Ashby brought his gear... Hinch already in uniform.... Scoscia one dugout away. Plenty of catchers in the building.
Also, with left handers hitting (you know, Valbuena and Castro), holding Kemp on first opens up holes. Kemp was brought in because he is the better choice to score on a double.
you give the chance to Valbuena, once he was out, Kemp NEEDED to run. Now, if Kemp is not a good base stealer, what is he doing with the club?
Does Hinch ever use the hit and run or bunt to move runners up? On a side note, how much better would this lineup look if Crane had ponied up a little bit more $$$$ for Abreau to play 1st base.
One of you is talking baseball... the other is watching a soccer game. Having a conversation with him is like a Martian talking to a fungo.
Having Kemp on 1B opens up the right side for the 2 LH hitters - Val and Castro. Also, that Carlos Perez guy (you might have heard of him) has a really good arm. But yeah, I would have sent him early in Castro's AB.
He cannot be any worse in the field in his current state, than he is behind the mic. IMO the best injury we have had all year was Ashby out with laryngitis.
You never want to cheer for an injury, but..... Hell, he's Canadian, I'd throw in some loonies and toonies along with the greenbacks. How does the Stros brass and media people not know that Brown/Sparks/Ford/Blum/Anyone is better than Ashby?
