I don't know if he's done a great job. With our injuries, he pretty much can't do anything else. He's not making the dumb decisions he was making earlier in the season which is a good thing. He has kept the team from not giving up which is probably the best thing he has done.
Lots of people in here were ripping Joe apart since last year and they can’t go back on it now. So, you get partial praise with a bunch of but’s. It’s human nature. Joe is doing a great job this season.
First Espada, and now there are rumblings on this forum about Ime. Do Houston sports fans have something against good coaches/managers?
I don't know if he's done a great job? We are in 1st place with 5 game lead. What else could he do for you? If it was a 10 game lead. Then would that be enough for you? Jeez man.
Espada sucks and everything we accomplish is in spite of him, that's the mentality for a lot and no tangible results will change that. I've kind of accepted that I'm gonna have to hear Espada b**ching no matter the situation. He's generally putting his best available players on the field, he's usually pulling starters at the right time, and the relievers are succeeding. Maybe the pen would be pitching well regardless, but god knows that if these guys had struggled Espada would have taken the heat for his failure of usage. When players play well managers look good, when they don't they look bad. I don't think he's played a big role in their success, but I'm also not perpetually whining about how awful he is either, because he isn't.
I admittedly have ripped Joe apart on this thread, but a guy can improve, and he has. He is deploying the bullpen better, he has set up the right lineups and matchups game to game, he's navigating injuries, and evening managing around multi-player slumps. I remember I was against the Dusty hire, but from the 2020 postseason through 2022, you couldn't argue he did a remarkable job. Then suddenly in 2023 the weirdness started. Problem is many posters will decide right away whether they like a guy or hate a guy and stay dug in even that player/manager gets better or worse.
Fortunately with the injuries to the lineup it's limited the chances to screwup. He's unable to put lesser lineups out there. Although he still tries (Sitting Diaz instead of DH'ing him in game 1 of the A's series. The bullpen has been fool proofed and it's pretty easy to look good when the most runs pitching staff (Even with the injuries) gives up in a month is 4. (Twice)
Dusty was given a turn-key championship situation here. He built nothing. The weirdness actually started in 2022 but he felt justified with the WS victory. Because of this, in 2023 his ego was just out of control. I was fine with the Dusty hire, when it happened. My mind changed over time with Dusty. We won a title with him, and we would’ve with any manager, but he also gave the season away the next year for his own selfish reasons.
“Average” is at least a lot better than we thought. With more winning, who knows? Maybe we can call him above average some day.
Bottom line is managing is not about results. It's about decisions. I concede that he has been better, but its easy to be better when the choices dwindle. Everyone in the bullpen has been great, so all those choices look good. The bench is full of AAA guys, so deciding who plays by flipping a coin is still reasonable. So, sure they are winning and his decisions have all been OK, but then he does something stupid again like warming up Hader in a 7 run game with 2 outs in the 9th. Pure panic driven. When a few bullpen guys start scufflung and players return from injury giving him.oegitimate options again, I'm afraid he will revert back to poor decisions. I hope I'm wrong.
You probably are. We don’t have all the answers as fans. People do improve at their jobs and you have no idea how he handles the players, what he’s like in the clubhouse or dugout or on the plane. If there is more to coaching than the results, as you say, then there is more to coaching than the decisions that cause the results. We only see part of it. At least he’s not deliberately sitting good players for lesser ones just to piss off upper management. That’s bad managing. and in the end, managers are absolutely graded on their W-L results. You can bring up Connie Macks record if you want. He won championships though.
In my experience the bottom line is that results (good or bad) are based upon the decisions you make.
I think we can all agree that this team is rallying around him and at least meeting potential, if not over achieving. I still cringe at some of his decisions, but it makes no sense to get rid of him now. And, of course, be careful what you wish for.
