I wasn’t saying your 10% was wrong (though you’d underestimated it by 33%, I was saying that 10% is a big difference in baseball. That’s 2 different statements.
It is small compared to the variation in wOBA between hitters. Even in this instance where Brantley is an outlier among LHB it doesn’t make sense to platoon bc whatever meager advantage that Chas could have against a LH starting pitcher would get wiped out later in the game when he faces a RH reliever. You could pinch hit Brantley but you would only be getting a diminished version of him.
Your are also ignoring Chaz clear defensive advantage over Brantley, and Brantley can later PH against a RHP (even for Maldy) which is highly beneficial and if the at bat is important enough maybe worth it for that 1 AB alone. Coupled with Brantley’s age there is zero compelling reason to ever start him against a lefty of Meyers is back and healthy and playing well. Without meyer then sitting Brantley would mean Siri and Chas both okay, or Alvarez plays in the OF and someone like Diaz plays at DH and none of those are reasons to sit Brantley. But with a fully functional team you literally can’t point to a single bit of statistical based evidence that playing Brantley is better. mad I mentioned I’d prefer to get a big right handed bat that kills lefties and out an end to the entire thing all the way around as my first preference.
Of course you can. It's just more of a professional deep dive than yall are willing (or honestly, able) to do.
Last year we were DFL as well. Umps hate us. This shouldn’t be the case 2 years in a row. Which team gets screwed by and ump should be random, unless you are playing with marked cards/loaded dice.
Agree, mainly posted because so many on the board here have viewed him as the "fix" for our CF spot this year
While I agree with this SOMEWHAT The fact that so many Astros players do not swing at pitches on the edges or within inches of the edges, plays right into the umpires hands. There are simply more close pitches to call putting it on the umpire. I do not want them to change. This will be a huge advantage when automated strike zone becomes a thing. And in the meantime they are winning anyway.
Looking at their website, the Astros are basically even while pitching (slightly favored if anything), but getting hosed while batting.
Bring on the robot umps. Initial reports from AAA seem to be good. I honestly can’t believe there is anyone not in favor of this, the pitch clock and the electronic communications for pitcher/catcher. get all that working in conjunction with each other and we can have 2:30 games fairly decided.
People are crazy if they expected Meyers to be good to go after 12 rehab games considering the injury he had and lack of any spring training. In a perfect world, I wouldn't have expected him back until after the all star break.
That was always my optimistic scenario- Meyers up and pain free and not injured after the all star break- and give him 3 weeks in CF at the MLB level before the trade deadline to see if you want to count on him now or if you need to make a move.
If you want to add more offense to baseball (and I think it needs it) while also speeding up the game we could go ahead and add in pitching coach or skipper to the communications with catcher and pitcher. The call could then get entered from the dugout and cut down a couple seconds there for the catcher to plug in. Then, without the need for framing (thanks robot ump) or game calling the catcher becomes a position for throwing out base runners- preventing passed balls and presenting a steady and clear target to the pitchers- having a quiet set up back there. None of that **** is easy- but if that's all there is to it then you could have catchers who actually have good bats and have an expectation behind the plate, as opposed to throw away hitters. Maldy loses, diaz (or whatever the name of the guy that just got called up to AAA is) wins, old school fans b**** before hand about how catcher should call the game and not the pitching coach, but when they realize they can't tell the difference and it shaves another 5 minutes off the game and gives more interesting AB's when their team is up they will accept the change and never admit they like the new way better than the old way. I don't think this is necessarily happening right now, but I see no reason why it can't happen someday.
We cant have black holes in the lineup. Maldy is the exception but in the end that will have to be addressed later down the road. Yuli is good defensively but his bat has hit a wall. CF is iffy at best and our bench isnt the best. I thin an addition of Mancini to play 1st base and shift Yuli to the bench would be a start. But we still need another Reliever and if lucky an OFer with some get on base type hitting. Bregman needs to be moved back in the lineup maybe swap spots with Tucker? I would look into Adam Frazier of the Mariners and Erik Swanson. that would be a great down the line add. If Mancini Falls threw I would look a Drury of the Reds. They wanna dump some Salary off and might be rebuilding so Even a Luis Castillo would be worth a look
