Again, you are ignoring experience. I understand going purely by merit, but JV has been hurt. It's no more fair to hold his current pitching against him than Brown's early season struggles. That's assuming JV rounds into shape. I don't see them wanting to pitch Brown and JV back to back. They are too similar. It would be giving a little help to the other team to do that. Good chance as a game 4 starter you're asking Brown to close out a 5 game series or setup Framber for a game 5 close out. He would also be available out of the pen for a game 7...
Diaz has been playing some 1B as well as Caratini. Look at their record when either Caratini or Diaz is playing 1B and runs scored. BTW, it's not like playing 1B is that hard to learn. If you can stop balls in the dirt as a catcher you should be able to do the same at 1B. Biggest difference is receiving pickoff throws and game situations/throws etc.... These things can be learned.
Diaz is a better defensive catcher than Caratini. If both are playing, Diaz should catch unless it’s Kikuchi and that’s only because it seems that Vic is his personal caddie.
Well, there is the range to field, handling line drives, starting double plays, handling cutoff throws, and remembering to backup on defense.
I'm not ignoring experience. I'm not ignoring ego or JV's feelings or anything else. I'm calculating all that in and I'm so Hunter Brown has been so damn good for basically the entire year (other than the opening 6 weeks) that even factoring in everything that you are saying there is no damn way he isn't getting the ball in game 1 or 2. If they were truly worried about pitching JV and Brown back to back the answer isn't to send JV to 2 and Brown to 4 or something like that, the solution is that you go Brown, Valdez, JV, Kikuchi if you think there is merit to going left right left right. But no man, you are just wrong. It's Hunter Brown's game in one of the first 2 games and I say that knowing everything that you are talking about. Personally- I would go Framber, Brown, Arrighetti, Kikuchi or JV depending upon how they pitch coming down the stretch, but I don't think there is any way the Astros would be that aggressive with Arrighetti.
If this was completely true, he would've never went Mets'ing. Ney York won 100+ games the prior season, but they lost in the WC round, plus they hadn't made the WS in a decade, and hadn't won a championship in 40 years. His ego is much bigger than you give credit.
He thought, I'm sure, that they were the favs to win it all. And their offer was like 2X everyone else's.
Highly doubtful they were the favorites after losing in the WC round, and the Astros winning more games and the WS. Plus the cost of living in NY is 2x Houston, and the state income tax issue. Verlander's ego (and Kate) put him in Queens.
Framber Brown Kikuchi +? JV +? Have the other 2, Spencer and Blanco (who both know how to pitch out of the pen), ready to back up both of those ?guys. Say "hey", go balls out for 4ish innings? We got your back.
Probably. But man it would be hard for me not to roll Arrighetti out in spot 3 if his September is as good as his August was.
