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2022 Houston Astros Thread

Planet Houston

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Txslnghrns
Txslnghrns

Fuk Houston.

We’reTexas
We’reTexas
gurt
gurt

This postseason has become more sentimental for me and my wife's family.  My father in law is the biggest Astros fan I know.  He watches every game without fail, even DVRing them if he can't watch liv

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The Dog

The Dog 43807

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14 minutes ago, Scraps said:

If we are pitching to Harper with the game on the line then everyone in the organization should be fired.

Padres did this like dumbasses and sealed their fate.

Just walk him

The dumbass thing Melvin did was to not bring in Hader. 

I mean you traded for the guy for situations just like that only to not use him. Channeling Dave Roberts against Juan Soto in 2019.

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29177

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just scrolling through twitter the past couple days, and reading a lot of:

"you can tell a lot of the guys are frustrated, and some just don't want to be here"

"getting booed by your own fans is something that's tough to deal with"

"the losses are unacceptable, especially when considering the high expectations"

"we need to make changes but we're stuck with a lot of these problems for a long time"

aggy and yankee twitter are having simultaneous meltdowns, and i am here for it.

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WBT

WBT 20422

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3 hours ago, Scraps said:

If we are pitching to Harper with the game on the line then everyone in the organization should be fired.

Padres did this like dumbasses and sealed their fate.

Just walk him

The Padres were up 3-2 with a runner on 1st and no outs in the 8th.  You have to pitch to him there.  You can't push the tying run to scoring position and put the winning run on base.

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29177

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3 minutes ago, WBT said:

The Padres were up 3-2 with a runner on 1st and no outs in the 8th.  You have to pitch to him there.  You can't push the tying run to scoring position and put the winning run on base.

down the stretch and in the postseason, the padres had one dependable lights-out reliever, and it was hader.  it was a must-win game and they should've brought him in even if it meant bringing in a lesser rp for the 9th.  their team had a glaring deficiency and that's one of the reasons they lost.  

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Starfleet Command

Starfleet Command 441

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3 hours ago, Seasick Sailor said:

The thought of Smith facing Harper or Schwarber with the game on line terrifies me. 

Smith should be fine against LHB although he's pretty mediocre against RHB.  Harper has been hot in the post-season but people forget that Judge is the superior hitter.  Moreover, simply because a player was hot in the LDS/LCS doesn't mean anything with respect to how they will play in the WS.  Alvarez is also superior to Harper and looked unstoppable in the ALDS only to have a pretty mediocre ALCS.

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Scraps

Scraps 13542

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27 minutes ago, WBT said:

The Padres were up 3-2 with a runner on 1st and no outs in the 8th.  You have to pitch to him there.  You can't push the tying run to scoring position and put the winning run on base.

I don't agree.  Tying run was already in scoring position with Harper up.   Especially with Castellanos batting behind him who has been hot garbage.  

 

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29177

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there was some chatter on mlb radio last night about the thought of splitting up nola and wheeler and having one start g3 in philly.  their rotation is very similar to cleveland's, imo, but thank god their bullpen isn't as good.  the argument was that if you throw your two aces and lose both, then you're facing pitching clear disadvantages in g3 and g4, even though you're at home.  and if you go down 0-2, even if you split the next 2, you're in relatively deep deuce.

on the flipside of that, i wonder alike if lance isn't better suited for a g2 at home.  you could go jv-lmj-day off-framber-javier-jv-day off-lmj-framber.  that gives you jv and framber in all the big swing games (the odd numbered games) and gives lance two home starts, where he kicks ass.  it might be getting too cute, but i think it gives you an advantage if you're expecting a longer series.

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Ojo Rojo

Ojo Rojo 1906

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1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

just scrolling through twitter the past couple days, and reading a lot of:

"you can tell a lot of the guys are frustrated, and some just don't want to be here"

"getting booed by your own fans is something that's tough to deal with"

"the losses are unacceptable, especially when considering the high expectations"

"we need to make changes but we're stuck with a lot of these problems for a long time"

aggy and yankee twitter are having simultaneous meltdowns, and i am here for it.

I thought these were Phillies players from May.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9380

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11 minutes ago, Scraps said:

.   Especially with Castellanos batting behind him who has been hot garbage.  

 

This is a (maybe “the”) key to the series for me.

If they don’t move around their top 4 (Schwarber, Hoskins, Realmuto, Harper)—and why would they, Harper shouldn’t see shit to hit with Castellanos behind him.

i know Yordan bats 3rd vs 4th Harper, but so glad to have Bregs behind him… and tucker behind Bregs.

 

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Scraps

Scraps 13542

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This is a (maybe “the”) key to the series for me.
If they don’t move around their top 4 (Schwarber, Hoskins, Realmuto, Harper)—and why would they, Harper shouldn’t see shit to hit with Castellanos behind him.
i know Yordan bats 3rd vs 4th Harper, but so glad to have Bregs behind him… and tucker behind Bregs.
 
Yeah anyone can get hot, but castellanos/bohm don't do it enough for me to give Bryce good pitches in key situations
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WBT

WBT 20422

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1 hour ago, Scraps said:

I don't agree.  Tying run was already in scoring position with Harper up.   Especially with Castellanos batting behind him who has been hot garbage.  

 

I see that side of it too but I just hate giving free baserunners.  Judge was supposed to be that guy for the Yankees and we attacked him all series and he went 1 for 16.

With 2 outs I'd be more inclined to pitch around or walk him but with nobody out, I'd rather take my chances with Harper than give them 3 shots where a single ties the game.

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Js1

Js1 85110

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55 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

there was some chatter on mlb radio last night about the thought of splitting up nola and wheeler and having one start g3 in philly.  their rotation is very similar to cleveland's, imo, but thank god their bullpen isn't as good.  the argument was that if you throw your two aces and lose both, then you're facing pitching clear disadvantages in g3 and g4, even though you're at home.  and if you go down 0-2, even if you split the next 2, you're in relatively deep deuce.

on the flipside of that, i wonder alike if lance isn't better suited for a g2 at home.  you could go jv-lmj-day off-framber-javier-jv-day off-lmj-framber.  that gives you jv and framber in all the big swing games (the odd numbered games) and gives lance two home starts, where he kicks ass.  it might be getting too cute, but i think it gives you an advantage if you're expecting a longer series.

I would also prefer LMJ at home 

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WBT

WBT 20422

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From The Athletic...where's Stanek?

Spoiler

How the story of Astros bullpen can be told by who isn’t pitching

Houston Astros relief pitcher Ryne Stanek (45) delivers against the New York Yankees during the seventh inning of Game 3 of an American League Championship baseball series, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
By Sam Blum
Oct 25, 2022

14

NEW YORK — Coming into the postseason, Ryne Stanek was one of the most elite relief pitchers in baseball. He posted an 0.98 ERA in mostly leverage situations over the final two months of the regular season.

Those statistics don’t lie. The Astros’ righty reliever walked a few too many but hardly ever let anyone score.

So when it was the middle of the American League Championship Series and Stanek had only made one postseason appearance — out of necessity in an 18-inning affair — Houston manager Dusty Baker decided to have a conversation with his reliever.

“He came up to me,” Stanek said Saturday. “But I think it was more because other people had been making it a bigger deal than we made it. I know how it goes. Just sometimes the game doesn’t flow in the direction to get me in. Yeah, I’d love to pitch every game. But that’s not how baseball works.”

But in theory, the games have flowed in the direction of Stanek. The Astros have had many close, late leads. That’s a perfect time for a pitcher with a 1.15 ERA during the regular season and a 3.02 FIP who strikes out more than a batter an inning. It’s particularly true for a pitcher in a bullpen lacking a lefty and who has reverse splits to typically dominate lefty batters.

 

But the Astros bullpen has been so good, and the postseason roles are more defined. Hector Neris first out of the pen. Then Bryan Abreu. There’s Rafael Montero for the eighth. And closer Ryan Pressley for the ninth inning. It’s been formulaic and effective. No reason, as of yet, for Stanek to shift the thinking.

Stanek has now pitched in two games in these playoffs. He has four strikeouts in two innings. No batters have reached. The 31-year-old pitched in nearly every game of the 2021 postseason. He missed just three of their 16 games. That has not been the case this time around.

“He’ll get in there, big-time,” Baker said in the middle of the ALCS. “And I talked to him about it. I just said, you know, you can’t pitch everybody all the time, and our starters have been doing so well. But I got to get him in there in order to keep him sharp.”

Stanek’s batting average against lefties this season was .175. He allowed just two home runs.

It’s likely that his 31 walks in 54 2/3 innings are what’s cut him out of the regular rotation this postseason. Every other number is elite. He allowed just 36 hits. His whiff rate was 10 percent higher than the league average. It’s just that his pitches were in the zone six percent less than the league average, as well.

That slight uncertainty, combined with a wealth of options in the Astros pen, have combined for a diminished role in the playoffs.

“It’s not been for any lack of trying,” Stanek said of not getting in games. “I don’t really look much into it. Because everybody’s throwing the ball good. There’s no story to be made of it. The bullpen’s been very good. It’s been a strong point for us all year.”

He’s mostly correct. Though it’s not a total non-story. The story is that a pitcher with his numbers somehow found his way out of a standardized role. Not because he failed in any way. But because there are somehow four or five guys who are even more reliable.

It’s not just Stanek. Take, for example, Will Smith. He came to the Astros from Atlanta mid-season and posted a 3.27 ERA with four walks in 22 innings. His reward? Not even making the playoff roster, despite being the only lefty reliever.

Then there’s Seth Martinez. He had a 2.09 ERA and allowed 26 hits in 38 2/3 innings with an ERA plus of 185. That’s 85 percent better than the league average. He didn’t make the postseason roster in the ALDS. And then he didn’t appear in an ALCS game. We’ll see if he makes the World Series roster.

There are several more examples. The story of the Astros’ bullpen depth can be told through the lens of who isn’t pitching.

“The bullpen is probably, if not the best, one of the best bullpens I’ve been a part of,” Astros ace Justin Verlander said. “Just really impressive. You see how hard it is to score runs against us … and that makes it a lot easier to win baseball games.”

Stanek may very well find himself in an important, high-leverage moment in the World Series. Houston has had an incredible stretch of late leads that allow for a clean runway to a win. The postseason typically isn’t that simple.

This elite Houston pen will almost certainly be tested at some point. And Stanek is the ultimate evidence of just how deep and ready for that moment this team is when the time comes.

 

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runthebone

runthebone 7932

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Shouldn't add Smith.  Wouldn't trust him over any of these guys v. a LHB (OPS), especially if he has to face 3 batters:

Neris          RHB .617     LHB .538

Abreu        RHB .642     LHB .494

Montero    RHB .560     LHB .507

Stanek      RHB .594     LHB .501

Pressly      RHB .520     LHB .512

 

Smith        RHB .854     LHB .637

 

If you're wondering about:

Martinez   RHB .394     LHB .777

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