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2023 Houston Astros Thread

Planet Houston

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19238

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21 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

Hubris finally catching up to this team.  The lack of urgency from leadership throughout the season is very possibly going to cost them a spot in the postseason. 
 

Resting players so they are fresh for the postseason doesn’t do much good if you miss the postseason.   It’s a great strategy when you jump out to a comfortable lead, but it’s foolhardy when you don’t.  
 

And that’s the thing that makes what is happening now so frustrating.  It absolutely did not have to be this way.

Resting players for the post season is fine and has benefit during the regular season. Everyone should do it some. 150 games should more or less be tops on what these guys should play. Starting the worst player in baseball 120 times or giving almost 300 AB’s to Julks is a better example of hubris imo. 

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Am I the only one that can't stand the sight of Altuve, Bregman or Tucker?  Something about each one of them just pisses me off.  

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Welch

Welch 635

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Absolutely.  It was always going to be annoying to have the giddy baseball media write the obituary, but it’ll be infuriating now because the death was self-inflicted.  And it does go all the way back to Crane dicking around with the GM search last fall/winter.

As an organization we found the recipe for success in the last decade for the first time in our history… and have now apparently decided to actively avoid using it.  And instead we put our full trust in the guy who’s been fired four times because he never won anything.  At least we’re getting the results we deserve.

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David Dennison

David Dennison 19120

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10 minutes ago, Welch said:

Absolutely.  It was always going to be annoying to have the giddy baseball media write the obituary, but it’ll be infuriating now because the death was self-inflicted.  And it does go all the way back to Crane dicking around with the GM search last fall/winter.

As an organization we found the recipe for success in the last decade for the first time in our history… and have now apparently decided to actively avoid using it.  And instead we put our full trust in the guy who’s been fired four times because he never won anything.  At least we’re getting the results we deserve.

Don't forget, that guy won two pennants and a championship in Houston.

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6324

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1 hour ago, Guadaloopy said:

Hubris finally catching up to this team.  The lack of urgency from leadership throughout the season is very possibly going to cost them a spot in the postseason. 
 

Resting players so they are fresh for the postseason doesn’t do much good if you miss the postseason.   It’s a great strategy when you jump out to a comfortable lead, but it’s foolhardy when you don’t.  
 

And that’s the thing that makes what is happening now so frustrating.  It absolutely did not have to be this way.

I wrote this 3 months ago and you told me I am a miserable person. Which you may not be wrong about. But still.

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Slacks

Slacks 6918

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Man, what are y'all talking about? 

This team is losing to losers now... This has nothing to do with April - August. They're 3-7 in the last 10.

During the season, half the team was injured at some point. Yes, they should have won more, but this team was in 1st place 2 weeks ago and can't seem to hit to save their life... against shit teams- especially at home. That has nothing to do with ownership (because the same ownership has put together a team that has been considered a potential dynasty). 

The team just isn't hitting (or pitching) well emough. It's really that simple.  They should be 95 wins. 

Edited by Slacks
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Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5305

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Going today to what very may well be the last game played at MMP in 2023. I've had a very lackluster record attending games in person this year, but then again, with a losing home record, that goes for most Astros fans. ON the the other hand, we've avoided the sweep in 3 straight series, and might as well win a Game 3 for the 4th straight. 

Cannot believe the defending champs, with more or less the same squad (albeit injury-depleted at times) is shitting the bed in the manner we've seen over the past 2 weeks. After annihilating the Rangers and taking 2/3 of from SD, it genuinely felt like we were hitting our stride just in time to comfortably wrap up another division title and get ourselves ready for the post-season. 

I've said it all year, but the magic just isn't there this year. We've had so many losses by 1-2 runs where we came out in the 9th and put men on base and never brought them home. I think we've only had either 3 or 4 walk-offs all season and have been absolutely atrocious in extra innings. From 2017-2022 you just assumed that the big hit was coming exactly when needed. Now it feels like the opposite.

Screw getting the big hit, lately we can't seem to get the routine hit. We've had innings this weekend where we managed to strand Tucker after a leadoff triple or failed to advance a runner after starting with 2 straight walks.

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Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5305

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Not ready to start writing the offseason to-do list, but several moves are incredibly obvious regardless of what happens the next 2 weeks. 

Dusty needs to be fired off into the sunset. 

Maldy needs to never be behind the dish in an Astros uniform again. I only want to see him at MMP if some shit team picks him up and he comes up and hits into the easiest inning-ending GIDP of all time.  

Cut bait on Meyers, quit trying to wish Brantley back to health, relegate Dubon to a permanent bench role. Shit or get off the pot with Chas. Either make it clear to whoever the next skipper is that he's a starter or trade him. Also, sign/trade for another everday OF. We need 3 starters and 2-3 subs. Not 1.5 starters and 4.5 subs.

On that same note, maybe invest in some decent backups. Championship teams don't rely on a stable of Julks, Hensley, Kessinger, Singleton and the Ghost of Michael Brantley (not to even mention the other no-names we've trotted out this year).

Sacrifice a chicken/pray to whatever god of your choosing that 2023 was a freak year for Altuve and Yordan injuries and not a sign of things to come in 2024.

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Mitch Hedberg

Mitch Hedberg 2090

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22 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

Not ready to start writing the offseason to-do list, but several moves are incredibly obvious regardless of what happens the next 2 weeks. 

Dusty needs to be fired off into the sunset. 

Maldy needs to never be behind the dish in an Astros uniform again. I only want to see him at MMP if some shit team picks him up and he comes up and hits into the easiest inning-ending GIDP of all time.  

Cut bait on Meyers, quit trying to wish Brantley back to health, relegate Dubon to a permanent bench role. Shit or get off the pot with Chas. Either make it clear to whoever the next skipper is that he's a starter or trade him. Also, sign/trade for another everday OF. We need 3 starters and 2-3 subs. Not 1.5 starters and 4.5 subs.

On that same note, maybe invest in some decent backups. Championship teams don't rely on a stable of Julks, Hensley, Kessinger, Singleton and the Ghost of Michael Brantley (not to even mention the other no-names we've trotted out this year).

Sacrifice a chicken/pray to whatever god of your choosing that 2023 was a freak year for Altuve and Yordan injuries and not a sign of things to come in 2024.

Couldn’t have written it better myself. Gotta go all in next year especially if we can’t resign Tucker.

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6324

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49 minutes ago, Slacks said:

The team just isn't hitting (or pitching) well emough. It's really that simple.  They should be 95 wins. 

That’s the whole point. They haven’t been good enough for an extended period at any point all season. It has been evident since April that we won’t even play our best players consistently and that the pitching regression was coming hard. (Though the pitching actually kept us afloat for a while and the regression didn’t really hit until the second half.)

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19238

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4 minutes ago, Hank Chinaski said:

That’s the whole point. They haven’t been good enough for an extended period at any point all season. It has been evident since April that we won’t even play our best players consistently and that the pitching regression was coming hard. (Though the pitching actually kept us afloat for a while and the regression didn’t really hit until the second half.)

JP France is a #3?  Or a #4? He’s not Quad A I don’t think. 
is it regression to call Javier broken?  Brown is 1 run better on fip than actual era. Maton is regression for sure. His talent level came back for him.  
It’s so hard to separate true talent level from this bullshit team that’s been ruined by Dusty. 
 

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Slacks

Slacks 6918

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16 minutes ago, Hank Chinaski said:

That’s the whole point. They haven’t been good enough for an extended period at any point all season. It has been evident since April that we won’t even play our best players consistently and that the pitching regression was coming hard. (Though the pitching actually kept us afloat for a while and the regression didn’t really hit until the second half.)

Best players are playing now... And the team is producing 10% fewer runs per game than the season average over the last month... Against the 'bad' teams. 

The good news is that if they make the playoffs, they should be fine, because they won't have as many home games. 

But something is off and it's not the GM. Partially the manager, sure... But the players are not producing now. 

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6324

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27 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

JP France is a #3?  Or a #4? He’s not Quad A I don’t think. 
is it regression to call Javier broken?  Brown is 1 run better on fip than actual era. Maton is regression for sure. His talent level came back for him.  
It’s so hard to separate true talent level from this bullshit team that’s been ruined by Dusty. 
 

Regression in that several starters - Javier, France, Bielak - had results that were significantly better than the underlying data suggested they should be for a first couple months of the season. Regression in that Brown was a rookie who had never thrown a lot of innings and was unlikely to sustain his fast start. Regression from the bullpen compared to 2022, when almost to a man they were outstanding (bullpens are notoriously variable from year to year). 

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David Dennison

David Dennison 19120

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3 minutes ago, Slacks said:

Best players are playing now... And the team is producing 10% fewer runs per game than the season average over the last month... Against the 'bad' teams. 

The good news is that if they make the playoffs, they should be fine, because they won't have as many home games. 

But something is off and it's not the GM. Partially the manager, sure... But the players are not producing now. 

This is not true for any line up that includes Martin Maldonado.

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Slacks

Slacks 6918

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13 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

This is not true for any line up that includes Martin Maldonado.

I'll allow it. 

But as with almost any lineup, the catcher is not going to be a deciding factor in the overall production of the lineup. And in this case, he's been a constant, so that means the production is off for the people that are paid to produce runs, and it's Really off of you consider the competition. 

Look, there isn't a player / competitor in the world that would say, "These guys are losing to far inferior talent because of the GM. Maybe the manager needs to make a small change, but at the end of the day, Altuve, Pena, Bregman, Alvarez, Abreu, Uncle Mike, Chas, Jake, Maldanado/Diaz, et al need to put up 5.5 runs per game, and Framber, Hunter, JV, etc need to stop giving up 4 in the 1st. And the bullpen and closers need to stop giving up runs late when the offense does produce. 

Jimmies and Joes don't get a pass on this at all. 

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6324

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4 minutes ago, Slacks said:

But as with almost any lineup, the catcher is not going to be a deciding factor in the overall production of the lineup.

It’s a sample size thing. You maximize your team’s odds of winning any given game by starting your best players. Over a big enough sample - like 162 games - it does matter who you play at catcher. If we flipped totals of MM and YD starts at catcher, this team probably has about 4 more wins than it currently does. Those wins are pretty important.

Again, it’s what people have been screaming all season, and right now is exactly why. this team never had the luxury of fucking around with subpar lineups as frequently as it did. (And I’m not talking about the injuries - I’m talking about catcher, Chas sitting 25% of the time, the stupid batting orders, etc.)

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6324

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5 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

No sane owner is hiring a manager and directing to him this and that about who’s starting and not staring. This isnt mlb the game 

 

The owner shouldn’t tell the manager who to play. The owner should create an org structure such that that the front office/GM/analytics staff and the manager are on the same page. What’s insane is allowing the manager to play the wrong players.

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 77928

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1 minute ago, Hank Chinaski said:

The owner shouldn’t tell the manager who to play. The owner should creat an org structure such that that the front office/GM/analytics staff and the manager are in the same page.

Left off trainers, they have a say about off days and when players come back to play 

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 19238

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9 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Left off trainers, they have a say about off days and when players come back to play 

Sure. And in our org when they say someone is good to go (and the player says they are good to go) Dusty says- nah- we gonna give it another day or two because that’s what my gut tells me the right decision is. 
just like with every other decision that flies in The face of math. Which is how you turn a 95 game division winning team into an 88 win team that stays home. 
the injuries are what turned a 104 win team into a 95 win team if properly managed and deployed. 

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Gut Wagon

Gut Wagon 8111

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7 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Sure. And in our org when they say someone is good to go (and the player says they are good to go) Dusty says- nah- we gonna give it another day or two because that’s what my gut tells me the right decision is. 
just like with every other decision that flies in The face of math. Which is how you turn a 95 game division winning team into an 88 win team that stays home. 
the injuries are what turned a 104 win team into a 95 win team if properly managed and deployed. 

When Dusty was playing, I doubt he hoped to ride the pine the day after he hit the ball hard. But as manager in Houston  he almost seems to have gone out of his way to keep certain guys from staying on a roll. Hitting is largely a matter of confidence, and nobody's more confident than the guy who's been raking. This is just fundamental stuff. 

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WBT

WBT 20744

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52 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Dubon is under club control 2 more years, not sure whyd you get rid of him. Hitting .281

that’s a damn solid bench player 

Someone tell Dusty.  Seems like he's the first name on the lineup every night.  Well, second because you know.

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