I love this team. I like to play manager, sorry. You don't have to worry, I won't be getting the gig anytime soon. Marisnick sure showed his value today, no doubt.
It doesn't matter if it's intentional or not. If teams know they can pitch inside and hit all your guys and your manager is just going to be very understanding about it like a big p***y then they're going to keep doing it just like the Royals have done it when we face them. It's intimidation, an age old concept you can't find in your little spreadsheets.
Same goes for Hinch not losing his mind on the non foul tip. The opponent and umpires fear no backlash which also sends a message to the team that this big ol puss doesn't have our back.
So now, not only do players throw out every other touch point they have with their manager and adjust their perception based on his ability to scream or be calm with umpires, but now the opponent is suddenly fearful of teams that have super b****y managers.
It's called standing up for your team and he has not shown the ability to do that. Hell if he's too big a puss then let Strom limp his old ass out there, I know Lance would have appreciated a little emotion.
Astros have most wins in AL. Apparently, not having a manager getting thrown out of games or giving other team free bases hasn't hurt the Astros.
By all accounts, his teams... these Astros players... love playing for him. He has the full respect of the clubhouse... and actually has more in-depth/personal relationships with guys like Springer/Correa/McCullers that goes beyond just the clubhouse/day-to-day baseball stuff (and this is both per them, and independent sources that cover the team). These sorts of relationships go a lot further as to whether a player wants to stay here long-term, vs. simply how a city is. Its exactly the type of manager who could connect to a young/talented team both on and off the field that this front office was looking for when they brought him on. You may not agree with every single analytically/data-based move, or his late-game decisions on who pitches when... but when it comes to this sort of stuff, ("having your back", "standing up for the team!").... you couldn't be more off-base on your assessment of how this team feels about him. But yeah, go back to judging a manager regarding how much dirt he kicks.
Oberholzer was getting lit up, then threw at batters. Astros' beaning OAK would be retaliation from getting beaned, not anger from their own suckage. Correa hits inside pitches well. Wouldn't outside pitches work best against him? Sliders away, just like Biggio.
@Nick can I coun't Giles last outing as a bad one. I need more devo! sadly it doesn't seem like hinch wants to give up on giles.....
this idea that they would just flat out cut morton for beaning a guy today is nuts......Good guy hinch won't do it though, he'd rather have a nice, pleasant discussion with an ump.
"Give up on him?" Are you 12? Interesting that he again came on in the 8th... I'm sure it had something to do with who was up with Oakland batting, and their numbers against certain pitchers, or maybe Hinch was planning on using him for 2? At this point, I'll take health and a variety of bullpen options. And if Hinch gets blame for every single minuscule mishap that happens with this team, why isn't he getting heaps of praise for this road trip, that has featured a combination of versatility, timely hitting, comebacks, and pretty damn good bullpen pitching.
no that is a different post. I was sarcastically saying hinch should "give up" on giles because of yesterday. because I like devo. I was actually attempting a cordial conversation, I see that is not possible.
That was one of the strangest games I've ever seen. No hit through 6 but still managed to score 2 runs. Many of the 10 runs came without hits at all. This is one of those games that we'll look back on when you try to write the history of the 2017 season. 2nd 5-run deficit erased in 1 week. Things are happening [enter Ron Paul] and this is going to be a special season.
Good for Hinch and his "personal relationships". It's nice to know they can be friends while recovering..
You're asking a guy to be something he's not. The front office and players know that's not his style. I suspect umpires have a lot more respect for managers who come out and rationally question or argue a decision. Whatever would Hinch have gained from getting kicked out at that point in the game? The call was not going to be changed. He made a lot of moves after that call that contributed to them winning the game. Had he been kicked out, they might have lost.
