People are really blaming Hinch? How about...wait for it... The reliever, in this case Harris, do his job and get guys out?
How would you feel if the Astros pinch hit for Springer with Jake Marisnick? If Marisnick struck out, would you blame Jake or Hinch? A managers job is put his players in a position to succeed and win games. Pulling your best reliever after a 12 pitch inning and replacing him with a vastly inferior pitcher that has struggled pitching the 9th, against the best offense in baseball when your team is struggling ... is NOT being a good manager. This one is on Hinch.
I'll say. We basically can't trust a 2 run lead to anyone except Devo right now...until he screws up and hits the blacklist. lol
He’s the last left to fail. If Giles gets his head straight, he will also get another chance. They will probably now have to make a trade for a guy.
Devo hasn't been used for 2 innings at any point this year. Maybe the front office decided Devo is a 1-inning pitcher for now given his late-season struggles and usage levels last year. He's only even been used on back-to-back days once this year, and the second time was only for 1 out. Hinch has not shown any aversion to using relievers for multiple innings, so this probably something from higher up.
The rotation is MUCH better than last season. Devo won't be needed nearly as much for multi-innings this year. The decision today was an easy and obvious one. Keep Devo in. The FO screwed up a W if the arrangement was pre-determined.
We shouldn't be shocked. If you don't have a reliable closer you're flipping a coin the ninth. The Yankees jumped on it two out of three games this series.
Add in Sipp at $6,000,000 for 21 million total for three guys who are good at exchanging food and air into musical methane.
Current concerns: Bullpen and bullpen management. Different from last year? I'd argue no but maybe a little worse. DH production. Different from last year? No. Marwin production. Worse. Hitting with RISP. Worse. Starting pitching. Easily better. Yes, Keuchel and LMJ have been inconsistent, but having three aces every time through the rotation is unbelievable. Basically, there's no reason to overreact given that our problems are relatively few and fixable (except for clutch hitting - we'll have to wait that one out). Our record so far is similar to last season's start. If we suck at and after the all-star break, then y'all can drill me for this post. Until then, let's not overreact. We just won a World Series. The regular season is not going to be as fun as an all-time playoff run; it just isn't.
I said this a lot last year too, but I think the Astros FO doesn't look at day-to-day wins that much. They were more than willing to sacrifice wins throughout the middle of last year to protect their players, throwing endless AAA relievers out there during games and conceding in the 5th or 6th inning regularly. I think they feel the team will be there at the end, so the primary concern is having the best team in October. If they lose some games here and there, so be it.
Not a fair comparison. Jake can’t hit a lick compared to Springer. Closing is much more than ERA I know, but Harris had a 1.59 coming in and has proven he could close ball games in the past. A relievers job is to get outs whether you come in the the 6th or 9th. Harris didn’t do that. If he did, no one would have said a thing about taking Devo out. On the Flip, I get it. Devo was lights out and as you stated only threw 12 pitches. Still, this team is starting to show holes all over and I tend to think they may need more than expected to get back to where they were last year. Can you second guess Hinch here? Sure, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the guy called upon needs to do his job.
Devenski pitched the 8th because it was the middle of their lineup. Hinch was hoping Harris could take care of the bottom of the order. It didn't work out. We also don't have an off day until Thursday so you want to try and avoid multi inning usage with your only reliable late inning guy at this point. The blame belongs to Luhnow. He missed with the Smith signing and Rondon can't be trusted in high leverage situations. Combined that is 12 million in guys that are almost only mop up duty guys. Meanwhile, Tony Watson signed for 3 million per year and has posted a 0.66 era and .951 whip with the Giants in 13 games. Brandon Morrow has a 0.00 era and .90 whip with 7 saves and signed a 2 year 18 million dollar deal with the Cubs with a 3rd year option. Plus, we still have Tony Sipp sucking up a roster spot for some unknown reason. He must have dirty pictures of someone. Hinch can't work miracles. He has no real closer and if Devenski is it then he has no setup guy.
Devo threw 12 pitches... he could have pitched the 9th. Hinch also didn’t have to go to Harris. He could have gone to Peacock. Instead he let Harris load the bases with no one out.
Last year, they eventually figured out they had to upgrade the pitching and got Verlander. This year, it will likely be a lineup as well as bullpen upgrade if things continue at their current trends. No team looks at simply day-to-day wins, they look at overall trends. Playoff teams don’t have sub WAR players playing everyday. They also don’t have leaky back of bullpens. If they “lose some games here/there”... in a similar pattern... it leads to front offices trying to fix that pattern.
There was no one to protect. The bullpen is healthy and rested because the rotation is eating innings and dominating. It is also likely New York beats us last postseason with homefield as the Astros wanted zero parts of the Bronx. Every outcome - especially H2H - can affect who plays where. Today was simply a wasted opportunity stemming from a jackass decision.
Morrow would have been such a perfect fit for this team. It could have been a game changer to have Morrow in this bullpen. Really, one reliable horse alone changes the dynamic of the bullpen significantly. Gotta go trade for one later this season b/c we pretty much know what we have with Giles, Devo, Harris, et al. I think it's a bit early to give up on Rondon though.
Harris has never proven he could close ballgames. If Harris proved he could close ballgames... that would make what Giles did in last year’s regular season Rivera-ish.
