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2022 Houston Astros Thread


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3 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

yeah, it's 1pm local and the whole stadium will probably be in the sun for most of the game.  i would say find tickets in the back of the lowest/2nd lowest section so you can get under the overhang for shade.

This is the correct answer.  Shade from the overhang is essential for day games here.  

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also you should be aware that any deviation from the normal 71-74 degree days and 62-65 degree nights send southern californians into a sudden and alarmed sense of confusion.

when it's this hot, or god forbid it rains, we collapse into thunderdome-style post-apocalyptic mayhem.  prepare to hear all about it from your uber driver or waiter, to random people on the street.  last time it rained, people basically sheltered in place.  drama queens, all of us.

the local news last night was like, "four people murdered near hancock park, but first, it's realy hot outside, right?"

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1 hour ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Hint- they don't do ice very well either.  Hell, I have no idea if they have ever had ice in SoCal.  When we'd get it occasionally in NorCal it wasn't handled well either. 

oh ice would send us over the edge.

it also doesn't thunder here, which is strange.  even when it rains, nothing.  it thunders like twice a decade and people lose their minds on twitter.

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a day old but some good info on injury updates

aledmys sounds closer than I expected

Pressly sounds like whoever it was that pointed out the last time an Astros had a neck soreness (Keuchel) he missed over a month. 

 

Spoiler

LATEST NEWS

Sept. 1: RHP Hunter Brown and C Yainer Diaz selected to Major League roster
Brown, the Astros' No 1-ranked prospectby MLB Pipeline, and Diaz, ranked No. 3, were the two players the Astros added to the roster on Sept. 1. Brown joined the team Tuesday in Arlington as a member of the taxi squad and will be active for Friday's game in Anaheim. Diaz flew to Anaheim on Thursday.

Brown had a 2.55 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, .186 opponents' batting average and 134 strikeouts over 106 innings in 23 games (14 starts) for Triple-A Sugar Land. In preparation for his role with Houston, Brown was brought into Sunday’s game in relief in the middle of an inning for the Space Cowboys. He came out firing at 99-plus mph and threw 3 1/3 hitless innings.

 

Diaz, who can also play some first base, slashed .306/.356/.542 combined at Double-A and Triple-A this year, with 25 homers and 96 RBIs in 105 games.

Sept. 1: RHP Peter Solomon and INF Niko Goodrum designated for assignment
Needing two spots on their 40-man roster for Brown and Diaz, the Astros DFA'dSolomon and Goodrum, both of whom must clear waivers to stay in the organization. Solomon's stock dropped dramatically this season after he posted a 5.20 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 23 games at Triple-A, plummeting to No. 28 in the midseason organizational Top 30 after starting the year ranked seventh. The Astros signed Goodrum for $2.1 million to be their utility infielder, but sent him to the Minors in May after he struck out 23 times in 45 plate appearances.

INJURY UPDATES

Day to day

DH/LF Yordan Alvarez out of lineup with hand issue
Alvarez was out of the lineup for the third consecutive game Aug. 31 at Texas while he deals with injuries to both hands, manager Dusty Baker said. Alvarez, who struggled in August with a .638 OPS, was on the IL in June with right hand inflammation and recently has been dealing with left hand problems.

“It’s something that has crept up a little bit recently," general manager James Click said. "We just felt like giving him a day off was a good chance to get ahead of it, get a look at him. But our hope is that, similar to what he was battling, this is with the other hand and it will be relatively short-term. If he’s not available today, I fully expect him to be available tomorrow.” (Last updated: Aug. 31)

OF Chas McCormick out of lineup with sore pinkie
McCormick is day to day with a sore right pinkie. He dislocated the finger diving into first base on Aug. 24 and was scratched from the lineup Aug. 31. McCormick could return for the Sept. 2 game against the Angels in Anaheim. (Last updated: Aug. 31)

10-day and 15-day injured lists

RHP Justin Verlander (right calf)
Expected return
: Mid-September
Verlander is expected to return before the end of the regular season, though the club hasn't given an official timetable for an injury suffered Aug. 28. An MRI performed Aug. 29 revealed fascial disruption, but no muscle fiber disruption, which was positive news, the team said. Verlander has gone 16-3 with a Major League-best 1.84 ERA in 24 starts this season and is considered by many to be the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award.

 

While there is no timetable for his next baseball activity, he added that “each day when I wake up and get out of bed, it’s like, ‘OK, I feel like I can walk a little more normal today without any pain.’ And that’s happening very quickly." (Last updated: Sept. 1)

INF/OF Aledmys Díaz (left groin discomfort)
Expected return:
 Early September
Díaz, who injured his left groin trying to catch a fly ball on Aug. 16, began running at 70 percent effort and fielding grounders on Aug. 26 with no issue and pushed it even more while doing drills on the field on Aug. 28. He's not expected to return until at least the beginning of the next homestand Sept. 5. (Last updated: Aug. 30)

RHP Ryan Pressly (neck spasms)
Expected return:
 TBD
Pressly, who hasn't pitched since picking up his 25th save of the season Aug. 21 against Atlanta, was placed on the 15-day injured list with neck spasms on Aug. 25 (retroactive to Aug. 22). Manager Dusty Baker said the Astros have several options to close out games in Pressly's absence, including Rafael Montero, Héctor Neris and Will Smith. (Last updated: Aug. 25

 

 

 

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Thursday the Astros made it official and added Yainer Diaz to the active 28-man roster with Hunter Brown. We showed several likely DFA candidates in our roster article here and Goodrum and Solomon were DFAed to make space for the two prospects on the 40-man roster. Yainer Diaz, 23, is the third rated prospect in the Astros system. He was acquired with Phil Maton in the Myles Straw trade and he has performed at every level as he has gone through the minors. Prospect Ratings Fangraphs- #3 Astros Baseball America- #2 Astros MLB Pipeline- #3 Astros Yainer Diaz has been one of the fastest rising Astros prospects this year. Specifically Diaz's prospect profile from each is Fangraphs Hitting: 40 | Game Power: 40 | Raw Power: 60 | Speed: 20 | Fielding: 45 | Overall: 45 Baseball America Hitting: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 30 | Fielding: 45 | Arm: 55 | Overall: 50 MLB Pipeline Hitting: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 35 | Fielding: 50 | Arm: 60 | Overall: 50 Diaz has surpassed Lee as the top catching prospect in the Astros system. One area that really surprised me is how much these prospect scouts like Diaz's defense and his arm. Don't buy in to an expectation that Diaz will be terrible defensively. How good will he be? First, let's talk about how Diaz has been employed defensively especially in 2022. Here is the game started table.

 
5b1fbf_1430830e33914e2a948ebf5382ce645b~
 
 
 

Diaz has played more and more 1B this year than he has in the past. This was due to sharing playing time with Korey Lee at catcher. Let's assume to contextualize an answer to how good Diaz will be we compare to both catchers AND first basemen. To answer the question, I averaged what the projection systems are calculating for Diaz in 2022 and compared that to: - The current Astros catcher, first base, and combination of catcher and first base- these numbers would be better forward than the whole season numbers are due to the additions of Vazquez and Mancini but at least this compares Diaz to what we have had at the two positions to this point - MLB average catcher - MLB average first base - MLB average catcher and first base combined - Christian Vazquez

 
5b1fbf_43c66fa09d7541bea151a86a3c619860~
 
 
 

Don't get lost in the numbers. Use our heat map standard rules (red is good, blue isn't). Diaz projects to

 
  • not draw as many walks as any of the other groups

  • strike out less than any of the groups except Astros 1B with Yuli who we know does not strike out much

  • match almost exactly the average MLB C and 1B on OPS and wOBA. Pause on this. This is saying that Yainer Diaz will hit like the average of all Catchers and First Basemen in the MLB in the FIRST month of his career

  • be BETTER than the average MLB catcher significantly

  • be better than than what the Astros have had at both C and 1B in 2022 so far by a LOT

  • be about ten percent worse this month than Christian Vazquez who has been a near All-Star level catcher

So yeah read those bullet points again and if you don't get excited for what Yainer Diaz can do, I can't help you. Needless to say this is a REALLY GOOD catcher/ first baseman. Why now? The Astros actually got a little lucky with Yainer Diaz already in that the team DID NOT protect him from the 2021 Rule 5 draft. That is because the 2021 Rule 5 draft got cancelled in the CBA negotiations. If it happened, the team would have VERY likely lost him and we would not be seeing Diaz on the Astros. Diaz can help this team. Let's talk about how. How will the Astros use Yainer Diaz this year? Will he be on the postseason roster? First, as stated I think Diaz can help this team. Dusty Baker is slow to accept how players he does not know can be used or should be used. I would like to hear how Dusty plans to use Diaz before I dream too big. I expect Diaz will be used mainly as a pinch hitter in September. I do think Dusty is going to be more open to playing Diaz at first than he has Mancini. Mancini in 23 games played in the last month has only played first base THREE times and he hasn't since 8/14. Perhaps Yainer Diaz will get more starts at first to give Yuli some rest. From a catching stand point I suspect Diaz is more likely to be available as an emergency catcher. If in a game the Astros want to pinch hit for Maldy, they can now do so without worrying about what happens if Vazquez got hurt. I think this SHOULD mean more PH opportunities for Maldy earlier in games, Not sure if that will happen. I suspect there will be less than a handful of catching starts for Diaz. Vazquez REALLY needs time with many of the pitchers on this staff although Diaz would know Hunter Brown better than Maldy and Vazquez. The same could be said for Brandon Bielak and Seth Martinez. It is possible Diaz also gets a start in LF as well, but I see that as less likely than 1B or C. The other factor for Yainer Diaz's playing time is also Aledmys Diaz's injury recovery. If Aledmys is not going to be available the rest of the year expect Yainer to get more opportunities in LF and 1B. Unless Yainer Diaz fails as a hitter in his September opportunities I DO expect him to be on post season roster due to the flexibility he provides defensively. An average bat that can catch, play first, and play in the corner outfields is VERY valuable to a team. Welcome to the Astros Yainer Diaz! Don't worry about Astros Twitter. I will have your back. Media members including bloggers and podcasters- BEFORE you share this content you must get permission at larrythegm@gmail.com. You must also encourage folks to subscribe to LarryTheGM.com when you do. Subscribers, PLEASE leave your comments here or in the chat. If you liked this article or any of the others here, you really should subscribe to LarryTheGM.com (Below the header and above the articles). You will get notified of new content and you can use the chat feature.

 

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6 minutes ago, Scraps said:

Out of the last 34 AL players of the month, Houston has 9 of them 

Altuve twice

Bregman three

Correa

Yuli

Tucker

Yordan 

 

(Yankees have 2nd most at 7 during that time frame) 

Check that Bregman has won it 3 times now...missed one of them in 2018.  So we have 9 of the last 34 

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