Regardless of whether he is on a "hot streak" or not, Yuli is #8 on the team in OPS vs LHP, and #9 vs RHP. Since the idea is to get the best 9 players in the game and his HITTING is the weak part of his game people are complaining about, there is no reason to sit him. Vs RHP Yuli .651 Chas .629 Jake .582 Maldy .533 Dubon .477 Vs LHP Yuli .745 Trey .709 Diaz .704 Tucker .681 Jake .681 Alex .580 And YES EVEN Jake is hitting better vs LHP than Bregman.
Mancini in July: .237 AVG / .676 OPS (Yuli: .281 / .751) Mancini since the ASB: .184 AVG / .631 OPS (Yuli: .264 / .681) I thought y'all complained when Dusty doesn't play the hotter player?
I can't decide if I should block everyone that is annoying as **** about the lineups the way I have in the GARM or if I enjoy how much Major, bobrek, Joe Joe et al own the reactionaries so much it evens out my annoyance. I think I would hardly see any posts during games though since most of the Astro forum posters I love smartly wait till the game is over before making any judgements.
The hot thing is dumb to me (other than a HR today would always be an auto start tomorrow for me bc I’m not superstitious but I’m sortastitious). I’d settle for lineups that make mathematical sense, not hitting Goodrum 1st bc he replaced Yuli, not sitting Chas against left handers, not giving guys rest days against pitchers they have owned while sitting them against guys they haven’t hit, not wasting Yordan PH’s when you know he’s guaranteed to be walked, not pitching to Judge with 2 outs and a base open during walk off opportunities- you know- all stuff that’s basic competence type stuff, well within his ability to do, and doesn’t even hamstring what his goals with the team are. On a personal level I like Dusty just fine. I actually think his managing in the playoffs has been pretty good (to the point it feels like he’s not making the decisions and Click is since they always seem to make mathematical sense) I’ve said he seems to have the guys respect in the club house which is more important than the lineup construction and tactical on game decisions. But, when you hit Goodrum 2nd that’s just a glaring mathematical mistake that leaves a percentage chance to win on the table for no good reason. It’s unacceptable. It’s an unforced error that shouldn’t happen. It’s like hitting 16 against a 6. I’m quite certain that if Dusty was sitting at 3B on my blackjack table I’d like to strangle him, which is a quality I don’t want in my manager.
With Mancini you have to take into account ballpark and lineup protection. I think his numbers, especially, power numbers will far exceed Yuli’s production at MMP, but we shall see.
Part of me wonders how much Dusty is experimenting and challenging his players. Ie, we know Chas is good against lefties, but we want him to get better against righties, so now's the time to play him and see if he can develop. Early in the season, Dusty *was* playing him regularly against lefties. I continue to believe that once the Astros get a big lead, they stop really trying to win games and are more interested in the postseason - health, etc. Maybe that also applies to trying to figure out how to get the best out of their players too. Who knows. I don't think very highly of Dusty in regards to analytics, but the lefty/righty has always been one of his go-to moves even when it didn't make sense - that's old school analytics - so it's hard to explain the Chas thing.
I think it’s time to pull the plug on Myers until next year. Send Myers down to work in the minors the rest of the year. Chas should be the everyday CF. Dubon can be his replacement when you need him to slide over to LF or RF. Mancini/Alvarez/Gurriel LF/1B/DH depending on ball park, match-ups and rest days. Mancini should be an everyday player.
Plenty of ABs for Yordan, Mancini and Yuli at 1B/LF/DH (little RF mixed in for Mancini?), with Diaz getting rest starts for those 3 and 2B/SS/3B regularly. It's not that difficult, I just wish the guy with the lineup would make all of yall happy so the endless b****ing might tone down a bit.
His defense at 1B sure is...ask the pitchers and the rest of the IF and I imagine they'd say the same. Not saying he needs to start everyday, but there are many times when he saves runs over there. "There's RBI in that glove" as the saying goes.
Yuli is a really good 1baseman. As long as Mancini is starting most post season games I’m happy. Our pitching is great. Our defense is really good and Yuli is part of that. Our run production is 12th in the major leagues. In the postseason we will need all the offensive firepower on the field as possible. If Brantley is back, then Yuli is the guy that is going to lose at bats if Mancini keeps stroking the ball and Yuli continues to be a .270 singles hitter. Our defense will take a hit, but the offense of Brantley and Mancini will outweigh the defensive deficit of Yuli sitting. If Brantley doesn’t come back then Mancini gets his at bats in LF and DH and occasionally 1b and Yuli is in the line-up most of the time.
Agree with this. If Brantley comes back (big if), Gurriel will shift into backing up 1B, 3B, DH, 2B, and LF. Honestly the biggest loser of at-bats in that scenario would probably be Diaz or Dubon, as I think Gurriel would still be in the lineup most days.
Suppose Brantley does actually come back, which I think everyone would agree they hope that happens. Brantley and Yordan are taking the LF/DH spots without question. Unless they do a complete 180 and decide to give Tucker looks in CF - we both know that’s very unlikely - there is only one spot left for him and that’s obviously at 1B. Now given that VERY plausible scenario, there’s going to be a decision at 1B between Yuli and Mancini. So tell me…who are YOU starting in this scenario? After answering that question, who do you think DUSTY is going to start in this scenario. You’re either ignorant/naive or not as intelligent as I pegged you out to be if you truly think Dusty pencils in Mancini over Yuli in the ALDS game 1 lineup. At best they’re in a 50/50ish starting split. So yeah, we are all b****** because it’s painstakingly obvious if you’ve actually listened to all of his interviews beginning last Sunday, and factoring his words into account when forming an opinion on how he’s going to manage lineups/decide playing time. Oh and don’t forget his F you to the FO/Click last year when they clearly wanted Myers/Chas to split time but Dusty refused to take his head out of Straw’s ass and listen to his bosses. I just REALLY don’t understand how you seem so confused by this…or at least you clearly believe this is just the usual “sky is falling” routine by people on CF (esp the GARM) with no merit/truth behind it.
