Tucker, yes. Pena did his job. His job is to play SS. Any offense is a bonus. This is baseball. Any team can win on any given day. Any player can. Have a good day or a bad day anytime. And they do. Scott friggin' Podsednick !!!! That is exactly why it is imperative to play the best players whenever possible to maximize your chances in any given game. With only 6 everyday lineup spots filled with run producers, it is more important than ever to use run producers in any of those other 3 spots that you can. Maldy woukd have been fine if this team had Springer in CF instead of Dubon, or Correa at SS instead of Pena. But starting Dubon and Pena made it managerial malpractice to choose a glove first catcher too. Basically 33% of the lineup is anemic and you CHOOSE that before the game even starts. That's a lot of pressure to put on the pitchers.
Play your best players. Springer in CF does not make Maldy a better player. Dubon and Pena starting don't make Maldy a worse catcher. The managerial malpractice is not playing the better players.
Maldonado was less sucky last season. His bat was slightly better and his defense was better. And he didn't catch every playoff game. Diaz was actually 1.000 OPS at catcher. The 800 came from playing him at DH and PH -- two places he's never excelled in the majors or minors. 1.000 at catcher. Yeah, Dusty was that stupid. Dallas now has a championship in every sport, thanks to Dusty being the Rangers MVP.
My point is - to win you need a balance. You must score runs and you must prevent runs. By all accounts, Dusty thought the best way to prevent runs from the catcher position, was to start Maldy. So this is from the viewpoint that Maldy starts at catcher so what is best after that choice is already made. I personally think Diaz had to be the catcher. By itself its fine if you truly believe it and think that catcher needs to be a defensive position and Maldy gives you the best chance to win. Which is what I think was true of Dusty. The problem is that once that decision was made, you no longer have the decision to play glove first players at SS and CF. Now, SS is a given because there is not a replacement that is a run producer so that choice is made for you. That means that you have 7 spots left and a responsibility to start your 7 best bats from the remaining 11 players. Tucker in RF, Altuve at 2B, Bregman at 3B, and Abreu at 1B are given as top 7 hitters who only play 1 position. That leaves LF, CF, and DH and Yordan, Chas, Diaz, Dubon, Kessinger, Brantley, and Singleton. Yordan, Chas, and Diaz are BY FAR your best 3 and also play those 3 spots. Problem solved. The only way it is even conceivable that Maldy starting in the playoffs was defensible is if Diaz was starting at DH.
'22 team was so good not even Dusty could **** it up. This years team, he ****ed it up by playing his buddies instead of the best 9 and it cost us a championship.
I’m not the one who was too childish to play his best players instead of best friends. Dallas celebrates.
I wonder how much worse the Rockets would have been in the playoffs when you take out their 6th best player from the rotation during the Harden era.
