I understand the “devils avocado” routine but little about Pressly says “elite closer” or even “really good closer.” As difficult as it is to swallow this teams singular goal is to win the WS. Not make the ALCS. Not get to the WS. Win it all. Their legacy, whether us diehards want to admit it or not, depends on them winning another title. Who knows if there’s a better replacement out there - although everything about Stanek screams that he’s a better fit for closer - but to think we should just accept Pressly as the closer is absurd.
Watched the replay again, the 8th failure for the Stros. 2 on, 0 outs and Fernando Tatis wanna-be popped out for 1st out. Then a missed ball call on Maldy which would of loaded the base with 1 Out. F@#$ Y#$ NY, home of MLB BS. Pressley just doesn't have it now, I have seen a lot of hard hits against him this year. Either Fight Night, or Fright Night!
By the end of that game, I had alot of gray hear and shorter finger nails. At least your starter settled down after the first inning. Pitching down the stretch has me a litt,little, nervous. Great game though. Yonder is a beast!
Why are people acting like it is a big mystery as to why Pressly is struggling? His knee is jacked up and he has a chronic problem. It's not some mystery. His fluctuating velocity shows he's not healthy. Astros have been babying him since his time on the IL. His K/9 is down significantly this season and the worst of his career since 2014. Last year he was an elite closer. 2.25 ERA, 2.09 FIP, 11.4 K/9, .969 WHIP, and 26 for 28 in save opportunities. That's why he got the contract extension. He also had Tatis... Jones botched the foul pop to end the game.
I didn't see the game but waking up to the results my first thought was "what the hell happened to our bullpen?"
The walks are on Pressly. The homerun is on Maldonado. He called for a fastball on 1-2 count on a batter that struggles with the off speed stuff.
If he's hurt, but can still pitch effectively, the question is whether or not he should be in this role simply because he's being paid to be in this role. I expect him to bounce back but its hard to ignore his peripherals and his fluctuating velocity/command.
Also first time pitching back-to-back days in almost a month (last time was May 21-22). Guessing he's down today, and I wonder about his availability if we find ourselves in save situations over the weekend? Hopefully he gets right. When healthy, he's been nails for the 'stros.
Well that sucked. Today is another day. That's baseball. It happens to every team occassionally. Can't do anything about it. Flash it. Time to find out what this team is REALLY made of. If they come out and compete then fine move on excited about the rest of the year. If they lay an egg then time to examine the team's makeup and look at changes. Look for Meyers and possibly Pena in the starting lineup tonight. That would mean 2 players off of the active roster, 1 off the 40 man.
If he is pitching effectively he will stay in the role. He's not pitching effectively right now. His last 6.0 innings he has given up 5 hits and 4 walks. It's just too many baserunners when he isn't striking guys out like before.
Right - which means he wasn't giving up 1 or 2 walks every other outing. Pressly's peripherals weren't awful this year. They were awful in April. Decent in May. Pretty good in June prior to yesterday. His WHIP, OBPA, etc all improved each month. He's been pretty solid the last 6 weeks. Yuli is a bigger concern because of extreme age issues. There are no such issues with Bregman or Pressly at this point. . While he's not likely to get better at this point in his career, he can likely sustain what he's been doing the last few years until his mid-30's. He may not do so, but age isn't likely the deciding factor there.
"I told you to throw a fastball, I didn't tell you to hit the bat with it."[/QUOTE] Yah I don't think he called for a juicy meat ball.
I was thinking although you don't want to lose, you want Sid to get that contract, bankrupt the Stankees.
If Dusty wasn't so busy playing the "pull my finger" fart joke in the dugout, then he would have used that finger to give Pressley the heave-ho earlier after you clearly saw he was throwing "jack ****" and brought in Stanek. Rabble...rabble...rabble.
Overreact much? Pressly is not, nor should he be off the roster. There is no rule anywhere that says he has to be the closer though. Montero, Neris and Stanek have all outpitched him in the 8th/9th innings this year. I wish he would give the job to Stanek. He has the stuff AND the attitude.
