Agreed. He’s progressed quite well. Better than most pitching call-ups (including those during the golden era: people easily forget how wild Framber was when he got called up… but the stuff was clearly there). And if the front office is behind extending pitchers, so be it. I thought that was an Espada wrinkle that may end up paying off or giving them a slight advantage given that in this copy-cat league, nearly every team now pulls pitchers after 4-5 and it gets even worse in the playoffs. But if its going to be everything bad is Espada’s doing… and everything good is the front office’s doing… then he’s likely not going to have a leg to stand on anywhere (sorta like the game heads I win, tails you lose…).
A big reason that Espada survived multiple GM's and Managers is that he buys into a collaborative style of management/coaching and he believes in strong relationships. So - Espada is constantly talking with the GM and the advances scouts and coaches. I haven't heard of any issues with Espada and Brown or Espada and the other coaches........ so when we see things like the line up having Alvarez hitting high, or Bregman in the clean up spot, or pitchers going deeper - or Pressly being so entrenched in the 8th inning...... those are things that I guarantee you have been discussed and agreed upon. Does that mean that Espada is getting phone calls telling him to pull Arrighetti after 4 runs instead of 7? No - Brown and the Astros don't micromanage to that extent. My point being, we have to be careful when evaluating the manager - that we consider what he is being told, and what his pressures are as well. I have been critical of Espada's leadership and some of his handling of pitchers, and poor tactical decisions (or not making decisions), but try to remember it isn't Espada in a vacuum making these decisions.
Agreed. Like any first-time manager, I don’t expect anybody to be excellent right off the bat. Hinch wasn’t. Baker seemed more collaborative with Click/etc. when he was first hired, but then he started to get his way (some of it earned, some of it taken by authority/seniority). Bo Porter was hired by Luhnow and thats the perfect example of both parties getting it wrong early in their experience (and neither of them will likely ever be in that sort of leadership position again). Of course a tad more pressure on Espada given this team’s roster makeup, pedigree, and payroll.
So, if I did my math right we score 44.5% of our RBI's by the home run ball. I wonder where that stacks up with the rest of MLB?
Doing nothing equals more of the same. Somebody, some how needs to do something. Juggle leadership, juggle lineup, juggle roster, do something because it is obviously not working now. If your car isn't running up to specs you fix it. Sometimes diagnostics is a complicated process but you keep working until it is fixed.
Lineup has been being jiggled constantly throughout the season. As has pitching-catching assignments. The starting pitching seems to be fairly stable as they’re now in the 3rd round of having Framber-JV-Blanco-Spencer-Brown pitch consecutively. Pressly likely done with the 8th for now in lieu of Abreu. It was nice to see Altuve get a day off yesterday, despite the loss. He’s 35 and should be getting more DH appearances for home games where Yordan can play LF. Dubon could become a pseudo everyday player getting time at all infield positions and LF/CF. Caratini probably gets 3/5 catching duties till Diaz gets hot again with the bat. Not sure where Chas goes. And the Singleton/Abreu platoon is just that… even though Dubon playing everyday there would probably outperform both in WAR.
When you've managed in the minors, managed internationally, and spent 5? years sitting next to the manager as the bench coach of the team you're now managing...the learning curve should be about exactly flat.
Should be… and yet nearly every long term assistant or former player in every pro sport always goes through an adjustment. The younger ones may also go with some older types to guide them… and then there’s the special ones like Ryans who just has “it”.
