2023 Houston Astros Thread

[kevwun 15788]

They've got to make up a lot of off days.  Might be a week or 2.

[TonyTexas 10512]

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

But are they in the damn lineup 

They wouldn’t be activated if they weren’t playing. 

[Gourmand 7774]

 

[runthebone 7982]

You ungrateful bastards, Sugar Land is getting a lot better because of Bligh. 

Great to get Altuve and Alvarez back although it sucks to lose Madris!

Also, I agree that Abreu definitely makes 1B look hard to play.

 

[Halohal 498]

 

 

[Gourmand 7774]

Lookie there, Pena back in the two-hole!....but didn't expect it to be Tucker behind him.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Gourmand

[Make em eat Taco Bell 1549]

almost perfect lineup except for C

[kevwun 15788]

Most of the names are right, but the order needs a lot of tweaking.  Chas needs to get moved up. 

[Mo Horn 8841]

Why is Diaz not catching? I'm guessing Framber wants Maldonado. 

[perfectchaos007 6642]

2 minutes ago, Halohal said:

 

 

I get the feeling this will be our main lineup going forward with Diaz only playing once per week when Maldy is not catching  

[UTexasFight 9444]

17 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

7 times. I don’t know how many games they’ve all been healthy/available, but the answer is 7 out of 102.

 

 

 

Mark it 8.

 

(although I’m not officially counting today until the lineup is exchanged with the HPU)

[TonyTexas 10512]

Bitching about lineup (Alvarez in 5 hole, Maldy catching) in 3…2….1

[Mitch Hedberg 2090]

No Diaz. Just had throw one wrench 🔧 into it to keep from the optimal lineup.

[kevwun 15788]

I bet Mo is right about Frambler wanting Maldonado.

Edited July 26, 2023 by kevwun

[UTPhil2006 3807]

1 minute ago, kevwun said:

Most of the names are right, but the order needs a lot of tweaking.  Chas needs to get moved up. 

Flip Chas and Pena, Yordan at LF when ready and Diaz DH then it’s fully operational 

[UTexasFight 9444]

1 minute ago, TonyTexas said:

Bitching about lineup (Alvarez in 5 hole, Maldy catching) in 3…2….1

Yep

 

First time Yordan has hit anywhere other than 3rd all year 

[kevwun 15788]

I thought about Chas at 2nd, he should definitely be no lower than 5th.  They need to try that at some point.

[TonyTexas 10512]

I’m putting the chances that Altuve swings at the 1st pitch at 90%

[The Earl of Texas 3132]

 

[Guadaloopy 10970]

13 minutes ago, Halohal said:

 

 

[Huckleberry 32859]

Altuve

Tucker

McCormick

Alvarez 

Bregman

Peña

Abreu

Diaz

Julks

That would be my lineup today unless Framber insists on Maldonado then swap him with Julks or Diaz depending on if you definitely want Yordan to stay out of the field for now.

2 minutes ago, The Earl of Texas said:

 

Hahaha calvary

[UTHornFan014 710]

Can we finally score a run (this season) on this Heaney asshole? 

[rvm96 1643]

Yordan takes batting 5th as disrespect and crushes a couple tonight. 

[Gourmand 7774]

 

[Guadaloopy 10970]

[tx 3 putt 76957]

22 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Most of the names are right, but the order needs a lot of tweaking.  Chas needs to get moved up. 

he’s producing in the bottom half of the line up. Let it ride

Very soon, there will be no breaks in this line up 

[tx 3 putt 76957]

Pena has no business hitting #2. Worst line up decision of the year 

[The Earl of Texas 3132]

They misspelled “cavalry” and had to re-do the tweet 😂

[UTexasFight 9444]

Just now, tx 3 putt said:

Pena has no business hitting #2. Worst line up decision of the year 

 

I’d agree but putting him ahead of tucker the way he’s going right now is not an oversight and one of the better decisions by Dusty recently.

He’ll have at least 2 hits tonight

[runthebone 7982]

Maybe the key to the whole season will be the Angels' stupidly keeping Ohtani because they think they are competitive when in reality there are two AL teams 46+ games under .500 inflating everyone's record.

[Gourmand 7774]

3 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Pena has no business hitting #2. Worst line up decision of the year 

[hornmpa96 2618]

Peña greatly benefits from hitting between Altuve and Yordan/Tucker. 
 

It makes me wonder if Chas could be an MVP hitting between those 2.

[kevwun 15788]

It is tempting, but if Pena hits there it's better to give him the protection since Chas has doing well without it.  2 solid bats is better than 1.

[closetojumping 62720]

13 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

he’s producing in the bottom half of the line up. Let it ride

Very soon, there will be no breaks in this line up 

Are there trade rumors of them getting someone worth a shit to replace Julks/Meyers in the lineup? Is Baker going to stop playing jugbutted fatass and his fucking .550 OPS in the lineup every 4 out of 5 days? If neither of these issues go away, there will continue to be at least 2 breaks in every lineup. 

[tx 3 putt 76957]

11 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

 

I’d agree but putting him ahead of tucker the way he’s going right now is not an oversight and one of the better decisions by Dusty recently.

He’ll have at least 2 hits tonight

Pena is up there blindly swinging / guessing. Go watch his last month. He’s fixable but he hasn’t found it yet. Hopefully they throw him more strikes tonight but the breaking stuff has been killing him

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by tx 3 putt

[Scraps 13561]

4 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Pena is up there blindly swinging / guessing. Go watch his last month. He’s fixable but he hasn’t found it yet. Hopefully they throw him more strikes tonight but the breaking stuff has been killing him

 

he also wasn't batting 2nd in front of what should be Yordan....this isn't hard.  All the statistical evidence proves he should be hitting 2nd (especially in front of Yordan) 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Scraps

[kevwun 15788]

I'm guessing/hoping this is a nod to how well Tucker has been doing and things will go back to normal in a couple of games.

[Scraps 13561]

Also DUBON IS NOT "THE 2ND FUCKING BEST HITTER ON THE TEAM"....while we are at it 

[The Earl of Texas 3132]

14 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Are there trade rumors of them getting someone worth a shit to replace Julks/Meyers in the lineup? Is Baker going to stop playing jugbutted fatass and his fucking .550 OPS in the lineup every 4 out of 5 days? If neither of these issues go away, there will continue to be at least 2 breaks in every lineup. 

Myers is not that bad when performing and whether people like it or not they clearly see value in Maldonado as prime backstop and tutor to Diaz.

Remember that people were ready to bail on JP3 3/4 into one season before he got hot at the right time. Not even August yet.

Edited July 26, 2023 by The Earl of Texas

[UTexasFight 9444]

8 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I'm guessing/hoping this is a nod to how well Tucker has been doing and things will go back to normal in a couple of games.

Yeah, I’d lose my shit if I’m tucker, carried the team on my back without Altuve and Yordan, and real shot at POM and automatically get bumped down to 5th 

 

especially after having to hit 5th behind early season trash Abreu 34 games in the first  2 months 

Edited July 26, 2023 by UTexasFight

[kevwun 15788]

Hopefully he's the new cleanup hitter, but who the hell knows.

Edited July 26, 2023 by kevwun

[Huckleberry 32859]

5th is an underappreciated spot in the lineup. I'd rather have a run producer in the 5 hole than the 3 hole. 

[closetojumping 62720]

10 minutes ago, The Earl of Texas said:

Myers is not that bad when performing and whether people like it or not they clearly see value in Maldonado as prime backstop and tutor to Diaz.

Remember that people were ready to bail on JP3 3/4 into one season before he got hot at the right time. Not even August yet.

I don't know what "Meyers is not that bad when performing" means. He's been around long enough for it to be obvious whether he's going to get it done, or not. 

As to Maldonado, at this point, there is no defense for playing him. "The pitchers want him out there" or "he's a culture fit" or "he does so many of the little things" are all intangible platitudes spoken by the baseball equivalent of flat earthers. He's a negative WAR player. He's not even marginally valuable in a fringe kind of way. He sucks behind the plate, he sucks calling a game, he's dead weight offensively, and he's no longer throwing guys out to any great value. If the pitchers feel like they need him out there, give them a fucking rabbit foot to keep in their pocket and let them rub his head when leaving the dugout each inning. 

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

3 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I don't know what "Meyers is not that bad when performing" means. He's been around long enough for it to be obvious whether he's going to get it done, or not. 

As to Maldonado, at this point, there is no defense for playing him. "The pitchers want him out there" or "he's a culture fit" or "he does so many of the little things" are all intangible platitudes spoken by the baseball equivalent of flat earthers. He's a negative WAR player. He's not even marginally valuable in a fringe kind of way. He sucks behind the plate, he sucks calling a game, he's dead weight offensively, and he's no longer throwing guys out to any great value. If the pitchers feel like they need him out there, give them a fucking rabbit foot to keep in their pocket and let them rub his head when leaving the dugout each inning. 

I agree re: Maldy, but, I make an exception for Framber starts. Given that so much of his success depends on him being in a proper mindset, if Maldy helps him get there, so be it. Playing 1 out of every 5 games would be a perfect workload for Maldy. 

[Gut Wagon 8069]

1 minute ago, Seasick Sailor said:

I agree re: Maldy, but, I make an exception for Framber starts. Given that so much of his success depends on him being in a proper mindset, if Maldy helps him get there, so be it. Playing 1 out of every 5 games would be a perfect workload for Maldy. 

Works for me if it does Valdez. Maldonado's lack of offense is also (theoretically) easier to get around when he's catching your ace.

[cabowabo 4484]

9 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

As to Maldonado, at this point, there is no defense for playing him. "The pitchers want him out there" or "he's a culture fit" or "he does so many of the little things" are all intangible platitudes spoken by the baseball equivalent of flat earthers. He's a negative WAR player. He's not even marginally valuable in a fringe kind of way. He sucks behind the plate, he sucks calling a game, he's dead weight offensively, and he's no longer throwing guys out to any great value. If the pitchers feel like they need him out there, give them a fucking rabbit foot to keep in their pocket and let them rub his head when leaving the dugout each inning. 

I like your style....

[closetojumping 62720]

4 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

I agree re: Maldy, but, I make an exception for Framber starts. Given that so much of his success depends on him being in a proper mindset, if Maldy helps him get there, so be it. Playing 1 out of every 5 games would be a perfect workload for Maldy. 

I wouldn't have a thing to say if the dude was playing every 5th game. As an everyday player at this point, he's an indefensible sack of shit on the field, even if he's a heck of a clubhouse guy.

[UTexasFight 9444]

6 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

I agree re: Maldy, but, I make an exception for Framber starts. Given that so much of his success depends on him being in a proper mindset, if Maldy helps him get there, so be it. Playing 1 out of every 5 games would be a perfect workload for Maldy. 

This is the way

plenty of great pitchers have had trash catchers as their “personal catcher” and it’s fine if that’s his role for Framber.

But no reason for him to be catching guys like France or Brown

they can get plenty of the “veteran presence” in film study/ pregame prep and let Diaz handle calling the gameplan 

Edited July 26, 2023 by UTexasFight

[HtownHorn 14681]

Is Framber going into the fetal position next year when Diaz is the primary catcher? There is no reason Maldonado should play more than 5 games the rest of the season.

 

We still need a bat to replace Julks/Meyers. When Pena is the worst hitter in the lineup, the Astros have a WS caliber lineup.

Edited July 26, 2023 by HtownHorn

[Wulaw Horn 19070]

11 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

I don't know what "Meyers is not that bad when performing" means. He's been around long enough for it to be obvious whether he's going to get it done, or not. 

As to Maldonado, at this point, there is no defense for playing him. "The pitchers want him out there" or "he's a culture fit" or "he does so many of the little things" are all intangible platitudes spoken by the baseball equivalent of flat earthers. He's a negative WAR player. He's not even marginally valuable in a fringe kind of way. He sucks behind the plate, he sucks calling a game, he's dead weight offensively, and he's no longer throwing guys out to any great value. If the pitchers feel like they need him out there, give them a fucking rabbit foot to keep in their pocket and let them rub his head when leaving the dugout each inning. 

I think it should be pretty well established that nobody in the world hates Maldonado more than me and nobody in the world likes Diaz more than me.  You care completely correct with this train of thought as to how things ought to be handled.  However- it's luncacy to play a catcher more than about 120 games.  Maldonado should be the catcher for Framber and should catch some day games after night games occasionally so that Diaz gets 35 games off a year not squatting behind home plate. Now, most of those days Diaz should be the DH.  I mean, I don't expect Dusty to unfuck the lineup starting Friday or anything but I'm going to hold my fire on freaking the fuck out for one more day to see if this is a Framber thing or not (narrator voice- it wasn't a Framber thing).