easy win. That one bad hop screwed that up. Glad we were able to overcome it.
Osuna has been very good for the Astros now that he has settled into a closing role... the arm is fresh too. 17 for 18 in save situations this year
Yup... so far the A’s bullpen hasn’t cracked and it really may not. It is looking like the big series will be us against the DBacks and A’s against the Rays. That HORRIBLE series against the M’s is still haunting us because we are not able to rest Altuve, Cole, Verlander and Rondon.
Imagine things from Oakland's perspective. They tied this division back on August 18th. Since then, and the subsequent series after, they haven't been able to get closer than 2.5 games despite playing at a very high level. If the Astros don't clinic till the last weekend, so be it. Staying on a roll and hyper focused never really was a bad thing for any team going into the playoffs.
Astros are 50-9 when hitting multiple HRs. Would be interesting to know every teams record, same situation.
We're also doing it while our top hitters try to get back in form, and Hinch gets his bullpen roster in order for October.
I was bummed when it was reddick up to bat with bases loaded and one out. I anticipated double play. Thankfully was a fly out, but of course not deep enough to tag from 3rd. Observation standpoint, springer and altuve take very aggressive, hard swings with a bad thumb and knee. You can tell they trying for the fences. Reddick seems to take these half-effort hacks that never make solid contact wit the bat. Been that way all season. Im glad White and Kemp are around to help with offense
Giles is 20 for 20 and 25 straight in the regular season... Kinda amazing. Also weird that Osuna has similarly blown the 2 games he came in during the 9th or later of a tie game.
If you're gonna cite Osuna's blown tie-games, it's only fair to mention Giles' mishaps in the same situation. I believe Roberto has held the lead during, at least, one tie-game since joining. Osuna's postseason history is also light-years ahead of Giles.
There is an interesting fangraphs article about the A’s amazing bullpen. However the article lays out how the Astros have by far the best bullpen in baseball in low leverage situations and in medium situations we are not the runaway best, but still the best bullpen. In high leverage spots? We are in the BOTTOM 20% and the A’s are the best along with the Yankees and Sox. Now that is for all season and obviously Giles is gone and Harris and Devo have been relegated to lesser roles, and Pressly and Osuna are on the team. Still rather interesting and fits into why we have such a discrepancy between our Pythagorean W/L and our actual record and explains why there are lingering issues about doubt.
Reddick can't do anything with good or bad pitches in high leverage spots. History has taught us that. Meanwhile, White has been our 2nd most valuable hitter post ASB. Your better hitters should hit higher in the lineup and your weaker hitters should hit lower. White is a good hitter and Reddick is not. Reddick's OPS is below .700 this season. White's is nearly 1.000. There's really not much to think about here...
I get it. Not arguing against it, but Hinch has been pretty solid moving guys around in the lineup trying to get their bats going. Maybe the thinking was Reddick would see better pitches with White behind him. Who would you rather pitch to right now?
While not being privy to the stats, the eye test tells you the trajectory on the bullpen stats in high leverage spots has increased and improved significantly over the past 2 months. In addition to the guys you mention, the possibilites of Josh James and Lance McCullers bolstering the pen have to make you feel better. And Joe Smith has been very productive in high leverage spots as the season has gone by.
You answered you own question: Giles out, Harris out, Devo out...better pitchers in. That's all that matters right now, I could not care less what their stats were in April/May/June/July....(i.e. Joe Smith or whoever)
Osuna also served 10 pitches to BOS last Friday and 9 yesterday.... all 1-2-3 fashion. A couple hard hit balls, but if you're beasting so hard overall, hard hits seem more as "luck" for the offenses getting them. Osuna already seems the greatest Astro closer since the early-90s (since I've been watching). Wagner sh1tted the playoff bed, Lidge was very good overall, but we've already witnessed his implosion. Thus far, Osuna has shown Hakeem-level playoff performance.
