I was opposed to Espada for a bunch of reasons but don’t know the guy personally or have insight into it. Why were you opposed?
It’s such a blindingly obvious solution and this team pisses me off that the don’t figure it out. It’s dumb. They will do it- it will work- and I will be like why did you have to be so damn stubborn and waste 50 games. looerfido against RHP, Dubon against LHP, Dubon to rotate into the field at CF, LF, 2B, SS or 3B 2 times a week. Joey as PR or PH in games he doesn’t start. That has each of Loperfido and Dubon getting PT in 75% of the games, when it’s most advantageous to them, and gives other guys days off to keep them fresh while still fielding our best lineup. the fact that the astros org makes the simple seem like brain surgery does not speak well to them. I’m pretty sure Dana gets it. Crane needs to empower him to make us a smart team again or **** the bed and move on before we have important rebuilding that will affect the next decade of this team that we have to do.
There is something the Astros know/think/see that is keeping them from using several players at 1b. Dubon was in that group for the longest time but is now getting some starts there. He still looks unnatural there. I don't have any clue what it may be, but it is definitely real to them. For some reason they do not like Loperfido at 1b. My hope is that, just like Dubon, he can work his way out of that "box" I do not see Diaz getting out of that box this year, he is just simply too busy as the #1 catcher to do any work there. I have no idea how they feel about Cabbage or Hummel. Putting Dubon at 1b over them yesterday may be a clue. I AM worried if they get rid of Singleton then they may feel they have to bring up Kessinger or Hensley to play there. I wish they were more open about their thought process there.
Roster looks a whole lot different 20-26 than it did opening day. I think it will look even more different in another 5 weeks.
I'm not even sure Diaz *is* the #1 catcher. He's only started there 3 of the last 10 games and one of those games (yesterday) Caratini was "injured".
I would not be completely opposed to converting Diaz to (mostly) 1B and letting Caratini/Salazar take 80% of the catching innings. Maybe pair up Diaz with 1 pitcher (Blanco) and let Salazar (Brown/Arrighetti/Bloss) and Caratini (JV/Framber/Bloss) split the others, with Diaz playing 1B on the days he doesn’t catch.
Diaz will improve at the catcher position if he continues to play there. Having a strong hitter at that spot is an advantage over most teams. Diaz isn’t a bad catcher right now. Give him time. 100 starts isn’t full time, not even for a catcher. I say that’s fine.
Pretty wild they “were comfortable” with Abreu over there though and his trash defense. Singleton isn’t good there either defensively.
I don't pretend to know what it is but nobody can deny that it is something. The only thing I can think of is that Abreu and Singleton have been 1b their whole careers. They are physically limited in range and ability but react out of instinct and muscle memory rather than having to think.
I was cool with Espada because the board spoke highly of him. Didn't realize he'd been passed over for manager by multiple other franchises, for multiple seasons. He definitely wasn't striking up much confidence during his interviews. Had I known, I would've never boarded the train. He's the Astros version of David Culley. The team can still make it non-disasterous if upper management puts a leash on him. He does not need full range of typical managerial power. Team probably needs strong bench coaches who display leadership. I really wouldn't mind firing him after the season and hiring a Maldonado-type or a veteran. I wouldn't mind doing that yesterday.
Yeah, it’s a really weird situation. Don’t understand what they are doing with Loperfido either…they had him in CF last night so I’m assuming he’s not going to get a look at 1B. Starting to wonder if they aren’t using him as trade bait and want to “sell high” based on his early performance in AAA this season.
He never played in the bigs (not an absolute requirement for me but a nice to have) I knew he got passed over for like 5 or 6 jobs- and that was with the Astros Halo around him- so figured he must interview like total and complete **** It never made sense to me to turn over a team with WS aspirations to a first time manager learning on the job Looking at his career when he refused to go manage in the minors when Florida wanted him to in order to get some experience that seemed really lazy to me That's like 4 strikes. On the plus side- the team seemed to like him and go to bat for him and I figured this group had enough talent that they could be managed to the playoffs by an utter moron. Wasn't planning on 9 pitchers going under the knife and Abreu being historically awful, Yordan being Meh for him, Bregman being utter trash for 8 weeks and Diaz and Chas taking huge steps back- while Hunter Brown was unplayable for the first 6 weeks of the season.
Exactly. If our complaint is that Diaz isn't expierenced (but capable) at catcher, and the reaction is to keep him from catching... it kind of leads to the Dusty circular logic we fought last year.
06/21/24 Houston Astros placed C Victor Caratini on the 10-day injured list retroactive to June 20, 2024. Left hip flexor strain. 06/21/24 Houston Astros designated RHP Blair Henley for assignment.
