This team. I give up. Until they make a serious move to change the dynamic somehow I can't take anything they do seriously. They aren't showing enough urgency. Loperfido should be getting big league at bats, not a constant shuttle back and forth from the minor leagues. Play the dude!
This is not a problem for me. Bringing up Salazar because Diaz is hurt, is absolutely the right move. And if Loperfido is going to sit on the bench here, then he is better served getting his K rate down to pre-AAA levels and playing everyday in Sugar Land. Now the part I don't agree with: Crane is not ready to dump Abreu, and every time Joey does something good and/or Abreu does something bad he hears about it. And he does not want to hear it. So Joey being in AAA limits the people that see and complain.
Pride always comes before the fall. I truly believe that if Crane would call up Loperfido and play him at 1B and give Leon a shot in LF as well as trading for an established 8th inning guy, this is a championship contender. If Leon doesn't workout then trade for a Pham type LF. But first Crane needs to admit his mistakes and bite the bullet.
Jim Crane is the Problem, constantly playing Jose Abreu, Pitching Rafael Montero. Those two high contracts players have hurt the Team.
Montero has not been a problem this year. You can argue that he is overpaid and I agree he is, but he has been a perfectly good pitcher. Faced the min in 11 of 29 outings (38%) Hader 36% Pressly 30% Abreu 24% 0 ER in 21 of 29 outings (72%) Abreu 79% Hader 71% Pressly 63%
Sheesh. They sent him down already.... Ugh Is this crane or Bagwell's arrogance of not believing a utility guy like Dubon could play 1st. And if just trying to save face with the vet at first.
Just another example of the cascading negative effects from keeping Abreu on the roster. Just him being here is messing up opportunities for Loperfido, Dubon and Singleton, and that's on top of being a black hole when he is in the lineup, which is way too often.
He has been perfectly fine this year. His underlying numbers suck. I expect his performance to plummet down the back stretch (I expect Haders to get better).
I don't disagree with this. However, his underlying numbers have been much better in the past (sometimes w/ worse results). He could possibly improve his underlying numbers w/o falling off and be a very good #4 RP like 2022. But I like him better as a #4 than a #3. And I really like him as a #5 or #6 lol.
Jose Abreu being in the Lineup puts added pressure to the rest of the batters in the lineup. You can feel the negativity in the dugout watching their bad body language. Jose Abreu should've been the 4th Hitter in the Lineup, he is so bad that he is hitting 8th with .117 batting average. This is terrible. When will Jim Crane, Jeff Bagwell just admit their mistake. Joey Loperfido does not deserve to be sent down, he deserves to Start and play at 1B for the Astros.
Everything starts with the Owner Jim Crane. Jim Crane listening to Jeff Bagwell about Jose Abreu needing adjustments. Jim Crane needs to stop listening to Jeff Bagwell and visit the locker room and look at their body language. Jose Abreu should've been released.
So because Sugar Land doesn't have enough outfielders, Loperfido has to play the outfield and not get reps at 1B. Crane, Brown, and Bagwell just don't give a f@ck about this season.