Dusty Baker has received much hate from Houston Astros fans today after his decision to not start Yordan Alvarez. It frustrated fans, mostly because of his comments and being in a tight playoff push. Dusty Baker said, "You've got to sacrifice one game for the next nine."
One fan on Reddit stated, "Dusty looks like he's ready for a nice vacation down in Florida," with another responding to him with, "Permanent vacation, please." Many are slamming him for his decision to sit one of their best players in the midst of a close playoff run, with one of the best comments saying, "Dusty, I hate to inform you, but your division rivals are like a half-game back. This is no time to rest the big dogs."
Questionable decision for Dusty Baker seems to pay off
The Astros game went into the eighth inning down 1-0. To start the inning, they decided to pinch-hit Jake Meyers and bring in Yordan Alvarez, who went on to walk on four consecutive balls. They then took Alvarez out of the game, having Mauricio Dubon become the pinch-runner. Dubon would later score on an RBI double by Jeremy Pena. Dubon, who came in to replace Alvarez, who replaced Meyers, hit a walk-off single to win it all 2-1.
Any recent moves Dusty Baker has made have been criticized, mostly due to the lack of security when it comes to a postseason spot. But Dusty Baker has led the team to many deep playoff runs, including winning the World Series in 2022. Any mistakes he makes receive much-unwarranted hate, as he has proved everyone wrong while coming back for another season after he planned to retire after the 2022 season because he loved the taste of winning a World Series.
Dusty Baker's roster changes shouldn't be criticized until the results are shown. Many fans jump to expectations and wrongly hate on GMs and managers, but instead need to wait for the results to be shown.
