I keep hearing this. Was there something beyond the Dick Justice article which I missed? Because one Dick Justice article is more likely to make me believe the *opposite*. Seriously. But this has been a complaint with *every* recent manager. Seriously--it has. I heard constantly about Jimy *and* Phil messing with the lineup and how these poor professional players' psyches somehow couldn't handle it. The above two are just questions. I in no wise intend to defend Coop as manager. I met him once at a community function and liked the guy; but he's not cutting it as the skipper. WHOA!!!! This guy really *has* gotten your goat, hasn't he?
OMG!!!! Are you serious? I haven't noticed that! ROFLOL!!!! oh, man. HAHA!!!! I'm sorry. I'll stop, for real. That was just so *very* unexpected!
This to me was the worst of those by far. I've defended Coop a bunch of times....I'm done with that. Very frustrating.
What is it that makes Pudge an "RBI guy" more than what we have on the bench? He's not a big home run threat. The guys we have on our bench aren't power guys, either, but it's not like 2nd and 3rd, 1 out calls for a power bat. A base hit would give you the lead, a sac fly would tie it. I just don't understand the logic.
see, i don't even have to go that far. i'm tracking with you...but you had me at sac fly. that's it. it's a one freaking run game. you're at home. their ace is out. if you get to their stud closer for a run to tie it up, you have to like your chances going forward. you don't need a hard hit ball...you don't need great contact....you need a lazy fly ball to the outfield. the end. damn, that sucks.
Bunting is a waste of an out. Coop made the right call. Pudge has more than 9,000 plate appearences in his career and less than 30 sacrifice bunts. Who has a better chance to drive in the run...Pudge, Kaz Matsui, or Jason Michaels? Every time a team fails it is not the manager's fault. You want a better manager, give him better players.
yeah, but how much of that was after steroids? actually I agree, you don't make players do something they don't do.
Wasting an out in that situation is only significant if you're looking for a "big" inning. The Astros didn't need a big inning. At that stage of the game, and against that quality of team, I'd like our chances in a tie game going into extra innings. Maybe if this was 1997, and Pudge was in his prime, I'd think differently. Its not. If he can't bunt, get somebody in there that can. Your objective is to win the game, any way possible. That includes securing a TIE game before going for the win. Hell, Geoff Blum had two game winning hits recently... and I'm sure you'd take Pudge over him as an "RBI" guy. Thus meaning it shouldn't always be up to that one guy. There are a helluva lot more ways to score from third than from second... especially with less than 2 outs. (I think the actual number is 7... or 8 ways).
Do I think Pudge has a better chance, with his .249 average, to drive in the run than Kaz, with his .240 average? Not really. They're about the same, honestly. I'm a Pudge fan, but he's not a significantly better hitter with his sub .700 OPS than Kaz or any of the rest of the guys on this team. It's not like asking your #3 or #4 hitter to lay down the bunt. Pence, Lee, Tejada, Berkman ... those are good hitters who are real threats, those are the guys who you don't want to "waste". Not your 37 year old DP machine Pudge.
who is talking about driving in runs? no one needed to drive anything. a lazy pop fly gets it done with 1 out and a man on third. i'd love to see a breakdown of percentages on this. but as Nick said, you're playing for 1 run...not 3 or 4. i can't believe people have so bought in to cute moneyball formulas that they lose context of the game entirely. as warren buffet said: "Beware of geeks bearing formulas." i think 90% of the coaches in the league right now have pudge bunting in that spot.
you just disqualified yourself from discussing this any further. And here, let me save you the trouble: "Hitting is about not making outs." No, it's about scoring runs. The best hitters "make outs" nearly 60% of the time. So save us the ridulously simplified, overplayed, flat-out inaccurate maxims. That was a bunting situation. If Pudge can't handle that, sit his ass down and pinch-hit with Roy Oswalt. And, if you want to talk percentages--you tell me which play gets a runner to 3rd a higher percentage of the time: a well-practiced bunter, or a guy with a sub-.300 OBP. Pudge swinging away was the "waste of an out".
Of course for all of those that subscribe to the "changing the past won't change the future" theory that many fans constantly point to, it was a moot point since Matsui struck out and Michels grounded out. A successful bunt would not have mattered.
I didn't understand the bunt call after the lead off hit by Bourn. Why not try to extend the inning and get Greinke out of the game?
Matsui would have been able to easily lay down a bunt on one of those high-outside pitches (that was called for a strike) for a suicide squeeze. Actually, it would have been a virtual certainty that Matsui gets walked, and Michaels is up with the bases loaded and one out.
Here's the key. I was on the other side of this argument when it was Hunter Pence being asked to bunt. But Pudge is not a remotely good hitter, and he's been particularly bad this month (a 0.220 OBP - this is substantially worse than Ausmus or Everett at their absolute worst!). If there's ever a hitter to bunt with, it's him. Or, even better, pinch hit a pitcher and use them to bunt since Pudge doesn't have a lot of experience with it.
I suspect you realize my post was entirely tongue in cheek because I know the entire inning would have changed had a successful bunt been laid down. The interesting thing about the 2 called strikes to Matsui, is it looked like the first pitch to Michels was in the exact same location and it was a ball.
Because its Zach freakin Greinke... exactly how many XBH did we get off him last night? Bunting, or allowing your leadoff man to steal, to get him in scoring position for the heart of your order is never a bad thing... especially when its late in the game, and you need just one run. Unfortunately, this seems to be the ONLY situation Cooper will bunt in, because he has no faith in the bottom of the order to get a run in. We weren't going to allofasudden have a breakout 5 run inning... unless Greinke was just on the verge of losing it (and with his 96mph gas to Carlos Lee that same inning, he showed he wasn't).
