I actually prefer the no/minimal off days. It is more comparable to the regular season, and makes it harder for 1 or 2 pitchers to dominate a series or playoffs.
This thread is not surprising, people were wanting to get rid of Hinch just a couple of years ago. Everybody is an expert.
It is weird how Game 4 was managed almost exactly how a lot of people wanted Game 3 to be managed with the exception being that Paredes being available got Javier in the 6th with a 3 run lead instead of the 7th. If Astros lost Game 4, Javier would be needed in Game 5 just as much as he was needed yesterday with McCullers being on short rest and being unpredictable.
Dusty did a fine job this series. The only reason we didn't get a game 3 relief rotation that matched the first two games is because the pitchers needed an off day. The As manager kept rolling out the same relievers every game and look what happened to them. I would fire the As manager.
Last night's game was just like Game 3 last series except no chance for a Greinke start today. Odds of needing to win one of 3 games last series made more sense to put Javier in Game 3 with a lead than needing to go 4 for 4. Though I am comfortable with Garcia for multiple innings even though he may fail.
Our problems this series have little to do with Dusty's management and I think as last night showed and hopefully today and the next few days his strategy will pay off. Back to back to back games means with the bullpen this is a battle of attrition and Baker has set us up well. Also during last night's game I spent most of it watching remotely with a friend from CA who grew up a Giants' fan and he's rooting for the Stros because of Dusty Baker. He made a great point that hiring Dusty in the wake of the scandal was the perfect move for the organization. All managers get criticized by the fans every now and then for things like when to pull pitchers or lineup changes but Dusty has shown he can handle the criticism of the teams and also work with the players.
Dusty has done a good job. This team honestly isn’t anything special, and he has them in the ALCS. Really can’t expect much more than that. For a stop gap manager, basically a placeholder, he was the perfect hire.
I do think he was perfectly suited to manage this team in such a crazy season. The pandemic and cheating fallout made for something pretty much no sports team in history has ever had to deal with, and Baker navigated it really well. With them making it to the ALCS, it’s hard to argue with the results. Crane’s willingness to spend money and demonstrated prowess at bringing in the right people underneath him are really good signs for how the next 15-20 years of Astros baseball will unfolded.
For the regular season, sure. This team doesn't have the depth to handle 8-10 injuries like they have and the batters looked banged up. For the postseason, besides for Gurriel and Alvarez, the offense is back healthy. Javier is in relief. The Rays may win this series, but the Astros team they faced was a lot more dangerous than the regular season record implies.
I'm liking the aggressiveness Baker has shown with relievers this series. Very different from his regualr season managing. Very nice to see. To me it is usually better to take a guy out too early than wait until it is too late.
Really? Ask Carlos. Ask Greinke. This is what happens when a coach believes in someone... they grow bigger beyond who they think themselves to be.
It's definitely an interesting experiment. It is good to see pitchers who you might not otherwise see on the mound in pressure packed situations and I don't even Dusty or the other managers for that matter of figuring out their rotations. It's really amped up the tension also. It feels like there isn't anytime to stop and reflect on what happened but have to be ready for the next day.
This is one of the big strengths and also weakness of Dusty. He is a players coach and has seen so much in his career he will have more faith in his players than what the numbers might say.
Three huge decisions by Dusty in this series paid off big: 1. Leaving in Greinke in Game 4 2. Starting Garcia and going with a bullpen game in Game 5 so Valdez would be fresh 3. Bunting Maldonado last night If you were to make a case that Baker's old school mentality doesn't have a place in MLB in 2020, this wasn't the series to prove that. He's been pretty fantastic.
Id be willing to bet starting Garcia was not Bakers call. That probably came from Click. Keeping Greinke in was probably Baker’s move, as was bunting Maldy.
