Yeah, I just went to check their splits on ESPN, and the numbers bear that out. In the last 30 days: Raley: 1.69 ERA over 10 2/3 innings; 7 total baserunners and 2 earned runs over 12 appearances Taylor: 2.25 ERA over 8.0 innings; 12 total baserunners (6 walks!) and 2 earned runs over 10 appearances It felt like every time Taylor came in lately, there was traffic on the base paths, and the numbers show that. I agree with the decision, but I won't lie—seeing Raley coming in at any point during a playoff game will definitely be stressful.
He's the best defensive CFer we have and he hits fastballs. Lynn is almost exclusively throwing fastballs.
I don't pay enough attention to postseason rosters to know the answer to this, but is it common for teams to carry three catchers for a five-game series like this? To me, that's the biggest head scratcher at face value. If I had to pick between Odorizzi, Marwin or Stubbs, Stubbs feels like the least valuable guy and the guy they're least likely to need over a five-game series. Even with Jake's struggles this season, I have to think there's more value in bringing him along than a third catcher you're not likely to need.
If your going to spread out our lefty bats, one of Brantley, Yordan or Tucker has to be near the bottom of the order. Are those whining about Tucker being there advocating it should be Brantley or Yordan?
I think the main part of that strategy comes from managers considering "worst-case scenario". You're never going to run out of pitchers or position players in a game, no matter how long it takes. But if you've got 2 catchers and 1 gets hurt, then you're stuck with the other one for the rest of the game and the rest of the series. If Castro pinch hit in the 9th inning today and got hit in the face by a fastball, you've have to have Machete catch every inning the rest of the series, and the other team would know you wouldn't be able to pinch-hit for him either. They changed the rules to where if a guy got hurt, you could ask the Commissioner's Office to allow you an injury replacement at that position, but doing so means the injured player not only misses the rest of the series, but the next series as well. So in that hypothetical, if you got permission to add Stubbs to the roster, Castro would be out for the rest of the ALDS and also the ALCS if the team made it that far. Having the third catcher eliminates a potentially terrible future roster decision more than anything.
I agree with you that Tucker has been pretty much the team's best hitter this season. But I also question whether moving him around in the order is the best strategy. Consider that he's batted 6th or 7th most of the season—do we really want to screw around with what's worked for him at the start of the playoffs? If the bats are struggling, and Dusty needs to shake things up, I'd 100% support moving Tucker up. Also, regardless of what happens with the roster in the offseason, I'd like to see him batting higher in 2022. But for now, I'm good with what's worked for the best offense in baseball.
Brantley has 1.090 OPS vs the White Sox this year. Tucker .545 https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/30043/michael-brantley https://www.espn.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/34967/kyle-tucker
And an ops of only 608 in September.. He needs to be in there against righties, just not sold on him in the 2hole
This is right. The Astros don’t have a typically lineup and Tucker batting 7th has one of the highest percentages of at bats with men on base in the league. On this team it’s fine for him to be hitting 7th.
actually i follow it enough to know and been around here as a reg. not sure who you are though tbh. coincidence the playoffs roll around and certain folks suddenly pop up. but anyways go stros. not necessary to spend any sort of significant time on this
Like the roster . Only thing I might have done differently is Taylor over Yimi . but , I saw someone else say Taylor hasn’t been great lately AND cws are super right heavy . Maybe for next series . It seems like maton’s slider would be good vs righties .
