I identify 4 areas: pulling starting pitchers sooner; valuing the 2 spot in the order more; rotating starters through the DH spot; and being in alignment with the front office.
Well, one thing is for sure. One of the first things Joe Espada said was that he would play his best players to give the team the best chance to succeed. Dusty, on the other hand, played his FAVORITES, regardless of team results. In what world is a manager going to play Corey Julks over Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers, or Yainer Diaz more? It took Chas and Yainer until LATE August to catch up to the number of ABs that Julks had. Just think about it. Julks got sent back down to the minors on August 10th, after an 0-40+ slump BTW, and it STILL took Chas and Diaz until LATE August to catch up to the #of ABs that Julks had. Just ridiculous. The other thing that I will not miss is Dusty belittling Chas and Yainer publicly just to prop up his favorite players. My goodness, I'm glad all of that mess is behind. Dusty "retired" saying that he still wanted to be in baseball because he knew that the organization was done with him. No manager is going to leave a team like the Astros unless he is pushed out the door. Joe Espada is a big upgrade to this team period
Well, one thing is for sure. One of the first things Joe Espada said was that he would play his best players to give the team the best chance to succeed. Dusty, on the other hand, played his FAVORITES, regardless of team results. In what world is a manager going to play Corey Julks over Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers, or Yainer Diaz more? It took Chas and Yainer until LATE August to catch up to the number of ABs that Julks had. Just think about it. Julks got sent back down to the minors on August 10th, after an 0-40+ slump BTW, and it STILL took Chas and Diaz until LATE August to catch up to the #of ABs that Julks had. Just ridiculous. The other thing that I will not miss is Dusty belittling Chas and Yainer publicly just to prop up his favorite players. My goodness, I'm glad all of that mess is behind. Dusty "retired" saying that he still wanted to be in baseball because he knew that the organization was done with him. No manager is going to leave a team like the Astros unless he is pushed out the door. Joe Espada is a big upgrade to this team period