Why did Espada pitch Abreu yesterday with a 5 run lead if he was going to have to come out today in a close game? He's already been overworked. Confusingly he had Ferguson and Abreu warming up at the same time...I assume if King gave up runs..but he didn't and still went to Abreu.
Did anyone's MLB. TV feed suddenly go to the Cubs game? I had to switch to the Miami Marlins feed to watch the Astros. Ugh. I hate pirated IPTV sometimes lol.
Slumps happen but he has looked completely lost. Hasn’t even look remotely close to coming out of it. It’s not unheard of for players to have a good couple of seasons and then never sniff that success again. Ty France and Jason Lane are the two that come to mind without even looking it up.
I honestly think you’ve confused me with anybody else…. And I guess it makes sense why you have this egregious hard-on. (Not devolving into some bizzaro Maldy defense… never had the urge/desire and its comical how many times he’s brought up here on a daily basis, still) I wanted Diaz’ bat… but if his catching was messing with that, I didn’t see the benefit (especially since Diaz’ admitted preference was to hit, not catch). The literal game that I questioned his mental facilities to grasp the full nature of this role was the game he started to bust out (after a period of having less catching duties no less). I was more than happy to eat crow for that and if that’s what you need for closure, so be it… I was wrong that I thought Diaz wouldn’t be able to handle this staff full time. Chas came into ST saying he was tinkering with his stance and swing planes… he’s since gone back to a more closed version, but there are scores of examples where the league catches on to a player’s weakness and guys peak and fade (several Astros-specific examples that you know of). I’m not giving up on him… but I’m not simply thinking this is simply a product of “not enough playing time”. At some point, you can’t keep throwing out a sub .200 hitter expecting a dramatic shift, but they’re sticking with him.
All true. Still, it’s 200 at bats. I don’t think the book is closed on Chas. Remember when Altuve forgot how to throw the ball to first?
I don’t mind Espada resting the bats today, but I’m confused with bringing in Abreu on back to backs when Framber was cruising. I guess it’s not the worst to keep Framber’s pitch counts from piling up, but I thought Abreu wore down as they got deeper into the playoffs last year.
Framber did have the “elbow soreness” to start the year that people were fearing was TJ surgery waiting to happen. Something to monitor as he has been using the curveball more for his latest “dominant” stretch, and the repeated strain that those pitches can cause to the arm hopefully hasn’t flared something up. His durability still remains one of the most important aspects of the success the Astros have had since 2020.
