Joe Espada

Decision cost by category

Record

35-41

wins-losses

Games

75

with decision data

Lineup

3.84 R 0.05 R/G

Bunts

0.87 R 0.01 R/G

IBBs

0.49 R 0.01 R/G

Relievers

8.49 R 0.11 R/G

Season to date · categories cover different scopes and aren't summed into a total — reliever selection is high-leverage spots only; the Relievers leaderboard shows a rolling 30-day window.

Cost by category

Houston Astros cost themselves 3.84 R from lineup decisions, 8.49 R from high-leverage reliever selection, 0.87 R from bunts, 0.49 R from intentional walks.

LINEUP DECISIONS · 3.84 R RELIEVER SELECTION · 8.49 R BUNTS · 0.87 R INTENTIONAL WALKS · 0.49 R

Season to date · shown per category, not summed — reliever selection is high-leverage spots only (the Relievers board uses a rolling 30-day window).

How this compares — league ranking

Lineup decisions

Joe Espada ranks 29th of 30 managers in MLB.

1 Dave Roberts LAD 0.87 R
2 John Schneider TOR 1.08 R
3 Pat Murphy MIL 1.26 R
28 Carlos Mendoza NYM 3.71 R
29 Joe Espada HOU 3.84 R
30 Will Venable CWS 4.08 R

Bunt decisions

Joe Espada ranks 12th of 30 managers in MLB.

1 Walt Weiss ATL 0.00 R
2 Aaron Boone NYY 0.09 R
3 A.J. Hinch DET 0.39 R
…
12 Joe Espada HOU 0.87 R
…
28 Torey Lovullo AZ 2.80 R
29 Pat Murphy MIL 2.76 R
30 Will Venable CWS 2.88 R

Intentional walks

Joe Espada ranks 4th of 30 managers in MLB.

1 Don Mattingly PHI 0.11 R
2 Chad Tracy BOS 0.17 R
3 Walt Weiss ATL 0.33 R
…
4 Joe Espada HOU 0.49 R
…
28 Terry Francona CIN 2.90 R
29 Kurt Suzuki LAA 3.42 R
30 Pat Murphy MIL 4.11 R

Game-by-game breakdown

Last 7 in tenure · Δ R/G

Jun 17 vs DET W Casey Mize 4-2 +0.27 Jun 16 vs DET W Framber Valdez 4-2 +0.98

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~0.96 R

Jun 15 vs DET L Drew Anderson 3-9 +1.76

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~1.00 R

Jun 14 @ KC L Stephen Kolek 0-4 +3.12

⚐ Lineup mishaps cost ~3.12 R

Jun 13 @ KC W Noah Cameron 8-7 +2.32

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~2.32 R

Jun 12 @ KC W Mason Black 10-8 +1.64

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~1.64 R

Jun 10 @ LAA L Reid Detmers 2-3 +3.79

⚐ Lineup mishaps cost ~1.86 R

Most costly decisions

Flagged · click for detail

JUN 10 · @ LAA +3.79 R/G

Lineup mishaps cost ~1.86 R

vs Reid Detmers · L 2-3

JUN 14 · @ KC +3.12 R/G

Lineup mishaps cost ~3.12 R

vs Stephen Kolek · L 0-4

JUN 13 · @ KC +2.32 R/G

Pulled too late cost ~2.32 R

vs Noah Cameron · W 8-7

JUN 15 · vs DET +1.76 R/G

Pulled too late cost ~1.00 R

vs Drew Anderson · L 3-9

Tenure summary

Joe Espada manages the Houston Astros, with their current tenure beginning March 26, 2026.

Through 75 games of decision data, their tactical decisions cost the team an estimated 5.20 R across lineup construction, bunt strategy, and intentional walks. Lineup decisions accounted for 3.84 R of that — the largest single category.

The team's 35-41 record places them 6 games under .500. Espada has called 9 sacrifice bunts (0.87 R in expected runs).

Deep analytical views

The overview above is the SEO surface. Each link below opens the interactive analyzer for that decision type — sortable lists, per-game breakdowns, and the underlying numbers.

Keep reading

How this is calculated

Stats reflect only Joe Espada's tenure as Astros manager — events from before the start date or after the end date are excluded. Lineup cost is the difference between an optimized batting order and the one actually used, summed across regular-season games. Bunt and intentional-walk costs come from per-decision run-expectancy deltas. Pitching cost is the sum of pull-timing and reliever-selection runs lost. Costs are shown as a season total and a per-game rate (R/G); rankings compare this tenure's per-game rate against the league-wide distribution of current and recent manager tenures. RunsLeft does not assign letter grades — the costs and rankings are descriptive analytics.

Read the full methodology. Career managing history coming in v2 with Lahman integration.