2023 Houston Astros Thread

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

Career hr #99 for Maldy

also, 69th player to hit a hr vs all 30 teams

[UTexasFight 9,528]

It’s May 22.

there have been no injuries

Mauricio Dubon has more home runs than Jose Abreu 

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

3 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

It’s May 22.

there have been no injuries

Mauricio Dubon has more home runs than Jose Abreu 

Maldy has 3 more than Abreu 

[Slacks 6,862]

7 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

It’s May 22.

there have been no injuries

Mauricio Dubon has more home runs than Jose Abreu 

 

4 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Maldy has 3 more than Abreu 

Slacks is tied with Abreu. 

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

[UTexasFight 9,528]

11 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Maldy has 3 more than Abreu 

Maldy runs in to one somewhat regularly and has the team record for most HRs in a season by a catcher, does he not?

Dubon has 14 total in the past 3 years combined compared to Maldy’s 15 last year alone

Abreu had home runs in 4 straight at bats a mere 3 years ago.

Even if he hit one tomorrow he’d be on pace for fewer than that for the full season 

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

Pretty sure Diaz is starting tomorrow. That’ll slow down Maldy’s pace 

[rvm96 1,643]

1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:

Maldy runs in to one somewhat regularly and has the team record for most HRs in a season by a catcher, does he not?

 

McCann and Castro would like a word.

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

pretty good 7 day run ....

[formermav43 4,606]

8 minutes ago, rvm96 said:

McCann and Castro would like a word.

And Chirinos was only 1 behind them (with more than Maldonado).

[rvm96 1,643]

Does Evan Gattis count? How many games do you have to play at catcher to qualify?

[formermav43 4,606]

3 minutes ago, rvm96 said:

Does Evan Gattis count? How many games do you have to play at catcher to qualify?

I looked it up-19/32 HRs in 2016 came while playing catcher, so that would actually make him the leader.

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

[TonyTexas 10,527]

PSA: For those who might have missed it the first time, T-Mobile’s free MLB.com is being offered again this week. 

[CycleTex87 2,981]

https://twitter.com/SportsTalk790/status/1660820746090983424?s=20

Edited May 23, 2023 by CycleTex87

[TonyTexas 10,527]

12 hours ago, cabowabo said:

Contrast that catch with Tucker who won’t even run after a shallow fly ball…..

Quote

Kyle Tucker’s defense has nosedived this season. Can the Gold Glover turn it around?

By Chandler Rome

4h ago

8

MILWAUKEE — On April 11, after one of the Astros’ most rousing rallies this season, Kyle Tucker exercised extreme caution.

His team had scored twice against Pirates closer David Bednar to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning at PNC Park. Tucker jogged into his customary spot in right field to start the bottom of the ninth, and not long after Houston’s closer, Ryan Pressly, spun a curveball on the inner half of Rodolfo Castro’s strike zone. Castro fought off the well-executed pitch and flared a fly ball along the right-field foul line.

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The baseball exited Castro’s bat at 73 mph and traveled 231 feet. Statcast assigned it just a .200 expected batting average. Tucker could have slid or dove to secure the inning’s first out. Instead, the reigning American League Gold Glover allowed the ball to fall in front of him.

“If there’s the winning run at the plate and they hit something to right, instead of potentially diving for the ball and making a catch, I might not risk that just in case it might get by you and (the run) gets into scoring position,” Tucker said. “Something like that can hurt you. And then, if he does end up scoring, you get kind of banged on those plays.”

Ten minutes and three batters later, Castro crossed home plate as the winning run. Tucker’s gaffe did not guarantee the outcome, but it did put Pressly in a more precarious position. Ji-Hwan Bae whacked a walk-off home run against him to complete the collapse. More than a month after the mishap, Tucker acknowledged he should have made a diving attempt at the baseball.

“I probably could have gotten a couple (other) balls that have dropped in,” Tucker said before Monday’s 12-2 demolition of the Brewers. “The guy ended up scoring on a double or a home run from the guy hitting behind him. That affects it. Just how it’s been.”

What has it been? A brutal beginning to Tucker’s Gold Glove defense. Tucker is neither a speedster who can chase balls down nor the kind of agile athlete who delivers highlight-reel plays. But even without those physical tools to lean on, he has traditionally leveraged positioning and an ability to anticipate the play into a standout defensive record. Yet he awoke on Monday worth minus-7 defensive runs saved, according to both Sports Info Solutions and FanGraphs. No major league right fielder has been worse. Baseball Savant measured Tucker at minus-5 outs above average, trailing only Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr.for the worst mark among right fielders by their measurements.

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Acuña leads the sport in wins above replacement. Tucker is nowhere to be found on any of those leaderboards due to this defensive downturn. According to Baseball Reference, Tucker entered Monday’s game worth minus-0.9 defensive WAR. Only two major leaguers had worse marks: Kyle Schwarber and Esteury Ruiz. Tucker had a minus-6.0 WAR per FanGraphs’ calculations.

Teams have internal defensive metrics that can differ slightly from publicly available data. Some of the Astros’ numbers are slightly more favorable to Tucker, but all of them still affirm what’s become apparent: Tucker’s defense has regressed during the first two months of this season.

“Not very good,” Tucker said, stating the obvious. “… I’d rather not have that, but I’m going out there, trying to make plays and get back to zero (defensive runs saved) and go from there.”

Dissecting Tucker’s defense can be difficult. He rarely makes ridiculous diving catches and covers just 26.2 feet per second when he sprints, league-average speed that sometimes prevents him from chasing anything down in the gap. Tucker averages just 87 mph on his throws, too — 3 mph below the major-league average for a right fielder.

Tucker won a Gold Glove last season sporting an almost identical sprint speed and throwing 88.1 mph from right field. He can mask some of these suspect numbers with precision before a ball even comes his way, be it in pre-pitch positioning, his reaction times or routes. For the first two months of this season, that perfect timing has not existed, illustrating what slim margins there are between excellence and frustration for a player like him.

“He just has a tendency sometimes to stand flat-footed with no movement pre-pitch,” outfield coach Gary Pettis said Monday. “When he does that, sometimes he breaks maybe a second later than he normally would. That’s all it is, really, with him, it’s whether he’s on time or not.”

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On his outfield jumps, Tucker has covered 2 fewer feet than the average outfielder, according to Baseball Savant. Last season, he covered 0.6 fewer feet. His reaction time and burst are both lower than his numbers last season, too. Tucker said he does not believe his positioning has been problematic and lauded Pettis for alerting him on times he is playing where he shouldn’t.

“Sometimes it just kind of sucks because if you’re playing in the gap and a righty gets jammed and flares one into right — where if you were playing more over you could have caught it, but you’re playing more in the gap because they typically hit the ball more out front pull-side,” Tucker said. “If he ends up scoring or the next guy hits a double or something, that hurts.”

Baseball Savant developed star ratings for each outfield opportunity. All of it hinges on catch probability. A five-star opportunity is a fly ball that has a 0-25 percent catch probability. Four-star plays have a maximum 50 percent catch probability while the maximum for a three-star play is 75.

Entering Monday’s game, Tucker had a total of 21 five, four or three-star catch opportunities. He recorded an out on two of them. Tucker did not record an out on the 22 five-star opportunities he received last season, but still captured a Gold Glove after making outs on seven of the 18 four or three-star opportunities hit to him — fly balls he’s far more suited to secure with his skillset.

“Your reaction can help you even though you may not have the speed that someone else has, but if you make the correct break, then you have a good chance of catching the ball,” Pettis said. “Kyle runs better than most people think and he has those long strides, so sometimes it may not look like he’s moving fast, but he does cover a lot of ground out there.”

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Tucker must discover a way to start that process quicker. He has finished each of the last two seasons worth at least 11 defensive runs saved in right field and has been a Gold Glove finalist for three consecutive seasons. To secure a fourth, he must fix his flat-footed tendencies and dig himself out of the cellar.

“Some guys can play that way, but I think it’s just the timing aspect of the ball being in the hitting zone and him anticipating when it’s there, maybe it’s just a little bit off right now,” Pettis said. “He’s working on it and I think he’ll get back to the Kyle Tucker we’re used to seeing.”

(Photo: Matt Blewett / USA Today)

What did you think of this story?

MEH

SOLID

 

 

[kevwun 15,890]

Well I for one can't believe Chandler Rome wrote an article casting an Astros player in a negative light.

[Guadaloopy 11,013]

8 hours ago, rvm96 said:

Does Evan Gattis count? How many games do you have to play at catcher to qualify?

Brevan McGattis was the best catcher the Astros ever had!

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

33 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Well I for one can't believe Chandler Rome wrote an article casting an Astros player in a negative light.

He’s a cunt no doubt.  But he doesn’t seem to be wrong here. 
is Tucker playing self preservation 3 years before his Fa. Sulking after his arbitration loss? 
He should know that defense and base running have to be part of your value if you are a RF that “only” hits 30 HR. 

[Slacks 6,862]

4 hours ago, TonyTexas said:

PSA: For those who might have missed it the first time, T-Mobile’s free MLB.com is being offered again this week. 

But I can't get ATTSN on ATT. 

[kevwun 15,890]

17 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

He’s a cunt no doubt.  But he doesn’t seem to be wrong here. 
is Tucker playing self preservation 3 years before his Fa. Sulking after his arbitration loss? 
He should know that defense and base running have to be part of your value if you are a RF that “only” hits 30 HR. 

Finding a nugget of truth and then trying to make it a controversy is his whole deal.  It's real shitty that the Athletic pays a writer to stir up shit with the Astros.

[runthebone 8,039]

Could the loss of a 2B playing short RF be hurting Tucker?

[runthebone 8,039]

28 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

He’s a cunt no doubt.  But he doesn’t seem to be wrong here. 
is Tucker playing self preservation 3 years before his Fa. Sulking after his arbitration loss? 
He should know that defense and base running have to be part of your value if you are a RF that “only” hits 30 HR. 

Maldonado needs to give the Roger Dorn pep talk?

[Gourmand 7,774]

Astros OPS leaders over the last 30 days:

1. Yordan 1.129 (duh)

2. Meyers .791

3. Maldonado .772

4. Dubon .758

5. Pena .719

 

This is surprising to me. Maybe Dusty's right about Machete? 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Gourmand

[Hank Chinaski 6,320]

Look, I don’t hate Machete, and I tend to be less bothered by his PT than, say, @Wulaw Horn is.

That said, he’s not suddenly a good hitter. He’s a 75-ish wRC+ guy, which is poor. Diaz probably would perform better than that, and he’s shown that he can handle C defensively. As such, I do think that Diaz should play more than 1 out of every 5 games. Machete’s bat isn’t a huge problem unless it’s in the lineup the same day you’re sitting Altuve and Chas and other regulars. 

[kevwun 15,890]

Weird trivia, the Astros became the 4th team in the last 75 years to have an 8 game winning streak in 7 consecutive seasons.

[Harrison Stafford 3,336]

12 hours ago, rvm96 said:

Dare I say it's a miracle. 

It’s not just a miracle.  It’s a Christmas miracle 

[Gourmand 7,774]

1 hour ago, Wulaw Horn said:

He’s a cunt no doubt.  But he doesn’t seem to be wrong here. 

Fuck Chandler, he's such an insufferable douche.

 

 

[Scraps 13,577]

Let me remind you all once again (for like the 4th time i know)

This is the same pussy who was doing his typical whining about the astros and injury info and he blocked me for responding to his tweet with this gif.

Thin skinned little crybaby bitch who wants everything handed to him instead of being like mark berman and actually making connections over the years.

[Chuckie Finster 22,734]

Well, he made one of the most important catches in the history of the franchise... so he's okay in my book.

[Gut Wagon 8,087]

Part of me says Tucker's recent effort to avoid injury has helped the team, due to so many other keys guys being out already. We couldn't afford losing him, and I suppose he knows that. The other part of me fears he's mainly trying to max out his chances of being healthy for that future payday with another team. As an Astros fan, I can respect the first possibility but not the second. 

[Guest]

Who the fuck doesn’t like Ted?  

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

Welp, should this be our target ?

 

 

[kevwun 15,890]

He seems like a prime candidate to get traded to a contender and then remember that he can't hit a breaking ball to save his life.

[Gourmand 7,774]

7 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Welp, should this be our target ?

 

 

 

 

I mean. Cmon putt. Not now not ever. 

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

Just now, Gourmand said:

 

 

I mean. Cmon putt. Not now not ever. 

on second thought, abreu will soon be posting mvp numbers 

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

Ok, a brain lapse by me. But I’m fucking serious about this one ….

dubon needs to get the majority of the starts in cf. get uncle Mike back, trade chas and jake / Julks for a back up infielder or bring someone up. Jake or Julks can be the #4 

[wildcat09 29,384]

4 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Ok, a brain lapse by me. But I’m fucking serious about this one ….

dubon needs to get the majority of the starts in cf. get uncle Mike back, trade chas and jake / Julks for a back up infielder or bring someone up. Jake or Julks can be the #4 

Why would someone trade for both Chas and Jake? Hell, why can't Dubon get some starts at first?

[Hank Chinaski 6,320]

3 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Ok, a brain lapse by me. But I’m fucking serious about this one ….

dubon needs to get the majority of the starts in cf. get uncle Mike back, trade chas and jake / Julks for a back up infielder or bring someone up. Jake or Julks can be the #4 

Or…just play Chas in CF, with his team control and 111 career wRC+.

Dubon is the backup IF. 

[kevwun 15,890]

Dubon is gonna play all over the place.  Dusty is going to play the hot hand out of Meyers and Chas in center.

[tx 3 putt 77,420]

Someone traded for straw and Siri. Dubon is our 3rd best hitter 

Edited May 23, 2023 by tx 3 putt

[Gut Wagon 8,087]

Bellinger is a tool. 

[kevwun 15,890]

Did Yordan, Tucker and Altuve die?

Edited May 23, 2023 by kevwun

[dr99 560]

Yesterday during the game Bagwell said that Dusty makes smart lineup decisions every day, Abreu is going to return to All-Star form, and Maldonado should be catching every day. I guess we can rule him out as having a sock account on Surly.

[Hank Chinaski 6,320]

15 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Dubon is our 3rd best hitter 

[Snake Diggity 4,627]

52 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

 

 

I mean. Cmon putt. Not now not ever. 

Yeah no chance Bellinger is ever an Astro.  Fuck that guy.

Salvador Perez (if he’s at all willing to waive his 10/5 rights) is the guy I would go after.  Lets them choose which weak hitter they want to displace in the playoff lineup (Abreu or Maldonado).

 

I like Dubon but anyone saying he should be playing over Meyers is foolish.  Meyers is playing like a star everyday CF and has FAR more upside than Dubon on both sides of the ball.  Dubon’s value is as a fill-in across 7 positions.

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

1 hour ago, Gut Wagon said:

Part of me says Tucker's recent effort to avoid injury has helped the team, due to so many other keys guys being out already. We couldn't afford losing him, and I suppose he knows that. The other part of me fears he's mainly trying to max out his chances of being healthy for that future payday with another team. As an Astros fan, I can respect the first possibility but not the second. 

As an astros fan I can respect the first. 
As a human being I can respect the second. 

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

52 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Ok, a brain lapse by me. But I’m fucking serious about this one ….

dubon needs to get the majority of the starts in cf. get uncle Mike back, trade chas and jake / Julks for a back up infielder or bring someone up. Jake or Julks can be the #4 

You want to trade guys who prorate to 4 WAR over a full season for a backup infielder? 
yoh should hit Taco Bell and his suck it up and throw 125 pitches you big pussy to manage. 

[Wulaw Horn 19,152]

48 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Why would someone trade for both Chas and Jake? Hell, why can't Dubon get some starts at first?

He’s a little on the short side but he absolutely would be fine starting at 1B. I think you’d start Diaz there before him but yeah- he’d be fine there.