Houston Astros: Brad Mills' Most Puzzling Managerial Decisions

Before I look at some of the more puzzling decisions Houston Astros’ manager Brad Mills has made this season, he deserves some credit.

A year after finishing the season 56-106, Brad Mills is being talked about as a National League Manager of the Year candidate.  Through 45 games, Houston was only a game under .500 at 22-23.  They hit a recent slump while dropping their past four games to fall six games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the N.L. Central. 

After trading away their top players in recent years, the Astros have very few recognizable names on their roster but have gotten some nice production out of several players.  Managing the second youngest team in the major leagues is not an easy task.     

Carlos Lee is having a solid season with a .307 batting average to go with four home runs.  Jose Altuve, .302 average, is quietly making a name for himself. 

With all that said, Mills drives many Houston fans crazy with his constant lineup changes and handling of the bullpen.  Mills has managed his way into several odd situations this season.

April 29: Reds 6, Astros 5

With his team up 5-3 in the seventh inning, Mills went against conventional wisdom in the most important spot in the game.

Left-handed hitting Joey Votto came to the plate in the seventh inning as the go-ahead run.  Mills brought in a right-handed pitcher two batters prior to Votto.  In key situations late in the game, most teams will bring in a left-handed pitcher to deal with Cincinnati’s left-handed sluggers Votto and Jay Bruce. Mills let his right-hander pitch, and Votto doubled and knocked in two runs to tie the game.

An inning later, Bruce lead off the eighth inning with a right-handed pitcher on the mound.  Bruce, who is much better when he faces a right-hander rather than a left-hander, turned on a pitch from Fernando Rodriguez and hit it out of the park to give the Reds the lead.    

Also in this game, Mills made the decision to bench struggling OF Brian Bogusevic.  What made this decision puzzling was despite his low average, Bogusevic’s OBP was the fourth highest on the team.  Mills was without Carlos Lee for this game so Bogusevic’s absence was hard to grasp.

May 15: Phillies 4, Astros 3

Houston mounted a ninth inning rally to come back from a 3-1 deficit and send the game into extra innings. 

The rule in baseball is to wait as long as possible to use the closer in a non-save situation on the road.  Mills went against baseball logic and inserted closer Brett Myers into the game to start the 10^th inning.

Hunter Pence led off the inning for the Phillies with a game-ending home run.

If Myers had retired the side and the Astros went on to win, the move does not get questioned.  When Myers took the loss, fans criticized Mills for using Myers in a situation where he probably should have used a different relief pitcher.    

May 26: Dodgers 6, Astros 3

This game featured several bizarre scenarios for the Astros.

For one, starting pitcher Bud Norris threw 116 pitches in 4.2 innings.  He allowed three runs but clearly did not have good control during the game.  When he finished the 4^th inning with 105 pitches, Mills should have taken him out instead of sending him back out to start the fifth inning.

Norris did not allow a run in the next inning but was taken out as part of a double switch before the inning ended.

With a man on second in the ninth inning, Mills decided to intentionally walk Dodgers first baseman James Loney to get to catcher A.J. Ellis.  Loney entered the game hitting .266 with two home runs while Ellis entered hitting .317 with four home runs.

Ellis hit a walk-off three run home run to give the Dodgers a 6-3 win. 

To be fair, Loney was 2-for-4 to this point in the game, and Ellis had been 0-for-3 with a walk.  Mills tried to set up a force at any base, but the move backfired and cost the Astros the game.

May 28: Rockies 7, Astros 6

Mills did not learn his lesson from Hunter Pence in Philadelphia.  For the second straight extra inning road game, Mills brought his closer into a tie game in the 10^th inning.

This time, Brett Myers got the first batter to ground out.  He followed that up by allowing a single to Michael Cuddyer and a walk-off triple to Dexter Fowler. 

Many closers struggle coming into a non-save situation, but Myers used to be a starter.  His mentality is different than most closers. 

I am a strong supporter of not using a closer in a tie game during an extra inning road game unless it is absolutely necessary.  Closers seem to be different pitchers without a lead to protect.