I didn’t expect him to be great. You keep talking about this layoff and coming back from injury ignoring the fact that he’s lost several mph on both his fastball and slider. That isn’t coming back. And for the last time, he’s never had good enough control to make up for that loss of stuff. The odds are stacked against him at ever being good again so the fact you’re saying ridiculous stuff like him being our playoff SP3 is laughable. I’m not saying Gordon is good…I’m saying he’s better than McCullers.
McCullers shouldn’t start another game for the Astros. There are guys in retirement that would do a better job. Jim Clancy wouldn’t be any worse. Brown needs to make moves or tell the team this is it - win or lose. Espada needs to be beat in the head with a hammer every time he decides Hader is going over an inning - it’s July, not October.
No ****! Every time I looked up that ****er was at bat. So glad we didn't look into him when he became available......
Feb 25 2025: "The way we started the season, (2024) we were trying to win as many games as possible,” Espada said Sunday. “So I was forced to use those guys for multiple innings. And I would really like to stay away from that" So, being 16 or 14 games over .500, still leading your division, in July, and that train of thought goes right out the window?
I will defend Espada going two innings with Hader yesterday. Our offense can’t score for crap, we needed to take one game, so he went for it. Saving Hader for the next game was speculative at best. And Espada probably already knew that Paredes would be down, making the next game even harder to win. The counter argument is that we have hunter brown going, but he hasn’t been lights out and Seattle is throwing Woo. I don’t have the stats on Haders effectiveness going a second inning, or the longer term impact of going two innings. But from a near term strategic standpoint, I can defend it,
Hader has pitched 1+ innings 6 times so far in 41 games (Abreu 7 out of 43). Through 98 team games last season he did it 3 times in 44 games (Abreu 5 times in 48). I don't see any meaningful difference, except he's using them like that *more*.
No need in continuing this cause we won't agree obviously, and that's fine Pitchers often regain some velocity eventually when coming back from long injury layoffs like this, and more often they gain better command. And for the last time, I certainly never said he had good control
He should have got more than 1 inning out of Gusto, and then likely wouldn't have had to squeeze more out of Hader
I can't find what you're looking for either (I know it's out there somewhere) but, miniscule sample size noted, both Hader and Abreu have pitched better this year and last on pitches 26+ than on pitches 1-25
Would have amounted to the same thing. Just would have replaced not using Sousa or King in the 6th/7th innings. Abreu still coming into the 8th. Up by 1, you're not using anyone but an overly rested Abreu. Plan for screwed up when Abreu gave up a cheap run.
He should have pulled McCullers after he gave up the hit to make it 2-1 and we definitely wouldn’t have had to squeeze more of out Hader.
To expand on this a bit Adding a few players to "help them tread water" could actually be very important right now. Honestly, that's what we need to find a way to do right now WE don't know who is likely to be coming back when, but the FO obviously has a much better idea of who is likely out for generally how long If those guys are likely back sometime in September, adding a couple of mid major league quality guys now might be the difference in being in a playoff spot at that point or not. And a lineup of Pena Paredes Altuve Yordan Walker Cam Diaz Jake Trade for guy Certainly could win a World Series, especially with Hunter and Framber at the front of the playoff rotation and Abreu/Hader at the back end. But a bottom of the order Trammel Dubon Hummel Short Running those kind of players out there daily with no true stud offensive player on the active roster for a month or so could lead to being out of a playoff spot. Honestly, other than having Brown on the mound, today's lineup is not much different than what the Rockies run out there every day and they are on a record pace for losses. We don't have enough mlb level talent on the roster right now to tread water
There certainly won't be much of a sample size of 2 inning stints since it rarely happens. What are we talking maybe a half dozen times over 2 years, if that? The pitch count is more relevant as you just pointed out. Against Seattle, having lost the first game of the series, it will ALWAYS be the right move to use your best reliever to pitch a 2nd inning to lock down the victory.
Or we could have turned the routine double play and the inning would have been over Can what if a previous game all we want, but not getting multiple innings from a reliever who is fully stretched out after getting 2.2 from your starter is simply dumb
I would bet money on pretty much any starter being better than McCullers rest of the season. Fortunately, I think his time is up once Arrighetti and Javier return. You aren’t wrong about the Hader usage, although last night was understandable. The game against Cleveland was stupid though. That being said, if you are going to manage that aggressively…what the hell are you doing leaving McCullers out there to give up more runs when you had a lefty warmed up and Canzone coming to the plate? I just don’t get his decisions.
We are saying the same thing. He should have pulled him after it was 2-1 and went with Gusto for length after Okert pitched to Canzone. And I don’t consider a 106 mph liner that short hops the 2B a “routine double play”. Should it have been made? Sure.
