It’s most definitely luck. again, teams that are somehow awful in one run games but at the same time great in extra innings are a perfect example of this dumb****ery.
Everything that’s wrong with modern fans? Oh, I hope you didn’t bruise a vulva or tear a labia falling onto your fainting couch. Turning over a championship ready team to a green manager that clearly needs on the job training isn’t generally thought of as a smart idea, but whatever. If you don’t think the Astors can do better I guess we can just agree to disagree.
I’m on the train of mostly luck in 1 run games with a dash of bullpen quality and a pinch of managerial decision making. I think the Astros problems have been more luck related than Espada, but he certainly hasn’t covered himself in glory.
Yeah you gotta love the ones who never post anything and come on after it's all said and done to report how stupid we all are. Wonder exactly what he was thinking when we were 7-19 (nobody in history had ever recovered from that terrible a start to make the playoffs). Probably wasn't pleasant thoughts about management overall.
It’s not like I’ve been ripping him all year. I’ve said he’s green, hasn’t covered himself in glory with in game decisions but fills out the lineup card right and most of the rest after that is luck so whatever.
Astros are 7-18 in extra inning games since 2023. Not sure we'll ever conquer those demons. I wish they would go back to the old rules, we suck at small ball.
I think he's done some things very well. He addresses lineup issues in a fairly quick manner. He has learned to play those that deserve more PT, like Caratini. I hated the revolving door at 1B but he finally came to his senses and started playing Singleton vs RH pitchers. I think he's handled the rotation brilliantly. But ultimately you could not ignore the eyesore of a 23-41 record in close games vs a 55-27 in all other games. There was no way to square that other than to point to the manager. It's why you're hired, to win the tough games more times than not. We started 9-24 in those type games and ended the season on a 7-2 streak. Overall 21-19 over the last 40 such games, which would be acceptable based on the winning pct outside those games.
Yes, everything. Of course you could have disagreed with the hiring, but if you called for his termination after an injury-riddled slow start, then you should be embarrassed. Period.
It's a results business and Espada was a big part of the turnaround. I have criticized how he uses the bullpen (a lot), but it is a steep learning curve being an MLB manager. The main thing is that he kept the team going through a lot of adversity and he deserves credit.
I would pull the trigger on a different guy. The Astros by all accounts were the worst defensive team in baseball. How does that happen?
