Like what, exactly? By your logic, Sipp wouldn't have even been an option yesterday since everybody had him buried back in July. Harris should never have escaped the Rangers series, thus he wouldn't have been available down the stretch in September. Neshek is apparently now in that nether-region that people once put Sipp/Harris AND Gregerson. Lets not even get started on guys like Fields and Perez. At some point, if every single player you put out there ends up failing eventually (intertwined with more outings where they "do what they're supposed to do")... what the hell creativity do you want from your manager? Oh right, bring in Kazmir and Fiers.
It's statistics in this series Nick. What you see is Baseless the Royals and Hinch sees as statistics...sorry
Are you apologizing for your own ability to have an actual discussion and answer the question? If the Astros are in fact losing by their "inability to think outside the box"... why exactly are they winning these games as well?
Win the bullpen holds up we win when it doesn't we've lost. Royals are banking on they can get to the bullpen and the Astros are banking on we can squeak out of it. What's so hard to understand about that? It's statistics. Tweak the bullpen like that Giants have done in the past in post season and the Royals percentage of winning decreases. Heck have No Hit Friers available as well.
Stop creating strawmen. I never said anything about bringing Kazmir, if you don't have a leg to stand on, don't make up BS... but that is your M.O. I would have used Fiers in the series. He is a high quality pitcher that strikes people out and has come out of the pen in the past. Not using him has been a complete waste of a valuable asset the Astros had going into this series. Further, apparently Gregerson was available and so was Sipp. Sipp has been far more effective than Harris the last 6-7 weeks and the playoffs. Also I sure as hell would not allowed any pitcher summoned from the pen to give up four straight hits in a playoff game, in the 8th inning.
huh? Apologizing for what? Obviously, you got Astro gogglez on and we have no problems with our bullpen in this series...ok Nick
Again, strawmen. When something doesn't work, and hasn't worked... and you have other viable options, you try those options. For example, Mike Fiers. So the Astros winning game 1 and 3 are because of the masterful job that Hinch did? Even a bad pitcher isn't going to get shelled every inning. If you are satisfied with a bullpen that protects a 2 run or larger lead half of the time, then that is on you.
Nah, I just don't b****/complain AFTER the fact... and pretend that the solution was obvious the entire time. I've always said that the Astros bullpen had a lot of interchangeable guys... in many ways, it was a "strength" early in the season not having to throw the same person in the 7th or 8th... and I thought Gregerson (despite the occasional blown saves) has been a serviceable closer. At no point did I ever call them "elite"... despite them being the best bullpen in the American League, numbers-wise. Now, people are going to complain whenever moves don't work... despite those same moves being done, and working, not only throughout the season... but in this very playoffs... as of 2 freakin days ago.
The bullpen has been much better lately: 2.88 ERA is its last 25IP (through game 1 of the ALDS). In fact, if you discount runs given up by players not on their postseason roster (Qualls and Feliz), they've given up 4 runs in their last 23.2IP, an era of 1.55. And that's with the season on the line in each and every outing. They had a 98.4% WP in a non-do-or-die situation. I have no issue with the way Hinch managed it - again, Correa's error was the biggest blow, not bullpen mismanagement. I know. A non-urgent situation was escalated. I never said they weren't available; I'm suggesting Hinch likely saw it as an opportunity to sneak in an extra day of rest for his most important bullpen arm because the situation was not urgent. Asking a starter to pitch out of the pen isn't that easy - in fact, remember the last time Fiers pitched out of the pen? It's even harder when the margin of error is tiny; it'd be silly to turn that over to Fiers after guys like Harris excelled in the role for the vast majority of the season. That's just irrational fan blathering.
no Hinch has made some good moves in this series as well as against the Yanks. Now in this series IF the same situation presents itself AGAIN in game 5 we'll just have to see if we can squeak it out as is or tweak the lineup and live with the outcome either way
When exactly are you trotting out Fiers... who hasn't pitched regularly out of the bullpen in 3 years? His role is pretty clear... to be a long-man for an early-inning implosion or in case of injury. He also does not have blow-em-away stuff... his stuff is right in line with the current guys being used. I'm the straw man? You've been a one-track record since August... pretty much only chiming in when the team is losing and putting entirely all the blame on Hinch. Its getting stale. And if/when Fiers fails in that role, he'll be lopped into more of the "bad managerial decisions by Hinch!".
You would just merely interchange any of these names as what "should" be done... if the team loses. If Hinch had brought in Gregerson, and he fails, it should have been Sipp. If Sipp gets brought in, and gives up hits, it should have been Harris. I'm sure you'll start advocating for Neshek again soon, as is your M.O. Give it up, man... its painfully obvious that you have your agenda and you're not letting it go.
Just pointing out the fallacy in most people's approach to dissecting these games. Team wins, players do what they're supposed to do... Hinch does a good job of managing. Team loses, regardless of how it happens, it was a bad job of managing.
Yeah.... another nice straw man, when did I ever say that Gregerson failed it should be someone else? I didn't.... In fact I had called to use your best arm in the 7th or 8th to get out of a jam. Sometimes the most crucial part of a ball game isn't the 9th inning. But, that is what you do..... you make up hypothetical situations and claim to know how someone else would or would not feel about the situation. I would have had no problem had Hinch gone to Gregerson in the 8th inning. Why? Because he is your best pitcher in the pen. As for Fiers, he is a high strikeout pitcher and has worked out of the pen before. Is it a guarantee that he does well? Of course not, but I will take my chances with him over a guy (Harris) that struggled the last month of the season and struggled in the series against the Royals. I certainly would not have allowed Harris to give up four straight hits. You have nothing to support your position so you just pull stuff out of your ass. You have done it on this board and the Texans board. You have been called on it numerous times.
Not at all. Nor did I have any problem with him on the mound to start the 8th inning. On top of that, I always clamor for managers to handle pitchers in situations similar to McCullers' exactly how Hinch did last night. Bring him out in the 7th until he puts one man on. This is a instance where it all goes out the window when you leave Harris in to give up his 4th straight hit to start the inning, and the game is ultimately lost. I don't think it's too much of an assumption to say that no other manager in their right mind would leave him in past 3 consecutive hits (i don't really care about the hard:soft hit ratio at that point), and by gambling on leaving him in to do more damage, the game is on hinch, sink or swim. Call it hindsight if you want, but I don't see it that way in this case. I'd happily credit him with having the balls to stick with Harris in a situation that no other sane manager would have if it miraculously worked out.
