Yep. Meyers needs two things. 1) Jesus and 2) AAA at bats. But doesn't Meyers always tear it up when demoted? So I don't know if that would be a good indicator if he's ready for the majors at any point. I hear they throw it underhand in AAA ball.
On Meyers, someone has to be the 4th OF. Leon and Dirden need PAs in AAA as well. I'd be fine with Tucker as the backup CF if the Astros had two other good healthy corner OFs, but I don't see the benefit in an Alvarez, Tucker, Julks OF.
This new GM Brown is terrible. We are 1 game below .500 and 1.5 games out with 155 games left. This season is over and he needs to focus on rebuilding.
Last year first 14 games: 6-8 with 46 runs and 55 runs given up. That's a differential of -0.64 runs per game. And McCullers was the only major injury. This year after 7 games 3-4. 31 runs and 34 runs against. That's a differential of -0.43 runs per game. And McCullers, Altuve, and Brantley are hurt but should be back for more than half the season. It's a long season. All will be fine.
What do you want him to say? He and his team are smart. They know the issue, but they also know there is no way to talk about it publicly. So he says “I don’t know.” If he made up some “expected batting average on sinkers” or “fan stats” quote, that is when you should be worried.
I want him to say that they have done a vast and thorough study of MMP and determined that by moving the field dimensions around they could take fuller advantage of the staff they currently have. or he could say The matter is being looked into or he could say That is a question for Mr. Crane (I would like to hear him answer this myself)
Well, blaming or pointing to the boss is not a great career move, and I guarantee that “the matter is being looked into” even if he didn’t say so. But, I agree he could have said that and it would be a better answer. But in the interest of harmony and not creating a distraction with a month to go, “I don’t know” is fine. I certainly wouldn’t correlate that response to any actual thinking being done in the FO.
It was a bad response, but not because there is an actual reason. He should have said the truth, that's it's just random season to season variance and we have no reason to be concerned moving forward. This isn't some long multi year trend of the Astros hitting worse at MMP.
I actually think the correct answer is: "Baseball is an unpredictable game. We have won at home before and we will win at home again hopefully soon. Some things have no explanation "
David Stearns hired by the Mets so Brown is safe which makes me happy for now. I'd like to see him get at least one full off season before making any judgement.
