McInnis said:

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If Abreu had been batting cleanup would the Astros have won that last game against the Cubs? I guess it depends on if he would have struck out or hit into a double play.

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I actually asked the exact same question the day after that Cubs game. I think he hits into a double play...best case he strikes out but who knows if Tucker comes through as it's a totally different situation with 2 outs rather than one.

AgLA06 said:

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Prosperdick said:

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All I do is Nguyen said:

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Maldy catching H brown

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Still batting Abreu cleanup...what's the definition of insanity again? If I'm the opposing team I LOVE not having to potentially face the hottest bat in the lineup until 1 out and nobody on base in the 2nd inning.

I know I said before the season I wouldn't complain about Dusty but this is just pure lunacy at this point. What a stubborn stupid donkey POS!

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I get both sides.

Dusty is trying to show confidence to a guy that has absolutely none, but has been a good offensive player his career. And it hasn't really cost us to do so. And no one wants to sit a guy you paid to come over for his offense. Because it really doesn't matter if he sacrifices a chicken or nails a slump buster and figures it out before the all star break and finishes strong. We're in no danger of missing the playoffs.

For a fan, it's frustrating as hell. Except if it works and we're watching another parade at the end of the year.

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I'm not suggesting trading or sitting Abreu (yet) but there's showing confidence in a player and then there's just plain lineup malfeasance. Tucker should be batting 3rd and Yordan 4th and if you want to show Abreu confidence then bat him 5th although I would be batting Abreu 8th at this point. Tell him to start hitting and he'll move up in the lineup...he's a big boy.

Eso si, Que es said:

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What the actual f/ck Dusty. Diaz has caught 6 games for Hunter and we are 5-1. Maldy has caught 2 games and we are 0-2.

GTFO here with this bullsh/t and play the rookie with the superior arm and bat

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Can't take Maldonado out… he's too good with his *checks notes* .550 OPS

So they talked about batting Yordan/Tucker back to back last night on the broadcast but I can't make it make sense.

Basically Dusty has said that if the opposing team has multiple lefties in the BP they'll be split up. If it's just one they'll hit back to back.

But if they're not more than 3 batters apart WTF difference does it make? You can still use one pitcher to pitch to both. You're not making them use another lefty of they're just split up by Abreu.

I can't make it make sense. Am I missing something?

What makes sense and what what Dusty does are two different things.

It makes sense to give Diaz as many ABs as you can. It makes sense to drop Abreu down to 7th. It makes sense to play Chas and Jake and not Julks.

Dusty gets away with suboptimal lineups because the team is good enough to let him.

Eso si, Que es said:

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What the actual f/ck Dusty. Diaz has caught 6 games for Hunter and we are 5-1. Maldy has caught 2 games and we are 0-2.

GTFO here with this bullsh/t and play the rookie with the superior arm and bat

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HB pitching to YD: 34.1 IP/10 ER/2.62 ERA
HB pitching to MM: 10.1 IP/7 ER/6.10 ERA

Ag_07 said:

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So they talked about batting Yordan/Tucker back to back last night on the broadcast but I can't make it make sense.

Basically Dusty has said that if the opposing team has multiple lefties in the BP they'll be split up. If it's just one they'll hit back to back.

But if they're not more than 3 batters apart WTF difference does it make? You can still use one pitcher to pitch to both. You're not making them use another lefty of they're just split up by Abreu.

I can't make it make sense. Am I missing something?

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You are missing something...Dusty is an old school idiot. He's been taught to split left-handed batters up in a lineup to "put pressure" on the opposing manager so he can't bring a lefty specialist in a high leverage situation to neutralize your left-handed hitters hitting back-to-back.

The problem is if you have two left-handed hitters who actually hit lefties BETTER than righties, which is the case for Yordan and Tucker. Therefore, he should be more worried about a RIGHT handed specialist but the fact that he only thinks of lefties in the bullpen shows me he's an idiot who can't think outside of his dumb ass box.

The fact that our hottest hitter right now has a chance to have one less at bat than our WORST non-catching hitter is pure f*ckin' lunacy.

Hunter Brown

Maldy catching 10.1 inn, 7 ER, 13 K, 2 HR, 4BB, 65% strikes, ground balls 14 (1.4 per), fly balls 16 (1.6 per)
Diaz catching 33.1 inn, 10 ER, 34 K, 1 HR, 13BB, 62% strikes, ground balls 1.4 per, fly balls 1.2 per

ERA 6.1 vs 2.6, FIP 4.2 vs 3.18, BAbip .363 vs .318


Maldy 5/19 caught stealing on the year
Diaz 6/12 caught stealing on the year

It is amazing that the dude has one job, managing the team, and doesn't even know his personnel. Or doesn't care.

Beau Holder said:

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It is amazing that the dude has one job, managing the team, and doesn't even know his personnel. Or doesn't care.

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If nothing else, Dusty should be batting Tucker and Yordan back-to-back to BAIT the other manager into bringing in a lefty to face them. Chances are the other manager is an old school idiot like Dusty and will fall right into the trap. It's not like we've seen that exact scenario play out in game 1 of the ALDS last year...oh wait.

What do you guys think of this? My thought is the batter was not engaged and the umpire should have called a strike. I would be pretty upset if that happened to the Astros.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker and catcher Jacob Stallings were ejected tonight after arguing with the home plate umpire about a timeout not being called.

(via @NBCSGiants)pic.twitter.com/fPWsyyvwVz

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 20, 2023

Baker: "With the schedule the way it is and how we're playing and how we're winning, I feel Maldy has a direct correlation between us winning and Maldy catching."

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) May 20, 2023

Dusty sees what he wants to see, damn the consequences. Cannot wait until this joker's gone and Espada takes over.

Is that Duban?

We have a new player named Duban that can play first????

f1ghtintexasaggie said:

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Baker: "With the schedule the way it is and how we're playing and how we're winning, I feel Maldy has a direct correlation between us winning and Maldy catching."

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) May 20, 2023

Dusty sees what he wants to see, damn the consequences. Cannot wait until this joker's gone and Espada takes over.

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I see a direct correlation between a very good team with a fantastic bullpen and two ace starters that wins DESPITE the old school stubborn donkey manager who wouldn't know a good lineup if it bit him in the ass.

Two words any analytics guy loves to see together… "feel" and "correlation".

Dies Irae said:

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I'm not exactly unhappy with Maldy lately, he has been hitting pretty well

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Diaz is better in every offensive and defensive statistic. Maldonado playing so much over him is criminal.

f1ghtintexasaggie said:

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Baker: "With the schedule the way it is and how we're playing and how we're winning, I feel Maldy has a direct correlation between us winning and Maldy catching."

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) May 20, 2023

Dusty sees what he wants to see, damn the consequences. Cannot wait until this joker's gone and Espada takes over.

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As we suspected, the team will win another trophy in spite of this potato.

That's just fan stuff…

Beat40 said:

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What do you guys think of this? My thought is the batter was not engaged and the umpire should have called a strike. I would be pretty upset if that happened to the Astros.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker and catcher Jacob Stallings were ejected tonight after arguing with the home plate umpire about a timeout not being called.

(via @NBCSGiants)pic.twitter.com/fPWsyyvwVz

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 20, 2023

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1. That umpire clearly called time. 2. It definitely should have been a strike on the batter. 3. This dumb ass rule causes these scenarios, which actually takes longer than if the pitcher and batter took a few more seconds between pitches

So happy he's back.

Low and away = strike. Great.