Agreed, but until he gets things figured out he shouldn't be pitching in the 8th inning. They really need a win today, I doubt they get that W with Gilbert on the mound, Pitching wins and the Mariners have better pitching this year unless injuries strike the Mariners like they did the Stros. Crane went all in on building a dominant bullpen and so far they've been disappointing at best. There's nothing worse than having a bullpen blowing leads.
In the last 6 games the Astros have given up 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, and 4 runs. That's 2.83 runs per game. They went 2-4 in those games. Pitching, even when there was a blown save are not the problem right now. As several other poster mentioned Pressly has mostly been unlucky, not bad.
"Man, I didn't sign him and honestly wanted him off the team weeks ago. It's the owner that refuses to accept that L. As soon as Jim OK's it, he's gone"
That's two terrible blown wins against Seattle this season already. As we saw last year, tie breaks and one game can make the difference at the end of the season. No chance in hell we get a WC spot, only hope is division and we may have pissed that away already.
Knee jerk reactions with little to no thought put into it (and I'm sure I'm just rehashing thoughts everyone has had, sorry haven't been able to see up with CF lately): Trade Bregman, team needs a shot in the arm Trade Chas? Do whatever we need to do to rid ourselves of Abreu. Play Dubon more Bring back Joey No idea who would replace Espada but maybe it's time? Overall - why has it become so difficult to run this team properly? Why is it so hard to field our best team? Seems we've rarely done that this year.
But that requires tapping into the beliefs of Singletons power when he was a prospect Cause in every sample size, Dubon has a higher slugging % as well as OPS Since Abreu was sent down May 1 Dubon .500 slugging, .875 OPS Jon .383 slugging, .723 OPS This year Dubon 442 slugging, 778 OPS Jon 370 sligging, 706 OPS Last year Dubon 411 slugging, 720 OPS Jon 323 slugging, 624 OPS Career Dubon 389 slugging, 688 OPS Jon 329 slugging, 626 OPS Yes, Jon walks a lot more than Dubon but that simply gets their on base % to even. Dubon does it with a ton less Ks I know some are tired of what they feel like is me piling on Jon, but I just don't get it. I suppose it's a lot like the Forrest Whitley syndrome, where any time he would go out and throw a scoreless inning with a couple of K's all of the sudden everyone feels like he is ready to come help us. Jon hits a HR and it's like yea baby. I just can't fathom that he is about to explode for an 800+ OPS, but I certainly hope i'm wrong cause he is very likely going to be an everyday player for us for the foreseable future
What exactly in the last 2 games was Dana Brown's fault? You seriously think HE is the one who wants Abreu on the roster.
It's not his fault, but he is the GM and doesn't seem to have any power. So it kind of makes him seem lame.
Exit velocity can clearly tell us Singleton still has elite raw power. His launch angle causes him to hit too many grounders, but he consistently crushes the ball.
He is the GM, at the very least he should have been able to convince Crane to delay the move. He also did an awful job of roster building. His only off season moves were to sign a bunch of bullpen guys who throw hard with a lot of spin but couldn't find the plate with GPS. We have an awful bench and no l/r balance Maybe he is just the farm director but we gave him the GM title to come run our farm. Who the hell knows what is really going on What I DO know, is we are putting out **** lineups for a huge series
Ok sweet Dubon has been a better hitter though. Again, hopefully Jon starts hitting HR's all over the place and becomes the player we thought he was going to be a decade ago I'm just not overly optimistic I seriously hope yall are right though
The only guy he actually signed was Taylor Scott and he's been sensational. The part of the pen that has sucked is the part that literally everybody thought would be dominant. Should he have traded Bregman, Alvarez, Chaz and Diaz this offseason because we knew they were all gonna grossly underperform? Maybe he should have held Crane at gunpoint and demand he finally cut bait with Abreu.
Not true He signed a lot of guys in the Taylor Scott range, Scott is the one who made the team, and has been quite good for sure He did nothing to address the rest of the roster, and i'm not talking about going out and signing big name big money free agents, team depth could have been improved without spending big bucks. He seems to be way more of a swing for the fences type. Maybe that's why Jon stuck around and is getting regular run The rest of your post is just you being a smartass, which is absolutely fine
Singleton, Dubon and Caratini is an outstanding bench. You may hate him, but Singleton has been an ideal bench bat. You aren't gonna find somebody noticeably better than him on the cheap and willing to play sparingly. The fact is this offense has sucked because of the players I named in my last post (and of course the scrub Abreu he inherited), which you decided was me being a smartass. The leverage part of the pen has also been abysmal, which nobody saw coming. The bench and back of the bullpen has not been bad, not even in in the slightest.
Yeah the only 2 players on the current roster that are pure Dana Brown acquisitions are Tayler Scott and Victor Caratini and both of them have been badass.
Caratini is an excellent backup catcher for sure, i'll give him that one Dubon is also an excellent utility guy (not a Dana signing) but is having to play more than what a bench guy normally would I don't hate Jon at all. I think the way he stuck in there and played his way back to the show is an inspirational story. And if he was a start once a week and pinch hit in certain situations type of guy, I would agree he would be a good backup. That isn't how he is being used though. He is an everyday guy for this team Kessinger is a waste of a roster spot for one but the bigger issue is we have team of backups who all rip LHP but not a single guy down there who can come in against a RHP and give you a good, solid battling at bat. Even Dubon is below average there, although i'd definitely take him in a late game at bat where we need a base hit over all the other options One thing Luhnow and Click has in common was they could fill out the bench and the pen with good, solid mlb players. They had all the positions backed up well, and you could get a good pinch hit at bat vs either side arm late game if needed Whether it's Dana or Jim himself who is making all the roster decisions, this team has flaws that could have been fixed in the offseason and weren't, and those were pointed out by several of us before the season began, so it isn't just looking at what has happened and over reacting It's a roster with a lot of studs, but it doesn't all fit together well
I agree those two have been good But in his second year on the job and he has 2 guys on the roster Kessinger doesn't even play and that is a spot that could be valuable. You yourself have chimed in on guys we could have gone after on the cheap and didn't. I think his high risk/high reward mentality could be great for the draft. If you hit one 1 or 2 guys every year in the draft that are big upside guys, you are rocking and rolling there I just think building out a major league roster is different. It's difficult for sure, but to win it all you need a roster that has everything covered, and whether that's Dana or Jim, they are falling short. If we still had Click, and Jim let him do his job, i'm fairly certain we would be better off, guys like him make moves that get little attention but make a big difference in my opinion
