I don't know that I have the energy to litigate starts from March... And I don't know that pedigree matters. Production does. And Julks had a decent April - the final 17 games, of which he started 14 and the Astros went 12-5, he had an OPS of .800. Isn't that what matters? Who cares about track record or who's earned what? He was playing well and contributing. I'm not suggesting Julks is good. I'm suggesting we can't take what's transpired after a date and retroactively apply it. Corey Julks had a nice April.
You all do know that Chas was hurt and missed nearly a month of the season, right? Between that and Brantley, they were desperate. Since May 8, which is when McCormick returned: Chas 317 PA Julks 233 PA Offensively, Meyers hasn't been better than Julks. I don't why everyone is suddenly clamoring for more Jake Meyers: he has a sub .700 OPS. They're not playing Julks over an appreciably better - or good - bat.
I'm not arguing it's been handled well - but it feels like fans are conveniently forgetting what actually happened.. Julks had a decent April and then McCormick got hurt and missed ~a month. They expected Brantley back late April/May. And then Yordan missed six weeks... *That's* why Julks has played more than probably anybody - including Corey - expected. It's not because Dusty is dumb and doesn't recognize his limitations - they've been pretty desperate. When Chas returned in May, he was awful. But since catching fire in June - again, I didn't think Dusty moved with the right urgency - but he is playing significantly more than Julks.
Meyers’ bat is likely at least a little better better than Julks’ and he’s a significantly better fielder. Julks is the definition of a replacement level player while Meyers is more of an average player. Julks should this be used when there is simply no other alternatives on the roster.
Chaz started 22 games in July Julks started 20 games in July Meyers started 12 games in July You are right, Dusty finally did cave and make Chaz a full time player in mid July (coincidentally around the time an article called him out), and he did so by taking AB's from Meyers. Julks never lost any playing time until they finally had to demote him to take him away from Dusty despite Meyers being better (or at the least equal) offensively, and much better defensively. Not sure how many AB's against LHP (who they both crush) were taken away from Meyers/Chaz to give to Julks this season.
Julks OPS is .650 Meyers OPS is .686 One is better than the other... While meanwhile being superior defensively. Did the team need Julks to play a times this year? Sure. Did it need to be anywhere near as often as it has been? No.
Like that Julks has almost as much playing time as Chas and Meyers despite being a worse player and never having demonstrated he could hit as well as two significantly better defenders. At no point should Julks have ever been splitting time with Meyers much less Chas. It was surprise he even made the OD roster. Suggesting that Chas who had performed in the majors for 2 season should lose time to Julks based on 2 bad weeks is preposterous. Not counting injuries, Chas lost about 35 games worth of PAs most of which were not in the 2 week stretch that he was bad. Personally, I think Julks has a chance to be an average bat and think some of his problems are just bad luck. Meyers is so good defensively that even if Julks was an average bat, Julks should be limited to PH and the occasional start.
There are literally DOZENS of margins. They aren't in a battle for the division because of any one or even 2 or 3 things. They lost 4/6 of their rotation from last year. Abreu has underperformed. Altuve and Alvarez have missed significant time. The bullpen hasn't been quite as good as last year. Tucker had a long stretch of performing below his usual standard... So this idea fans can pinpoint tiny increases on the margins and solve the problem is silly. Players like Jake Meyers & Corey Julks don't move needles.
We talk about what yainer needs to do in the future to grow his development, the future of the Astros front office and managerial fit, and break down all the remaining schedules of the contenders between here and the playoffs. At the end I share an odd dream Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0eB5NE7rQuPL9zEeVtoQfn?si=0--BYEcbTVSPv1rqgjalZA Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...n-astros-podcast/id1683955456?i=1000626072714 Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8...recasting?ref=dm_sh_2Kuc9hbvilGRP4XUumzWezvNw
Chas has been full-time since the end of June. And I don't understand Julks > Meyers, either (though, again: it feels like fans are possibly inflating Meyers' production). But Julks played in July because Alvarez missed 20 games. I really think it's that simple. I would absolutely agree Chas/Meyers + Dubon > Julks. But, again... all three of those choices, after Chas, are fairly marginal players, and we're simply not used to patching together parts of our line-up with so many of those types of players. But if we start listing issues with the 2023 season.... the Julks/Meyers/Dubon situation wouldn't rank top 10.
I fully agree: Meyers > Julks - though, again, it kind of feels like Meyers is being lifted up so fans can gripe about it when, really, the difference is probably much closer to marginal. Having said that- they don't play the same position, and the position Julks *does* play was without Yordon for six weeks.
I don't know at what point Dusty should have bought into the Chasissance in June - but there was a very viable reason why he didn't: in his first 14 games after returning from the IL - in which he started 13 - Chas posted a .552 OPS. In the moment of trying to win games in 2023, you don't just ignore that because of a - let's be honest: spotty track record. I would be willing to bet there were quite a few people, as June started, who were wondering why Chas was playing everyday. And that's, I think, the point I'm tryin g to make: it sure seems like we're retroactively applying Chas' June+ performance to his entire season. The context of how Dusty managed June was that, as it began, he really didn't have too many great options at his disposal.
Why would two weeks of performance affect your opinion one way or another regarding a starter with multiple years of performance in the league?
On the flip side, Dusty has zero problem showing loyalty/seniority to other players. Selective memory/favoritism/thought-process
Nah, I think this instance at least goes back to the "great divide" between fans. There are fans who understand the difference between noise and signal and those that don't, and never the twain shall meet.
no way dude. I have been calling out Dusty about his treatment of Chas since early last Year. Others here have to. It was warranted before he went on his super hot streak. You could tell he was the best option for us in CF. Some were still on the Jake train this year but most of us knew Dusty treated Chas like crap. I was very vocal about it last year too.
Again you are going with that strawman argument about issues in the 23 season as though people are blaming Dusty for Altuve's broken finger, yordan's injury etc , which nobody is doing. All we wanted is for Dusty to put the best options on the field that are available to him. Then you talk about the margins like they are meaningless, we are 1 game out of first, and by years end one game may be the difference, maybe even the difference in a playoff spot. Fans are not inflating Meyers production, stats are because Meyers is really good defensively. Jake Meyers has 1.7 WAR, Corey Julks has 0.3, that is not a small difference. And that's not to mention the 50 or so PA Julks took away from Yainer Diaz.
Margins kind of matter when there is less than a 3 game margin and tie breakers are not in your favor without a game 163. There is a difference between self sabotage versus using your best options and things just not working out.
