2023 Houston Astros Thread

[Wulaw Horn 19073]

2 minutes ago, hornmpa96 said:

Chazzy Fizz

Got better looking every time I saw it. 

[Honeysucklerose 990]

Are people starting to boo Abreu??? Good.

[kevwun 15790]

In his last 2 at bats, Abreu has looked like what the average surlyite would like facing an MLB pitcher.  Completely over-matched and just flailing at the ball.

[tx 3 putt 76980]

Quincy Hamilton with a 3 run HR

altuve 0’fer 

if the hooks hit the foul pole for a hr in the bottom of the 6th, they’re handing out $5000 in H‑E‑B gift cards 

[Rockethorn1978 6087]

Sounds like altuve is picking up where he left off in the playoffs.

[Wulaw Horn 19073]

3 minutes ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

Sounds like altuve is picking up where he left off in the playoffs.

Wasn’t he awful in spring training too?  

[Wulaw Horn 19073]

Maldy continues to lead the world in 4 pitch walks which is just bizarre. 

[billfromlaketravis 11488]

So Dubs needs to stay in the lineup when the little guy returns. Please discuss. 

[hornmpa96 2618]

2 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

So Dubs needs to stay in the lineup when the little guy returns. Please discuss. 

I think he plays the Marwin role. Gives various regulars a day off and plays 4/5 days a week in different positions. Hopefully he’s figured out how to be an average major league hitter.

[tx 3 putt 76980]

19 minutes ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

Sounds like altuve is picking up where he left off in the playoffs.

he’s way behind on pitches. It’ll come around 

[dr99 560]

They can actually score runs when Abreu isn't hitting in the middle of the lineup to kill every rally. Imagine if they dropped him to 7th or 8th where he belongs. Somebody needs to tell Dusty that you don't have to shit on every young player and kiss every veterans ass.

[UTexasFight 9454]

thanks for reminding me the great Jim D is  calling this game.

switching over to him

Still wish we had him 

[tx 3 putt 76980]

Never seen this …

infield hit that was foul, then rolled hard into fair 

hit !

[tx 3 putt 76980]

Just now, UTexasFight said:

thanks for reminding me the great Jim D is  calling this game.

switching over to him

Still wish we had him 

i listen / watch a lot of cubs games, he’s meh 

[UTexasFight 9454]

1 minute ago, tx 3 putt said:

i listen / watch a lot of cubs games, he’s meh 

He was great when he was in Houston.

 

[cabowabo 4487]

Nice work scrub.

[Mo Horn 8848]

OK Gage, that's enough

[Scraps 13561]

Hey nutsack get the last out

[UTexasFight 9454]

Gage should stop throwing 93 middle middle 

[David Dennison 18875]

I like winning.

[elfenix 34266]

Astros win!

[Honeysucklerose 990]

High water mark for the year so far!

[Halohal 498]

Thanks Astros. Great game.

[runthebone 7990]

23 hours ago, runthebone said:

Honestly, I don't see us losing again the rest of this year.

Still don't.

[Rimbo 25944]

GOOD LUCK, FUCKERS

[rvm96 1643]

So who has us going 2-11 over the next 13 to get to 25-30? I would say that's lucky if we do. Those 2 wins are going to be tough to come by.

[tx 3 putt 76980]

When we talk about the ‘machine’, the cc hooks are damn key cog. 
 

Championships are born here ….

 

[tx 3 putt 76980]

1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:

He was great when he was in Houston.

 

He was dry and too business like then too. I’d take sparky over him

 

[tx 3 putt 76980]

Another great trip to Whataburger field. The Astros were damn smart just buying them outright and locking it down. Corpus is an Astro’s city and the hooks are a wonderful community partner. 7000+ there tonight. If you go, the Whataburger stand behind home plate is legit. I’d be shocked if Altuve is called up before Memorial Day weekend.  
 

he owes me a taco. They were giving away a taco for free coupon taco if he got a hit 

 

 

 

[rvm96 1643]

 

 

[tx 3 putt 76980]

Altuve singed for everyone that found him when the gates open. He was down by the batting cages 

 

[tx 3 putt 76980]

9 minutes ago, rvm96 said:

 

 

sign as many Cubans as possible 

[tx 3 putt 76980]

Also, ran over a 4 ft alligator on the way home. He’s 3ft now. Poor guy was probably on the way to get some late night gator snatch 

[IDIOTsavant 8491]

52 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Altuve singed for everyone that found him when the gates open. He was down by the batting cages 

 

Also, fuck a Fiers…

Edited May 17, 2023 by IDIOTsavant
It needed to be said.

[runthebone 7990]

28 minutes ago, IDIOTsavant said:

Also, fuck a Fiers…

He's not going for you.  Too old.

[texashorne 1178]

What's the plan for Dubon when Altuve returns? he is leading the team in WAR right now. 

[HtownHorn 14690]

2 minutes ago, texashorne said:

What's the plan for Dubon when Altuve returns? he is leading the team in WAR right now. 

Trade him, so Dsuty doesn't do stupid things with him like playing him over Altuve, Pena, or the OFs.

[kevwun 15790]

You know he's going to be the completely unnecessary defensive replacement for Chas in center.  The guy who has made circus catches on back to back nights clearly is a liability. 

But seriously, I expect he will starting regularly to rest people.  Or just put him at first base full time because Abreu can't handle fastballs anymore.  It's not a slump.  He's lost bat speed.

Edited May 17, 2023 by kevwun

[texashorne 1178]

27 minutes ago, kevwun said:

You know he's going to be the completely unnecessary defensive replacement for Chas in center.  The guy who has made circus catches on back to back nights clearly is a liability. 

But seriously, I expect he will starting regularly to rest people.  Or just put him at first base full time because Abreu can't handle fastballs anymore.  It's not a slump.  He's lost bat speed.

This is what I don't want to happen. Chas already has to battle Jake out there, when he shouldn't. 

[Hank Chinaski 6315]

1 hour ago, kevwun said:

But seriously, I expect he will starting regularly to rest people.  Or just put him at first base full time because Abreu can't handle fastballs anymore.  It's not a slump.  He's lost bat speed.

Yeah, he fills the utility role, like Diaz the last couple of seasons. He’s a valuable player if he can be a league-average hitter (he probably isn’t but has been thus far in 2023) due to the versatility. By no means should Dusty go out of his way to fit him into the lineup every day though.

[UTexasFight 9454]

10 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

He was dry and too business like then too. I’d take sparky over him

 

Oh I’d take sparky too. He and ford are outstanding 

it’s our tv crew that needs work 

 

[huge 3793]

2 hours ago, texashorne said:

What's the plan for Dubon when Altuve returns? he is leading the team in WAR right now. 

Fangraphs has him appropriately rated at 10th on the team in WAR.

No clue how BR has him ahead of YA.

[Gourmand 7774]

1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:

Oh I’d take sparky too. He and ford are outstanding 

it’s our tv crew that needs work 

 

Blasphemy. I think they're all outstanding. Eschenfelder should be in studio only and never on the pbp. 

Anyone else listen to the radio feed last night? I like what Bogusevic brings, you can tell he's done his homework before the games and wants to inform the listener on the finer details from a former player's perspective. He has a future in the booth if he can dial back a little the wonky inside baseball stuff and be more colorful like Steve Sparks. Regardless I thought he did a good job filling in. Btw, where is Sparks? On vacation?

 

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

Haven't listened to the interview, but this would be great if true:

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Seasick Sailor

[UTexasFight 9454]

26 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

Blasphemy. I think they're all outstanding. Eschenfelder should be in studio only and never on the pbp. 

Anyone else listen to the radio feed last night? I like what Bogusevic brings, you can tell he's done his homework before the games and wants to inform the listener on the finer details from a former player's perspective. He has a future in the booth if he can dial back a little the wonky inside baseball stuff and be more colorful like Steve Sparks. Regardless I thought he did a good job filling in. Btw, where is Sparks? On vacation?

 

Yeah was going to call out bogusevic as well.

he’s had some really good insights/explanations on what’s going on.

agreed he’s too dry but could see him developing some rapport with the right pxp guy or just getting comfortable with a partner and display more personality. 

on the tv crew, going to have to agree to disagree. They’re fine but just not a big fan of kalas and blum.

Edited May 17, 2023 by UTexasFight

[Wulaw Horn 19073]

If you look at all his numbers there is almost zero reason to believe anything has fundamentally changed about him.  His strikeout rate is like 12% (excellent) but that's offset by him grounding into 9! double plays .  His BB% is pretty much the same.  His K% is pretty much the same. His iso is right in line with his career numbers.  His LD% is up a little bit and his GB% is up a lot. His fly ball percentage is down 30% from where it was before. 

It's all about his Babip being 354 when it's career average is 287. If you think that stays that high, well, I would like to introduce you to May for Julks when his BABIP plunged and he went from nice surprise to more or less unplayable- and he's got some thump.

If you normalized Dubons babip to his career norms he'd have 10 less hits.  That would put his BA at 241 (career 255), his OBP to 265 (career 295).  That would move his OPS+ from 97 (3 percent below average) to something like 75 or 80.

He's the same bad hitter he's always been fueled by BABIP luck through 2 months of the season. Or, he's found a way to beat his average and league average BABIP and this hack or cheat code allows him to be a slightly below average hitter.  I will let you decide which you think is more likely headed forward.

 

[Ojo Rojo 1965]

Can Dubon play left?  If Brantley ain't coming back and we want Yordan to DH primarily, then that seems like a good way to keep him in the lineup.

[kevwun 15790]

Anyone who can play in center can play in left field.  He isn't the bat you normally play there though.  Unless they make a trade or call up Gilbert, there aren't any other good options if Uncle Mike is done.

Edited May 17, 2023 by kevwun

[Hank Chinaski 6315]

10 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

If you look at all his numbers there is almost zero reason to believe anything has fundamentally changed about him.  His strikeout rate is like 12% (excellent) but that's offset by him grounding into 9! double plays .  His BB% is pretty much the same.  His K% is pretty much the same. His iso is right in line with his career numbers.  His LD% is up a little bit and his GB% is up a lot. His fly ball percentage is down 30% from where it was before. 

It's all about his Babip being 354 when it's career average is 287. If you think that stays that high, well, I would like to introduce you to May for Julks when his BABIP plunged and he went from nice surprise to more or less unplayable- and he's got some thump.

If you normalized Dubons babip to his career norms he'd have 10 less hits.  That would put his BA at 241 (career 255), his OBP to 265 (career 295).  That would move his OPS+ from 97 (3 percent below average) to something like 75 or 80.

He's the same bad hitter he's always been fueled by BABIP luck through 2 months of the season. Or, he's found a way to beat his average and league average BABIP and this hack or cheat code allows him to be a slightly below average hitter.  I will let you decide which you think is more likely headed forward.

 

100%. It’s great that he’s overperformed while Altuve has been out. But he’s not maintaining that BABIP, because only guys who hit the ball really hard can do that (and even they usually don’t).

Again, he’s a good guy to have on the roster, but shouldn’t be playing every day (or even every-other day) on a good team.

[Wulaw Horn 19073]

23 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Anyone who can play in center can play in left field.  He isn't the bat you normally play there though.  Unless they make a trade or call up Gilbert, there aren't any other good options if Uncle Mike is done.

Best option right now is Jake in Center and Chas in LF and Yordan at DH.  And that's totally and completely fine. That gives you a bat that's inline (or maybe a little better than the average CF's) a bat that's inline (or maybe a little better) than the average LF's and a stud DH. Of course- Chas bat plays up a ton more in CF compared to other CF than in LF compared to other LF's, but that configuration isn't going to cost you any offensive efficiency.  LF and 1B should be the easiest positions to find good hitters. It's really disappointing that it's been so bad there.  Really disappointing.  It explains why we are a below average O. Dubon doesn't solve that problem.