Why do you continue to say this? Most every poster has (fan based) issues with his lineups, pitching decisions, etc.
And those that do are severely chastised because (see above.) It's not, "I disagree", it's "How DARE YOU?"
I recall that it's been shown that when a manager has been thrown out their team typically benefits in terms of ump fairness over the rest of the game. Would take a few seasons of data but you could see what happens when a manger changes teams.
Benefits or the game is called fairly? I've seen stuff on this, but I've never been satisfied that the game wouldn't be called fairly if the manager did nothing. Umps are human, and it is very difficult to say their hot and cold streaks end because the manager was ejected; the hot/cold streak was just randomness that would have ended on its own; or the umpire began wearing women's underwear.
I may or may not severely chastise once for every 20 posts complaining about resting players despite Astros having rested players for years (though guys may be getting more rest as they get older).
If your premise is correct, then why does the ump treat the team receiving the ejection differently from the other team? This is thing I had in mind. https://community.fangraphs.com/getting-ejected-works/ This of course could be a on-off issue that can't be extrapolated to the broader thesis of active, ornery managers who pester the umps provide value to their teams compared to passive managers.
I question the lineups that MB posts because neither Dusty nor any manager is going to use them. But, I've never severely chastised him.
The error bars on that analysis show the results after ejection are close and not conclusive that the two teams are being treat differently and if there is a difference...it is likely small. Considering the lopsided nature of the strike zone before the ejection, we can assume odds are the scores on average are different, which could cause pitchers to pitch differently. Also, I'm not sure if the manager gets ejected more at home or away. If the manager is making a show in front of the home crowd, we should expect some favoring on average post ejection. Without creating a control that accounts for home/away, score, whether ump is favoring ejected manager's hitters or pitchers, and other factors, it is difficult to say it was manager being ejected that mattered as players likely are letting ump know he's screwing up as well. Also, I'm not sure if umps get between the inning updates on their strike zone either.
I would say my criticism is intended not to be more severe than his criticism of Dusty on resting players, but severely is a subjective term.
I don’t complain about him resting guys, that’s just the way the game is played these days What drives me crazy with Dusty is how he just puts the backup in the guys regular batting slot. Goodrum leading off, Siri batting second, crap like that
I had severely chastisable issues with how he handled the bullpen the past 2 years. Didn't matter the game situation, it was "well, it's his turn to pitch today so he's going in". It's been much less of a problem this season because he's got a deep pen of good arms, damn near "idiot proof". And yes, the slotting of bench guys into the lineup still pisses me off. To his credit, the way he managed the pitching staff in the last 2 postseasons was pretty immaculate, especially last year.
Have we figured out why Maton sucks this season besides the walks issue? Seems like his fastball has gotten a lot more ordinary this year and is getting smoked.
Good question, I'm about to look around on fangraphs and the other nerd sites. I did learn recently that his little brother is an infielder with the Phillies, just got put on the IL though. ETA: on a cursory glance, other than the walks, his line drive % is up 10, his soft and hard contact % are both up 4, while his "medium" is down 8. Avg FB and curve velocity is down 1mph, slider is down 4. Only differences in his repertoire are he's throwing his slider more often this year (22% vs 17.8) and has abandoned his cutter (4.7% to zero). I do not have the know-how to find it, but I'd love to see a pitch graphic showing where he's getting hit and on what pitches.
While the starters have been dominating, tough to say Maton has had a regular role. Ideally he'd be swapping 7th inning duties with Stanek, depending on whether or not lefties were coming up, but there just haven't been that many opportunities the last month+. So he's getting mop-up duty... or finish an inning duty... or come in when your closer gets inexplicably umpire show'd duty. Compare that to the playoffs, where he was brought in a high leverage situation nearly every game (and did very well nearly every game). He's still going to be the guy if they need to get one lefty out (and its prior to the 8th or 9th). This is also just a stacked bullpen right now. Two 8th inning guys (Neris/Montero) who can both close if needed. Pressly will dominate (if healthy). Stanek has been used perfectly this year.... and again, the starters are doing everything they can to keep Dusty from overworking anybody in the bullpen.
With the talk of Verlander potentially opting out of his K at the end of the season to pursue a better deal - if his current performance holds, should the Astros be interested in a bigger/higher AAV deal with Verlander? Seems like a waste of money to me unless he improves over the second half which is of course possible. He's been more or less good so far but he doesn't have the same swing-and-miss stuff so far as he showed pre-TJ. I think he's fortunate MLB went to the dead ball so far this season.
