It was either leave Contreras in to hopefully get one more out or bring Hader or Pressly in as everyone else pitched tonight (except Scott but he pitched Wed + Thur). He was trying to have Scott, Pressly and Hader available tomorrow.
pressly pitched yesterday. granted it was only 11 pitches. Hader was the only fresh arm I believe and like you said, he's trying to save them for tomorrow.
didn't he say he'll pitch back-to-back games if the coaching staff need him to or was that for multiple innings. either way, i'm sure the coaches are watching his games appearances and innings pitched and dialed back a bit for overusing him in non-save situation earlier in the season.
I have been critical of Espada and think he has made some terrible decisions - especially involving keeping pitchers in too long on many occasions. But here's the thing. His job is to win. Not win by a large margin. Win. Managing with only 4 starters and half a bullpen consisting of AAAA rookies and journeyman is incredibly hard. Those guys are not established MLB pitchers for a reason. Yesterday was the 8th day in a row w/ a game and they have 2 more vs a team they are competing against for a potential WC spot before they get a day off. He has to be able to give himself a chance to win those 2 games if possible. So, I have no problem with him keeping Contreras in last night until the very last minute. Luis' role is take one for the team when necessary. The Astros chances to win today are better if Hader doesn't pitch yesterday. When he finally did bring in Hader, the tying run was in the on-deck circle. That means if Hader gets 1 out before all 3 guys on base plus 2 more get on base and all score, the Astros win. I bet on Hader and the Astros every day there and that's what happened. If he had brought Hader in 1 or 2 hitters earlier, maybe the Astros win by 5 or 3. But he had to wait until the last possible moment that still gave them a likelihood of winning. And that's what he did.
It’s telling when fans are conflicted in their complaints. Some wanted Hader earlier. Some upset that he had to be brought in at all. I actually don’t see him doing much different in managing from April to now. On the pitching side, Pressly started going better and Brown has been amazing…. But he’s pretty much utilizing the same guys in the same spot, and giving pitchers similar leashes. I’m happy that Dana is giving him some fresher/better options in guys like King and Scott continues to answer the call whenever asked. Montero is still a mixed bag and Abreu hasn’t necessarily come off with a bunch of clean inning to make him the obvious 8th (or 9th) inning guy any time soon. On the hitting side… Altuve/Yordan/Bregman started to hit better, and just enough of Meyers/Pena/Diaz to supplement. That’s pretty much been the formula. They’ve been amazing since Tucker went down. Not getting caught up in Chas vs Joey as much, but it’s looking like a straight platoon till Tucker finally back. Regardless of lineup or pitching decisions, the stuff that we “don’t” see doesn’t seem to have crippled the team. The pulse always seems good when winning and we’ll never know how much of an impact he has in the clubhouse on the turnaround (or whether that even matters much at all).
What the @$&@ Joe !!! Abreu, Pressly, and Hader all sat yesterday and they have 4 days off after today. How the hell do you pitch Montero in a 1 run game in the 8th inning?
Montero not pitching yesterday was telling as to how far down the pecking order he is…. But then he ‘has’ to get used today or it’s even more demoralizing? He doesn’t strike anybody out anymore… he has nothing that makes him worthy of a roster spot.
If the Astros make the playoffs, Espada probably gets another season. If they don't, I think the Astros get a more experienced manager.
His record in one run games doesn't give me inspiration that the Stros will win a close playoff series.
Players make plays. Not the coaches. Experience has shown for the last 7 years that it doesn't matter who the coach is. We don't win in 2022 without Yordan and Jeremy Pena going Nuclear. We repeat in 2023 if Kyle Tucker and Framber Valdez don't forget how to play baseball We don't win in 2017 without several clutch AB's in game 5 of the WS from Correa, Altuve, Springer etc. The Astros have there built in bullpen for close games this year. Will the players make plays is what matter 100% of the time.
