texasaggie2015 said:

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The Astros have a ton of gym rats on the team. Altuve, Bregman, Brantley, Yordan, Dubon, Peña are all known for their work ethics. They fit well with Dusty's approach. Chas is a little different. He's a good dude and he's liked in the clubhouse but he doesn't have the same mentality those other guys have. But hey… he still performs. Some guys just have different approaches and that's fine. But when you have an old school skipper like Dusty, it may rub him the wrong way.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong. It's just how it is. It's the same reason it took Yainer a while to crack the lineup.

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texasaggie2015 said:

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I'll chime in with what I know.

Dusty is a super old school guy and he has a super old school approach to managing. If you don't do things his way, he's not going to like you.

The Astros have a ton of gym rats on the team. Altuve, Bregman, Brantley, Yordan, Dubon, Peña are all known for their work ethics. They fit well with Dusty's approach. Chas is a little different. He's a good dude and he's liked in the clubhouse but he doesn't have the same mentality those other guys have. But hey… he still performs. Some guys just have different approaches and that's fine. But when you have an old school skipper like Dusty, it may rub him the wrong way.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong. It's just how it is. It's the same reason it took Yainer a while to crack the lineup.

There may be more to the story here, but that's about all I know/am willing to put out on a message board. Bottom line… I think Dusty needs to get over it.

And this could ultimately be the deciding factor on which OF gets moved. Time will tell.

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tjack16 said:

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So does that mean Diaz will lose DH at bats in order to preserve Dusty's backup catcher role?

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tjack16 said:

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So does that mean Diaz will lose DH at bats in order to preserve Dusty's backup catcher role?

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Farmer1906 said:

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tjack16 said:

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So does that mean Diaz will lose DH at bats in order to preserve Dusty's backup catcher role?

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That or it means Maldonado can never be PH or PR for. Maybe Diaz will get more time at 1B and C? Who the hell knows. Seems like Dusty can't get on the same page as his GM again.

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Mathguy64 said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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Lonestar_Ag09 said:

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On another note, did you ask your source about Madris to back me up? Not that I doubt myself any but the rest of the board obviously does

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The Astros optioned César Salazar to Triple-A. They’ll make a corresponding move before tomorrow’s game in Los Angeles.

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) June 22, 2023

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And that's the death blow to Diaz doing anything but holding Maldonado's jock strap.

Unless there is a magic 3rd C somewhere that I'm missing.

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Deluxe said:

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Here's my theory about Dusty/Chas:

Dusty thinks CF defense is very important, as shown by his persistence to play Straw and Siri out there the last few years. He leans on his eye test to determine who's a good CF and who's not.

Straw had blazing speed that was obvious to Dusty's eye. Siri aced Dusty's eye test due his size, Dominican swag, and ability to "effortlessly glide" to the ball. Fair enough. Both those guys are good CFs.

But I don't think Dusty pays attention to or cares about advanced defensive metrics showing Chas is a good CF too. In Dusty's eyes, he's too small and scrappy to be a big league CF.

Again, just a theory. I'm in no way defending his partiality against Chas.

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Quote:

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Dusty's options for getting Yainers ABs are at 1B and C. Dusty knows he can't keep one of the hottest bats in baseball on the bench (1.073 OPS since May 31).

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Farmer1906 said:

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Dusty's options for getting Yainers ABs are at 1B and C. Dusty knows he can't keep one of the hottest bats in baseball on the bench (1.073 OPS since May 31).

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Deluxe said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Dusty's options for getting Yainers ABs are at 1B and C. Dusty knows he can't keep one of the hottest bats in baseball on the bench (1.073 OPS since May 31).

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Does Dusty REALLY know that?

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Marvin said:

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EastCoastAgNc said:

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tjack16 said:

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So does that mean Diaz will lose DH at bats in order to preserve Dusty's backup catcher role?

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It would be right on brand for Dusty to do that. Maybe Dusty thinks since we're going to a few NL parks, he is gonna forfeit the DH a few more times just for the fun of it.

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The only problem with having Diaz at DH without a third catcher is if Maldy gets hurt. When has he left a game, if ever? The risk is miniscule. If it happens, have Diaz take the field as catcher and insert the pitcher into the lineup in the #9 spot- where Maldy always bats. Dusty can then either let the pitcher bat or play the old NL double switch / pinch hitter game.

It's such a low odds proposition, and probably not a huge negative impact given Maldy's production vs a pitcher batting a time or two, that Dusty really has no valid excuse for keeping Diaz on the bench. It's non-zero, but damn close to zero.

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