Great win last night, Lance "seems" like he is coming around, a mixed bag in the first inning, curve ball looked good but you had the walks also so he seems to be getting better. The offense is the key.....duh!!
That was an absolutely huge game: Altuve busted out of his slump and showed he can still hit for power McCullers showed he can still strike out big league hitters as long as he’s willing to risk injury and lean on his curveball Demoralized their main competitor for the division
We might need to chill out on the Dubon slander for a little bit, he's quietly hitting .274, and has a higher OPS than Walker (who doesn't?), Diaz, and Altuve. Caratini is on a heater and Espada needs to find a way to have him in the lineup daily until he cools off.
Dubon is an extremely valuable player on any roster. He can play all 7 spots well and provides a tolerable bat that will usually give you at least a little production. The problem has never been with him, the problem has always been their overuse of him. Dubon is what he is, a bad or at the very best average offensive player with no upside. Barring injury he should not be starting with any regularity.
It does feel like Dubon is playing way too much. But I was surprised to find that he’s currently 12th on the team in plate appearances; that reads like an appropriate level of usage for him. I think his shortcomings are just focused on more when the team overall is struggling; if Walker/Yordan/Yainer/Altuve/Rodgers were producing anywhere close to their expectations, I think everybody would be super happy with Dubon’s production and usage.
Caratini is legit one of the best players on this team. His bat is a necessity at the moment since he's the only one capable of hitting from the left side of the plate. He has a 0.816 OPS for Christ sake! Only Paredes has a better OPS.
Dubon should NEVER play the outfield. I'm good with him playing 2nd base when Altuve plays left. Rodgers is toast.
With this roster? I was skeptical that Rodgers was better than him at the start of the season. Right now, Dubon looks like the clear best 2B on this team. That doesn't mean he's good. Maybe Altuve last night is a start to the comeback and there end up being enough OFs to move him back to second. Being in the pro-Dubon camp seems weird after being so frustrated with the Dubie in CF torture. Granted, I don't end up choosing my camp often. I have my views on how a player is, and popular opinion just ends up better or worse than that opinion even if that player isn't a favorite/ or strong dislike of mine. Typically, popular opinion seems more extreme than mine, such that I tend to be on the unpopular side for players that aren't great or aren't horrendous.
I’m not really pro or anti doobie. And I think it’s totally reasonable to say he’s currently the best 2B on the roster. I guess the thing I am firm on is that Dubon is a pretty limited player who is ideally only used as a defensive substitute off the bench or as a backup infielder who won’t be a major drag when the starting 2B/SS/3B needs an occasional day off, but that if he is an everyday (or even “most days”) player, that should be considered an area that probably needs to be upgraded if a team really wants to have a contending roster.
How soon until Rodgers get DFA's and Whitcomb gets another shot at it? I feel like Shay will be better at 2B then the adventurous disaster he was at 3rd last season.
If that were in the plans I think it extremely likely that Whitcomb would start getting some games at 2B in AAA, which is not happening.
It's a little weird, they're starting him everywhere. 1B, LF, RF, 3B mostly. Seems he's being groomed as a super-utility guy. Kindof a waste if that's all they see for him, a Dubon replacement with more bat and less defense. I don't see any of those spots opening up unless they move Altuve back to 2B.
The Astros have been very clear that Whitcomb is not an infielder in their opinion. This may be accurate or it may be wrong, but all that matters is they are not going to play him there. At this point, I think the Astros need to sell high on him, or trade Dezenzo and bring him up to be the #4 OF. They also have too many AAAA corner outfielders and should look at trading away a couple while they still have some value. Probably already too late.
Shay Whitcomb this year in AAA 11 games at 1st 2 games at 2nd 7 games at 3rd 10 games in LF 11 games in RF 3 games in SS He has played more games in the infield than the outfield this year . . . I don't think they've been VERY clear at all.
