For all you Bochy lovers out there (I’ve seen many posters talk about how Dusty is so dumb but Bochy is a guru), your boy intentionally walked (Ketel Marte) the game tying running in the 11th with 2 outs. This was after he pulled Montgomery who was dominant with 8 shutout innings and only 92 pitches only for Chapman to blow it in the 9th.
Who cares I think it’s awesome. I take it back, I realized it was a reference to wedding crashers, but didn’t realize the guy’s name was Chaz. Blummer is genius. On another note, I was really surprised how professional the Boston announcers were. So much more classy than the Rangers.
First time this season, Astros are Top 10 in team OPS (10th). Spoiler We could finish 5th-6th with good health.
This was a gutsy win, the offense really picked Javier up after that rough start. I just don't know what it will take to get our starters performing like they should. I feel like it took too long to get to the point of having a 6 man rotation, and these guys are so gassed an extra day or two of rest isn't making a difference. They might need to skip a start, but too many guys need the break and we don't have enough extra arms to let multiple guys skip starts down the stretch.
We need Bielak, Blanco, and multi-inning games from Montero to substitute starts for Javier, Framber, and Brown. It sounds harsh and desperate but that's where we are -- and it already should've happened back in July and/or earlier this month. With the offense surging the way it is and Montero's resurgence, there's decent chance we survive. We have JV and Urquidy now. There's no point in running gassed pitchers out there when their results are similar Bielak and Blanco. Throw them and let the main guys get refreshed, and hopefully the offense can slug its way to victories. This is where we are. And for Christ's sake, Diaz needs to catch much more. That's another reason we are where we are.
I think it may be too late for that now. Come September 1st, the Astros can add a 14th pitcher and they have every Thursday off and not more than 6 games in a row. They should be able to use a 5 man rotation + swing starters/piggy backing to keep Framber and JV on schedule but reduced innings while skipping turns and giving all the others the rest they need. But for the next week, it's all hands on deck.
Certain starters need more than an extra day or two rest. They need a vacation. Verlander missed April this year. Astros shouldn't worry about resting him until his final regular season start. Maybe throw him an inning or two.
While I agree that certain starters need rest it is more complicated than that. If a starter takes too much time off, he loses his endurance and must get built back up. There isn't time for that. Also, a change to the routine could actually hurt rather than help, making a starter more susceptible to injury. The human body was not designed to put this kind of stress on the arm. They are finely tuned and must be treated very carefully when any kind of change is considered. Especially when the end goal is in November, not October.
Or, we can continue doing what we've been doing the past 2 months with repeated negative results, then hope and pray things magically turn around. If a gassed reliever can pitch 5 days between games, a starter can skip a start or two -- or sandwich a start between two skipped starts. Management has done a terrible job managing the starters, and mismanaging the lineups. Some of these things have been obvious since before the ASB.
I can't argue against those thoughts. Dusty has been terrible about leaving starters in too long and relying on the same relievers too often. The good news is that the schedule and roster expansion will bring an opportunity for relief in 10 long days. Hopefully the team capitalizes on it.
