Astros insider: Roberto Osuna changes it up
Great article, which somewhat confirmed my thinking yesterday about why Ruiz got so many changeups. Osuna’s slider is a great pitch too, and he and the hitters are now 1-26 on changeups. No doubt Hinch has or will make the catchers aware of this too. A conversation with all of them in the room is a good idea which Hinch likely already has done. Maybe this is why Chirinos called so many in a row. Wilkerson ambushed his first pitch yesterday for a double, and this could have made Osuna reluctant to throw it at the end. Closing is tough business. If he gets them out, fans say “that is why he gets paid.” If he blows one like yesterday, all hell breaks out, and scorn and derision rain down.
I was going to meet some folks yesterday so listened to the bottom of the 9th on the radio. I had a vague, uneasy feeling from the beginning because Baltimore fought so hard all day and outplayed the Astros until the top of the 9th. I did not think they would go quietly, and Wilkerson’s charmed life movement around the bases intensified my uneasiness. He could have been thrown out at third, he maybe WAS thrown out at home, yet the run was on the board. Then there was the HBP. After Sparks praised Osuna for being a pitcher who protects his teammates, I said out loud (to the radio) “Yeah, but that is the tying run.” Then multiple changeups to Ruiz (scouting report?) with the last one in the worst possible location and BOOM.
As I said yesterday, maybe on the GZ, my initial thought was the Astros were supposed to lose that game. Call it karma or the BBGs, but Baltimore deserved to win after their effort against JV taking the lead and driving him to cover after 5. A team does not beat another 23-2, even in the classy way the Astros handled the win, without some consequences somewhere. I hated the loss, which kicked me in the stomach like it did you, but part of me said “Good for you, Orioles, for not rolling over and quitting when the superior team rallied late.” The BBGs reminded me (and everyone?) even last place teams deserve respect.
Getting back on the winning track in Chicago will help hurt feelings a lot.