I don’t think Espada is a good strategist. However, a manager is paid to win games and the Astros are winning games and to the victor go the spoils.
Don't mind the leverage guys not playing. Astros were never leading and they need rest anyway. Walter gave up too many runs and we squandered too many runners. Next, avoid the sweep in LA
His k rate is up. Only needs 40 K’s to catch last year. he also had a much better OPS last year to go with his strikeouts
Save all the bullets and arms for Framber start against Dodgers. Best chance taking 1. It might even be magic Framber night and he wins the game by himself (capable of that he is even v Dodgers) and then overused leverage guys get finally long long rest. If we are tied/lead tomorrow late like in 7th, go for it but otherwise don't use Sousa, King, Abreu & Hader. I have been saying sometimes Joe just clearly punts games, but b4 Lance shows he can be MLB level SP again, don't sacrifice other resources a lot in his starts. I know with contract they won't don't do that but Lance should be looked as SP with clean slate. Thanx for the memories but would you bring up a guy to bigs with this stuff and this control. We would easily find 35 guys in Japan/Latin countries with this stuff but better control. You look to Baltimore and for example Sugano. Soft tosser but still has a FB compared to Lance and ok control at 35. We would performance wise trade Lance for that in a heartbeat. Yankees swept, gotta love that. George on fire!
We were tied in the middle of the 7th and we sent weems out for a second inning. I think the chances of winning last night game was better than winning one in LA when the dodgers and fans will be super amped up to beat us.
So brutal. If McCullers lasts 4 innings and gives up less than 5 runs tonight that will be a huge success in my eyes.
M Bottom line is Espada failed the team. I have no issues with anything he did until the bottom of the 7th. Pitching Weems in the 6th was a perfectly reasonable call. You are down 2 runs and your bullpen has been used heavily. Thats why Weems is on this team. But once he gives you a shutout innings and your team fights back to tie the game, you have to shift from "let's just save the bullpen and get 'em tomorrow" to " this isca winnable game. We have the better team and bullpen. Tied in the 7th means we are favored " Never sacrifice a game if you are better than 50/50 to win it. Saving bullets for tomorrow when you may never need them is foolish. Especially after your underhanded team fought it's ass if to tie the game late.
He only played 130 games last year lol. His K rate is slightly up - from 24.1% to 26.6%. The bigger issue is his decline in walk rate and power.
