Again, that's not Espada's fault. He just chose what guy to put up there. Hummel went down swinging at hittable fastballs, at least he saw 6 pitches. Matthews in his previous ABs had a swinging strikeout on a ball well outside the zone (2 men on) and took a strikeout looking on an 0-2 pitch. I thought Matthews was not ready for the call up because his strike zone judgment is poor, and his two games haven't made me change my opinion yet. I absolutely hope he gives me reason soon to change it.
As someone else pointed out Hummel had struck out 7/9 ABs leading up to that. Im not saying there were a ton of great options but I would have rather seen the kid get a damn chance. I was unhappy with a lot of decisions espada made in that game (pulling altuve, pulling caratini to pinch run short), I’m happy it all worked out though. We (I personally) needed that win.
And before that he’d struck out in something like 3 of his prior 32 ABs. Not sure why you think that tiny sample size means anything. Like you said, we won. Let’s celebrate that and save the whining for a game we lost.
No whining, but Espada got lucky. Pulling guys and still getting the win with a AAA lineup = pure luck.
No I’m going to go ahead and evaluate things as I see it and as I please. You can fan the way you want. Weird that you’re digging in on cooper hummel, although I suspect this is more of a defend espada at all costs approach than anything. it’s okay to be critical but also appreciate the clear amount of positive espada has brought to the team. Whatever.
Pulling Matthew’s for Hummel was like the 4th most questionable decision he made. Burning the DH, pulling altuve for defense in a one run game, pinch running short just to let him stand there and watch grounders.. and then altuve’s buddy works a walk when he’s clearly bunting and short walks it off. Just like he drew it up lol.
You could go back to previous posts and see I definitely don’t defend Espada at all costs. You’re right, I don’t think Hummel is anything special. But I definitely thought Matthews was a worse choice in that moment. As I said, wasn’t impressed with what I’d seen so far at the plate. I could care less if the big hit is delivered by a rookie in his second game or a 10 year vet. I just wanted the win. I’m glad it worked out. This year, for the most part, things have worked out with this team of leftover scraps. That’s fun, too.
Agree. Contact is what was needed there and Matthews is the least likely guy on the roster to accomplish that. It didn't work out since Hummel K'd, but it was absolutely, a defensible decision and the right one for that situation. Now how it affected the defense/DH spot is a different matter, but they did still win.
At the plate Brice looks very uncomfortable and chases balls outside the zone, it just sucks that he had to be called up, he needs more time in AAA...................maybe one day soon the Astros will update on where Yordan, Jake and Pena are in their rehab
Any GM that would change their evaluation of a prospect based on a couple of games probably shouldn't be a GM.
He had plenty of swings/misses for hittable pitches in the zone over those two games. He also smoked one that would have likely been a hit in any LF besides Daikin. He’s needed time to adjust at every level, this level should be no different. Pena will be the first (and possibly only) position player back… probably last week of July or first week of August.
