Absolutely. And nobody necessarily needs to pitch on short rest; you have an expanded roster - Let VV pitch. Plus, there's at least one current starter (possibly two - at least through the ALDS) that won't be starting in the postseason, so... what's the big deal? Starting Keuchel in that situation... that's exactly what I would consider an egregious mis-management on Hinch's part. You don't burn Keuchel for an ultimately meaningless game.
To me this is a must win. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Astros lineup <a href="http://t.co/1ivANMh2Zz">pic.twitter.com/1ivANMh2Zz</a></p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/646699153918029826">September 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Wouldn't call it meaningless... a win there guarantees you a spot in the LDS against a weaker (record-wise) opponent. But if you're advocating for starting "anybody" else there (including VV), that's your opinion. I'd just keep the rotation as is. Keuchel is amazing at home... he's not head and shoulders above everybody else on the road (which is where every single possible post-season game is going to be starting).
Aren't you the guy advocating the WC route?...... It's not meaningless - but its importance pales in comparison to a winner-take-all WC game or having Keuchel available to pitch twice in an ALDS, IMO. "Lose and you're in" isn't really a compelling driver for me. More or less. I mean, again: one, possibly two of your starters won't likely see the mound in the ALDS - you can pitch one of them. It's not like the other 4 starters are pitching the day before.... And yeah - it's my opinion: were you under the impression this was anything but people posting opinions? What have you been offering up: cold, hard FACTS?... He's a head and shoulders better pitcher; that would carry much greater weight for me. I would never approach a must-win with passivity.
why does valbuena still play at all? how come he doesn't receive the same vitriol that carter does/did?
good defense at both corners, hit the ball hard and seemingly had a lot of bad luck for a while mid-season, and actually had a good stretch this season...whereas Carter's last good stretch was at the end of last season. All that said, those things only make him slightly better than Carter, but I think he also started with lower expectations based on his past. He was never supposed to be a top 5 hitter in a lineup.
there's no justification for him playing over carter at this point. his glove at first base isn't going to be the difference in us winning or losing games. he hasn't hit the ball in months. i don't understand why carter isn't playing every day right now while he's finally showing signs of life. it's like he's still measuring carter against 2014 carter, instead of measuring him against valbuena.
I think there are at least 3 reasons... 1) Carter's been here longer - dislike is more ingrained; 2) Carter strikes out more - which, right or wrong, looks worse to a lot of fans; 3) Carter *looks* like he couldn't care less. I have no idea if he does or doesn't - but... for a lot of fans, that lack of "fire" is significant.
Hinch We are playing the Angels and we see mistakes after mistakes by Hinch. First game, Oliver Perez was warming up, and David Murphy came to pinch hit. As you all know, Murphy is one of the best pinch hitters for the Angels, so Oliver is the guy, right? If they lose the pinch hitter, GREAT, you won half the battle not even allowing the hitter to hit. Well, Mr. Hinch did not make the move, and Murphy faced Fields, and won the battle, but then he made the move LATE i might add with Matt Joyce coming to bat. I THINK THE ONLY PERSON IN THE BALL PARK THAT DID NOT KNOW THEY WHERE GOING TO PINCH HIT WAS HINCH. Is not the same to lose Murphy, hitting almost .300 than Matt Joyce, hitting .174. Actually, you leave the righty to face Joyce, you don't want him out of the game, YOU WANT HIM TO HIT. Well, Hinch did everything wrong and needed to use Gregerson in the game, INCREDIBLE. An easy victory became a hard fought game at the end. Then yesterday. He brings Qualls, why???? You have Sipp, you have Neshek, why Qualls? Well that run cost us the game. Then he brings Tucker, with a lefty warming up in the bullpen, so what EVERYBODY KNEW WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, HAPPEN, they brought the lefty so we LOST Tucker. Why not use Villar instead? He is switch hitter. You leave Tucker to face Street, PERIOD. This team is good, but the manager is not good at all. Today Stassi is playing, why not yesterday if you need to give a day off to Castro? That way Stassi faces the lefty and Castro the righty today. Stassi has shown he can catch. Why was GAttis hitting 5th? Now, today, why Marisnick is not playing? Last night he was on base 2 of 4 times. I've been very tough on Carter, but right now he is hitting MUCH BETTER THAN VALBUENA. Why is Carter not playing today? Why Valbuena is? Fiers is a fly ball pitcher so we don't need to infield to be great defensively, now, we do need the OF to be great, and we have Tucker playing LF and Marisnick on the bench. Incredible!!!!! Hinch is terrible, if the Astros don't make the playoffs it all starts with the manager.
Great, call up Singleton but not White. Why the hell did we call up Correa when we did and make these trades and then get super stingy about calling up anyone else? I do not understand what Singleton adds to the team right now. I have been real frustrated lately with the management of the lineup, front office and on the field.
Not advocating it... that was just a saddist exercise of looking at which worst-case scenario would you rather have (a sweep or a loss in a WC). Again, you use words like egregious and "pales" in comparison... I would not say using your "best" (not really on the road) pitcher to win the division is a game that pales in comparison to anything. But you are approaching a potential division winning/clinch an ALDS spot game with passivity? And again, Keuchel on the road is not head and shoulders better than Kazmir or McHugh (the likely other two starters for the playoffs). I would also not pitch Keuchel on 3 days rest over the other two on full rest (presuming you're trying to pitch him on less than full rest in the LDS).
The reason is Singleton is in 40 men roster, White is not. Now, i have no idea why Chapman has not been called.
So, when he said he was leaving... was that just another case of the mental masturbation/verbal diarrhea that comes out from him on a daily basis? Says a million different things, and nothing really sticks... unless it proves his all over the place point?
Valbuena last 30 games is hitting 187 with a slugging of .253. Last 15 games .176 average with a slugging of .176. Now, Carter Last 30 games .200 average with slugging of .431. Last 15 games .235 average with .559 slugging. And if we want to go last 7, .294 average with .706 slugging. Well, of course Hinch is going to use Valbuena over Carter right now, is HINCH
