Harris wasn't bad that playoffs until that World Series luck of the draw I suppose. The first three starters Verlander, Cole, and Greinke we're all still in their prime then. That 2019 Astros team was arguably our best team talent wise in the history of our team. It's still hard to believe to this day that they blew that 3-2 lead and the series.
There is a lesson in recent playoffs… even really good relievers get hit with usage and batters seeing them more often in a long series. It’s impossible to know when it might come, but it’s happened. Will Harris coughed up that homer. But damn it was a fine pitch. Kendrick just must have sat on it and hit it out. Brandon Morrow for the dodgers went from elite to pulverized in the Astros/dodgers matchup. Andrew miller for the cardinals - I think I saw a tweet that listed him too as one of those relievers who suffered from overuse. I was terrified that the same might happen to Montero if used in Game 6. I don’t know why Dusty/click went to Neris in the seventh. Maybe it was matchup or analytics based. Or they Got worried about what Montero did the night before. I’d love to know how it was decided Neris would get the 7th. But it worked big time.
Ok normally, I wouldn't look at these types of shirts and just get the official stuff. But these 2 shirts are so bad ass... https://breakingt.com/collections/houston-baseball?page=1
On papers yes ( because of the 2-3 aces we had, but in reality this teams bullpen and starters ( javier, framber) eclipse anything we’ve had.
Osuna blew the save in game 6 of the ALCS (Altuve walk-off). Harris was good, but not as good as Abreu/Montero/Nerris/Stanek. Then they had a depth issue. Joe Smith was throwing key innings for that 2019 team since Pressly was injured. The Astros just trotted out one of the all-time best bullpens in post-season history.... they'd win a lot of playoff games for a lot of teams.
The crazy thing about all this is we won the world series without really using Stanek, Garcia, Urquidy, and Brown pretty much all series long. Those guys were good for us all year long. To not really have to play them this whole series was the biggest surprise of all to me.
Also how much of a difference does one year make? Look how much better Framber looked in this world series as opposed to last year against the Braves it is like night and day.
Been watching highlights all day with a big grin on my face. One thing I just noticed, in the bottom of the 9th, Realmuto, Harper, and Castellanos all swung at first pitches, the latter two for outs. That was either game plan or these guys really just wanted to get the thing over with.
I thought Montero was almost always the 8th inning guy and then Abreu and Neris we're normally used for the 6th and 7th innings as needed. So I don't think Dusty would have brought him up in the 7th anyways. They were loving that Neris/Abreu/Montero/Pressley rotation for closing out games all playoffs long.
in the playoffs, Abreu was deployed as the classic, highest leverage fireman. He could go 7th or 8th inning, depending on where the most dangerous hitters fell. Look back at the box scores and you’ll see. Montero got the other inning. Neris usually pitched in the 6th in reg season, and his usage was similar in the postseason. But he got the 7th in Game 6 because I think Montero was compromised and Abreu was tabbed for the 8th because that was when the lineup turned over to the top (schwarber foul bunted in surrender to Abreu).
Seeing a dude who hit 46 homers bunting with 2 strikes was hilarious. He only did it so abreu didn’t get to do his celebration after the strike out
I remember listening to sports talk 790 the day after game 3 there was so much doom and gloom on the radio that day. You would have thought the series was over based upon a lot of the reactions from people that day.
And that was a stark contrast to how he was used throughout the season… this was the change the front office recognized prior to the playoffs, and why Stanek ended up lower on the depth chart. Abreu is in line to be this team’s next dominant closer. He’s always had the stuff… but there was some question as to whether the moments were too big for him. I’d say he proved that he’s got the mental fortuitous big-time this playoffs. After those pressure-packed innings, closing out a random June series against the Angels or A’s should be a cake walk.
The deployment of Abreu in the postseason was one of the biggest surprises and developments. He is closer is waiting with four more years of club control. Presumably, Pressly will close in 2023 and 24, and I have to assume the team will buy out the 2025 option. Abreu always seemed to be the million dollar arm with a 2 dollar brain/control/composure, whichever is applicable. But holy crap he was a revelation this postseason. When schwarber bent the knee in the 8th inning of a close out game, man that perfectly symbolized his dominance.
