FIRST TAKE
Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman discuss Russell Westbrook's comments about normalizing Harden's greatness.
Stephen A. agrees with Westbrook, but Max doesn't believe James Harden is that much better than anyone else in the NBA.
Kellerman goes on to say that Harden's numbers are more about the era he's playing in. Check out the video and see who you agree with.
When we look back at last year's championship roster, we remember the big home runs from Yordan Alvarez and the combined no-hitter against the Phillies. But we often forget the total lack of production from the DH position throughout the postseason.
Whether it was Trey Mancini, David Hensley, or Aledyms Diaz, the Astros couldn't find anyone to consistently produce in that role.
In the ALCS against the Yankees, Yordan only hit as the DH in 1 of 4 games. In the other three games, the DH spot in the lineup went hitless.
In the World Series, Alvarez was only used as a DH twice. And when that happened, Aledmys Diaz started in left field. In his two starts in left, he went 0-7 with 4 strikeouts.
It wasn't until Game 6 when Dusty Baker finally started Christian Vazquez, that the club finally got some production out of the DH spot.
So why bring this up? When looking at the 2023 version of the Astros, they have a rookie phenom in Yainer Diaz and a quality left-handed bat in Michael Brantley (health pending). If Yordan continues to play primarily in left field throughout the postseason, Yainer can give the Astros all the thump they need at DH.
And the Astros are going to need it. They've fallen to 21st in team ERA over the last 30 games. But on the bright side, they're No. 1 in team OPS over that same time period.
Of course, to make this work, the club may have to add another catcher to the postseason roster for Dusty Baker to feel comfortable starting both Diaz and Maldonado in case an injury should occur. When Vazquez finally started at DH in Game 6 last season, the team added another catcher after Yuli Gurriel went down with a knee injury.
But if this plan is put into place, the 2023 Astros offense should be even more potent than last year's version. The only question is, will Dusty use it to his advantage?
Be sure to watch the video above for the full discussion.
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