I thought they might have made an under the radar trade for Zack Wheeler or that Dan Wheeler came out of retirement.
Posted this in the game thread: This lineup has so much more length when Mancini and Vasquez start, at least at home. There’s just no way Maldy’s play behind the plate is so superior to Vasquez that it out plays his performance in the batters box. If Maldy starts more games than Vasquez in the postseason we need to riot. So far not one person has been able to quantify exactly why or how Maldy will help us win more games than Vasquez. I keep hearing on sports talk that “well the Astros simply won’t pull Maldy this year” and that should berebutted immediately w “well why the f*** not?!?”
Yeah it’s pretty much just sentiment and homerism that’s gonna keep Maldy catching the majority. Anyone with a brain can see Vazquez should be starting, especially in the postseason. Here’s to hoping it happens.
I'm not gonna say I agree with them for starting Maldy, I don't, I agree with most fans on this issue. However playing devils advocate, pitcher confidence that may be gained throwing to a gamecaller they like is inherently unquantifiable. So even if there was improved results, there wouldn't really be a stat to back it up.
I'd consider getting Christian a start with every pitcher before the season ends to give him some familiarity with them and vice versa in case Maldy goes down in October.
Brian McTaggart @brianmctaggart Vázquez hasn't caught Verlander, Valdez or McCullers yet, but Dusty said he will at some point match them up with those guys so they can get familiar with each other.
I've got no clue where that came from. It deserves ridicule and scorn. And yes, I was thinking McCullers. It's not even close enough to blame auto-correct. The only thing I can imagine is occasionally my flashy thing jumps back in my paragraph and I might have typed whe(n) while the flashy thing was on McCu.
()usty is old school from a time the bottom of the order was a black hole with C, SS, P being the typical low hit portion of the order. Anyone hitting at those positions like Johnnie Bench (C) or Arod (SS) were SUPERSTARS. But you grew comfortable sorting those guys at the bottom by gut feelings because there was no expectation they would hit anyway. And I know we had at least one Pitcher who was a quality hitter and even pinch hit. A couple of more were relatively good hitters, but only compared to other pitchers.
@Nook has said certain starting pitchers like JV decide their catcher. Dusty said Vazquez will catch them all soon though. For the sake of wanting to see more Vazquez, pray that JV has a good start, Framber doesn't lose his quality start streak, and McCullers has a solid start when Vazquez catches them or else more than likely you'll see Maldy for all the games those guys start in the postseason. Vazquez could be the 7 inning on catcher when it turns over to the bullpen in those games and the starter for anyone else.
If Verlander likes Maldy catching for him so much, all the Astros have to do is sign Maldy for cheap and Verlander will re-sign.
Nook can you shed any light on this? Have a friend who's connected to the Stros who's said that Crane is PI$$ED at Click that he wasn't able to address CF at the deadline. That Click's T.B. approach is wearing thin on him and there's a major power struggle going on right now. So much so that Click may be gone after this year. Pretty much a given that Dusty is gone after this yr as well. Just passing along what I was told. Nook?
Crane being pissed about CF would not surprise me if it was true. It would surprise me if Click was close to being fired.
Why did CF need to be addressed with Chas available? The guy is likely a 3-4 win player starting in CF everyday. They did need another bat but not someone capable of fielding CF.
I'm not sure Chas will continue playing as well as he has, but agree with the overall sentiment that Chas is capable of starting in CF everyday. It does not surprise me that Crane would be upset about the play in CF considering Chas has only played there about a quarter of the time.
I think he will be back, but I can tell you that several months ago Maldonado wasn't sure he wanted to play next year. The Astros have talked to him about having a position within the organization when he does eventually retire.
The guy did mention there's power struggle...I assume between Dusty and Click also...if true. But I find it interesting lol
