Ensberg once told me when he was visiting the Capitol that baseball players don't shake hands, they hugged. ...that type of weird?
My absolute favorite Ensberg joke was: He's like an old man at the beach...watches everything go by and says "I'd hit that"
No - the takes 15 minutes to be satisfied with how he parked in his driveway kind of weird. He also blew up at my sister when she asked him to catch the first pitch because he magically developed a new routine and didn’t communicate it to her or anyone else because it was bad luck… but felt my sister should have just known… whatever, he was usually very nice but not all there.
**** Whitley. I wouldn’t trust him piss in a fire to put it out. He can finish the season in AAA and compete for a pen spot next Spring Training.
Ensberg always struck me as dour, not a fun guy. Chas always seems to be smiling, a goofball. Looked up Morgan’s post-playing career. He’s been in baseball ever since. Currently coaching the Durham Bulls, Tampa’s AAA club. Baseball lifer, successful coaching career. I wouldn’t have predicted that.
Ensberg is the absolute opposite of that if you ever listened to him talk baseball. He's an incredibly smart baseball guy.
I’ll have to check YouTube for that. Maybe I assumed a certain personality behind the batting philosophy.
Great start for the new(est) rook. AB's looked great because he was't guessing. Reading pitches and making good swing decisions. Walking when given. Just a one game, hopefully he can keep making good AB's and build on that. At this point I don't undestand why Chas is still up. Love the story overall but he goes there and hopes he gets a lucky dinger from mistake pitch. Swings at anything foot close plate. No pitch recognition at all. With tight race and he not being on star salary and not having years of October stardom I can't see him as project that helps Astros this season. Not slump anymore and also miracle that they let him use that weird swing still without forcing changes. I know he has always channeled this but he looks like he drinks every night and there's no urgency in his play. Looks like he's pondering future career out of baseball and where he's gonna buy house from with that 3mil. He looks like teenager who was gifted in few sports and quit after how far it did get him while other guys working and wanting it harder flew by.
You're right, and it wasn't intentional. Just listened to a broadcast he appeared on and he seems like a dude who loves baseball and appreciates his role in the game.
Im not saying he’s out for the season. I’m saying his contract situation means there may be hidden storylines, mainly that he might’ve been hurt for awhile and not saying anything to try to avoid the IL, or that Houston might be more “cautious” with him if they don’t want his option to vest all of a sudden. I wouldn’t say either of those is all that likely, but certainly possible, especially if he ends up being more hurt than everyone is letting on. Alternatively, either side could be being overly cautious to be absolutely sure that he’s back before the season ends to make sure the option vests. oh **** you. Any suggestions I’ve made towards rebuilding were heavily caveated. I only said it’s interesting because it means there may be more to it than a simple standard IL stint for a minor back injury, not introducing some conspiracy theory. Well **** you too you ****ing weirdo.
Morgan Ensberg is really smart and started coaching with the Astros. He moved up the organization pretty quickly and left when he was kind of pigeonholed and an opportunity opened up in Tampa. He is very well versed on analytics and psychology. Good chance he becomes a good MLB manager. When he was a player, he became too obsessed and involved with ritual and numbers and approach.
Ferguson has nothing to do with it. It has to do with the personality and experience of Whitley. He hasn’t had success in a very long time and hasn’t had sustained success before. Let him end the season having had a successful year in AAA and let him go into the Winter and Spring ready to compete for a spot in the pen. Bringing him into the pen now very well could overwhelm him. At least that’s my opinion - I will support whatever they do, Miller and Murphy know him well.
Agreed on Ensberg likely being a good manager. He’d be high-ish on my List of former Astros I’d be happy to see us hire someday. Especially if we were not in World Series or busy and it made sense to give a new guy a chance and grow with the team.
