but it doesn’t really matter in terms of diagnosing whether Dusty will give Meyers a chance or is harboring some grudge, does it? Straw wasn’t available, and Dusty played his best ML-experienced hitters. It was between Jake and either Tucker or Chas. Would you or anyone have done it differently in LA, SF, or last night? Time will tell, but I don’t believe that anything we’ve seen thus far is a signal or unwarranted with respect to Meyers (Dusty’s handling of the IF last night is a different matter).
Click said Tucker playing CF was going to be unlikely on the day of the trade. Sure McCormick has more AB's... but to say he's a far more experienced ML hitter? We know that Dusty has no problem putting newly called up pitchers or recently promoted position players (Jones, Garcia) with questionable MLB pedigree in the everyday lineup soon after they're on the roster. Somehow, he has an issue giving Meyers one start in the last 6 games... while readily admitting he wasn't happy and it wasn't his decision when asked about the Straw trade. If Straw was on the roster, I doubt he'd have been benched 5 out of the last 6 games. And I've already said I don't think Click views much of a difference between Straw/Meyers both at the plate and in the field. In the end, Click has made decisions/trades/roster moves with the mindset of who he thinks should be getting AB's and in the lineup. Its Dusty's responsibility to put out the lineup he feels will compete night-in/night-out that Click has built. He didn't build it for Dusty, he built it for the Astros.
I would hope that this morning the management team is having a meeting regarding last nights handling of the lineup. With Oakland just 4 games back I just cant get behind this "load management" for baseball players thought process. Whether Dusty is being intentionally combative to prove a point or his instinct is starting to wane (starting to - funny right?) it needs to be brought up that besides the good hitting splits for Yordan when plays the field - are the negatives associated with another knee problem worth the risk only to rest a veteran player? That single move - Having Yordan play the field and Brantley DH cost the game last night IMO. Framber was roughed up after Yordan came up one step shy of two consecutive fly balls that land at his feet. Add to that he's a huge guy and one slip or weird snag of the spike and he's on the shelf. Doesnt he do a great job as the DH already without the unnecessary risk and maximizing the fielding talent? Ugh. Click better be lighting some fires and kicking some tires today.
Pretty sure more load management decisions are made by the front office/trainers than by Dusty. Dusty has notoriously run his teams into the ground in past years due to overuse. Did he all of a sudden become enamored with rest at 70 years plus? Doubtful. The whole team was going to be sluggish last night simply due to not arriving in Houston till 7am. These guys are creatures of routine. Still no excuse for Framber who should have been well rested (unless he didn't fly back earlier).
I imagine you will be hard pressed to find examples of us calling somebody up from the minors and them not getting a start within a few days. Frankly I imagine you won't find any example of a healthy player on our team not starting a game for a whole week. He should have started one of the games in the Giants series. You don't call a guy up and then let him go a week without starting. Now of course if Meyers does have a bad start when he finally gets one, Dusty can justify benching him for another week. If Dusty is the manager next season I will be stunned.
“It’s a front office decision.” … Nah, it’s a Dusty decision. (From when he was with the Nationals) “When asked about his decision to rest his key players, Baker said his approach hasn’t changed since the start of his managerial career. It depends on the personnel available and the depth of talent on his bench. Baker repeatedly has stated his trust in his bench players, notably Stephen Drew and Adam Lind, both of whom have started elsewhere. “I’ve learned that most of the time if you don’t give them a day off or if you don’t trust the guys on the bench, then you end up playing your regulars too much,” Baker said. “Then you end up hurting them and then you are kind of stuck with the guy that you are trying to stay away from in the first place.” Baker tries not to keep his players out of the lineup too long, but said it is his job to judge when his players are hot, cold and when they just need a day to recuperate. He often draws upon experiences over a 19-year career as a player to guide his decisions as a manager. Also helping Baker’s case to rest his players is that the players themselves are “more receptive” to sitting a day and even going on the disabled list. In the past, Baker said it was almost unheard of for players to willingly take a day off. The fear they might be replaced was too great. “The chances of you taking a day off and a guy having a big day and you losing your job is becoming less and less,” Baker said. “Because there is less competition for your everyday job and there is — money is a big factor in keeping their everyday job.” Baker said he earned his starting job as a player because he would fill in for other players when they got a day off. “One of the worst things a manager can tell you is take another day because this guy gets four hits, and one more day won’t hurt you, and the next thing you know, is he has your job,” Baker said. “It’s changed.” In keeping with that theory, Baker has rested his key players more than other teams. Baker has kept Zimmerman on his bench to start games 16 times this season, though three were due to back trouble. Rendon has sat for nine games, one of which was for a pre-Opening Day injury. Murphy has missed eight games despite no notable injuries. Compare to other all-star infield players and the difference is obvious: The Reds’ Joey Votto has played in all 83 games. The Rockies’ DJ LeMahieu has only missed three games not due to injury. The Rockies’ Nolan Arenado has missed two starts, the Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt three. Arizona’s Jake Lamb hasn’t started in six games and the Pirates’ Josh Harrison has missed seven, one due to a leg injury. In the case of Harper, the 24-year-old has not started eight games this season, entering Wednesday’s game. Only two were rest days. Three were due to suspension and three due to injury. Looking at some of the all-star outfielders, both the Marlins’ Marcell Ozuna and the Braves’ Ender Inciarte have only not started one game this season. The Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon has matched Harper with three days he didn’t start. _________________________________________________________ At least a handful of times a week, Dusty Baker begins a sentence with the words “Hank Aaron told me.” His former Braves teammate passed along lessons about conduct, mind-set, hitting, handling success and failure and a variety of other topics. Managing a long season, apparently, is among those lessons, too. “Hank Aaron told me how to stay healthy and how to keep guys healthy, you average two days off per month,” Baker said. “That’s 150 games. If you can go 150 games, there’s 12 games where you’re doing nothing but occupying ink on the lineup card. Emotionally, physically and mentally. So that’s what I’ve tried to do, tried to keep my guys healthy.” “You go from spring training to those guys playing almost every day — your regulars having almost equal at-bats to your non-regulars,” Baker said. “Then all of a sudden the season starts and you don’t get an at-bat but every two weeks. Then you have to go up there and face the toughest pitcher on their staff late in the game. That’s not fair to them or us.” _________________________________________________________ Baker has been doing this for more than two decades as a major league manager, and over that time he has developed a system. That said, he still must adjust his system to the personnel on his roster. “If you have the kind of team that you’re going to have a drastic fall from your starters (to your reserves), then it makes it a little tougher,” he said. “When you’ve got a good bench, it makes it easier. I’ve learned that most of the time if you don’t give them a day off, or you don’t trust the guys on the bench, then you end up playing your regulars too much and you end up hurting them. And then you’re kind of stuck with the guys you might have been trying to stay away from in the first place. So I try not to have a stay-away-from-a-guy attitude, so I can try to put them in a situation where they’re most likely to succeed.” Baker plans days off well in advance, but he also makes adjustments based on what he sees with his own eyes. “You have to kind of judge when a guy’s hot, when a guy’s cold, when he’s getting tired,” he said. “And you’ve got to remember what it was like when you played. Because the hardest thing is, the farther away you get from when you played, to remember slumps and the heat and being tired and stuff like that. You have to continue to remember what it was like. But it helps if you have the personnel to do it.”
Any close loss in which Raley faced mostly right handed batters or Castro started against a lefty immediately comes into question. Click .."Hey Dusty, we went and signed a backup catcher that fares pretty well against righties, he will platoon well with our starter. Pretty awful against lefties though" Dusty.. Got it, so Imma start him every 5th day even against lefties.
Dusty was brought on for his experience in the league, and his reputation as a straight-shooter. It was something that was necessary in the immediate aftermath of the cheating scandal, but now we're starting to see the pitfalls of hiring someone who either A) doesn't understand analytics and how to apply them or B) doesn't care to. There are probably no less than 4 players on this roster that he's mismanaging and misusing based on their successes and failures in certain situations, and that to me is a fireable offense in this day and age. I know he won't be fired, but how he manages the postseason is a cause for concern.
Click also said Chas deserved regular time, which he is now getting. You seriously would have preferred Jake against the Giants or Dodgers? to be clear, I think Dusty is a horrible tactical manager. I just find “play the rookie immediately against the two best teams in baseball when multiple good hitters are already out” to be an odd example of that or of proof of a rift. It may we’ll be, but I don’t think we know yet
Its just against his normal MO for the season when it comes to distributing playing time to new call-ups, so it tends to stand out. He also gave a disproportionate amount of starts to Straw. In the end, the only thing we know is that Dusty loved Straw and he now isn't all that thrilled with any of his remaining options, whereas he can use AAAA players for 3B, SS, 1B, C quite regularly.
Well AJ also had to deal with Correa missing extended time, Altuve having multiple IL stints, Yuli having prolonged slumps, Springer with intermittent IL trips. Not to say more rest would have prevented some of those instances but that's what they're trying to accomplish with this year's team. Correa seemingly has benefited. Hopefully Yuli's neck thing isn't prolonged. Altuve probably could use even more rest than he's getting, but is still looking fine at the plate and in the field. Brantley certainly needs spells given his injury history and age.
As @Nick posted Click has said more then a couple times on the radio (and in print I assume) that the trainers are advising Baker as to who needs rest when. Can he sit a guy if he feels they need it? Sure, he's the skip but for the most part the trainers keep the feel on the players and help him decide who sits when. Its well documented that Baker has run pitchers in the ground in the past with BP mismanagement. On the Meyers thing who knows what the deal is. Grudge or not, I have no idea.
I was just about to post this. Less rest with AJ appeared to lead to more injuries, no data proof to back that up but still....
