THE LEFT TURN
NASCAR Cup Series at Indy: Verizon 200 picks, preview
Jul 29, 2022, 9:49 am
Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch failed post-race inspection last week. Photo via: Wiki Commons.
This week, the NASCAR Cup Series heads for the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Verizon 200. This is the second time they will be racing on the road course configuration, and this time the track will be much improved from last year. When we last saw them race here, it was a complete disaster. Entering turns four and five, there were a set of curbs that would launch the cars into the air. This took out several of the contenders such as Kyle Busch, William Byron and Joey Logano. Thankfully, track officials caught wind of this and took out the curbing that caused all these issues. We should see a much cleaner race than we did last season.
Last week, it appeared that Denny Hamlin went on to score his third victory of 2022 and his seventh career victory at Pocono. While it started off rocky after he spun early in the race, everything came up aces for him. They had great pit-stops, a race winning strategy, and Hamlin even got his revenge on his rival Ross Chastain. It was the perfect day for the #11 team as he and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in first and second. When the race was over and all the celebrations were done, both Busch and Hamlin's cars failed post-race inspection and their win was vacated. This was the first time since 1960 that a winner was disqualified in the Cup Series. The culprit? A piece of clear tape over the right-front fascia. While this doesn’t seem like a lot, this can drastically change the aerodynamics of the car. NASCAR has been explicitly clear that they will not tolerate any teams modifying the bodies of these race cars, and Joe Gibbs Racing learned the hard way.
Michael McDowell would also receive a massive penalty for a similar infraction, he would be assessed a 100 point penalty and would also lose his stage and playoff points as well. He would fall from 20th to 26th place in the standings. He will have to win if he wants to make the playoffs.
Kurt Busch will miss this weekend's race at Indy after suffering a concussion in practice last week. This has been one of the most difficult news items to process. He has had such a huge impact on this sport and has been a massive part of 23XII’s success. Let's hope he is back in the car here soon.
The driver I have winning this week is a bit of a wildcard, but I am taking Austin Cindric. While it seems like a bit of a surprise, Cindric has a lot of track time here at this racetrack and on road courses in general. It has been an up and down last four races for the young rookie, but he’s scored two top ten finishes at Road America and at Nashville. He’s also been extremely fast on road courses, as he’s finished at least in the top ten on each of the road courses they have run this year. He will need a bounce back win just in case there are more than sixteen winners and his Daytona 500 victory won’t suffice. I look for him to bring the #2 Ford Mustang back to victory lane come Sunday.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.