2018 Houston Astros Season Thread

[Limp Brisket 546]

5 minutes ago, cabowabo said:

Watching Giles punch himself in the face in front on 30,000 people, and hundreds of thousands on TV tells me all I need to know about him.  The dude's mind is absolutely fucked and he ain't ever getting it back. Time to move on. 

Exactly

[Tailleur17 361]

35 minutes ago, Teddy Tucker said:

Speaking of hot takes, guy has one baaaaaaaaaaad outing after 10 salty ones and gets crucified. 

Hi Hinch!

[runthebone 8011]

2 hours ago, Mez2 said:

He should commit seppuku in the clubhouse

Typical Giles, leaving a huge mess for others to clean up. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19205]

I have more confidence in 3-putt getting a timely hit than half the current roster.

3-putt should starts at DH.

[rtchorn 15]

8 hours ago, Tommy Nobis said:

I can. Our pitching has carried this team and it’s not close. We probably rank very low in a lot of team offensive stats.

We’re 5th is run scored.  So yeah, very low.

[Player 4575]

 

Kenny G needs a new intro song. 

[APMP 688]

Now that we're in May, Luhnow is going to start thinking about ways to fill our roster holes. We'll give minor leaguers a shot first, before thinking about trades. 

The holes to me are closer, DH, and maybe left field if Fisher doesn't show more. I'm not worried about a LOOGY because we have several righties who own lefty hitters.

Edited May 2, 2018 by APMP

[Hank Chinaski 6315]

8 hours ago, closetojumping said:

I’ve said it on here before and got shouted at about it being apparently early, but Gattis is fucking worthless. He’s got a lifetime OPS under .600 as a DH. He sucked last year at DH. He’s surprised on literally every pitch. He had a late meteoric rise and that’s usually indicative of a skinny parabolic issue on the other side too. He’s 31. This is a guy that is not going to get better and he’s killing us. Tyler White should be getting his ABs. 

Honestly, Marisnick is probably worse, but at least he’s an elite fielder. He and Fisher are largely redundant though. Fisher should be getting sink or swim ABs this year, given the minor league depth behind him.

The Astros have legit holes in the lineup and they’re not just going to start displaying upside that’s never been there before. 

Yeah, don't disagree here. Gattis has a lifetime .302 OBP and his K rate has gone way up this year. At his best he was a league average hitter and it looks like his best ended in 2016. He can't be in the lineup every day, and since he doesn't really play defense, he should probably be DFA'd/released. I'm not sure White is the answer, but I'd rather see him get ABs than Gattis at this point. 

Marisnick is OK as a 4th OF, but we don't have a 3rd OF right now. I'm not giving up on Fisher yet, but Tucker needs to be up as soon as he's ready. 

Marwin is killing the offense too. He's had some of the worst ABs I've ever seen lately. He was very good last year, but that is likely the anomaly, as the rest of his career has been very mediocre. He should not be in the lineup every day. 

Giles sucks. He shouldn't be used in high-leverage situations.  

[Scraps 13562]

15 hours ago, Scraps said:

color me impressed 

color me unimpressed

[Mez2 4023]

9 minutes ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Yeah, don't disagree here. Gattis has a lifetime .302 OBP and his K rate has gone way up this year. At his best he was a league average hitter and it looks like his best ended in 2016. He can't be in the lineup every day, and since he doesn't really play defense, he should probably be DFA'd/released. I'm not sure White is the answer, but I'd rather see him get ABs than Gattis at this point. 

Marisnick is OK as a 4th OF, but we don't have a 3rd OF right now. I'm not giving up on Fisher yet, but Tucker needs to be up as soon as he's ready. 

Marwin is killing the offense too. He's had some of the worst ABs I've ever seen lately. He was very good last year, but that is likely the anomaly, as the rest of his career has been very mediocre. He should not be in the lineup every day. 

Giles sucks. He shouldn't be used in high-leverage situations.  

You've pretty much hit every thing I agree with about this team right now, and really all year. Yeah, last year some of these guys were good to great, but that was last year, this is a new season and those guys mentioned haven't really done much this year. I'm hoping luhnow is taking notes of everything thus far and game planning a strategy

[formermav43 4606]

Giles caps off a string of 7 games without allowing a runner to reach base by striking out the side in saving a 2-1 game - ho hum.

The next night he implodes, and he sucks, he shouldn’t be used in high leverage situations, he should be traded, cut.

Confirmation bias much?

[Guest]

Lights out. Remember when he got broken?

Giles is there.  Dude mows em down when it’s the A’s or whatever. Can’t make through a solid hitting lineup.  Guess what it’ll be during the PO’s?

[Hank Chinaski 6315]

16 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

Giles caps off a string of 7 games without allowing a runner to reach base by striking out the side in saving a 2-1 game - ho hum.

The next night he implodes, and he sucks, he shouldn’t be used in high leverage situations, he should be traded, cut.

Confirmation bias much?

Maybe so. I've never liked him. He was bad in 2016. He was a disaster in the postseason last year. And he's been bad this year. He's unreliable. And he's consistently demonstrated that he's a head case. He punched himself in the face last night. Read that again. 

[Scraps 13562]

i'd rather him punch himself in the face than just walk around like Chris Carter or Oberholtzer with the same dumbass look on their faces.  At least he seems to fucking care that he sucks.  

But yes he is a head case who I don't trust in critical situations 

[formermav43 4606]

8 minutes ago, slorch said:

Lights out. Remember when he got broken?

Giles is there.  Dude mows em down when it’s the A’s or whatever. Can’t make through a solid hitting lineup.  Guess what it’ll be during the PO’s?

So were the Yankees a solid hitting lineup last night but not Monday night? 

[TexArcher 37974]

41 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

Giles caps off a string of 7 games without allowing a runner to reach base by striking out the side in saving a 2-1 game - ho hum.

The next night he implodes, and he sucks, he shouldn’t be used in high leverage situations, he should be traded, cut.

Confirmation bias much?

Yeah, he had a nice run.  But before that he had 3 IP with 2 ER on 5 hits.  If you're gonna look back, you hafta look at all of it.

His season ERA is now 5.23.  Last year was a 2.30.  Year before was a 4.11.  You just don't know what you're gonna from him on any given night.

 

[formermav43 4606]

His ERA is 5.23. But his FIP is 2.88. 

And if you want to look at all of it, the numbers indicate Giles has been a top 5 9th inning pitcher since he entered the league.

What this boils down to is relievers are inherently volatile, and there’s a lot of emotionalism colored by the postseason (and his unlucky beginning here in 2016 that has shaped some people’s perception of him all along) that makes evaluating him objectively almost impossible for some people.

[Gut Wagon 8083]

I'm as eager as anyone to bash Giles for last night's pathetic display (and already have). But the bigger issue would seem to be why we aren't scoring runs. While the obvious answer is, "We're terrible at situational hitting, on many nights hitting in general," it should be fixable with the talent on our roster. Several regulars seem to be in a funk. I don't have high hopes that Marwin or Gattis will contribute regularly, or that McCann will hit .300, but we need a boost. Counting the days until Ted arrives, though I don't think we should count on him to rescue an offense full of all-stars.   

[mbtex 683]

Still say we miss Beltran helping these guys when they are struggling at the plate. 

[UTexasFight 9491]

I get all the criticisms and love that we have expectations and legitimate conversations about how to be even better, but my god, reading comments from our fan base you’d think the team is 11-20 instead of 20-11... the exact same record as last year after 31 games.

[Fudge Nuggets 19205]

19 minutes ago, mbtex said:

Still say we miss Beltran and Powell helping these guys when they are struggling at the plate. 

Or whoever told them to swing at good pitches even if it's the first pitch of the at bat.  Whoever did that needs to come back.

[Gut Wagon 8083]

3 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

I get all the criticisms and love that we have expectations and legitimate conversations about how to be even better, but my god, reading comments from our fan base you’d think the team is 11-20 instead of 20-11... the exact same record as last year after 31 games.

We absolutely feast (and artificially inflate our offensive stats) on bad pitching. We struggle mightily against the kinds of pitchers we'll face when it matters. Now, you can say that's true of a lot of other teams as well, and you'd probably be right. But we seem to take it to extremes. Averaging 5 runs a game sounds good until you realize we've been interspersing scoring 8 or 10 with scoring 1 or 0. Common sense says that if most of our guys are hitting to their ability level, we should be able to smooth out the bumps quite a bit.

[Ldogg53 514]

11 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

I get all the criticisms and love that we have expectations and legitimate conversations about how to be even better, but my god, reading comments from our fan base you’d think the team is 11-20 instead of 20-11... the exact same record as last year after 31 games.

I think it gets magnified because the pitching has been so stellar.  Sure we have the same record.  However, it should be better based simply on a couple of games that we lost like last night when you waste such a great outing.  If you lose last night 4-3 it would suck of course, but it wouldn't have the same sting as looking totally inept at the plate again. 

It's an interesting dynamic this season thus far.  It seems as that almost any criticism of the team is seen as unnecessary bashing and panic with an unrealistic view of where we are as a team.  Flipside, those pushing that narrative are seen as over the top sunshine pumpers with their head buried in the sand assuming that all will simply work out again like last year. 

[mbtex 683]

Also has to do with Houston sports mentality we have been crushed so many times it's hard to stay confident.

[Ldogg53 514]

5 minutes ago, mbtex said:

Also has to do with Houston sports mentality we have been crushed so many times it's hard to stay confident.

Very true.  The goal should be to have the best record to get home field throughout.  But that might not happen.  We really need it for the 1st round though and then after that I'm not worried.  With this pitching staff we will have a chance to beat everyone in the playoffs.  I mean shit, as it stands we'd be throwing out Verlander, Cole and Morton to start off every series.  That is salty as fuck. 

[Teddy Tucker 18]

11 hours ago, Gut Wagon said:

If I’m going on overall stats, you make a valid point. It’s not that Giles is awful, it’s that he seems to have lingering demons when it matters most. I tend to view players mainly in terms of what they do when the lights are brightest. And they were pretty bright tonight.

I understand some of the skepticism with his playoff performance and the recent memory of last night. (Not that the playoffs were kind to anyone that relies on a slider last year) But the lights were bright the previous night as well. The slider he left hanging to Sanchez was an awful pitch. Almost no tilt and poor placement. I'm just saying based on his usual stuff the guys a great closer. I'll take ability over "mindset" any day of the week. 

[Ldogg53 514]

25 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

We absolutely feast (and artificially inflate our offensive stats) on bad pitching. We struggle mightily against the kinds of pitchers we'll face when it matters. Now, you can say that's true of a lot of other teams as well, and you'd probably be right. But we seem to take it to extremes. Averaging 5 runs a game sounds good until you realize we've been interspersing scoring 8 or 10 with scoring 1 or 0. Common sense says that if most of our guys are hitting to their ability level, we should be able to smooth out the bumps quite a bit.

So since I've been pounding on the 0/1 stat so far this season I'll keep it up.  Just did a little digging and offer the following as information only.  I'm not projecting anything further for all you guys who want to say that any negative view is unwarranted.  Facts are facts and it does indeed seem we are all feast or famine this season.  I don't pretend to know the how or why, but the numbers are mostly showing that.

To date we now have 9 games where we've scored 1 or 0 runs.  We are 1-8 in those games.

 

2015:  9th game of 0/1 runs happened on May 12th.  Game 33 of the season.  Team Record 20-13 for a .606 win %.

2016:  9th game of 0/1 runs happened on May 21st.  Game 44 of the season.  Team Record 17-27 for a .386 win %.

2017:  9th game of 0/1 runs happened on July 19th.  Game 95 of the season.  Team Record 63-32 for a .663 win %.

2018:  9th game of 0/1 runs happened on May 1st.  Game 30 of the season.  Team Record 20-11 for a .645 win %.

 

I think the reality is that last season was an anomaly.  This season is the worst of the bunch, but not all that far out from 2015/2016.  Last season was just remarkable it would appear, and being the most recent in memory it will affect our current view.  Still, we have 3-4 games this season that fall into this category that were either winnable, or should have been won.  If we flip just 2 of those games to the win column we're 22-9 with a .706% win which would be amazing.

[Poolflood 845]

We should never ever make another trade with the phillies involving a closer.  

[Fudge Nuggets 19205]

12 minutes ago, Teddy Tucker said:

 I'll take ability over "mindset" any day of the week. 

I will too... up to about the AA level.

[formermav43 4606]

5 minutes ago, Poolflood said:

We should never ever make another trade with the phillies involving a closer.  

Yeah, imagine how great this team would be with Mark Appel and Vince Velasquez. Sure got fleeced in that deal.

[runthebone 8011]

I wouldn't get rid of Giles but make him a set up guy.  I think that is his best fit. 

 

Gattis is done, unfortunately.  I'd give these guys 10 more games to the quarter mark then start making changes. 

[Ldogg53 514]

16 minutes ago, runthebone said:

Gattis is done, unfortunately.  I'd give these guys 10 more games to the quarter mark then start making changes. 

Is there any reason why Stassi and McCann couldn't just rotate between DH/C all the time??  Both are playing reasonably well and Stassi is showing a lot of pop in his swing.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

Stassi is not a good hitter despite his hot start.

[Ldogg53 514]

23 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Stassi is not a good hitter despite his hot start.

He's been more steady so far and is around .250 avg.  It's plenty better than Gattis.

[UTexasFight 9491]

With Giles it seems as though it’s clear after 3 pitches whether or not he has it on any given night. Maybe most guys are that way, I don’t know, but seems especially true with him.

Go back and look at the pitch he got Stanton to strikeout on. That pitch should have been hit over the train tracks.

I’ll give you that Hinch May have wanted to leave him in to see if he could work through things, but longer term just don’t know how you can have someone like that as a critical arm in your bullpen 

[David Dennison 18921]

2 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Or whoever told them to swing at good pitches even if it's the first pitch of the at bat.  Whoever did that needs to come back.

Yeah, taking pitches until the first called strike sucks. I don't know where that's coming from, but it needs to stop. It was obvious last night.

[mycox 582]

Alex Cora was a good bench coach. I think the hitters are missing his advice along with Rich Dauer.

[Rockethorn1978 6093]

Hilarious that Houston wins game 1 and nothing is said. Yankoffs when game 2 after getting k’d 14 times by verlander and a article is written by ESPN on the front page about how amazing the Yankees are. It shouldn’t surprise me but then it kinda does.

[Gut Wagon 8083]

40 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

Yeah, taking pitches until the first called strike sucks. I don't know where that's coming from, but it needs to stop. It was obvious last night.

It works fine if the first pitch is never a fat strike. But often it is. Especially when the opposition knows you're not swinging. Funny how that works. 

[Fozzz 152]

Maybe Gattis will soon have some "back problems" and will need some DL time.  I'd really like to see White get some PAs with the start he has had in Fresno.  

[David Dennison 18921]

1 hour ago, Gut Wagon said:

It works fine if the first pitch is never a fat strike. But often it is. Especially when the opposition knows you're not swinging. Funny how that works. 

Carlos Correa has taken some meatball first pitches this year.

[Fozzz 152]

I don't think being over-selective is their main issue as much as a few particular players cannot make quality contact to save their fucking lives.

[MAROON 445]

28 minutes ago, Fozzz said:

I don't think being over-selective is their main issue as much as a few particular players cannot make quality contact to save their fucking lives.

I would say being over-selective is the #1 issue with Marwin.  He takes way too many fastballs right down the middle for first or second strike.  Never seen anything like it.

[Fozzz 152]

His swing% at pitches in the zone has declined this year but his contact rate on pitches in the zone has declined even more.  Like Gattis, his quality of contact has also gown down the shitter this season.  

[mbtex 683]

1 minute ago, Fozzz said:

His swing% at pitches in the zone has declined this year but his contact rate on pitches in the zone has declined even more.  Like Gattis, his quality of contact has also gown down the shitter this season.  

Last year Marwin was good at extending at bats until He got a good pitch to Hit. Does not seem to be able to do that this year lots of swing and misses instead of fouling them off.

[runthebone 8011]

This is Marwin's career slash line:  

.266/.317/.418

.735 OPS, 103 OPS+

 

This is who he is.  He's a superutility player and is not going to repeat 2017 again.

 

[TonyTexas 10515]

Astros 2019 free agents - Sipp, Keuchel, Gonzales, Gattis, Morton. One is not like the others. 

[TonyTexas 10515]

I like this lineup. Fisher in center is new. 

 

Edited May 2, 2018 by TonyTexas

[Player 4575]

2 tickets (free) available for tonight in Sec. 131. PM if you want to go. 

[Stros 153]

Damn can we get some fucking hits tonight??1?1/1/