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2021 Houston Astros Thread

Planet Houston

By Planet Houston
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henrygandorf
henrygandorf

there's so much to unpack from today, so i'll just start listing them. tuesday was devastating for oakland, today was twice as devastating for the yankees.  they had just started to play better. 

Brisketexan
Brisketexan

The boy and I were at the last ALCS clincher - we were walking on air for days after Altuve’s walkoff. Today, the boy is 5,000 miles and 7 hours away, with no way to watch. So we did a video chat, w

Helobious
Helobious

Enjoy it. Old Altuve, no more Correa means this is the very end of the road for your tainted dynasty. 

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ChickenSandwich

ChickenSandwich 9921

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, slorch said:

Better bullpen decisions?

last 2 games, Railey and his slider have been unbelievably lethal.

Enoli was good Enoli.

 

Not sure  Dusty did anything different, and that ain’t a shot at the old man.  Players just executed.

Stanek yesterday was questionable. On radio broadcast they said Dusty had gotten him up and warm four nights in a row without pitching him until the fifth night. 

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19561

Posted
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16 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Stanek yesterday was questionable. On radio broadcast they said Dusty had gotten him up and warm four nights in a row without pitching him until the fifth night. 

Ducking shit man- that’s awful. AJ was good about not doing that shit. 

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Scraps

Scraps 13747

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, PantsTent said:

Anybody know when June tickets go on sale?  Planning to go to one of the White Sox games in mid June.

May tickets went on sale Apr 23rd so I would guess maybe next Monday they start selling June.  

It won't be hard to get tickets though.  They are about to bump to 100% capacity 

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Scraps

Scraps 13747

Posted
Posted

Nothing that we don't already know:

Coming into the 2021 season, the Astros’ center field job was Myles Straw’s to lose. He performed well in spring training and has been Dusty Baker’s guy ever since. Baker recently reaffirmed his belief in Straw, who is struggling to hit, noting how difficult it is to judge a player based on 100 at-bats. The trouble is, it’s not just his at-bats that are worrisome.

Through 150 plate appearances, Straw is slashing .214/.295/.260, with 5 steals in 8 attempts. On the surface, this is non-existent production. A wRC+ of 68 — the 20th-worst in baseball among qualified hitters — confirms that.

The lack of contribution offensively is disappointing after a strong spring showing, but it’s also not terribly surprising, given that numerous projection systems had the Astros’ center fielder billed as below-average at the plate. What is quite concerning, however, has been Straw’s lack of impact defensively.

It needs to be mentioned that advanced defensive metrics ideally need a full season or so before being totally legitimized. Having said that, early returns across the board have not been kind to Straw.

According to Statcast’s Outs Above Average (OAA), his defense is 32nd percentile. Per Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) and Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), he is below-average. Baseball Prospectus’s Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAA) ranks Straw’s defense 26th among center fielders.

This isn’t meant to be indicative of Straw’s true abilities in center field, especially in such a small sample size, but it’s hard to ignore a consensus such as this one. Putting significant stock in it is another conversation, but the problem that stems from this data is the potential downgrade in Straw’s overall profile.

The attribute he is most known for is his blazing speed, and with that should come quality defense in center field. It’s not always a guarantee that fast players make for effective defenders in the outfield, but Straw needs to be one. What’s more, he can’t merely be a solid defender, but one who consistently impacts the game in that facet. Without a viable offensive profile, providing strong defense is an absolute necessity.

Like most things in April and May, it’s too early to conclusively make an accurate assessment on this matter. Since the Astros don’t presently have any clear alternatives in center, the best option for the time being might be to do nothing. Offensively, the ceiling is low for Straw, and that’s OK — plus defense in center field can make up for a lot. He may yet provide that, but the clock is ticking.

 
 
 
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Gourmand

Gourmand 7778

Posted
Posted

With Odorizzi and Valdez coming back within a matter of three weeks or so and Urquidy back soon as well, the Astros pitching situation shapes up very well and looks like a surly 1% problem. 

Rotation:

Greinke/McCullers/Framber/Urquidy/Odorizzi

Bullpen: Garcia, Javier, Abreu, Emanuel, Stanek, Raley, Smith, Pressly, Bielak, Scrubb, Paredes.

That's not even including Josh James in the equation either. Assuming mostly full health in the upcoming weeks, who gets sent down to AAA? I hate the thought of Luis Garcia wasting away in AAA but we have to keep him sharp.

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Gourmand

Gourmand 7778

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Unless James has better control, he's not going to help that much.

that's fair, but he's still in the discussion of the organization's pitching depth.

what is your ideal bullpen assuming the return of the Urquidy, Odorizzi, and Valdez?

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kevwun

kevwun 16294

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Gourmand said:

that's fair, but he's still in the discussion of the organization's pitching depth.

what is your ideal bullpen assuming the return of the Urquidy, Odorizzi, and Valdez?

Don't get me wrong, at the absolute worst he can take over Joe Smith's role.  I just don't know how much more useful than that he's going to be.  He was pretty rough last year.

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WBT

WBT 20886

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

Not at all but the money committed to him suggests he will be regardless. 

True.  Obviously, with how quickly it looks like Framber will be back, that money would have been better spent on a CF.

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Gourmand

Gourmand 7778

Posted
Posted
Just now, kevwun said:

Don't get me wrong, at the absolute worst he can take over Joe Smith's role.  I just don't know how much more useful than that he's going to be.  He was pretty rough last year.

Yeah I agree with you, I'm just clinging to the hope that the "swing-and-miss" Josh James shows up more often than the "walks two/gives up home run" Josh James. 

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HtownHorn

HtownHorn 15243

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Gourmand said:

Astros offensive MLB ranking:

AVG: 1st

RUNs: 2nd

OBP: 3rd

SLUG: 2nd

OPS: 2nd

OPS+ 1st

RBI: 1st

HITS: 2nd

Ks: 1st

 

 

spacer.png

 

and what's crazy is they just completed a sweep which saw them leave what seemed like 10+ runners in scoring position in every game.

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HtownHorn

HtownHorn 15243

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Gourmand said:

With Odorizzi and Valdez coming back within a matter of three weeks or so and Urquidy back soon as well, the Astros pitching situation shapes up very well and looks like a surly 1% problem. 

Rotation:

Greinke/McCullers/Framber/Urquidy/Odorizzi

Bullpen: Garcia, Javier, Abreu, Emanuel, Stanek, Raley, Smith, Pressly, Bielak, Scrubb, Paredes.

That's not even including Josh James in the equation either. Assuming mostly full health in the upcoming weeks, who gets sent down to AAA? I hate the thought of Luis Garcia wasting away in AAA but we have to keep him sharp.

Crazy to even consider a guy that put up a 21 inning scoreless streak as a starter is going to the bullpen once everyone is healthy.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9790

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Lat22 said:

Minute Maid going to 100% capacity starting with Dodgers series. 

And now for a little probable starter speculation fun.

Dodgers are lining up to have Kershaw game 1 and Bauer game 2.

If Urquidy isn’t ready by next week and we stick with a 4 man rotation with the off days today and next Monday, Garcia game 1 and.... LMJ game 2.

Lance vs Tyler. LFG.

 

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9790

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Scraps said:

May 30th day/night doubleheader....Astros/Padres then Sugar Land/Isotopes

Who's coming with me!
 

I’ll let you scout those two. I’ll be on the Hooks beat in Corpus against the Sod Poodles that night.

but speaking of Astros/Padres, eyeing flights for Labor Day weekend if anyone else finds themselves out there. Stros play in Seattle the series before and flights are so cheap from Seattle to San Diego kicking around flying up for the Mariners series first.

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 78475

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:

I’ll let you scout those two. I’ll be on the Hooks beat in Corpus against the Sod Poodles that night.

but speaking of Astros/Padres, eyeing flights for Labor Day weekend if anyone else finds themselves out there. Stros play in Seattle the series before and flights are so cheap from Seattle to San Diego kicking around flying up for the Mariners series first.

 

if im in corpus, im all in !

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