Any mention as to why Jake didn't come in for defense in the 8th? Marwin made that one catch really look harder than it should have been.
Fiers was still terrible overall, the Twins isn't really that good on offense at all. Go to MLB.com check out the highlights of this game, it has shown that Fiers got the last out in the bottom of the 6th inning. Take a look at the chart of the 9 pitches he thrown. The first pitch was down and in and outside the zone, then 2-8th pitches were all belt high inside the zone pitches. Of course, it's Jason Castro, he then got a swinging K on the 9th pitch up and in, outside the zone. Any decent triple A hitter will punish Fiers hard in that situation.
Ya, I was a bit nervous on that fly ball too. I was wondering about Jake. No mention on the broadcast so I'll assume until further notice there was nothing to it.
You will never call up any real prospect just for one game unless you are sure he is ready to be here for the long run or like the end of the season whene you are out of the race. Situation like this will always be a journeyman to come up and you just hope you roll a dice and get some luck.
Again, I'm not familiar with all of the AAA guys but I'm assuming he's the most suited for the role. Are you familiar with how he pitches?
No he wasn't. 3 of the 5 hits he gave up were infield hits. He only had a few well hit balls. Even the 2nd run they scored wouldn't have happened, except the umpire missed a called strike 3. The Twins offense is better than league average.
Because he is on the 40 man roster and has MLB experience. That leaves him and Brady Rodgers, unless they had decided to use Devo/Feliz, which they apparently don't want to do (I'm shocked both of them pitched yesterday). Martes isn't on the 40-man, so they aren't going to waste that roster spot for what may be a 1 time deal (and it isn't like he has earned it). Paulino is 23 and a top 100 prospect, so I guess you are quite wrong.
??? Paulino is a real prospect. His problem has been health. Big curve. Low to mid 90s 4 seam. Expect him to be up for injury and "injury" replacements quite a bit. He may end up in pen if arm doesn't hold up to starting. Now that Astros have a real MLB team again, expect them to work prospects in during injuries. If they do well, someone might get Wally Pipped.
He didn't pitch well in the 1st, but if Altuve makes that tough play, which he's made many times before, (Buxton may have been safe regardless even if Yuli scoops Correa's throw, I dunno). Fiers possibly gets out of that inning with 0 runs. He pitched his ass off after that, was nice to see.
The AAA rotation has been awful all year. Paulino actually has the best ERA of any active starter (4.50). As mentioned he's also the only reasonable option already on the 40-man roster. Everyone else has been a disaster. They've signed people from the independent leagues (Casey Coleman), signed career minor leaguers (David Martinez) and called up people early from double A (Trent Thornton) just to throw innings. They're getting blown up every game.
Funny thing is before the season, the rotation in AAA looked good headlined by Martes, Paulino, Rodgers. Two injuries and a dramatic loss in control has sunk the top portion of the rotation. Martes looks to be coming around. Paulino is working back into shape, but may start shuttling between Houston and Fresno. Deetz is up. Thorton should be an okay end of rotation in AAA. Staff should be better rest of the season.
Just read that Paulino is 6'-7". Look forward to seeing a Jeff-Juden-esque dude on the mound, hopefully mowing down opponents. Or, worst-case, plunking someone (not named Cangelosi) edit: Just did some research. Some other guys who are 6-7 or 6-8: Pineda, Wainwright, and Betances. So it's unusual, but we've seen those 3 guys a decent amount.
Wait...what? 2nd through 6th faced 18 hitters (3 over the minimum). 1 walk. 2 hits (1 bunt single). 7 strike outs.
I think Jake actually threw all the runners out at 1st from the OF, so technically Fiers gave up roughly 18 runs that should be added to his ERA, and he also took a "loss" yesterday that most real fans won't realize
Or he was exploiting a weakness. That's what scouting and the stats driven methods the Astros use are for. Find a weakness in a batter and exploit it. Are you seriously bashing a guy after possibly his best outing this season for finishing it with a K?
