2022 Houston Astros Thread

[DallasGatr 216]

Remember when the primary gripe about the organization was the lack of development from starting pitchers? I think the Astros have overcome that issue.

[rvm96 1643]

I still am shocked how well Garcia has done seeing as he never pitched above A+ before getting called up 3 years ago

[billfromlaketravis 11524]

Javier has what, 27 strike outs in the past 2 games. Those dumb asses on 790 called him a piggy back starter in the playoffs a few days ago. Uh, no. The guy has number 1 stuff. 

[runthebone 8047]

If we can get the Pretty Good Odor and LMJ back, then we might be able to win the AL West like the mighty 2020 Oakland A's did.

[rvm96 1643]

Any chance we trade one of the pitchers to a contender for prospects?

[TonyTexas 10530]

7 hours ago, Scraps said:

I don't think anyone has posted this but Tony will freak out and let us know if someone did but i will take my chances:

Lulz. I’m the one freaking out?

[Wulaw Horn 19152]

53 minutes ago, rvm96 said:

Any chance we trade one of the pitchers to a contender for prospects?

It’s been my dream to do that with Odo since the moment after I learned we signed him. Crossing fingers and hoping. 

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

It’s been my dream to do that with Odo since the moment after I learned we signed him. Crossing fingers and hoping. 

That would certainly be the candidate I would favor losing.

In the current staff there are zero starters where you see the matchup for the day and just figure Houston will have to just get lucky to win.  It has been awesome and it's hard to imagine disrupting it now. Yuli has been flashing glimpses of finding himself again.  Are we giving up starting pitching for a back-up catcher? 1b offensive production and backup catcher are the glaring deficiencies, no?

  It sounds pretty damned expensive, with regard to roster capital, if it includes dealing a current SP..

Edited July 2, 2022 by slorch

[Wulaw Horn 19152]

8 minutes ago, slorch said:

That would certainly be the candidate I would favor losing.

In the current staff there are zero starters where you see the matchup for the day and just figure Houston will have to just get lucky to win.  It has been awesome and it's hard to imagine disrupting it now. Yuli has been flashing glimpses of finding himself again.  Are we giving up starting pitching for a back-up catcher? 1b offensive production and backup catcher are the glaring deficiencies, no?

  It sounds pretty damned expensive, with regard to roster capital, if it includes dealing a current SP..

Odo for a  lotto ticket and another organizations 10th or 15th best prospect seems fair. 

[Gut Wagon 8087]

1 hour ago, rvm96 said:

Any chance we trade one of the pitchers to a contender for prospects?

The Angels evidently need pitching. But I don't know that I want any of their hitters, because it appears all they coach them to do is strike out. 

[ChickenSandwich 9853]

Odo, Whitley, Meyers

for 

G Springer 

[Dennis Taylor 18874]

How fucking terrible would the angels be if they didn't have the two greatest players in the history of the game ?

 

[Guest]

bout .350

[rvm96 1643]

41 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Odo for a  lotto ticket and another organizations 10th or 15th best prospect seems fair. 

Hopefully he looks good in his return

[henrygandorf 29194]

6 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Javier has what, 27 strike outs in the past 2 games. Those dumb asses on 790 called him a piggy back starter in the playoffs a few days ago. Uh, no. The guy has number 1 stuff. 

he’s got the stuff to slot anywhere and great teams need that nasty bullpen arm who can get you 4-9 outs. odorizzi doesn’t have that versatility. javier does. lmj does.

we have some good problems but they are still problems to sort out if/when everybody is healthy.

also consider in the playoffs you need a 4-man at most. assuming cj sticks, who goes where?  g4 looks like a tandem situation could work, maybe garcia/urquidy?

we’re still in a situation with 4-5+ reliable bullpen arms and probably don’t have enough innings for them. get our hitters healthy and it’s all academic. 

[Wulaw Horn 19152]

3 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

he’s got the stuff to slot anywhere and great teams need that nasty bullpen arm who can get you 4-9 outs. odorizzi doesn’t have that versatility. javier does. lmj does.

we have some good problems but they are still problems to sort out if/when everybody is healthy.

also consider in the playoffs you need a 4-man at most. assuming cj sticks, who goes where?  g4 looks like a tandem situation could work, maybe garcia/urquidy?

we’re still in a situation with 4-5+ reliable bullpen arms and probably don’t have enough innings for them. get our hitters healthy and it’s all academic. 

If everyone is healthy (and no trades  are made) this is my ideal roster for the playoffs:

Starters: JV, Framber, Javier, LMJ

Pen:  Presley, Montero, Garcia, Stanek, Nerris, Abreu, Urquidy, Brown (Maton if Brown doesn’t look ready in August and September)

Maldy/Lee/Diaz

yuli, Altuve, Peña, Bregman, Diaz 

Yordan, Brantley, Meyers, Tucker, Chaz, Siri. 
 

That’s about a perfect playoff roster. Chaz and Diaz and Diaz are your pinch hitters/ emergency catcher replacements for Maldy and Castro. Siri is your defensive replacement/PR for Brantley. Nobody else needs ever be PH for. There’s not a single guy on the roster as a pitcher that you wouldn’t trust, except maybe Maton/Brown who would likely never see action unless they are just dominating. That’s about a perfect post season roster if Yuli gets back to above average offensively. 

[henrygandorf 29194]

so odorizzi, castro, and maton get left off. not mad at that. did you mean dubon instead of diaz?  you listed diaz twice. 

Edited July 2, 2022 by henrygandorf

[Storm the Field 5302]

14 hours ago, Guadaloopy said:

That was squared up.  Not too worried about Shohei or Trout solos shots, though.  

[tx 3 putt 77449]

23 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

If everyone is healthy (and no trades  are made) this is my ideal roster for the playoffs:

Starters: JV, Framber, Javier, LMJ

Pen:  Presley, Montero, Garcia, Stanek, Nerris, Abreu, Urquidy, Brown (Maton if Brown doesn’t look ready in August and September)

Maldy/Lee/Diaz

yuli, Altuve, Peña, Bregman, Diaz 

Yordan, Brantley, Meyers, Tucker, Chaz, Siri. 
 

That’s about a perfect playoff roster. Chaz and Diaz and Diaz are your pinch hitters/ emergency catcher replacements for Maldy and Castro. Siri is your defensive replacement/PR for Brantley. Nobody else needs ever be PH for. There’s not a single guy on the roster as a pitcher that you wouldn’t trust, except maybe Maton/Brown who would likely never see action unless they are just dominating. That’s about a perfect post season roster if Yuli gets back to above average offensively. 

we’re not carrying 3 catchers. Maldy is catching all the games. Maton is in the roster, not brown 

Edited July 2, 2022 by tx 3 putt

[Gut Wagon 8087]

7 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

Dare we overlook Taylor Ward, who in April was being way prematurely ballyhooed as the new best hitter in Anaheim and the leader of an unstoppable offense that would crush every opponent through October? Hopefully that narrative now is as dead as the Halos' season. 

[Storm the Field 5302]

If you check Twitter or Reddit, you'll see that "Tungsten Arm" has become a semi-official nickname for Ohtani. The Angels beat writers have even adopted it.

 

[billfromlaketravis 11524]

I'll tolerate the Tungsten Arm nickname. 

If somebody compares Trout to the Mick again, I will be ragey. The Mick won had 6 World Series rings by the age of 30. Trout at the same age has played in THREE postseason games. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I'll tolerate the Tungsten Arm nickname. 

If somebody compares Trout to the Mick again, I will be ragey. The Mick won had 6 World Series rings by the age of 30. Trout at the same age has played in THREE postseason games. 

Ernie Banks sucked.

[billfromlaketravis 11524]

1 minute ago, slorch said:

Ernie Banks sucked.

Jeff Trout has entered the chat. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Jeff Trout has entered the chat. 

Lol. Not hardly.   Not a Trout fan or hater. I appreciate how he plays the game.  WS appearances and championships are such an arbitrary measure of baseball greatness at the individual level. 
 

Robert Horry  has to be on one of the best NBA players ever right?

Edited July 2, 2022 by slorch

[ChickenSandwich 9853]

7 minutes ago, slorch said:

Lol. Not hardly.   Not a Trout fan or hater. I appreciate how he plays the game.  WS appearances and championships are such an arbitrary measure of baseball greatness at the individual level. 
 

Robert Horry  has to be on one of the best NBA players ever right?

I would say a variable to that is putting up big numbers on shitty teams. 
 

Not saying he’s not great but no one mentions Westbrook when listing the goats even though he averaged a 3/2 for a season. 
 

 

Edited July 2, 2022 by ChickenSandwich

[Guest]

And baseball it’s even harder to put up big numbers on shitty teams. You get fewer at-bats, fewer runners in scoring position, and just overall offensive opportunities.

that’s why it’s laughable to tie Mickey Mantle’s greatness in with the World Series appearances and championships, when those teams were loaded.  And that’s not a shot at Mickey Mantle, but using those factors as measures of greatness. If you wanna talk about individual at bats, defensiveplays or clutch moments of greatness, then that’s a different discussion

Edited July 2, 2022 by slorch

[henrygandorf 29194]

 

[UTexasFight 9528]

4 hours ago, rvm96 said:

Any chance we trade one of the pitchers to a contender for prospects?

When is the last time a World Series contender (favorite?) on July 1 traded a starter contributing to said contending status for prospects?

1) It may not be rule #1 for winning a World Series but it’s gotta be pretty high: you can never have too much pitching 

2) I don’t think you can risk making your competition better (and who else would be interested in trading for a starter that could help this year)?

3) ~3 month gap between August 2 trade deadline and Nov 7 game 7 of World Series: that’s an eternity for potential injuries/next man up needs.

[UTexasFight 9528]

4 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

 

Picked the right shirt to wear today:

 

[Scraps 13581]

 

Full lineup

[Scraps 13581]

Tapa dp

[UTexasFight 9528]

1 minute ago, Scraps said:

Full lineup
 

Pena/Alvarez a little too close for comfort in that lineup…

Edited July 2, 2022 by UTexasFight

[tx 3 putt 77449]

9 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

 

 

[billfromlaketravis 11524]

1 minute ago, Scraps said:

Full lineup
 

Sans Brantley, that's the ideal lineup. I've accepted Maldy playing every day. 

[tx 3 putt 77449]

3 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Sans Brantley, that's the ideal lineup. I've accepted Maldy playing every day. 

he’s catching every playoff game 

[Gourmand 7774]

It never ceases to amaze me how so many Astros fans react to Machete's bat in the lineup. He is an essential starter and key leader on this team and all the bitching they do about his OPS just makes them look like they haven't been paying attention to Astros pitching the last few years. You have to be a fucking fool to think he isn't a key factor in the overall performance of the  Astros pitching staff. 

[LCHorn 2632]

3 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Odo for a  lotto ticket and another organizations 10th or 15th best prospect seems fair. 

If that’s the return I’d rather keep him for the inevitable injury or innings management to come later in the season.  

[tx 3 putt 77449]

9 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

It never ceases to amaze me how so many Astros fans react to Machete's bat in the lineup. He is an essential starter and key leader on this team and all the bitching they do about his OPS just makes them look like they haven't been paying attention to Astros pitching the last few years. You have to be a fucking fool to think he isn't a key factor in the overall performance of the  Astros pitching staff. 

go find the video of the pitchers meeting before the Mets game in ny. It was pretty much machete doing all the talking. Verlander was in front, and had all eyes on him. He runs the the pitching staff 

[Planet Houston 4930]

10 hours ago, DallasGatr said:

Remember when the primary gripe about the organization was the lack of development from starting pitchers? I think the Astros have overcome that issue.

Remember when people freaked out and said things must be rotten on Crawford Ave. when Strommy left and then went to AZ? Me neither. 

[rvm96 1643]

33 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

When is the last time a World Series contender (favorite?) on July 1 traded a starter contributing to said contending status for prospects?

1) It may not be rule #1 for winning a World Series but it’s gotta be pretty high: you can never have too much pitching 

2) I don’t think you can risk making your competition better (and who else would be interested in trading for a starter that could help this year)?

3) ~3 month gap between August 2 trade deadline and Nov 7 game 7 of World Series: that’s an eternity for potential injuries/next man up needs.

Alright I will dunk on you with a trade from last year. The Tampa Bay Rays traded away Rich Hill aka Dick Mountain after starting 19 games for them. 

[kevwun 15920]

Brown is going to be at his innings limit by the time the playoffs roll around.  Also, his main issue is control which ain't ideal coming out of the bullpen in the playoffs.

[henrygandorf 29194]

31 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Sans Brantley, that's the ideal lineup. I've accepted Maldy playing every day. 

with the rest of the lineup intact, maldy’s bat is fine. he should hit 8th though, put more speed at 9 like meyers before altuve. also like tuck at 2 but whatevs. 

[henrygandorf 29194]

 

[HtownHorn 14783]

32 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

It never ceases to amaze me how so many Astros fans react to Machete's bat in the lineup. He is an essential starter and key leader on this team and all the bitching they do about his OPS just makes them look like they haven't been paying attention to Astros pitching the last few years. You have to be a fucking fool to think he isn't a key factor in the overall performance of the  Astros pitching staff. 

It's not that Maldonado is in the lineup, it's that Baker doesn't maximize his offensive value at all. He should be leading the league in SHs, because he comes up with runners on base all the time, and fails miserably to do anything positive most of the time.

[UTPhil2006 3816]

34 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

If that’s the return I’d rather keep him for the inevitable injury or innings management to come later in the season.  

We are highly highly highly unlikely to trade him. Plus remember we were damn close to DFA him in May 

[rvm96 1643]

5 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

It's not that Maldonado is in the lineup, it's that Baker doesn't maximize his offensive value at all. He should be leading the league in SHs, because he comes up with runners on base all the time, and fails miserably to do anything positive most of the time.

I would like to stick up for Machete here. He does work counts very well. For example he earned a walk to load the bases for Altuve in NY last weekend, but the ump screwed him

[UTexasFight 9528]

49 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

It never ceases to amaze me how so many Astros fans react to Machete's bat in the lineup. He is an essential starter and key leader on this team and all the bitching they do about his OPS just makes them look like they haven't been paying attention to Astros pitching the last few years. You have to be a fucking fool to think he isn't a key factor in the overall performance of the  Astros pitching staff. 

Yeah but it would be nice if he could bunt when jake/Chas get on ahead of him to lead off an inning so Altuve could improve on his 15 HR/ 26 RBI ratio 

[UTexasFight 9528]

18 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

It's not that Maldonado is in the lineup, it's that Baker doesn't maximize his offensive value at all. He should be leading the league in SHs, because he comes up with runners on base all the time, and fails miserably to do anything positive most of the time.

This. Beat me to it

[UTexasFight 9528]

20 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

 

I wouldn’t want the pressure of starting a game 7 in the World Series with the cost of a new mattress hanging in the balance, but fully expect Framber to be more than up to the task