Yordan being unable to play left field has screwed things up. I think we know Diaz won't start a game this series with who's pitching. At minimum, Dusty should be subbing in Diaz at the same time the starting pitcher comes out.
I'd say the biggest difference is the Astros have gone from one of the best teams with RISP (hitting .281) before Sept 11, to one of the worst (20 for 122 or .164) after that point. The lineups aren't fundamentally different and the overall offense/pitching haven't been that much different. They had their second best team OPS this month and the overall pitching stats have been about the same since May. They also have a +12 run differential for the month despite going 8-13. They're not actually playing much different this month than the rest of the season.
Yordan can’t play left? If that’s true then Diaz should be at 1B. Diaz should not be on the bench with Maldy, Dubon, and Abreu in the lineup. One of those guys needs to not be starting. I wish Dusty had given reps to Diaz in LF this year. I wish he had given Diaz reps at C with JV and Framber. So now we just do without one of our best hitters in a do or die series? Dusty sucks so very much. So so very much.
Remember when we had three catchers on the active roster for this specific reason, and Dusty STILL did this dumbass crap??
I'm not surprise by this at all. I just want to know, once Verlander gives up 3 bombs in first 2 innings, will Diaz be subbed in for Maldy in the 3rd inning?
Slumps happen. This team could easily have enough fWAR to correlate to 92-93 wins just by playing Diaz and Chas more. Considering Astros have slightly underperformed their fWAR this season, let's call that 90 or 91 wins. Without the injuries and odd lineups, the Astros are easily producing enough fWAR to correspond to wins in the 100s.
Astros are still in post season position and have Verlander next year. Get in and anything can happen.
Will be at the Wednesday game. Will be the guy in the orange Astros 2017 World Series jersey in the middle of the brawl.
