Well you quoted me specifically to respond to the mass of posters you are unhappy with then. Montero has been awesome, but last night wasn't the time to gloat about him. I just don't want to overuse the same thing. We've seen it before. That being said, I recognize they might do it and it could work out beautifully. At this point I would just prefer they do something else in that situation.
Can you imagine the flack Dusty would have gotten if he had replaced Yordan and put Dubon in CF, the Phillies tied it and then Dubon was due in 2nd instead of Yordan?
Smoltz is knowledgeable on how things work. Takes like that aren't close to perfect. Plus, he seemed in the past to be very negative on how the game is played today. I have some negative thoughts on the game today, but I really don't want a Debbie Downer for an announcer. Caveat: Luckily, I have attained the superpower sometime since 2017 to tune out most announcers including Smotlz as the value they bring on how things work (things like pitch sequencing) wasn't worth listening to their bad takes.
Smoltz proclaiming Nola to be back after his first pitch in game 4 was hilarious to me. Sometimes its a little too much.
This reason is precisely why he didn't do the substitution. In case they did tie it and where Yordan was slated to be due up.
Montero has a pretty unique fastball. It may be the case that their hitters for whatever reason pick it up a bit better than most.
And just to be clear, my point wasn't about not using Montero (he's been consistently really good), my point was Abreu was guaranteeing us a clean 8th inning. Go with the "surest thing". That was my point.
I'm sure Smoltz has a lot of knowledge and expertise others can't offer but it's filtered through intense boomer brain.
Mancini saved our butt with that play, but man I really really hope Yuli will be able to go Game 6. His defense with Framber on the mound, and his ability to not strike out cannot be undervalued.
I don't hear any bias, I just hear a guy talking baseball, I don't think Smoltz gives a **** who actually wins. I think all the announcers have been very fair concerning the Astros and very complimentary 2017 is still a bit of an issue on this stage but for the most part it's not been a topic.
It doesn't always work that way. Usually it isn't picked up during the game..... Cora and Beltran were epically good at picking up when a pitcher is tipping pitcher. Supposedly Cintron is good at it as well.
What is unique about it? It is hard and plays well with his other pitches, but I've not noticed much in the shape department. His fastball is a different shape than a lot of the Astros fastballs, but I'd consider the average Astro fastball to be abnormal.
It's not a true bias, I think. I think it is more that he knows the Phillies are the underdog and his emotional responses to plays by either team give away that he seems to be rooting for the Phillies. I don't think it is anti-Astros. It is just more wants a good game/series and memorable moments. Also, because that does probably help engage the national audience who probably does view the Astros negatively somewhat, but probably don't completely care unless you try to build the underdog narrative. It is just tough to deal with the Astros being the "big bully" versus the underdog/made for movie story that everyone is rooting for when they actually only won 1 WS.
He was off last night. He walk two and then gave up a single. He shouldn’t have faced Segura it was clear he didn’t have it.
