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Hank Chinaski

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Posts posted by Hank Chinaski

  1. 28 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

    The hardest thing about this September is deciding whether to use the laughing or rage reaction to any given Astros post. 

    I’m going with laughing. It’s tragic comedy. Matter of fact, I had this exchange with @Wulaw Horn about a week ago:

    Me: I’m embracing the comedic element of all this. Like, Shakespearean comedy, not real comedy.

    Wulaw: Shakespeare sucks.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Haha 2
  2. 6 minutes ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

    So we should sweep the M’s as rangers lose 2 of 3 to the angels then we go 3-1 at az as the M’s get revenge and sweep the rangers. Rangers out. We in. That’s my prediction. Aggy tears will follow.

    Seems unlikely. 

    • Haha 2
  3. 11 minutes ago, Scraps said:

    If anyone wants a presale code for postseason tickets I will have one for tomorrow morning at 11am lulz.   I already made up my mind a month ago this would be the first season since we started the run that I wouldn't be going to any of the playoff games.  (none of us may be going to any at this point)

     

    Jim Mora Playoffs GIF

    • Haha 8
    • Rage+1 1
  4. 5 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

    No sane owner is hiring a manager and directing to him this and that about who’s starting and not staring. This isnt mlb the game 

     

    The owner shouldn’t tell the manager who to play. The owner should create an org structure such that that the front office/GM/analytics staff and the manager are on the same page. What’s insane is allowing the manager to play the wrong players.

    • Hook 'Em 3
  5. 4 minutes ago, Slacks said:

    But as with almost any lineup, the catcher is not going to be a deciding factor in the overall production of the lineup.

    It’s a sample size thing. You maximize your team’s odds of winning any given game by starting your best players. Over a big enough sample - like 162 games - it does matter who you play at catcher. If we flipped totals of MM and YD starts at catcher, this team probably has about 4 more wins than it currently does. Those wins are pretty important.

    Again, it’s what people have been screaming all season, and right now is exactly why. this team never had the luxury of fucking around with subpar lineups as frequently as it did. (And I’m not talking about the injuries - I’m talking about catcher, Chas sitting 25% of the time, the stupid batting orders, etc.)

    • Hook 'Em 1
  6. 27 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

    JP France is a #3?  Or a #4? He’s not Quad A I don’t think. 
    is it regression to call Javier broken?  Brown is 1 run better on fip than actual era. Maton is regression for sure. His talent level came back for him.  
    It’s so hard to separate true talent level from this bullshit team that’s been ruined by Dusty. 
     

    Regression in that several starters - Javier, France, Bielak - had results that were significantly better than the underlying data suggested they should be for a first couple months of the season. Regression in that Brown was a rookie who had never thrown a lot of innings and was unlikely to sustain his fast start. Regression from the bullpen compared to 2022, when almost to a man they were outstanding (bullpens are notoriously variable from year to year). 

  7. 49 minutes ago, Slacks said:

    The team just isn't hitting (or pitching) well emough. It's really that simple.  They should be 95 wins. 

    That’s the whole point. They haven’t been good enough for an extended period at any point all season. It has been evident since April that we won’t even play our best players consistently and that the pitching regression was coming hard. (Though the pitching actually kept us afloat for a while and the regression didn’t really hit until the second half.)

  8. 1 hour ago, Guadaloopy said:

    Hubris finally catching up to this team.  The lack of urgency from leadership throughout the season is very possibly going to cost them a spot in the postseason. 
     

    Resting players so they are fresh for the postseason doesn’t do much good if you miss the postseason.   It’s a great strategy when you jump out to a comfortable lead, but it’s foolhardy when you don’t.  
     

    And that’s the thing that makes what is happening now so frustrating.  It absolutely did not have to be this way.

    I wrote this 3 months ago and you told me I am a miserable person. Which you may not be wrong about. But still.

    • Haha 4
    • Drool 1
  9. 9 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

    It strikes me that the owner and GM and manager are getting exactly what they deserve. The players and fans aren't. 

    I’d exclude Brown from this right now. I just can’t fathom a GM, whose job it is to build and maintain a roster, simply being cool with the manager playing crappy players over good players most of the time. Which makes me think that Crane has made it clear that it’s all Dusty’s call. There is speculation that this is what got Click fired in the first place. It sure looks like it’s coming from Crane, who, like I said yesterday, seems to now prioritize Dusty’s ego over winning.

    The problem with Crane being the crux of the issue is obvious and is the worst case scenario: the silver lining of this shitshow of a season should be that bad decisions (which lead to commensurately bad outcomes) bring consequences of necessary change. But when the owner is the one making the bad decisions…

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Rage+1 2
  10. 59 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

    Me when it comes to Dusty's lineups anymore...

    unimpressed morgan freeman GIF

    Agree, in the sense that it doesn’t make me angry anymore.

    But I still find it astounding that in 2023, when the information we have access to about every aspect of every player’s performance and abilities is so abundant and informative and foundational to how every single club operates, this is allowed to happen. Just fascinating.

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 1
  11. Yainer Diaz is 30% better than league average as a hitter and grades out well defensively.

    Martin Maldonado is 33% worse than league average as a hitter and grades out poorly defensively.

    We choose to start MM almost every day instead of YD.

    The Astros organization prioritizes Dusty Baker’s ego over winning. 

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 1
    • Rage+1 3
  12. 1 hour ago, Magus Ossis said:

    Or have the stadium play clips of "they'd rather lose to Alabama and Georgia than KSU and ISU" and "Take care of business in Austin" on a loop to a highlight reel of us beating Bama, ISU, KSU, and some Sugar Bowl vs UGA.

    Zach Galifianakis Yes GIF

    • Hook 'Em 1
  13. 1 hour ago, Scraps said:

    How anyone doesn't think he will get to 3000 hits is beyond me.  After this season he would need to average like 158 hits for 6 more seasons.  So what he did in 2022.   When he has played at least 140 games in a season the lowest he has in a hit total is that 158.  Obviously health is going to be the biggest role in it.  Really wish 2020 and the start of this year didn't fuck him out of 200 or so hits.  

    I think he’s got a good shot, but I’m not sure it’s probable at this point.

    158 per for 6 years is one thing; doing that at ages 34-39 is another. “What he did in 2022” - sure, but 2022 was an MVP-caliber season. It may not be so easy to simply replicate that annually through his mid- to late-30s.

    If he stays healthy, sure, I’d expect him to get there. But that’s the problem with age - staying healthy gets tougher and tougher.

    His evolution as a hitter over his career is kind of fascinating; his approach now is really different than it was early in his career. His walks are up, his power is way up. It makes him a more valuable offensive player but doesn’t necessarily make him more likely to compile hits. 

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 1
  14. 27 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

    Yeah, I feel like there has been very little talk about what he’s done when healthy this year, but he’s been incredible at the plate.

    In half a season (exactly 81 games), 100 hits, 20 2Bs, 17 HRs, 48 RBIs, 74 Runs, 13 SB.

    double those numbers and that rivals 2017.

     

     

    And he was this good last year too. He’s kept this up for a season and a half now, at ages 32-33. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
  15. 48 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

    Yainer playing!  At DH. Where he sort of sucks. At the expense of Yordan (and Brantley if he’s alive still) so Meyers can play. Against a RHP. Maldy catching. 
    I should have hit him in the head with a shovel yesterday at BP when I had the chance. 

    I don’t think there is really any reason to believe he’s a worse hitter as a DH than as a catcher.

    But yeah, the commitment to refusing to maximize the lineup is astounding.

    • Hook 'Em 2
  16. 14 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

    so brantley is hurt, right?

    he's 13-39 career vs kyle gibson.  there's no reason he shouldn't be lf or dh tonight.

    What this presupposes is…logic and rational thought play a role in our day-to-day lineup construction…

    • Haha 1
    • Rage+1 2
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