Rachel Hill gives her Two Cents about skippers Dusty Baker & Dave Roberts. They are the only Black managers in the game. They are also arguably the two best.
The Stros haven’t missed a beat since Dusty took over following the cheating scandal. The Hall of Fame manager has them in full control of the AL West.
Roberts has the defending World Champion Dodgers in the hunt again.
Dusty Baker continues to bring good mojo to H-Town. The winningest Black manager in MLB history has the Houston Astros sporting the best offense in baseball and leading the Majors in almost every hitting category.
With fans being allowed back in ballparks for the first time since 2019, people are finally getting their chance at vengeance against the Astros for their sign-stealing scandal during their 2017 World Series run.
From Los Angeles to New York, entire stadiums are at war against Dusty’s 26-man crew, and he’s proven to be the perfect general for the fleet. Protecting his players like a bulletproof vest and keeping the conversation on baseball because that’s what he does best.
After taking over a franchise in the midst of chaos and scandal, Baker probably should have been the Manager of the Year, considering what he had to deal with and the negative microscope that his team was under.
Baker shook off the haters, maintained the fort, and shocked MLB by leading the Astros to Game 7 of last year’s American League Championship Series. Baker has them right back in contention this season as they are Top 5 in the American League in offense and pitching.
Let’s get to their bats first: Right now, the Astros currently lead all of MLB in runs, hits, RBI, batting average, total bases, On Base Percentage, and OPS.
The entire lineup puts the strikeout or homer mindset to death. Check this, 11 batters on the roster have batting averages above .250 and eight have an OPS above .800.
MLBbro Michael Brantley is one of the leaders of the pack. His .324 batting average is good for third on the team.
The Astros staff have both the fourth-lowest earned run average and batting average against in the AL at 3.82 and .223, respectively. This is all without ace Justin Verlander, who is missing the season after Tommy John surgery.
Baker sits in 12th place all-time with 1,925 wins as a manager, 36 of them coming this year. His Astros are three games back of the Oakland A’s for the top spot in the AL West. He’ll look to add two more to his win total during a quick homestand against Demarcus Evans, Jason Martin and the Texas Rangers.
