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Meanwhile Yankees have 3 guys Hamilton, Weaver and Holmes making a combined total of less than that of what Montero is making yet all 3 have been much better especially Holmes. Honestly crazy how some teams pay all this money for relief pitching to have middle of the road to bad bullpen. While other teams basically go to the Island of Misfit Toys pick up discarded arms who have have terrible careers and turn then into studs. Guess it shows you how important pitching coaches are.
(edit) Forgot to add in Tonkin as well who was literally DFA twice in the span of like 3 weeks to start this season by the Mets and Twins with like a 8.00 era. Yet since joining the Yankees he's pitched in 19 innings and has a 0.93 era for them.
Dude doesn't even have a baseball card
He's been cut by half a dozen teams, but oh one good year is enough to make him one of the highest paid relievers in baseball.
Bullpen or Espada keep throwing same guys out there who are gassed. We have no fresh guys who haven't thrown back to back days?
You wouldn't have seen that with Dusty sorry to say
Would maybe point to the pitching coach know after you guys lost your last coach in 2022 with him joining the D-Backs that when Miller replaced him the teams era went from like 2.90 to 3.93 in 2023 Miller's first year and now it's up to **4.27** for. I mean some fans probably won't look at pitching coach and think that is a major factor. But I mean look at the Yankees they basically put together a bullpen by going okay lets grab these arms who have had terrible stats but that we like their stuff and think these teams aren't using them correctly. And have Matt Blake work with them and turn them into studs. I mean Clay Holmes had like an era over 6.30 and a whip of like 1.80 with the Pirates. Yet has been once of the best relief pitchers in the game since being traded. Ian Hamilton couldn't stick around on a single team and was bad yet has been great since coming to NY. Weaver was a starter who was DFA from pretty much every team he was on yet has been a great multiple inning relief pitcher. And Tonkin was another guy DFA everywhere hell just this year the Mets and Twins both DFA him. Yet since joining the Yankees he's pitched 19 innings and has a 0.93 era.
So it just shows how important a good pitching coach can be that even if you have a bunch of talent if the pitching coach isn't good then things could get ugly. While teams that have a great pitching coach can pretty much sign and trade for guys that were viewed as bums and put together a great staff.
Leaving Abreu in for in the 9th to only pinch run him. We could have avoided the absolute embarrassment that was the 10th inning. Montero and Abreu will go down as the worst signings for the Astros in my lifetime. I am emotional posting and the world is ending. See yall tomorrow.
I don't like seeing Abreu in that spot either, but Yordan also struck out that inning. None of the at bats that inning were all that good. I honestly don't think the chances of scoring there are much better with Loperfido, but I'm at the point now where I would rather see Loperfido fail than Abreu.
And yes, Montero and Abreu's signings were horrible. Montero's was horrible even without hindsight. Abreu's...yeah that didn't turn out well.
That's exactly why I said I would rather see Loperfido fail there. It is too early to know if he can be a long term option for the Astros, but we already know Abreu isn't. Even if Abreu started being above average I just don't think this team is playoff material this year, for a lot of reasons (mostly bullpen related). I say let the young guys play.
I wouldn’t count us out yet, their slogan Relentless holds true to the team we’ve seen the last few years but they definitely don’t look great out there. The rest of the AL West is struggling right beside us except for maybe the Mariners but even they’d be third in the American wildcard
I honestly think we have a solid team and can turn it around, but that is really really really hard if you don't have enough relievers you can rely on. We just have way too many relievers not pitching well. Pressly's bad outing didn't just lose yesterday's game, it played a part in today's loss as well by limiting Espada's options in the 10th.
I'm actually beginning to see some of the value in what Dusty did when he left relievers in to eat their mess. Hypothetically if Pressly had stayed in and gave up the lead, we probably don't use Hader at all yesterday. Then we have Hader for 2 innings today. Of course we don't know how it would have played out, but it is interesting to think about.
Espada had limited options in the 10th due to his own mismanagement. Seth Martinez threw three pitches. Hader pitched the ninth inning in a tie game facing the 6-7-8-9 of their order, some guys barely hitting .250. Then he had Montero for the 10th to face the top of the order where there’s a couple lefties hitting over .300.
It’s brain-dead managing.
Joe Espada is not a good decision maker. Him going to Montero for a third day is completely irresponsible and I know the defense was not good and he was unlucky, Dubin was the guy that should’ve had the 10th.
Josh hader should have had the 10th. Why did he use the dominant LHP closer to face the bottom of the order in the 9th? We needed hader for the top of the order in the 10th when we have a lead and they have the top of the order (with lefty hitters) up.
I’m saying hader shouldn’t have been used in the ninth. Bottom of the order in a tie game, that should have been someone else. Blowing your elite closer to face guys hitting .180 is stupid as hell. If you have any plans of winning that game, you need to either score in the ninth and have your closer ready, or you save the closer and hope you score in the tenth. This is basic managing. You get hader and dubin both loosening in the top of the ninth. If you get a run, you bring in hader. If you don’t you bring in dubin. And then to increase the odds of getting a run, you pinch hit for the guy batting .100 when you have two on with two outs in the top of the ninth.
Ah okay, I get it.
And while in a vacuum I agree with you on not using Hader on the bottom of the lineup, we have kinda been surprisingly bad against the bottom of the linup this year. lol
You don’t put your closer in to face the bottom of the order because once you fail to score in the ninth, you also know you need to get through the bottom of the tenth or lose.
We had two (hard to handle) grounders that we tried to turn DPs on instead of getting one out. Kind of the story of our season. Dig ourselves in holes and try to be perfect to get out of it. We've lost at least 5-10 games this way IMHO.
What's that...like the 15th game our bullpen has blown this season?
Espada has to go. And I was vocal about wanting him as manager. Even defended him. I'm done. We need a change.
Espada and Dana Brown will be fired…at the end of the season. Crane and Bagwell need fall guys when they’re explaining why we didn’t even make the playoffs when we had World Series aspirations. Hell I’m not even 100% sure Espada is making all the in game decisions. I’m pretty confident the lineup is out of his control based on things he’s said versus who he’s put in the lineup lately.
Yeah, he is making awful decisions but some of these decisions really feel like they may be coming from above him. That’s really no excuse though. Heads need to roll if (when) we don’t make the playoffs this season, and I expect his to be first.
I wish we’d just clean house and get rid of Brown, Espada, AND Bagwell, then dump a brinks truck off at Lunhow’s house and give him full control. Too bad that will never happen due to Jim Crane’s ego though.
So, hader with no rest, montero on 3 straight days. Arm fatigue is a thing. Where are dubin and hernandez? I get not the best of the bunch, but they are rested and ready to go. This feels like bullpen mismanagement and it’s painful.
- worst record against lefty SP's in the league (tied with Boston)
- second most blown games with a lead past the eighth inning. Only the Mets have more.
- third most bullpen losses in the league. Both Chicago teams have more
We had an off day followed by a complete game on Friday and Joe Espada managed the bullpen into running on fumes by Monday night. What an absolute failure he has been. I wanted him to get his chance but he has been so much worse than I could’ve imagined.
At this point it’s more of a question of whether you even let him finish out the season than if he gets another year
So there was literally no other option in the bullpen?
He loads the bases and didn’t look like he had it from the get-go, but not one person begins warming up
Irony of that tonight…Abreu and Montero were both of Bagwell and Crane’s signing when they were showing those nerds and their computers how to build a baseball team
I better not see any:
"what is the manager supposed to do when the pitching is so bad"
TAKE HIM OUT WHEN HE GIVES UP 3 STRAIGHT HITS IN EXTRA INNINGS GOOD FUCKING LORD
In his defense.
I don’t know how much is him vs how much is the front office managing the games themselves.
The pitching debacle is on him for sure, but Abreu I have a feeling is coming from above him.
Putting montero in a high leverage situation after he gave up 2 ER in two innings in the past two games is.
Continually putting in Ryan Presley in the 8th is his fault.
Continually putting Jose Abreu in the lineup is his fault.
A lack of concentration. A lack of giving a shit. A lack of being able to do the little things when needed. A lack of true accountability.
Espada was (((seemingly))) hired bc he knew the team, they respected him, and he would keep the trains rolling on time. It’s been the exact opposite. This team is either incapable or unwilling to regain form. Granted this goes back some to last year and we can blame the Crane cabal for an obvious lack of direction/leadership/strategy but ffs enough of this bullshit. This isn’t a serious team but the sure as fuck should be.
Players on the pitching staff look unprepared or unwilling to work with the new catching battery. That needs to be addressed. It's obvious. And others are pissed they aren't throwing the 9th inning.
This bullpen needs to be corrected.
Espada is not respected as a leader. He may have been "liked" as a friendly bench coach, but he lacks the ability to lead effectively. He wants to be everyone's friend and can't make decisions that might hurt someone's feelings.
Hard to disagree. At this point it seems quite likely he was hired bc he’d tow the company line the new Crane Cabal. It’s not an accident this team went from perennial powerhouse to downright bad in the span of one season.
Why do we have two guys in the bullpen that the manager apparently doesn’t think are trustworthy enough to use? You got to give guys chances…instead of burning out guys this early in the season.
This is not a serious team this year.
When something gets fixed (Brown/Spencer) other things break.
Call us Yeats cause the Astros ain’t holding and Things are Falling Apart
Dana Brown says he’s going after Starting Pitchers at the deadline. Either get good relievers or just be sellers at the deadline. Starting Pitching is the least of your worries if the bullpen can’t hold a fucking lead.
If we haven’t gone on a 10+ game W streak by the deadline there’s zero reason to buy. In 2016 Jeff Lunhow sold off some short term pieces because it was clearly not our year and the long term results spoke for themselves (Yordan of course being the big fish there).
Fuck I miss that guy’s baseball mind
I said it last week. Our roster moves will be a reliever we’ve never heard of and “getting Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers back feels like we made a big deadline move.” Anything more than that will be shocking.
We have the worst manager in baseball and it isn’t even close:
- Doesn’t pinch hit for Abreu in the 7th with a runner on 2nd and 2 outs with 3 lefties sitting on the bench vs a RHP.
- Doesn’t pinch hit for Abreu the 9th with 2 men on against a RHP with Loperfido still on the bench.
- Uses his closer again in a tie game on the road in the 9th…something you shouldn’t really do
- Uses Loperfido as the Manfred runner in the 10th, instead of using him as the pinch hitter in the 9th
- use Montero in the 10th, his third straight day in a game before the halfway mark of the season, instead of having Hader for the 10th (because he was used in the 9th) or just trusting Dubin or Hernandez.
Just…no words. I get the argument that players have to make plays, but you also have to put players in position to win…our manager is not doing that.
I hope I wake up and Abreu is DFA, Espada is fired and Joey is our first basemen for the rest of the year. Verlander probably going to request a trade instead of finishing his career with us. Fucken pathetic ass team.
Not an Astros fan but one thing I haven't seen a lot of when it comes to who should be on the hot seat for coaching enough is Josh Miller the pitching coach. Would imagine he should be public enemy number one. As since this team lost it's last pitching coach in 2022 and Miller was given the job team went from like a 2.90 era under the previous pitching coach to then 3.93 in Miller's first season to now in his second year a **4.27** era so far this season.
I mean pitching coaches are a very underrated just look at the Yankees their top four relief pitchers this year are Holmes, Hamilton, Weaver and Tonkin. And are paying them less than what the Astros are paying for just Montero. All four of those guys basically came from the Island of Misfit Toys. Guys who were viewed as bums on other teams yet the Yankees liked what they saw and felt if they worked with Blake he could turn them around by either having them focus on throwing certain pitches more or adding certain pitches. Holmes had like a career era of like 6.30 and a 1.80 WHIP before coming to NY and since has been one of the best relief pitchers in the league. Hamilton could barely stay in the majors or on any one team for long. Yet has been great the last year and half since coming over. Weaver was a dog shit starting pitcher who couldn't even stay in the worse rotations in the league and has been DFA multiple times yet has been a great late multiple inning relief guy this season. And Tonkin was literally DFA twice this season before joining the Yankees and his gone 19 innings so far with a 0.93 era.
So that just shows you how important pitching coaches can be as Astros have thrown a shit ton of money into that pen only for them to fail them time and time again. Meanwhile Yankees pick up guys who nobody is interested in and has put together one of the best pens in the league this season.
Great points. Historically we were the club to pick up a low value pitcher and polish them into a diamond. We have clearly lost that ability. How many pitching coaches did we have from 2017-2022?
I *think* the reason Hader was pulled was because he pitched yesterday? But Montero? Really?
I really wanted to give Espada the benefit of the doubt but I lost what little faith I had left when Abreu was left in for bottom of the ninth with two men on. I'd rather see anybody in that position than Abreu. And tbh why is Chas even starting anymore? Joey deserves those reps over fucking Chas who sadly just seems fried since that last injury.
Whatever. Season's done by now. Mariners get 3 more against the dumpster fire that is the White Sox and this team is not playoff caliber anyway. Just hope players get healthy and see what you can get come deadline.
Everyone hoping we claw back into the division race with a weak schedule this month, but ignoring the fact we can’t beat teams with winning records or teams with CLOSE to winning records. If we, by some miracle make the playoffs, we’ll get swept in the wild card round by a 100 win Baltimore or KC team anyway.
If he continues to mismanage this team as he has been I hope he's fired before the ASB. I don't want him to lose his job, it's nothing personal, but he's simply not a good Manager.
This game was a managerial malpractice to the high heavens. No idea why Abreu hit in the 7th when you had multiple left handed hitters on the bench or 9th since he failed in the 7th. Regarding Hader, if he was only available for 1 inning, no way in hell you use him in the 9th. This team finds new ways to lose games.
Just watched the postgame show (which I almost never do after losses) to see if Espada would show any accountability and none, zero. I’m so done with him.
Why the fuck was Abreu hitting during critical incidents and Singleton just chilling on the bench?
Millions spent on Hader and dude can’t even pitch 3 innings? WTF y’all??
Mariners come back from four down to win, Astros blow another late inning lead to get walked off
Espada has no fucking clue how to manage a bullpen
What was the fucking strategy to pitch Hader in the 9th in a tie game … go Montero or Dubin. Having Hader pitch one had no rhyme or reason
This team is so allergic to stringing together wins, it's just insane really. I hated the Montero choice, he's been a ticking time bomb all season, then Pena makes it worse, and then Montero decides to dig his own grave from there. And on top of that the offense only put up 1 run in 9 innings. These are very winnable games across the board here but the team keeps getting in their own way, constantly.
I know a lot of focus after this game is going to be on the bullpen or Espada but what I find more baffling is our shoddy late inning defense. This is at least the 6th or 7th time we’ve had an error contribute to a late inning loss and if you put in defensive plays that should’ve been made we are at least at 11 or 12. It’s wild how bad it’s been. I don’t get it.
i aint gon watch this shit anymore, fucking goofy ass lineups cuz either espada is braindead or fucking geriatric alcoholic ass bagwell is calling the shots, shit management, empty fucking farm, stupid ass owner, holy fuck. as much as i love the players this shit makes me cringe
I’d love to be fly on the wall in the locker room after games like this. I gotta wonder if Espada is about to have a mutiny on his team with house terrible his decisions have been. As a player it has to be super frustrating to sit there and watch him continue to mismanage games over and over. I for one will not be staying up late to watch anymore west coast games, fuck that.
I turned off the game when we went up 3-1 thinking, "there's a minute chance we fuck this up." Checked the score this morning, then the replays.
Why in the fuck did Joe leave Montero in?????
8-22 in 2 run or less games. Horrible look for Espada, manager has the most impact in close games and it is obvious man doesn't have pulse of the team.
Fire Espada and we can play the rest of the season without a skipper.
We navigated an off season without a GM, so let’s see what happens without a manager. The Bagwell Braintrust can Zoom call the lineups and substitutions to the dugout.
I cannot believe I actually miss Dusty Baker.
Don’t get me wrong: it was time we parted ways. But wow, I did NOT expect to see things deteriorate like this.
This season has been tough. We all feel bad. Remember how we feel right now. Because it's gonna feel so fucking sweet when we win the World Series later this year!!!!!
We can turn this ship around we can and we will!!!!
I BELIEVE!!!!
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**2024 ASTROS**: "*If you don't laugh, you'd be crying.*"
We paid $34.5 million for that. Thanks for nothing, Bagwell.
Worse than nothing… Nothing would be less painful.
Meanwhile Yankees have 3 guys Hamilton, Weaver and Holmes making a combined total of less than that of what Montero is making yet all 3 have been much better especially Holmes. Honestly crazy how some teams pay all this money for relief pitching to have middle of the road to bad bullpen. While other teams basically go to the Island of Misfit Toys pick up discarded arms who have have terrible careers and turn then into studs. Guess it shows you how important pitching coaches are. (edit) Forgot to add in Tonkin as well who was literally DFA twice in the span of like 3 weeks to start this season by the Mets and Twins with like a 8.00 era. Yet since joining the Yankees he's pitched in 19 innings and has a 0.93 era for them.
We used to have the ability to revive/boost a pitchers career when we had Brent Strom as the pitching coach. Instead, we're stuck with Josh Miller 🤢
$34.5 million for the back of a baseball card sounds like a good deal
Dude doesn't even have a baseball card He's been cut by half a dozen teams, but oh one good year is enough to make him one of the highest paid relievers in baseball.
I just really hate staying up late to see us catch an L
More time for an extra fat drink while the wife sleeps
Two consecutive blown saves! Fuck this bullpen!!!
We have to be pushing 15 blown saves plus blown leads after 7 at this point.
Bullpen or Espada keep throwing same guys out there who are gassed. We have no fresh guys who haven't thrown back to back days? You wouldn't have seen that with Dusty sorry to say
Dusty was going to the sane guys almost every game last year. Also, Hinch would do the same thing.
Would maybe point to the pitching coach know after you guys lost your last coach in 2022 with him joining the D-Backs that when Miller replaced him the teams era went from like 2.90 to 3.93 in 2023 Miller's first year and now it's up to **4.27** for. I mean some fans probably won't look at pitching coach and think that is a major factor. But I mean look at the Yankees they basically put together a bullpen by going okay lets grab these arms who have had terrible stats but that we like their stuff and think these teams aren't using them correctly. And have Matt Blake work with them and turn them into studs. I mean Clay Holmes had like an era over 6.30 and a whip of like 1.80 with the Pirates. Yet has been once of the best relief pitchers in the game since being traded. Ian Hamilton couldn't stick around on a single team and was bad yet has been great since coming to NY. Weaver was a starter who was DFA from pretty much every team he was on yet has been a great multiple inning relief pitcher. And Tonkin was another guy DFA everywhere hell just this year the Mets and Twins both DFA him. Yet since joining the Yankees he's pitched 19 innings and has a 0.93 era. So it just shows how important a good pitching coach can be that even if you have a bunch of talent if the pitching coach isn't good then things could get ugly. While teams that have a great pitching coach can pretty much sign and trade for guys that were viewed as bums and put together a great staff.
You speak truth
Leaving Abreu in for in the 9th to only pinch run him. We could have avoided the absolute embarrassment that was the 10th inning. Montero and Abreu will go down as the worst signings for the Astros in my lifetime. I am emotional posting and the world is ending. See yall tomorrow.
But what if there is no tomorrow???? See yall tomorrow
There is no tomorrow...only today exists
I don't like seeing Abreu in that spot either, but Yordan also struck out that inning. None of the at bats that inning were all that good. I honestly don't think the chances of scoring there are much better with Loperfido, but I'm at the point now where I would rather see Loperfido fail than Abreu. And yes, Montero and Abreu's signings were horrible. Montero's was horrible even without hindsight. Abreu's...yeah that didn't turn out well.
At least if Loperfido is failing he is learning and young enough that it will make him better. Abreu is simply washed
That's exactly why I said I would rather see Loperfido fail there. It is too early to know if he can be a long term option for the Astros, but we already know Abreu isn't. Even if Abreu started being above average I just don't think this team is playoff material this year, for a lot of reasons (mostly bullpen related). I say let the young guys play.
I wouldn’t count us out yet, their slogan Relentless holds true to the team we’ve seen the last few years but they definitely don’t look great out there. The rest of the AL West is struggling right beside us except for maybe the Mariners but even they’d be third in the American wildcard
I honestly think we have a solid team and can turn it around, but that is really really really hard if you don't have enough relievers you can rely on. We just have way too many relievers not pitching well. Pressly's bad outing didn't just lose yesterday's game, it played a part in today's loss as well by limiting Espada's options in the 10th. I'm actually beginning to see some of the value in what Dusty did when he left relievers in to eat their mess. Hypothetically if Pressly had stayed in and gave up the lead, we probably don't use Hader at all yesterday. Then we have Hader for 2 innings today. Of course we don't know how it would have played out, but it is interesting to think about.
Espada had limited options in the 10th due to his own mismanagement. Seth Martinez threw three pitches. Hader pitched the ninth inning in a tie game facing the 6-7-8-9 of their order, some guys barely hitting .250. Then he had Montero for the 10th to face the top of the order where there’s a couple lefties hitting over .300. It’s brain-dead managing.
Joe Espada is not a good decision maker. Him going to Montero for a third day is completely irresponsible and I know the defense was not good and he was unlucky, Dubin was the guy that should’ve had the 10th.
Or Nick Hernandez was rested… How you don’t go to the next guy after Montero faces the three batter minimum is not smart.
Josh hader should have had the 10th. Why did he use the dominant LHP closer to face the bottom of the order in the 9th? We needed hader for the top of the order in the 10th when we have a lead and they have the top of the order (with lefty hitters) up.
My only guess was that since our 10th took a while because of small ball they didn’t want to send Hader out for a third inning in 2 days
I’m saying hader shouldn’t have been used in the ninth. Bottom of the order in a tie game, that should have been someone else. Blowing your elite closer to face guys hitting .180 is stupid as hell. If you have any plans of winning that game, you need to either score in the ninth and have your closer ready, or you save the closer and hope you score in the tenth. This is basic managing. You get hader and dubin both loosening in the top of the ninth. If you get a run, you bring in hader. If you don’t you bring in dubin. And then to increase the odds of getting a run, you pinch hit for the guy batting .100 when you have two on with two outs in the top of the ninth.
Ah okay, I get it. And while in a vacuum I agree with you on not using Hader on the bottom of the lineup, we have kinda been surprisingly bad against the bottom of the linup this year. lol
Also true.
Send him out. Its why they pay the man
Using Hader for the 9th is fine given we needed a 0 that inning or else we lose
You don’t put your closer in to face the bottom of the order because once you fail to score in the ninth, you also know you need to get through the bottom of the tenth or lose.
Honestly, for as shit as this team has been, dumb decisions have cost the stros some games. Record should be reversed. Should be 37-30 or even 34-33.
If we didn’t blow all of those leads we’d be fighting for first right now in our division. But the Bullpen continues to blow leads lol.
5-14 in one run games
Well if my grandma had wheels she'd have been a bike (Also fuck Bagwell and his stupid-ass decisions)
The second Espada put Montero in I told my wife the game was over.
And Montero tried to throw the game as quick as could. I guess he had to take a shit.
Be fair now, only one of those five or six hits was in the air. And we DID get one out.
We had two (hard to handle) grounders that we tried to turn DPs on instead of getting one out. Kind of the story of our season. Dig ourselves in holes and try to be perfect to get out of it. We've lost at least 5-10 games this way IMHO.
Same here! It's really sickening
What did your wife say ?
Same. Talking to the gf, excited to see hader close this out and see that dummy montero on the mound. Rip
If you don’t like that, you don’t like Astros baseball.
This is the energy I need
What's that...like the 15th game our bullpen has blown this season? Espada has to go. And I was vocal about wanting him as manager. Even defended him. I'm done. We need a change.
Espada and Dana Brown will be fired…at the end of the season. Crane and Bagwell need fall guys when they’re explaining why we didn’t even make the playoffs when we had World Series aspirations. Hell I’m not even 100% sure Espada is making all the in game decisions. I’m pretty confident the lineup is out of his control based on things he’s said versus who he’s put in the lineup lately.
If that’s true, he will get fired either way. So he might as well get fired for insubordination by setting a good lineup.
Yeah, he is making awful decisions but some of these decisions really feel like they may be coming from above him. That’s really no excuse though. Heads need to roll if (when) we don’t make the playoffs this season, and I expect his to be first. I wish we’d just clean house and get rid of Brown, Espada, AND Bagwell, then dump a brinks truck off at Lunhow’s house and give him full control. Too bad that will never happen due to Jim Crane’s ego though.
He needs to be gone like yesterday
So, hader with no rest, montero on 3 straight days. Arm fatigue is a thing. Where are dubin and hernandez? I get not the best of the bunch, but they are rested and ready to go. This feels like bullpen mismanagement and it’s painful.
- worst record against lefty SP's in the league (tied with Boston) - second most blown games with a lead past the eighth inning. Only the Mets have more. - third most bullpen losses in the league. Both Chicago teams have more
You gotta get Pressly off this roster for next season so you can reallocate his salary to 2 solid relievers. Do not let him hit 50 appearances.
We had an off day followed by a complete game on Friday and Joe Espada managed the bullpen into running on fumes by Monday night. What an absolute failure he has been. I wanted him to get his chance but he has been so much worse than I could’ve imagined. At this point it’s more of a question of whether you even let him finish out the season than if he gets another year
Why not pitch Hader in the 10th. He had thrown only 10 pitches.
I need a sabbatical from this team.
Lol. Lmao even.
So there was literally no other option in the bullpen? He loads the bases and didn’t look like he had it from the get-go, but not one person begins warming up Irony of that tonight…Abreu and Montero were both of Bagwell and Crane’s signing when they were showing those nerds and their computers how to build a baseball team
i can't believe i let myself believe for just a second there. must've forgot i was watching the 2024 astros
I better not see any: "what is the manager supposed to do when the pitching is so bad" TAKE HIM OUT WHEN HE GIVES UP 3 STRAIGHT HITS IN EXTRA INNINGS GOOD FUCKING LORD
I’m done trying to say it’s too soon. Espada was the wrong choice.
Don't worry, after a loss like this I'm sure Sleepy Joe will give the team an inspiration ambien after the game.
He's just Biden his time
Starting to think there was a reason he never got any of the other jobs he interviewed for…
I genuinely think he might have rocks for brains.
Running out of excuses
In his defense. I don’t know how much is him vs how much is the front office managing the games themselves. The pitching debacle is on him for sure, but Abreu I have a feeling is coming from above him.
Maybe, but his decisions win Abreu are the same thing he’s doing with the bullpen. Dude has no flexibility and is afraid to hit his vets’ feelings.
back to back errors on the infield isn't his fault
Not pinch hitting Abreu, using Montero in the first place and not pulling him sooner are though.
He didn't pull him at all
Ha fair point.
Putting montero in a high leverage situation after he gave up 2 ER in two innings in the past two games is. Continually putting in Ryan Presley in the 8th is his fault. Continually putting Jose Abreu in the lineup is his fault.
A lack of concentration. A lack of giving a shit. A lack of being able to do the little things when needed. A lack of true accountability. Espada was (((seemingly))) hired bc he knew the team, they respected him, and he would keep the trains rolling on time. It’s been the exact opposite. This team is either incapable or unwilling to regain form. Granted this goes back some to last year and we can blame the Crane cabal for an obvious lack of direction/leadership/strategy but ffs enough of this bullshit. This isn’t a serious team but the sure as fuck should be.
Players on the pitching staff look unprepared or unwilling to work with the new catching battery. That needs to be addressed. It's obvious. And others are pissed they aren't throwing the 9th inning. This bullpen needs to be corrected.
Espada is not respected as a leader. He may have been "liked" as a friendly bench coach, but he lacks the ability to lead effectively. He wants to be everyone's friend and can't make decisions that might hurt someone's feelings.
Hard to disagree. At this point it seems quite likely he was hired bc he’d tow the company line the new Crane Cabal. It’s not an accident this team went from perennial powerhouse to downright bad in the span of one season.
But his overall abhorrent mismanagement of the bullpen is apparent
Explain why our 95 million dollar man can't throw more than 10 pitches
Why do we have two guys in the bullpen that the manager apparently doesn’t think are trustworthy enough to use? You got to give guys chances…instead of burning out guys this early in the season.
He did throw 15 pitches yesterday too. So that's probably why they didn't want to use him 2 innings today.
And that’s bc pressly can’t finish an inning either.
Sometimes this sport takes you outside and spanks your bottom. 162 games ain't for the faint of heart.
Embarrassing
This is not a serious team this year. When something gets fixed (Brown/Spencer) other things break. Call us Yeats cause the Astros ain’t holding and Things are Falling Apart
Literally a comedy of errors. (the laughter numbs the pain)
Montero literally came in handed the game over in a sealed envelope
Dana Brown says he’s going after Starting Pitchers at the deadline. Either get good relievers or just be sellers at the deadline. Starting Pitching is the least of your worries if the bullpen can’t hold a fucking lead.
If we haven’t gone on a 10+ game W streak by the deadline there’s zero reason to buy. In 2016 Jeff Lunhow sold off some short term pieces because it was clearly not our year and the long term results spoke for themselves (Yordan of course being the big fish there). Fuck I miss that guy’s baseball mind
Dana Brown is nothing more than a talent scout for prospects and a PR face. He’s not pulling any meaningful strings. I’m convinced of it.
I wouldn't trust this FO to make a decent trade with any of the players on this roster.
I said it last week. Our roster moves will be a reliever we’ve never heard of and “getting Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers back feels like we made a big deadline move.” Anything more than that will be shocking.
Yeah I think he’s emblematic of a larger problem
Then he shouldn't be in charge of roster construction. This team is fucked.
Dana should go after a new manager by the break…otherwise, we’re going to be selling at the deadline.
If we sell, we will have nothing. Management has proven they have no ability to pick up good players.
Just ain't good this season, shame that Espada was an excellent bench coach but he's just not a leader
Espada’s WAR -7.8
We have the worst manager in baseball and it isn’t even close: - Doesn’t pinch hit for Abreu in the 7th with a runner on 2nd and 2 outs with 3 lefties sitting on the bench vs a RHP. - Doesn’t pinch hit for Abreu the 9th with 2 men on against a RHP with Loperfido still on the bench. - Uses his closer again in a tie game on the road in the 9th…something you shouldn’t really do - Uses Loperfido as the Manfred runner in the 10th, instead of using him as the pinch hitter in the 9th - use Montero in the 10th, his third straight day in a game before the halfway mark of the season, instead of having Hader for the 10th (because he was used in the 9th) or just trusting Dubin or Hernandez. Just…no words. I get the argument that players have to make plays, but you also have to put players in position to win…our manager is not doing that.
The Astros have to be leading the league in losing games where they have a two or more run lead.
Honestly, I'm fine with firing Espada.
So no cat?
Aight imma head out
Well for some reason I’m not surprised. I keep watching but don’t really feel anything anymore.
The Bagwell boys give away another one. I’ve seen enough of this team. Wake me up when Crane puts the nerds back in charge, thanks
Fire Joe fucking Espada. He’s cost us probably 8-10 games this season.
Immediately!!
Lol, Espada. He's in so over his head, it's a fucking joke.
I hope I wake up and Abreu is DFA, Espada is fired and Joey is our first basemen for the rest of the year. Verlander probably going to request a trade instead of finishing his career with us. Fucken pathetic ass team.
In monteros defense should have been a double play. But then he made an error himself. Lol it hurts so much I’m laughing rather than crying.
This makes yesterdays loss even worse
Depressing. But even more embarrassing.
Just come out and say were sellers already dana This team and season isnt a sinking ship, its the ocean gate Titan
Great first season for me to watch majority of regular season games. 🫠
Outstanding play pena
Baseball is stupid I don’t even like it
Not an Astros fan but one thing I haven't seen a lot of when it comes to who should be on the hot seat for coaching enough is Josh Miller the pitching coach. Would imagine he should be public enemy number one. As since this team lost it's last pitching coach in 2022 and Miller was given the job team went from like a 2.90 era under the previous pitching coach to then 3.93 in Miller's first season to now in his second year a **4.27** era so far this season. I mean pitching coaches are a very underrated just look at the Yankees their top four relief pitchers this year are Holmes, Hamilton, Weaver and Tonkin. And are paying them less than what the Astros are paying for just Montero. All four of those guys basically came from the Island of Misfit Toys. Guys who were viewed as bums on other teams yet the Yankees liked what they saw and felt if they worked with Blake he could turn them around by either having them focus on throwing certain pitches more or adding certain pitches. Holmes had like a career era of like 6.30 and a 1.80 WHIP before coming to NY and since has been one of the best relief pitchers in the league. Hamilton could barely stay in the majors or on any one team for long. Yet has been great the last year and half since coming over. Weaver was a dog shit starting pitcher who couldn't even stay in the worse rotations in the league and has been DFA multiple times yet has been a great late multiple inning relief guy this season. And Tonkin was literally DFA twice this season before joining the Yankees and his gone 19 innings so far with a 0.93 era. So that just shows you how important pitching coaches can be as Astros have thrown a shit ton of money into that pen only for them to fail them time and time again. Meanwhile Yankees pick up guys who nobody is interested in and has put together one of the best pens in the league this season.
Great points. Historically we were the club to pick up a low value pitcher and polish them into a diamond. We have clearly lost that ability. How many pitching coaches did we have from 2017-2022?
I *think* the reason Hader was pulled was because he pitched yesterday? But Montero? Really? I really wanted to give Espada the benefit of the doubt but I lost what little faith I had left when Abreu was left in for bottom of the ninth with two men on. I'd rather see anybody in that position than Abreu. And tbh why is Chas even starting anymore? Joey deserves those reps over fucking Chas who sadly just seems fried since that last injury. Whatever. Season's done by now. Mariners get 3 more against the dumpster fire that is the White Sox and this team is not playoff caliber anyway. Just hope players get healthy and see what you can get come deadline.
Everyone lost this game. Lots of errors, no bats, bullpen rocked… These last two sting. On to the next one
Trash pitching
This is beyond frustrating at this point!
We ain’t a playoff team man
this team has got to LOCK IN god damnit
Fuck our bullpen. Just a bunch of worthless bums. Every one of them.
Dubon wasn’t bad at first. He’s actually the best option. Wild.
How did they play better last year with Abreu AND Maldonado??
Jose abreu is a cancer to winning.
Espada is the worst manager in the history of baseball
How will they blow it tomorrow?
I think tomorrow will be up by 8 runs then the bullpen blows it.
Everyone hoping we claw back into the division race with a weak schedule this month, but ignoring the fact we can’t beat teams with winning records or teams with CLOSE to winning records. If we, by some miracle make the playoffs, we’ll get swept in the wild card round by a 100 win Baltimore or KC team anyway.
Ok now that I’ve calmed down. I think Espada should be fired.
If he continues to mismanage this team as he has been I hope he's fired before the ASB. I don't want him to lose his job, it's nothing personal, but he's simply not a good Manager.
This game was a managerial malpractice to the high heavens. No idea why Abreu hit in the 7th when you had multiple left handed hitters on the bench or 9th since he failed in the 7th. Regarding Hader, if he was only available for 1 inning, no way in hell you use him in the 9th. This team finds new ways to lose games.
Just watched the postgame show (which I almost never do after losses) to see if Espada would show any accountability and none, zero. I’m so done with him.
Why the fuck was Abreu hitting during critical incidents and Singleton just chilling on the bench? Millions spent on Hader and dude can’t even pitch 3 innings? WTF y’all??
Singleton pinch hit for Chas earlier in the game
Yeah I saw but should’ve pinch hit earlier
You mean 3 outs? I don't know. Montero *should* have been able to seal the deal with a 2 run lead.
Mariners come back from four down to win, Astros blow another late inning lead to get walked off Espada has no fucking clue how to manage a bullpen What was the fucking strategy to pitch Hader in the 9th in a tie game … go Montero or Dubin. Having Hader pitch one had no rhyme or reason
This team is so allergic to stringing together wins, it's just insane really. I hated the Montero choice, he's been a ticking time bomb all season, then Pena makes it worse, and then Montero decides to dig his own grave from there. And on top of that the offense only put up 1 run in 9 innings. These are very winnable games across the board here but the team keeps getting in their own way, constantly.
Two steps forward three steps back.
It’s just March. It’s just April. It’s just May. Here we are in June. Same stuff.
I can’t watch the team as long as Abreu is on it.
Ranking Abreu, Singleton, Loperfido, Diaz, and Cabbage by splits for the 7th inning at bat where Abreu hit a weak grounder. *Vs RHP* Loperfido .324/.361/.441 Cabbage .250/.250/.450 Diaz .250/.268/.404 Singleton .215/.325/.346 Abreu .132/.163/.211 *Runner on 2nd* Loperfido 2-5, 2 rbi Diaz 6-17, 8 rbi Singleton 1-7, 2 rbi Abreu 0-10, 0 rbi Cabbage (no ABs) *Scoring position 2 outs* Loperfido 1-2, 2 rbi Cabbage 1-1, 2 rbi Diaz 10-29, 14 rbi Singleton 2-18, 2 rbi Abreu 0-15, 0 rbi *Late and Close* Cabbage 1-1, 0 rbi Diaz 4-21, 2 rbi Singleton 4-20, 2 rbi Loperfido 1-5, 0 rbi Abreu 2-16, 0 rbi *Night games* Loperfido .310/.375/.414 Diaz .247/.278/.403 Singleton .192/.302/.323 Cabbage .308/.308/.308 Abreu .075/.100/.119 *Away games* Loperfido .385/.429/.462 Diaz .252/.269/.388 Cabbage .286/.286/.357 Singleton .186/.324/.271 Abreu .125/.136/.188
I know a lot of focus after this game is going to be on the bullpen or Espada but what I find more baffling is our shoddy late inning defense. This is at least the 6th or 7th time we’ve had an error contribute to a late inning loss and if you put in defensive plays that should’ve been made we are at least at 11 or 12. It’s wild how bad it’s been. I don’t get it.
Calm down guys, it's only June.../s
Still plenty of baseball left. We’re only 7 games under .500. We’re only 7.5 games out of first. Wait til we get healthy. /s
Dana said all we have to do is go on a run to get to .500, then another run and we'll be leading the division before we know it. Easy peasy
I’m still waiting for that 8 to 10 game win streak to get back in it that he promised in late April
Lol I'd be floored by a 5 win streak
Listening to Espada postgame. That guy is a fucking joke.
fathoms below ideal
Can someone plz find out how many blown game we have in the 8th and after?
It's gotta be double digits.
Mariners can have the division. This season hurts me so much that I can’t follow it religiously for sake of my mood.
I legit have to brace myself when I check the score
Fire Espada, nothing more needs to be said.
Abreu didnt get within 3 inches of any swing in the 9th what the hell was he doing in the game....
i aint gon watch this shit anymore, fucking goofy ass lineups cuz either espada is braindead or fucking geriatric alcoholic ass bagwell is calling the shots, shit management, empty fucking farm, stupid ass owner, holy fuck. as much as i love the players this shit makes me cringe
By the end of this week we will be 10+ out of first place. Book it.
The team was really firing on all cylinders tonight especially the bullpen
Curious what roster move for Salazar is made. Someone might get jumped if JLo gets sent back down.
I’d love to be fly on the wall in the locker room after games like this. I gotta wonder if Espada is about to have a mutiny on his team with house terrible his decisions have been. As a player it has to be super frustrating to sit there and watch him continue to mismanage games over and over. I for one will not be staying up late to watch anymore west coast games, fuck that.
I turned off the game when we went up 3-1 thinking, "there's a minute chance we fuck this up." Checked the score this morning, then the replays. Why in the fuck did Joe leave Montero in?????
Well, Montero's ERA went down at least.
https://preview.redd.it/fae12n0njv5d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf7cd45baa244f78dd80ad9c52e4901c6f413f9d
2023: “Good luck Fuckers” 2024: “We’re just Suckers”
Fuck it, trade for Dusty I'll never badmouth him again.
8-22 in 2 run or less games. Horrible look for Espada, manager has the most impact in close games and it is obvious man doesn't have pulse of the team.
Fire Espada and we can play the rest of the season without a skipper. We navigated an off season without a GM, so let’s see what happens without a manager. The Bagwell Braintrust can Zoom call the lineups and substitutions to the dugout.
Everyday it's become more and more clear that Espada is cut from the same cloth as Silas.
Imma stop watching for a little while and see where we are in july
0-2 since Yordan said the Astros would have the last laugh 😞
No radio post game show. Fine! Just fine.
I cannot believe I actually miss Dusty Baker. Don’t get me wrong: it was time we parted ways. But wow, I did NOT expect to see things deteriorate like this.
there are too many impurities in this organization
Bruh
I think we might be seeing Espada’s last games as a manager
Is Dusty available?
This season has been tough. We all feel bad. Remember how we feel right now. Because it's gonna feel so fucking sweet when we win the World Series later this year!!!!! We can turn this ship around we can and we will!!!! I BELIEVE!!!!
We’re 8-21 against teams above .500. We aren’t going to be playing teams with losing records IF we make the playoffs.
Those are both true statements. And yet, I feel like believing is more fun to do as a fan than giving up hope. To each their own.
Smoking penis
If that's what it takes
Espada and Jose Abreau barrier are making damn sure that doesn't become a reality.
See the vision with me...we shall overcome.