Hinch's early-season mastery of the bullpen is an underrated story line. He's not only got guys comfortable in their roles... but he's also not being robotic and simply doing the same thing every night, regardless of matchups. So far, Sipp, Qualls and Neshek have taken turns being the 8th inning guy. Qualls saved last night's "easy save" for Gregorson, who didn't need to be over-taxed and put out there simply because it was a save situation. And Harris has actually impressed enough to the point that I think they should hang on to him over Deduno when Fields comes back. Hinch definitely understands the importance of having "fresh" guys... I even liked how he inserted Asher in last week's blowout loss to the A's, and let him simply sink/swim in order to not waste a bullpen arm on a sure loss.
Hinch has been great so far. A mastery of constant adjustments in the lineup and the bullpen in an effort to keep guys fresh for the long season ahead, and help us achieve the best matchups to get the W.
We the South, love it! Might need to modify it to read, "we the dirty South!" Right, Chandler? Engineered to win, they gotta put that on a t-shirt! Awesome to think he was not the centerpiece of the "Cosart-Moran" trade last year. If he continues like this, what a freaking steal. Go 'stros!!
Astros Bullpen (not including Woj's appearance since he isn't really part of the pen) Gregerson 7IP 7K:1BB Harris 7.2IP 9K:3BB Sipp 7.2IP 6K:1BB Deduno 7IP 6K:2BB Neshek 7IP 10K:0BB Qualls 6.2IP 10K:2BB Thatcher 3IP 2K:1BB Total = 46IP 50K:10BB That is a great distribution of innings, and a great indicator of just how good our pen has been.
K%-BB% is my favorite early indicator for pitching. The Astros currently have a 22.4% K%-BB%, best in the AL by a wide margin. Who is Fields going to bump?
Granted, I liked the trade due to Moran, but have been disappointed with his ability to draw walks in AA. After seeing Marisnick play centerfield in Houston last year, I think I was wrong and that Marisnick was the centerpiece for the Astros. I think Marisnick is on a hot steak, but I do think he settles into a 3-4 WAR player this year if Astros pitchers start giving up some fly balls to center for him to track down.
At first glance, Deduno... who can be more valuable as a starter.... but I guess he doesn't have options to be sent down and would likely not pass through waivers.
Deduno is also the long man, so I don't consider that likely. Harris was the clear beneficiary in ST from Fields being on the DL, but he's been great. Thatcher is the weakest link, but I think they want a lefty specialist.
Can Fields replace Thatcher? Dude is the only guy in the bullpen that I absolutely do not want to see on the mound.
Fields was better than Thatcher last season against left handed hitters. Unlike last season, the Astros have pitchers that can get lefties out besides for Fields and Sipp. Harris actually has a reverse spit for his career. Gregorson and Neshek are good regardless of side of plate batter lines up on.
Only thing I am not thrilled with at the moment is why is Marisnick still stuck in the 9? I understand the logic behind it but with our average so low, wouldn't it be better to have him at the 2 or 3? With Altuve and him at the top, does anyone think we wouldn't be scoring more? But i guess you don't fix what isn't broken huh?
Because 12 games isn't a good indicator of future success. Though baseball can be a very streaky game, so sometimes switching the order makes a lot of sense.
Marisnick has been awesome so far...real pleasant surprise. I agree with you that if this continues, he'll be moved up but for now in the early going it still makes sense to keep him there. who knows, maybe he feels less pressure in the 9 hole and that is what is contributing to his success? Also, the Astros had 3 (THREE) times during the game with bases loaded and Altuve to bat that is an incredible testament to the 7-9 hitters and especially Marisnick. But I could see him moving at least to the 7 and maybe the 2 or even 1.
ha me too..but hernandez has been decent so far. If the offense shows up we have a real shot. If he can hold them to 3 runs in 5-6 innings, its a good outing and the offense just needs to pick 'em up!
Tonight's line below, facing a lefty yet leaving all of our left-handed starters in - interesting. 1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B 2. Luis Valbuena (L) 3B 3. George Springer (R) RF 4. Evan Gattis (R) DH 5. Jed Lowrie (S) SS 6. Jason Castro (L) C 7. Chris Carter (R) 1B 8. Colby Rasmus (L) LF 9. Jake Marisnick (R) CF
No real gap in lefty/righty splits against Happ. Career .251/.652 against LH and .255/.671 against RH.
As best I can tell, and I could be wrong, Deduno has 1 option year left. Random roster thought: when they want to rest Valbuena, I wouldn't mind giving Lowrie a little time at 3B. I'm not sure what role Jon Villar has on this team, Grossman and Marwin pretty much make him expendable.
