2018 Houston Astros Season Thread

[Dr. Teeth 5,845]

#28!!!

[UTexasFight 9,516]

He’s at 1.05
Over half a run better than the next closest guy.
Just nuts.

[Planet Houston 4,930]

[UTexasFight 9,516]

Angels have been tough and look like they are going to hang around for a while this year, but those last two games show unequivocally that the road to the West championship still rolls through H-Town.

Man that was an entertaining last 48 hours

[Planet Houston 4,930]

Unfortunately I didn’t get to catch the game, but dear 8-pound, 6-ounce, newborn infant baby Jesus for Justin Verlander.

[UTexasFight 9,516]

Only 2.5 back of the Yanks. But the same amount of wins.
Yanks have now played 5 fewer games than the Astros

[Gut Wagon 8,084]

15 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

He’s at 1.05
Over half a run better than the next closest guy.
Just nuts.

Now down to 1.04, or thereabouts. Crazy. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19,209]

11 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

Only 2.5 back of the Yanks. But the same amount of wins.
Yanks have now played 5 fewer games than the Astros

It would be just awful if the Yankees had to play 5 double headers the last five days of the regular season to make up all those postponed games.  Won’t happen, but I can dream.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,209]

17 minutes ago, Planet Houston said:

Unfortunately I didn’t get to catch the game, but dear 8-pound, 6-ounce, newborn infant baby Jesus for Justin Verlander.

Astros aren’t getting enough in that trade unless baby Jesus can shore up the LF spot.

Edited May 17, 2018 by Fudge Nuggets

[Pods 7,586]

3 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Astros aren’t getting enough in that trade unless baby Jesus can shore up the LF spot.

Are you saying Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?

[Tim Beck 20]

 

 

[kingkoopa6 8,375]

1 hour ago, Honeysucklerose said:

Looking for his wife right in front of Julia. Like a boss

[Tailleur17 361]

1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:

He’s at 1.05
Over half a run better than the next closest guy.
Just nuts.

One of these is not like the others.

[runthebone 8,024]

Surprised he went out there for the ninth, but glad for him he got the shutout.

[BornOrange 1,441]

5 hours ago, Tailleur17 said:

One of these is not like the others.

Yep, after updates the difference between #1 and #2 is greater than the difference between #2 and #8.

Verlander surely is an outlier.

The starters and their ranks:

1. Verlander 1.05

4. Cole 1.75

7. Morton 2.03

26. Keuchel 3.10

51. McCullers 3.63

Edited May 17, 2018 by BornOrange

[UTexasFight 9,516]

Are you saying Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?

Not with our guys’ spin

[UTexasFight 9,516]

JV needs to start off with 3.2 IP of scoreless ball against the Giants and his ERA will dip below 1.00...in late May....with over 70 IP thrown on the season.

 

[Amos Moses 795]

JV is the man - amazing outing last night.  8th and 9th were a little nerve racking ... glad he finished it and didn't let the bullpen have a chance to smear poop everywhere.

Another off day - 45 starts and the starting pitching stats updated below:

GS -- 45

W/L -- 22-10

IP -- 287.6

SO -- 342

BB -- 81

P/GS -- 98.6

K/9 -- 10.70

WHIP -- 0.95

ERA -- 2.25

BAA -- .188

[tx 3 putt 77,230]

I don’t even remember who we sent to Detroit for Verlander but they got raped 

[huge 3,795]

12 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

I don’t even remember who we sent to Detroit for Verlander but they got raped 

Daz was the name you would remember.

ALso something called Franklin Perez.  Jake Rogers ring a bell?

[Hank Chinaski 6,315]

13 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

I don’t even remember who we sent to Detroit for Verlander but they got raped 

Nah it was a good deal for them. They weren't going anywhere this year or next even with JV, so they shed salary and boosted their farm system.

Daz Cameron could become an everyday OF for them in a couple years; Rogers is generally considered the best defensive C in the minors; and Perez is generally considered their top prospect now (though I think he's been hurt this year - pitchers are always risky). 

[TonyTexas 10,518]

Here are JV’s Astro stats including post season.

[Gut Wagon 8,084]

Awesome performance. Still criminal that we couldn't get JV any more runs to work with, though. Our offense isn't giving him or any of our other starters much room for even one bad inning. 

[huge 3,795]

8 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

Awesome performance. Still criminal that we couldn't get JV any more runs to work with, though. Our offense isn't giving him or any of our other starters much room for even one bad inning. 

except when they explode, which is like once a week

[runthebone 8,024]

16 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

Here are JV’s Astro stats including post season.
 

I literally love Justin Verlander

[henrygandorf 29,194]

i haven't read through this thread, so it may have been mentioned, but a great moment last night happened in the 8th, after jv got trout to bounce into the check swing 1-3 putout.  he pumped his fist, and on his way to the dugout, gattis (i think) was abut halfway out towards the field to greet him and high-five him.  so much for your dh chilling on the bench waiting to bat and not really giving a shit.

one of my favorite things about this team is that altuve, who hasn''t really been himself lately at the plate, is still always on the front step of the dugout, and greets whomever scores or homers on their way back to the dugout.  only really in college do you see guys come out of the dugout in situations like that.  and then there's altuve.

world series ring or not, just try to tell me these guys aren't hungry and into every minute of this.  possible lack of intensity is something that doesn't concern me.  

[Mez2 4,025]

it'll be really fun once our offense unglues their collective heads from their collective asses. 

 

[Mez2 4,025]

1 hour ago, TonyTexas said:

Here are JV’s Astro stats including post season.
 

he also married Kate Upton during his time here.

[BurntOrangeBlooded15 1,566]

This may be out there because I follow the Stros well but not the league itself well or even our minor league system (outside of the few AAA guys that flirt with moving up) so neg me if this take sucks. 

 

With the way Cole has come in and thrown, why not trade Keuchel for a legit closer or a bigger name outfielder? Could move Peacock up to fill his spot.  I would think a team shooting for a title run would look at him and (could be wrong again) I feel like I read that him resigning here probably won’t happen 

 

Someone enlighten me. 

Edited May 17, 2018 by BurntOrangeBlooded15

[Amos Moses 795]

40 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

i haven't read through this thread, so it may have been mentioned, but a great moment last night happened in the 8th, after jv got trout to bounce into the check swing 1-3 putout.  he pumped his fist, and on his way to the dugout, gattis (i think) was abut halfway out towards the field to greet him and high-five him.  so much for your dh chilling on the bench waiting to bat and not really giving a shit.

one of my favorite things about this team is that altuve, who hasn''t really been himself lately at the plate, is still always on the front step of the dugout, and greets whomever scores or homers on their way back to the dugout.  only really in college do you see guys come out of the dugout in situations like that.  and then there's altuve.

world series ring or not, just try to tell me these guys aren't hungry and into every minute of this.  possible lack of intensity is something that doesn't concern me.  

Agree 100% - these guys generally seem to care for each other and root for individual successes.  It's cool to see, from the top to the bottom. 

I'm not sure whether you can make a tangible distinction between intensity and urgency, but I think that at least a month ago there seemed to be a lack of urgency.  I think that's washed away now as the season has kicked in.  Probably a natural thing to happen with all the ring ceremonies, reliving an epic WS victory, etc.  The core guys in the lineup appear engaged and actively trying to figure out how to adjust or overcome what opposing teams are doing differently this year.  And let's be honest - every game the champ has a bulls-eye on its back.

[henrygandorf 29,194]

without addressing the "resigning" part of the equation, i don't think it can be overstated - you cannot have enough starting pitching.  guys go down, guys need rest, god forbid someone has a serious injury.

our 45 starts from our guys include 5 guys.  how many teams can boast that?  it can't/won't last forever, and dk is dependable.  shit, for being our "worst" sp much of the year in people's eyes, he's 12th in the al in era.  he also traditionally pitches well against the yankees, and is our only lefty, which is important.

that said, i think we need a lock down lefty (or someone else) in the bullpen.  maybe two guys.  and we could definitely use a useful corner of type, ideally a lefty bat.  last year everybody needed starters at the deadline.  nice to not have that problem this year and just go get relievers and a bat.

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

I’m not worried about the O. I would like Fisher to get 90 percent of the starts. We need to give him a legit shot and see if he has it. 

[Gut Wagon 8,084]

9 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

I’m not worried about the O. I would like Fisher to get 90 percent of the starts. We need to give him a legit shot and see if he has it. 

I think most of us on here agree on giving him a chance. The problem lies in defining how long is long enough? He's not shown much sign of turning it around yet. If he hasn't started to swing a lot better in the next couple weeks, I'm really going to want a change.  

[Mez2 4,025]

30 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

I think most of us on here agree on giving him a chance. The problem lies in defining how long is long enough? He's not shown much sign of turning it around yet. If he hasn't started to swing a lot better in the next couple weeks, I'm really going to want a change.  

trade deadline, IMO. I think we're going to be pretty active during the lead up to and day of the deadline. we may not make a flurry of deals but trust the front office to make something happen. i do think lock down lefty and another bullpen arm are our top targets but can see us go get a a veteran hitter who can help us - i.e. maybin last year, i thought he was a great pick up for us down the stretch

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

56 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

I think most of us on here agree on giving him a chance. The problem lies in defining how long is long enough? He's not shown much sign of turning it around yet. If he hasn't started to swing a lot better in the next couple weeks, I'm really going to want a change.  

Let's give him a real chance and play him in left for the next two months.  See what he has.  He is playing too sporadically now.

[Gut Wagon 8,084]

3 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Let's give him a real chance and play him in left for the next two months.  See what he has.  He is playing too sporadically now.

If we can consistently score 4 or more runs a night with him struggling, I won't mind him getting extended chances. If we continue our offensive malaise, though, I'm not sure I'll be that patient. Gattis isn't going to stay hot for long, and we're not going to throw a shutout every night. 

[henrygandorf 29,194]

let's have some fun with stats right quick and get some perspective.  most baseball fans can't even name the 4/5 starters on the majority of teams.  but let's count all five of our guys, and combine them to make one "astros starter 2018" and assess his performance against the league.  here are some rankings (obviously taking out our individual guys, and assuming amos' stats are correct).

era 2.25 (2nd in al)

whip 0.95 (6th in al)

baa .188 (3rd in al)

68.4k per guy (4th in al)

342k/81bb = 4.22 (repeating of course) k/bb, which i didn't have rankings for, but anything north of 4 is pretty ridiculous.

i doubt anyone this side of elias can compile these types of things for every team, but this is getting historic.  on mlb central every morning, it's been a constant topic.  "it's only 25 games, but..." and so on.  well we're past the quarter mark.  it's not likely sustainable at this level, but barring injuries, you gotta go to some dead ball eras to find proper comps.  enjoy it, fellas.

 

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

8 minutes ago, Gut Wagon said:

If we can consistently score 4 or more runs a night with him struggling, I won't mind him getting extended chances. If we continue our offensive malaise, though, I'm not sure I'll be that patient. Gattis isn't going to stay hot for long, and we're not going to throw a shutout every night. 

Marisnick was worse than him as a hitter.  And i seriously, seriously doubt Kemp is better.  So until we are ready to bring up Tucker or make a trade, we should roll with Fisher every day.

[Fozzz 152]

Even though he started last night, I bet Fisher gets the lion's share of ABs in left.  Fisher is a potential future starter while Kemp's ceiling is a role player.  Kemp is also 26 and should be nearing his ceiling while Fisher is still fairly young.  

[tx 3 putt 77,230]

Fisher is not a potential starter, IMO 

[Fozzz 152]

He has the tools to start in LF.  His main issues now are his horrific peripherals and too many grounders.  His arm also sucks but that shouldn't be a critical problem in left. He hasn't shown severe issues in the past with respect to his BB/K rates, so it's reasonable to expect that area to improve as he acquires more playing time.  The grounder problem has always been an issue with him and may attenuate some of his power potential but it's not a big enough flaw to prevent him from being at least an average MLB starting LF.  

[WBT 20,642]

1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

i doubt anyone this side of elias can compile these types of things for every team, but this is getting historic.  on mlb central every morning, it's been a constant topic.  "it's only 25 games, but..." and so on.  well we're past the quarter mark.  it's not likely sustainable at this level, but barring injuries, you gotta go to some dead ball eras to find proper comps.  enjoy it, fellas.

The funny thing is that we were saying these kind of things about the offense last year.  I think the pitching will regress at least some but hopefully the hitting will come around.

[Fozzz 152]

As much as people talk about Cole’s and Morton’s improvement since joining the team, Verlander has looked completely different since the trade last year. He has been the best pitcher in the league since coming to Houston. 

[Scraps 13,570]

I'm not #TeamFisher.

[Gut Wagon 8,084]

I'd love to see Fisher start smacking the ball. Seems to play hard, and he's obviously athletic. But I'm not counting on the light turning on any time soon.

The whole team cutting down on Ks would obviously alleviate some of these concerns. If we can get back to last year's numbers in that area, I think we might be a run better per night without doing anything else. And picking up one more on offense would be a huge deal when your starters are this stingy.  

[tx 3 putt 77,230]

IS anyone at the Altuve / LMC charity event tonight ?

[ckhorn 208]

3 hours ago, Fozzz said:

Even though he started last night, I bet Fisher gets the lion's share of ABs in left.  Fisher is a potential future starter while Kemp's ceiling is a role player.  Kemp is also 26 and should be nearing his ceiling while Fisher is still fairly young.  

Agree with this. He is not playing enough as was Marisnick, but we know who he is. Let him play and see what he can do. He has all the tools. He needs at bats.

He is not the problem with this offence. Everyone with the exception of McCann and Springer are under performing compared to last year.

[mycox 582]

4 hours ago, ckhorn said:

Everyone with the exception of McCann and Springer are under performing compared to last year.

Altuve had a career year last year
Marwin had a career year last year
I'm not concerned about Yuli and Carrera
Reddick is probably a .280/15/70 guy
Bregman needs to step it up
LF is a concern

[Fudge Nuggets 19,209]

7 hours ago, Fozzz said:

As much as people talk about Cole’s and Morton’s improvement since joining the team, Verlander has looked completely different since the trade last year. He has been the best pitcher in the league since coming to Houston. 

Verlander was rounding into form his last month in Detroit.  He gave up 11 runs in 6 starts with 5 of those runs coming in one game against Arlington.  He went at least 7 innings in 4 of those starts

[Mez2 4,025]

13 hours ago, Scraps said:

I'm not #TeamFisher.

#metoo