Nobody is “complaining” about Meyers. Chas should have more playing time. Altuve in left field almost every night is dumb.
He should get time at all 3 spots. Meyers should not be “untouchable” in CF. He’s never been that. I agree that Meyers should get the majority of the time in CF until his bat falters. Chas shouldn’t get “most” of Dubons time in the OF. Dubon should never start in the OF while we have our full compliment of outfielders healthy. Also, playing Altuve in LF is dumb.
I agree with most of this with the caveat "only if Dezenzo is not on the roster" As long as Dezenzo is on this roster he needs more playing time. At this point, he needs to be sent back to Sugar Land until he forces his way back, or more playing time is opened up for him. Meyers is off to a great start and I still have hope it carries throughout the season, but we have seen this before. Chas needs enough PAs to not be rusty if Meyers comes crashing back to Earth, but has pretty much shown anything more than that is a waste. Outside of defensive replacement duty to close out a game. Dubon should never be in the OF. Right now, the bench should be: Backup catcher Middle infielder who is good vs RHP. OF who is + defender at all 3 spots and good vs RHP. Go to PH who can backup corner infield. This bench is flawed. #2 would be fine if Dubon hit RHP #3 would be fine if Chas hit RHP #4 would be fine if Dezenzo was better at 3b, more consistent/dependible at the plate, and had exhausted his potential to be more than this. I think for now (and it is likely that it changes before long) the starting 9 should be the starting 9, with Rodgers at 2b. However, I do think that moving Altuve back to 2b and starting Dezenzo more in LF vs RHSP who allow more fly balls than ground balls should be tried.
This. Although I'd quibble a bit on the last point, Dubon is a solid late inning defensive replacement for Altuve/Yordan in LF. But so is Chas. If Dubon's dad had a time machine he'd 100% go back and force him to be a switch hitter.
Dezenzo should be behind Chas in the pecking order. Sure I could be wrong but I just don’t see much upside in Dezenzo. Certainly don’t think he could post an .842 OPS like Chas did in 2023. Chas will get traded soon though. The Astros are clearly done with him. If he surfaces as a starter with someone else and rakes, that will suck. I feel like he should get a legit chance to show he’s back to his not so long ago form.
Chas had his year at age 28, Dezenzo has another 3 years to match it. But since Smith looks like, for now, the regular RF there's really no reason for Dezenzo to be here. Let him actually play in SL. If the Stros could swap Chas for a comparable LH hitting OF I'd do that. There's no reason to just give him away though, I'd prefer he play more at the moment.
I'm not sure the Astros would give much up for a comparable player of his profile/age... I'd be curious to see what other teams would consider (or what Astros fans would expect to get back for him). Its been almost 3 years now... that's an eternity in sports.
Like I said: swap Chas for a Chas who hits LH. That's all that really makes sense. eta: In a perfect world that player's name is Melton.
16 PA, 10 AB Just to set the record straight. Now that I look, I'm actually a bit surprised at the PA distribution amongst the bench mob: ZD: 15 CM: 16 MD: 19
"That's it!... You got it" -- Squintz Palladoro. Maybe one day there will be a 30 for 30 that shows how the league all conspired to figure out Chas' tendencies vs. LHB and made the perfect adjustments (that he's apparently still yet to figure out a counter, to the point where I guess its not even worth playing him anymore)....
