Hey 'Stros fans! Long time fan (late 1970s), but first time poster. This Astros team has amazing talent, Luhznow made some great off season moves to win now, but I'm afraid Hinch is our biggest liability. I really believed Hinch was betting against our Astros until I found an old article: http://houston.culturemap.com/news/...e-damning-report-jeff-luhnow-unfazed/#slide=0 He just doesn't understand how to manage a MLB team. He's totally clueless about batting lineups. There's plenty of room for poor decisions, but his managerial flaws are costing us games. That Correan kid (Joke) needs to earn that clean up spot! And Aoki (great contact hitter) should lead off against RHPs. The Indians had three .300+ batters in top 5 of batting order. We had only one (Altuve). Give your best batters the most opportunities to get on base and drive in runs! I was a die hard fan in late 1970s (childhood) and through the 1980s, but then became a fair weather fan like some of you as the game, team and life changed. I lived in Columbus, Oh and traveled to Chicago and Cincy to watch my fav players (Jose Cruz, Dickie Thon, Glenn Davis, etc). Went to Kissimeee/Orlando to catch a spring game. New year, new Astros heroes, but I've never atteneded a game in Houston. Whenever possible, I picked up weak broadcast signals (Pirates, Phillies, St Louis), and like some of you had my superstitions in place before games. Oh, and then I took a business trip to Cincy to hand a letter to Lanier/Yogi. Big Stros Fanatic! And if you're a sports writer for the Chronicle, you may have gotten an email from me to alert Phil Garner (re: Dan Wheeler for a struggling Lidge) to make the World Series. I started following the 'Stros again last season and I'm still understanding our new guys abilities against LHPs, but what's your batting lineup against RHPs and LHPs? After much thought, here's my lineups for now with room for improvement. Against RHPs: Aoki (.300 lefty) Reddick (.297 lefty) Altuve (.326 hitter) McCann (.279 power hitter) Yuli (.329 avg) Beltran/Gattis (DH) Springer (hit or miss) Correa (less pressure here) Gonzo/Bregman (platoon) Against LHPs: Springer (bats right) Bregman (.250 righty) Altuve Gattis (.321 power hitter) Yuli (hottest hitter in MLB) Beltran (DH or LF) Marisnick (.286 avg) Correa (.233 avg) Gonzo (LF or DH) Oh, and someone let me know what's an Astro? I think the Reds announcers called us "the astronomicals" and "metropolitans" for Mets, but I'm still uncertain if Astros is short for Astronauts, Astronomicals, Astronauticals??? I know it's not astrology Go Stros!
I think he does a masterful job with the batting lineups. It's every managers wet dream to have so many combinations and options to play out there. I also like that this year he's bringing out his best relievers wherever a high stress situation presents itself something he always talked about in previous seasons but never did.
In those line ups marwin would have never been in, and he's been huge in winning 4 games and almost pulling out the series win in cleveland
Brian McCann is not a better hitter than Carlos Correa. He is off to a better start, but his offensive value comes largely from being good for a catcher, not being all that good overall. It's easy for people to complain because Correa is off to a slow start, but over the last 2 years he has clearly been a more productive hitter than anybody on our team besides Altuve and maybe grandpa Beltran. Likewise Springer has been very productive, and one of our best all around hitters. You want him getting as many PA's as possible. His OBP is better than Aoki's and Reddick's and he seems to function best as a leadoff hitter, and not all that well in run producing situations. Again let's not overreact to a slow start with his OBP. I love Aoki, but he's not one of our most productive players, therefore he shouldn't get as many PA. Him hitting 9th is perfect because he effectively functions as a table setter for the top of the order. I think Hinch has done an awesome job with the lineups. Given Gurriel's great performance, my current lineups. RHP Springer Reddick Altuve Correa Gurriel Beltran/Gattis McCann Bregman Aoki LHP Springer Bregman Altuve Correa Gurriel Beltran/Gattis Gattis/McCann Marisnick Aoki/Marwin
And Astro is a general prefix for anything space related. I absolutely love our team name, I think it's one of the very best in all of sports. It has a strong relation to our city identity, and it's very original. The fact that it doesn't have a clear meaning makes it all the better. Astros isn't a word in any context unless you are referring to the baseball team in Houston.
We're just going to let the "herp derp Correan...duh the kid looks Asian to me" thing go? If found the article he was referencing. It referenced a quote we all likely saw back when Hinch was hired based on his short stint as the 34-yr old 1st time manager for the D-Backs. It mentioned the quote but didn't give any backup and the opinion of the writer was clearly based solely on that. In the meantime, the Astros have a .533 winning percentage under Hinch. I'm not saying I agree with everything he's done but we sure could've done worse. It's important to have the manager and gm to be on the same page...much like Luhnow and Hinch clearly are. The players seem to really like him, too.
If he did a masterful job, we'd be averaging 5-7 runs a game! It's not hard to find a setup man and closer among Devo, gregerson and Giles.
I have Gonzo in both lineups as he's a switch hitter. Platooning at 3rd with Bregman. And left fielder or DH against RHPs.
Nice post, but given Correa's poor performance, he needs to drop down in the lineup to regain confidence. I just don't think Hinch understands that every at bat and every game matters when you keep the same slumping hitter in cleanup.
Hey pal, I have much more knowledge than you about baseball, the Astros and winning! It's not just about batting averages. It's about a loser manager who sticks the same unproductive player in same batting order and expecting different results. If I was GM, I'd force the change or fire him. Every game counts in baseball!
Correa is hitting .320/.370/.480 over the last 7 days. He's been swinging better. I think Hinch understands that this is a long season and there are numerous considerations involved. To assume he doesn't understand something as basic as "player isn't hitting well, give him less at-bats" is silly. The more likely answer is that he knows he could do that, but is choosing not to for other reasons.
Cecil Cooper was a bad manager. Brad Mills was a bad manager. Under Hinch this team has an ALDS appearance and the team is off to one of its best starts in team history. Get a grip and enjoy the ride.
You're probably right. I had fits figuring out an outfield lineup against LHPs. I don't know how well Aoki consistently does against LHPs, but we know Gonzo is a switch hitter.
Sorry, but this team is going nowhere with Hinch unless he changes up that batting lineup that's sabotaging performance.
Astros lead the AL in hits and average, 6th in runs, 8th in HR, 6th in RBIs, and are 2nd in run differential. Of course there's some room for improvement but jeez, things are working.