He was. And it was criminal that Dusty didn't play him more. And it would be criminal of Espada to play him more this year.
That is just nonsense. You have no idea how he would’ve responded with more playing time and a little more confidence from the manager. After the year he had last year, his job as a starter should’ve been more secure than it was. He was the starting CF on our WS title team and hit a home run off Cole in the playoffs that year, plus the catch against the phillies. Then the great year he had last year. At some point his job has to be a little more secure than 3-4 weeks. * not to mention he had an injury this year too
But he is also 6 for his last 27 with a .741 OPS ( coming in to the game today) So saying he is 7 for his last 52 is pretty disingenuous. You are deliberately including a 1 for 25 that is long gone.
No someone earlier said 7 for his last 50 so I added the 2 at bats today. Thats all. I actually root for jake.
He was as a default because there were no better options. And to his credit, he performed - until this year. He has always overachiever and has never had the tools or skills to be as good as he was. Credit to him but for 3 years the Astros organization expected him to regress to his talent level. This year he finally has. It sucks for him and it sucks for the Astros but they have been waiting for and expecting it. And the fact that they have never given him that starting spot is exactly how I know that.