i mean you basically called me a candyass... not sure how you expected me to respond in the midst of watching what was shaping up to be another heart-wrenching loss. but since we won i take it all back.
Oh I didn't "basically" call you a candyass, I straight-up called you a candyass. Cheers, I'm laughing as I type this, it's all good, all in good fun, go Stros.
Wish we would've traded for Khris Davis instead of Gomez..& given up a lot less. Great win. Hopefully it's coming together. Ready to see Moran & Kemp in the lineup tomorrow
Nobody is hotter than the Astros over the last 24 hours. And even more demoralizing for the opponents is that we are threating to do this again.
Any number of reasons why we might win... Kershaw could have soreness in his arm, or could be due for a bad game, or the 'stros could see the ball really well tonight, or an asteroid could fall from the sky onto Kershaw's house, or...
That was outing number 5 in a row... and was his best yet. The next step is to have him start the 7th or 8th trying to protect a lead. The situation he was brought in last night was actually a very damn tough spot.... bases loaded, 1 out, #2 and #3 hitters coming up... and he did very well (and if you recall from the Giles thread, I actually expected that his mental state would possibly benefit from being a bailout guy vs. starting an inning fresh at the time). Regardless of Giles situation... Hinch has to start giving Harris some occasional save opportunities (and I was thinking this even prior to Gregerson's last two meltdowns). He's pitching too damn well right now.
definitely need to consider bringing harris on to close for the immediate future. let giles work through a few more tough innings and maybe, just maybe, we can place him in his proper role. gregerson needs to be relegated to the 7th at this point.
He has thrown 5.2 IP, and given up 2 ER and a .408 OPS against with 7K so far this month. Those 2 ER he gave up was an infield hit and a walk that Tony Sipp let score. The really good news is his velocity has been up, and he hasn't been giving up the long ball. BTW, tonight's game is free on MLB.tv
I'm not sure I take Harris out of the setup role. I suppose if the starter goes 8 innings, maybe then I'd have Harris close right now.
I don't think he should just automatically supplant Gregerson... but Gregerson also doesn't need to get every single opportunity either. We know what they have in Luke... he's very good, but he does have limitations and I don't expect him to flip a switch and become *better* as the year goes on.
I'm hoping we can get to Harris/Gregerson/Giles 7, 8, 9, because I think we'd all be happy with that. It wouldn't be Lidge/Dotel/Wagner, but it would be Qualls/Wheeler/Lidge, which was still pretty impressive. If only Andrew Miller had come to Houston...
Speaking of Giles, ESPN has an article about Vince Velasquez on its home page titled "Phillies' Vince Velasquez putting up Noah Syndergaard-like numbers". But great job by Giles last night. There is still hope.
Agreed.... but at this point, you also can't ignore what Harris is doing. He was definitely overused last year, to the point where he had his late-season slump... and then the playoff meltdown (where he was also overused within the playoffs). But his performance prior to late last season was tremendous... and he's been even BETTER this year. I'm particularly impressed with how is stuff is against lefties. I'd be all for putting him in the highest leverage situations. I honestly feel he's better than Gregerson right now. And its not just about control and deception with him... he's flat-out got good stuff.
