Oh Divine Manager of the Great Diamond in the Sky, Cast Thy merciful gaze upon the loyal Astros fans as they venture forth to witness their team sucketh unlike they have never sucketh before. As the pitches stray and the bases remain untouched by Astro cleats, grant them the patience of Job and the hope of Noah gazing upon the rainbow. May their spirits be fortified against despair, and their love of the game remain unshaken. Protect them, O Lord, from the sorrow of defeat, allowing them not to carry the day’s burdens beyond the gates of the ballpark. Bless their journey home, and may God have mercy on their souls Amen.
Careful.... some here are saying this is a great innovative approach to have a bunch of awful AAAA players that they can shuffle in/out. I agree, its dog ****. And if they anticipated they'd need this, the front office/ownership needs to be called out for trying to make chicken **** into chicken salad and selling it at premium dynamic pricing to the fan base. Obviously pitching is everything. The lineup will be fine but no team can win with just hitting alone (albeit, some can win with pitching alone). If Hunter is tipping or if Diaz is tipping (can't remember last time I heard a catcher was possibly tipping pitches), then recognize/fix it. If they're just not good... then that's that. If Blanco somehow turns into a pumpkin, its doubtful that a rotation of just JV and Javier will keep this team afloat whenever Framber (if), Garcia and LMJ (also if) comes back.
Was earlier in the thread when they announced Kuhnel being recalled. Maybe not "great". But certainly was touted as a directed strategy by our front office.
It is not just the Astros losing. It is HOW they are losing. They look disinterested and not competitive. That is on the manager. Espada needs to learn how to light a fire under their asses.
from a 'damage control' standpoint, no ****. But theres also the sense of what are they supposed to do right now? They can't just trade for starters that can go more than 5 innings. They have dog ****/inexeprienced starters (sorry, using the magic word of the day for this thread) literally ******** the bed each/every start dating back to Hensly on Monday.... and now extending to JP France yesterday. Its not like JV, Framber, Javier are getting rocked. Its Hensley, Hunter Brown, Spaghetti and France. France is a good story but he was never a phenom and at best is a spot/5th starter who will be prone to nights like last night (especially when the same lineup sees him back to back). Blanco went from "why is he even on the roster" to "season may hinge on his resurgence being legit" pretty ****ing quickly....
These people that keep saying the Astros look disinterested and aren't playing hard are looking at something different than I am. The current roster is made of mostly guys who aren't big personality and emotional guys. Furthermore when you are down by 6 or 8 runs sometimes its better to just play the game out and go home than risk injury by bolting or diving for a pop-up or running into a fence. I see the frustration on the faces and body language of the players. They clearly care and are not happy. They are simply overmatched by playing good teams with a largely AAAA pitching staff. It would not surprise me to see the benches empty today. I hope Blanco doesn't do anything to get a suspension the team can't afford but it's brewing.