Crane and Bagwell are too prideful to admit defeat with Abreu. Espada and co. will keep trotting Abreu out there to appease them.
He started 23 games for a team that made it to game 7 of the ALCS last year and pitched deeper than basically any other pitcher on the team. France is 29 years old and through his first 18 starts last year had an ERA of 2.75 before getting worn down. He went 11-6 for the team last year. He's not a AAA prospect and if he hadn't been on the team last year, he'd probably be on the verge of aging out of the minors. People's expectations of #4 and #5 starters seem absurd.
No but he's at least mentally tougher than Brown who considered to have better "stuff". I argued with a couple of posters here last season who said Brown deserved a starter spot over France even though he performed significantly worse. Hunter looks like a deer in headlights every single time he gets in trouble. You can see it in his body language. Some things can't be quantified.
Gonna have to have a contingency plan in case this goes south for a continued time. If this team is say 8-19 I could see Espada fired.
Look at Pena's average and where he is hitting in the order. Tell me that ain't some Dusty **** right there!
Just not quite there. Feels like the Astros are letting the Rangers off the hook. No one coming up with big hits in these closer games.
