Guy on ESPN this morning literally pointed out exactly what the Phillies saw. LMJ changes his glove motion based on his pitches. Un friggin believable. Someone on here said that Alex Cora may have given them the tips for what to see; based on this I believe that is true.
Maybe there was something to the Astros "wasting" any prep they did for Thor when the Phillies skipped him versus the Phillies having more time to chart/prep for Lance and his tendencies (be it tipping or sequencing). Who knows, win today and everyone feels better.
McCullers and Dusty debacle aside, the die was cast for the offense when Altuve swung at the first pitch (out) and Peña swung at his first pitch (out). Two pitches, two outs. There was no patience at the top of our order and Álvarez has been ice cold since the Seattle series. We're basically leaning on the bottom of our order to get stuff going for us right now while the Phillies work counts and eventually get good pitches.
A few thoughts today… 1.) I’m of two minds regarding LMJ not getting pulled early. On one hand I get the frustration given Dusty’s tendency to give his starters a long leash. Then again, I also understand the decision not to pull him in the 2nd and having to burn through the bullpen knowing we still have games today and Thursday. This wasn’t an elimination game and you have to live to fight another day. 2.) I really don’t understand why there wasn’t one mound visit when it was clear early that something wasn’t right. 3.) Tonight is obviously a must win. I don’t see this team winning three straight if they lose tonight (but anything is possible). Let’s hope that Javier has a solid outing and the bats come alive again against Nola. Then we can worry about JV in Game 5 vs Thor and the bullpen.
Game 7 is the only one that seems uncertain if it goes that far. My gut tells me Dusty thanks to his undying loyalty will stick with McCullers.
The biggest problem with Altuve is that there isn’t much you can do to try to get him out of a slump. Other batters I imagine you try to work on increasing plate discipline and try to lower how often they chase pitches out of the zone. With Altuve, he’s made a career out of swinging at the first pitch and getting hits from pitches out of the zone, so at this point you can’t exactly try to coach him out or that. You just have to hope he finds it again.
I get that mentality and believe me, the thought of preserving the bullpen crossed my mind. But ultimately, that's a defeatist approach. It comes from a position where Dusty is not only conceding Game 3, but not thinking ahead to Games 4 and 5 from the Phillies' perspective. In Game 4, the Astros will face Nola again. Last time, they knocked him around, and Thomson had to empty out his bullpen in order to eek out a 1-run win in extra innings. Thanks to Dusty punting on Game 3, the Phillies will have a fully rested set of relievers to go to if the Astros score a bunch off of Nola again. If he'd pulled Lance earlier and made Game 3 more competitive, we might be facing a more worn down bullpen and have a better shot at winning Game 4. And Game 5 is likely to be a bullpen game for the Phillies. Imagine the impact of two straight games of having to use their best relievers and then turning to them once again for a 3rd consecutive night. Dusty is trying to save his relievers every game instead of doing everything he can to get a win. It already cost us in Game 1(sticking with Verlander, keeping Abreu out there for 2 innings, going with Garcia over Stanek), it nearly cost us in Game 2(sticking with Valdez, keeping Montero out there for 2 innings), and it gave the Phillies a break in Game 3(sticking with McCullers). The offense needs to show up obviously. And 2 of our 3 starters have sh-t the bed. But Dusty is also managing this team to a World Series defeat.
To get to game 7 Houston has to win 2 of 3 with Javier-Verlander-Framber and a completely rested bullpen. This isn’t over. The team just needs to meet the moment. Tonight.
I don't like feeling angry and grumpy but that's what I am currently. I am not happy. I'm too emotionally invested. I may need shock therapy. Just have to remind myself it's just a game over and over and over.
Pitching is this teams biggest strength and it is what got us this far. You won't win a title when your Cy Young ace can't protect a 5 run lead at home. You won't win a title when your veteran starter tips pitches like an amateur and gets lit up by everybody, even the bottom of the order. You won't win a title when your manager has the luxury of THREE rested long relief men (Brown, Garcia, Urquidy) and doesn't deploy any of them in situations just like these when your starters are getting spanked early in the game.
