Maybe the team is ok with manager just cheering and bringing relaxed vibes. Im overjoyed about this season but have a feeling we are winning despite Espada, with pitching overall quality and because of roster & injuries there is not much decisions to actually do. If we keep running a charge on that 2nd bye for playoffs, have a bad feeling there will be free hunt any Astro season again and ump c*nts like Junior Valentine will be calling balks and finding sticky stuff out of their own a*s left and right. And this relates to Espada because he will be again flashing his most annoying trait. Even being really dumb don't annoy me as much as he will be just standing quiet like a stooge. Maybe waving hands asking softly "what was that" when 25 other managers would be tossed screaming "I know what you f*cker are doing again. I will fking get you!" Maybe next annoying thing is pulling SP's and using Bpen. He seems to always go 1inning too far, even when SP needing 1000% confidence boost start. Espada always forgets that big picture and counts with fingers on live TV how many innings to Hader. And using Hader is like he reads from news Hader saying he pitch whenever now with The bag, Espada proceeds to coinflip to warm HIM like whenever and also uses HIM often quite random way. Also this last game weren't we all screaming to walk The walk off Guy. We needed 2 outs and also the Guy was clearly feeling it. I did't expect Homer but sac.fly for sure. Pardon for the random caps and misspelling. New phone and The autocorrect still on set to swahili.
I see Espada make terrible decisions almost every game Sometimes they hurt sometimes they don't. Managers are human. Sometimes there is no right or wrong, but different degrees between. Sometimes there are different priorities. Sometimes the manager has information the fans don't. It's impossible for any manager to make every move exactly like anyone else would. But fans have every right to disagree, complain, and opine. Thats what Fandom is. But its unacceptable to root for failure or loses.
"terrible decisions" ???? Should we just crown AJ Hinch as the only good manager in the history of the game and accept that everyone else is going to make "terrible decisions".... People standards on baseball managers are insane. There are absolutely current managers who will go into the HOF and without question their fan bases tear them down on a daily basis. The Dodgers, the Yankees, the Red Sox..... I just think its wild how unnecessarily harsh the rhetoric on baseball managers is.
I find it funny that people who spent 3 years arguing the Astros won despite Dusty are now mad that prior are saying the Astros are winning despite Espada. Personally I’d say the biggest constant in this run has been amazing pitching and Strom to Miller and Murphy.
Well now Dusty was given a much better team than Joe was but I don’t see many Espada fans on here. I doubt anyone is “mad”.
Fans are fans and many decisions are not black and white. There are always fans who want a different decision. And usually there is no right or wrong. Last Detmers came into a tie game last night in the top of the 8th. He has a 11.4% BB rate vs an MLB average of 8.4%. I would make him throw strikes. This is the first game of a 3 game series. Putting extra pitches on him is a benefit too. Dubon is up. Doesn't walk much but also doesn't K much. I'm not worried about him being behind in the count because his whiff % and K rate are very good. I AM worried about him chasing out of the zone though. I WITHOUT QUESTION make him take a strike, though. Instead, he fouls off the first pitch that was a 50/50 97 mph fastball at the extreme top of the zone. This umpire probably calls it a ball last night but even if he doesn't at least you plant the creed that you aren't going to chase. Instead Dubon waves at another shoulder high, then fouls off one well above the zone and then Ks when he finally gets one in the zone because the 3 previous pitches were all very high. Detmers has only thrown 1 of 4 pitches (definitely) in the strike zone but has 1 K and yet to throw a ball. That AB could not have gone any worse. You gave yourself zero chance to help the team. You did nothing to make the pitcher work or think. You did not pin any extra pitches on him. You did not even make him throw something besides a fastball. Pena then did exactly what Dubon needed to do. Detmers throws 2 high fastball, but Pena just watches them. This forces Detmers to adjust and throw a curve that misses. On 3-0 Pena watches a fastball strike. Detmers then goes back to the curve, but Jeremy is hunting the fastball and watches it. It is a perfect pitch on the low inside corner, but the ump misses it like he has been all night and Pena walks. Paredes watches a curveball clip the top of the zone. Detmers then goes back to the high FB with an 0-1 count, but Paredes is not Dubon. He then throws a good FB that Isaac watches. Detmers thinking he is in control throws 2 more high FB but Isaac watches them. On a full count, Detmers goes back to the curve, like he did 3-1 on Jeremy but misses badly. Fastest runner on the team is on 2nd and another runner on 1st with only 1 out of a tie game in the 8th and the 3-4 hitters are coming up. The pressure absolutely should be on the pitcher. Altuve is up and has looked pitiful, striking out all 3 times he has been up. Espada MUST make him take a strike before even thinking of swinging the bat. Detmers tries to land the high curveball, like he did to Paredes but misses. Detmers then throws his 1st slider and its not even competitive low but Altuve swings and misses. It should be 2-0 but its 1-1. He throws a better slider- still barely low and inside but competitive and Altuve swings and misses. It should be 3-0 but its 1-2. Having no reason to throw anything else, Detmers buries a slider in the dirt that even Altuve wouldn't swing at. With still no pressure on him or any reason to throw anything else he throws a perfect Slider. Jose swings and misses for the 2nd out. In an inning where the Astros had every reason to be patient, the pitcher could easily have walked all 4 batters, but has 2 strikeouts. Diaz then gets unlucky on a great play by the 2b and they don't score. That is a perfect example of a manager deciding to let his hitters decide what to do instead of making them take pitches. Brown and Espada have both stated, multiple times, that they want to focus on making pitchers work and the throw more pitches. Espada had the chance to put his money where his mouth is in that inning and be a manager. Just tell the hitters to take a strike before swinging in that inning, in that situation. Thats smart baseball. But either he was totally passive and simply let the hitters do what they wanted without any direction, or they ignored him. Both are problems, IMO. But this is a perfect example of no right and no wrong. This is just my opinion. Many out there would say ( especially about Altuve) "You can't handcuff your star hitters by dictating how they hit" and that's valid.
Altuve, Diaz, and Dubon are just not cerebral hitters at all. No manager has tried to fix that. There’s a reason for that, especially with Altuve. Diaz was robbed. That was an amazing play by the 2nd baseman. 109 off the bat and the guy was fully stretched out. still, I agree with all of your points and it was incredibly frustrating to watch.
Yep, and Hinch wasn't that good. The love Hinch gets around here is crazy. He was the main reason the cheating scandal happened and he blew a WS with the best team the Stros have ever had. I just dont get the love. The man was a good manager but not the managerial god that some posters around here make him out to be.
If you mention the 2019 WS one more time I'm going to reach though the internet and punch you square in the giblets.
