Dusty is a good coach, but he needs a strong supporting cast to help him. Hence the only way the Astros win it all is the advice and suggestions they give Dusty. Obviously it goes without saying that Stromy is the heart and soul of this Astros Dynasty. May he coach with us forever… Thank goodness we have a great Owner in Crane. However, Stromy can only do so much. Although the game has changed to stat analysis, there is a definite area of instincts where you read the stats, KNOW your players, and make your decisions. Dusty doesn't have that ability, but that is okay. His supporting coaching cast, MUST. With the exception of Stromy, that is where the other coaches have to help feed this to Dusty. Dusty is more like your grandfather who pats you on the back, but to win it all you need more than just rah rah rah… One of the keys is to keep hot players hot, and when a player is cold, pull him if a replacement has shown you he can produce. It is about rewarding good players and making everyone accountable if they are not playing good. As awful as the ChiSox are on the road, they have the AL best home record. We are in for a dogfight, where we have to be on our A game with our players, but mostly with our coaching. As bad as Jake Odorizzi has been at times, he is a starting pitcher in our regular season rotation that has shown he can throw shutout innings against good hitting teams. He would serve as a good reliever as we know almost all of our starting pitchers last mostly 5-6 innings. Jake could literally finish the game if he is "hot". Knowing when to use Jake is dependent on your instincts on analyzing the situation. He, like any player will show you when he is cold. Knowing your players is key. Raley, as much as I like his passion, folds in pressure situations against "good" teams. Unfortunately in the postseason there are only good teams. He should not be on the roster before Jake, even if he is a LHP. Jake and Bielak are better options. If you play Raley, you do so with a comfortable lead, like 3 or more runs in order to save your best relief pitcher's arms for the next game. Yimi Garcia also doesn't belong on the postseason roster. Having Maton is enough with suspect relief pitchers. Odorizzi and Bielak are better. Hinch fell victim to bad instincts in game 7 vs Nats where he pulled Greinke who was pitching the game of his life, and then made another mistake in not putting in Cole in relief. I love Maldenado keeping runners at bay, scouting the other team ability, in game signal calling, and his relationship with the pitchers. However his batting is a huge liability. Castro was the hottest Astro hitter in the month of September and ended on fire. You have to reward those type players and keep them hot or they will go cold. From the sixth inning on, you have to sub in Castro in place of Maldenado, when Maldenado is up to bat. Heck use Castro as a PH when a critical situation arises and your instincts tell you to play Castro. It's a shame Astros can't find a better option for 3rd string catcher than Stubbs. It's a waste of a player as he will only come in if the other two are injured and is horrible at the bat, even worse than Machete. Another player other than Castro, that needs batting time is Diaz. He is streaky and finished well in September. He was on fire in the middle of the season, then Bregman came back from injury and Diaz wasn't used and went cold. Use him as a PH and play him at 3rd, 2nd, 1st, or in the outfield as the situation arises. This situation at CF is great. Having good options is the hallmark of a great team. Meyers deserves to start every game unless he goes cold. McCormick is good but inconsistent and defensively not so good. Siri is interesting, as he has demonstrated clutch hitting at key times. Sub him in for PH if we have a lead or if someone is cold like Maldenado, Yuli, Bregman, Tucker. Although it is hard to imagine subbing in for Altuve, Correa, Tucker or Brantley, if they are cold, and with our backups, you have to pull them and put your backups in to win games. It is about keeping players accountable and rewarding good play. Go 'Stros! WS 2021 !!
Roberts lucked (lol) into getting Mookie who won it for BoSox in 2018, and that we didn't advance like we should have last year...
So... in reading your post, it appears you think that Hinch should have benched Springer in the World Series in 2017? After all, he was 3 for his last 30 going WS game 2.
Are we really counting a World Series where less than half a season is played for a team that traditionally burns out early?
Agree. Re: the original post, i think you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Moves are gonna be made that don't work out. Players that were hot are gonna cool off, sometimes at an inopportune time. There's no way every right move is going to be made, nor that every "right" move will work out. That's just the game. While I agree Dusty isn't the best in-game tactician i've ever seen, he's good enough to take the team pretty far. The world series isn't ours to lose and if we do lose i find it highly unlikely it'll be from Dusty's managing. It'll be cause the team stopped hitting or the pitching gets wrecked; neither of which I'll lay on his hands.
You wrote this: One of the keys is to keep hot players hot, and when a player is cold, pull him if a replacement has shown you he can produce. Wouldn't 3 for 30 be considered cold?
It's much easier to say "lack of championship instincts" when you ignore details and facts and just point to the decisions that don't work.
The Stros will go as far as their pitching takes them. Unfortunately Dusty can't manage a bullpen to save his life. Example: bringing in Yimi with a 2-0 count. Smdh
lol "championship instincts" The 17' title team, yes they had a historically great offense, and great staff, but nobody is ever going to forget Hinch's championship instincts. I'm in the minority, but I believe that team won in spite of Hinch's instincts.
Dave Roberts blamed last night on the wind... their fans are blaming the Giants good defense on the use of spider tack... ...the more they blame someone else, the less they will improve. So no problem here.
In game 3 all those ground balls the White Sox hit had an xBA of .144. Their actual BA was .538. This was over 13 ground balls put in play (basically half of balls put in play). The White Sox clearly had the "championship instincts" in that game that the Astros didn't. In the playoffs with small sample sizes and short series, how the ball bounces (consider the Rays ground rule double in Game 4) have a much bigger impact on games than any individual manager decision or the underlying skills of the players.
I actually think Odorizzi should be on the postseason roster having a spare starter that can can clean up for another is a huge advantage. Too many situations where relievers are just too volatile and dangerous. Throwing a starter in there instead to go a few innings can settle things down. As bad as Jake can be sometimes, I still trust him more that some guys in the bullpen, especially over multiple innings
