How Dusty Baker’s puzzling decisions could be forcing Astros hand
HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE
05 September 2023
For many Astros fans, it's been a frustrating season watching Dusty Baker limit opportunities for some of his best players. Of course, we're talking about Chas McCormick and Yainer Diaz.
Things really escalated over the weekend when the Astros were swept by the Yankees, with Chas McCormick only starting one of the three games. And in the one game he started, Dusty Baker pinch-hit for him with Jon Singleton in the ninth inning of a one run game. Spoiler alert: Singleton struck out looking.
The following game, Dusty started Yainer and Chas against the Rangers and lo and behold, Houston won in a blowout. But don't think for a second that Maldonado won't be back in the lineup on Tuesday, with Framber taking the hill. (Notice below that Yainer is not in Tuesday's lineup).
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And it seems the only days Michael Brantley is in the lineup, McCormick has to sit. Dusty doesn't seem to trust Chas in center field anymore. Chas has only started in center field in one out of the last five games.
To be fair, we've seen Dusty change the way he manages when the playoffs start, but this season is different. If the Astros wait for Dusty to start playing McCormick and Diaz regularly in the playoffs, they may not get in. The division is way too close this season to be messing around with playing time.
With that in mind, could we see owner Jim Crane or GM Dana Brown get involved in Baker's perplexing lineup decisions?
Be sure to watch the video above as the guys break it all down.
Listen to The Bench with John Granato and Lance Zierlein weekday mornings on ESPN 97.5 and 92.5 FM.
Cal Raleigh hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off the right field foul pole and the Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros 5-3 on Friday night.
Raleigh's 17th homer followed Julio Rodríguez's tying RBI double in the seventh inning. Leody Taveras homered among his three hits, and Miles Mastrobuoni also hit a solo home run.
Emerson Hancock (2-2) gave up three runs and nine hits in six innings, striking out three and walking none. Hancock won for the first time in six starts, and Andrés Muñoz got the last three outs for 17th save while maintaining his 0.00 ERA.
Isaac Paredes hit his 11th homer of the season and seventh in the past 10 games for Houston.
Jose Altuve had three hits after hitting two homers Thursday. The former second-baseman easily threw out Raleigh when the Mariners' catcher tried to score from second on Taveras' line-drive single to left in the sixth.
Cam Smith also had three hits for the Astros.
Altuve played his 1,870th career game, tying Jośe Cruz for third-most in Astros history behind Craig Biggio (2,850) and Jeff Bagwell (2,150).
Bryan Abreau (1-2) allowed two runs and three hits in 1 1/3 innings, giving up runs for just the second time in 21 appearances. He surrendered three to the Mariners on April 9 for his other loss.
Key moment
Rodríguez, back in the lineup after missing Thursday's game with back tightness, hit Abreu's first pitch for a down the right-field line to score Crawford from first. On the next pitch, Raleigh hit his homer to right.
Key stat
Mastrobuoni’s homer was his first with Seattle, and first in his four-year major league career since 2023 with the Chicago Cubs.
Up next
Seattle's Bryan Woo (5-1, 2.65) pitches against Houston's Framber Valdez (3-4, 3.57) on Saturday.
