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2018 Houston Astros Season Thread

Planet Houston

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TexArcher
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Bregs is going Crawford Boxes right here.

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Prior to the footage being edited by Bender:

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Two Diamond Club tickets available for the Sunday night game.  Free.  Need to pick them up from me in 77027. Rules: Poster must be a big contributor to this thread/last years shag thread.  No gue

WBT

WBT 20668

Posted
Posted (edited)
18 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

this conversation made me start wondering - what the hell did we wear on the road with our rainbow being primarily home jerseys.

so i looked at game 3 (i'm so sorry) video...did we just wear the 1986 from the chart as our roadies?

I found this...

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/4/11/4213250/houston-astros-uniforms-craig-biggio-jeff-bagwell-jimmy-winn-cesar-cedeno

Quote

Tequila Sunrise: 1975-1986

The 1975 season brought the first truly radical uniform change in Astros history and, arguably, the most radical uniform redesign in major league history. The orange caps with a white H on a navy star remained (though an early prototype replaced them as well), but everything else changed, most notably the jersey. Now a pull-over, the new Astros jersey, which was worn both at home and on the road, featured a solid block of red, orange, and yellow stripes from the chest down which has since come to be known as the "tequila sunrise" design after the similarly gradated cocktail. Amid those stripes, on the left abdomen, was a large navy star, and above the stripes was a newly-stylized navy "Astros." This jersey also went under various tweaks over the years (primarily to the specific stripe pattern, number stylization on the back, and outline color for the big navy star), and became a home-only jersey in 1980 (the same year that the navy number on the upper right thigh of the pants was eliminated). However, it remained a part of the Astros' standard uniform set for a dozen seasons and has remained the most popular of the team's throwback jerseys.

Quote

Tequila shoulders: 1980-1993

The longest running uniform design in Astros history started out as a road alternative to the full-blown tequila sunrise look in 1980, their first full season under owner John McMullen, relegating the latter jersey to home games. This new look brought back the navy cap with an orange star, which would replace the orange cap at home as well in 1983, and limited the tequila-sunrise pattern to five stripes running down the sleeves of an otherwise white uniform and outlined in navy. The only color elsewhere on the uniform was navy in the form of a single navy stripe down the sides and legs, navy stripes on the waistband, navy stirrups (which had returned, sans-star, in 1975), a larger version of the "Astros" wordmark, and a smaller navy star on the left abdomen, both in navy. By 1987, this uniform had replaced the tequila sunrise look at home, as well, and was thereafter both the home and road look for the Astros through 1993.

So, 75-79 = full rainbow home and away

80-86 = full rainbow home, rainbow sleeves away

87-93 = rainbow sleeves, home and away

 

Edited by WBT
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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29194

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, WBT said:

I found this...

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/4/11/4213250/houston-astros-uniforms-craig-biggio-jeff-bagwell-jimmy-winn-cesar-cedeno

So, 75-79 = full rainbow home and away

80-86 = full rainbow home, rainbow sleeves away

87-93 = rainbow sleeves, home and away

 

needlessly complicated.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9528

Posted
Posted

+1 for Hinch contract extension.

Not having him locked up past this season seemed surprising to me before this year started

 

I would have said maybe a new minor league player development announcement with Fresno playing Round Rock right now, but don’t believe any discussions on that can occur until after the season.

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WBT

WBT 20668

Posted
Posted

Farm report from The Athletic, good stuff.

https://theathletic.com/396947/2018/06/18/down-on-the-farm-checking-in-with-touted-astros-prospect-kyle-tucker/

Spoiler

 

Down on the farm: Checking in with touted Astros prospect Kyle Tucker

Kyle-Tucker-1024x693.jpg
By Jake Kaplan Jun 18, 2018comment-icon@2x.png 6 save-icon@2x.png

ROUND ROCK, Texas — In the opinion of Class AAA Fresno manager Rodney Linares, Astros outfield prospect Kyle Tucker is right on pace with where he should be in his development.

“He went through this adjustment period in Triple A like he did in Double A,” said Linares, who managed Tucker with Class AA Corpus Christi last season. “I think he’s learned a lot. I think he’s matured a lot. I think he’s close to being big league ready. But not yet.”

As has been the case throughout his young professional career, Tucker is more advanced with his left-handed bat than with his defense. The fifth overall draft pick in 2015 is batting .288/.361/.482 through 257 at-bats in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

His outfield play still needs more refinement, though.

“It’s just overall awareness,” Linares said at the start of Fresno’s ongoing series at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. “At times, being so young, he does take at-bats sometimes to defense. If he doesn’t get a hit or if he had a bad at-bat, you can see it. He gets frustrated, takes some bad routes. But it’s all about maturing as a player in his development. The bat’s way ahead in that regard. He can hit. There’s no question about [it] that he can hit.”

Tucker’s best path to the majors is as a left fielder, but the Astros have played him at all three positions in Class AAA to maintain his versatility. At 21, he’s the youngest player on the Fresno Grizzlies’ roster and one of the youngest in the PCL. It’s important to keep his performance in the context of his age. Even starting him in Class AAA the season was viewed as an aggressive assignment.

With their offense back to producing at an elite level and Tony Kemp batting .316/.391/.434, the AL West-leading Astros (48-25) don’t have much incentive to appease their fan base by rushing Tucker to the majors. Even if at-bats do open up in the near future, Tucker’s Class AAA OPS (.843) still pales in comparison to Tyler White (1.023), J.D. Davis (1.008) and A.J. Reed (.926). In addition to Kemp, the recently demoted Derek Fisher is still ahead of Tucker on the outfield depth chart.

But Tucker’s time will come. He has adjusted to the more experienced Class AAA pitchers, who earlier in the year attacked him with a lot of offspeed pitches. June has been the best of his three months with Fresno so far.

“I feel good,” Tucker said. “After seeing teams a couple of times you kind of get used to how they’re trying to pitch you. I feel like I’ve played pretty well up until now.”

Pitch selection is pivotal for the lanky Tucker to tap into his power potential. Because he can cover a lot of pitches, it’s a matter of picking the right ones on which he can do damage. He has nine home runs this season, tied for third on Fresno behind Reed (17) and White (13).

“He’s the type of guy that can put the barrel on the ball, and he knows he can hit any pitch,” Fresno hitting coach Darryl Robinson said. “So, what he’s going to do is he’s going to learn to lay off of those pitches eventually. Right now he’s swinging at pitches up in the zone. He’s chasing balls up there. But he’s going to figure that one out and say, ‘Hey, look, I can’t do that.’ But it’s just going to take a little bit of time.”

Fisher working to regain rhythm

The last time we saw Derek Fisher, he was battling a digestive issue that prohibited him from eating regularly. After the problem was addressed, the Astros sent him on an official minor league rehab assignment to Class AAA, where they kept him upon activating him from the disabled list.

It was not a total shock. Fisher batted just .176/.222/.419 with 37 strikeouts against five walks in 81 plate appearances after making his first opening day roster. And Kemp, upon his call-up, had seized the at-bats that had belonged to Fisher.

“I wasn’t thinking about what it was going to be,” Fisher said. “Obviously, I wanted to go back to Houston. That’s what I prepared for, and that’s what I wanted to do. But once I got here, I’m able to play and have a little bit of fun. When they told me, it is what it is. I wasn’t upset. I wasn’t really mad about anything. It was more along the lines of being able to get at-bats and come here and work on things that I know I needed to work on.”

The everyday at-bats Fisher is afforded in Class AAA should benefit him. So far, he’s batting .294/.419/.569 in 51 at-bats over 14 games with Fresno.

“I think getting the rhythm back at the plate and having the loose feel that I need to have in the box, something that I’ve always had in my career,” he said of his focus. “Being able just to slow the game down again and being able to take it pitch by pitch and not really try to chase pitches or chase hits. Let the game come to you and just have fun doing it.”

Regarding the issue that sent him to the DL with the Astros, Fisher is back to eating but hasn’t yet regained the roughly 15 pounds he lost. He said he feels better, though.

“My body feels good,” he said. “As far as the number on the scale, it’s lower than it was. But as far as I feel, I feel fine.”

Perez racking up Ks

The undersized (5-foot-11, 170 pounds) but explosive Cionel Perez could impact the Astros as a left-handed reliever as early as this season. Complementing his mid-90s fastball primarily with a low-80s slider, he has struck out 11.4 batters per nine innings with Class AA Corpus Christi this season.

Overall, the 22-year-old Cuban has a 2.32 ERA in 54 1/3 innings across 13 appearances (10 starts). He also throws a curveball and a changeup, but in relief could focus on his two best pitches. His fastball has reached 97 and 98 mph this season.

“He’s on the [40-man] roster and anybody that’s on the roster has a chance to come up and help us out, either before or during September,” Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said. “[With] Cionel, we’re still having a debate as to whether or not it would be better to bring him up as a reliever quicker or continue to develop him as a starter.”

An under-the-radar performer

Brandon Bielak is shaping up to be the biggest surprise of the Astros’ 2017 draft class. The 11th-round pick has outperformed the team’s first-round pick, J.B. Bukauskas, who had a 7.94 ERA in two starts for low A Quad Cities before hitting the disabled list in late April. (Bukauskas’ injury was described by Luhnow as “left side discomfort.” He’s progressed to throwing bullpen sessions but a return date has still yet to be determined.)

Bielak has a 2.22 ERA and a 72:17 strikeout-to-walk differential in 52 2/3 innings with Advanced Class A Buies Creek this season. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound righthander doesn’t throw particularly hard — his fastball sits 91-92 mph and reaches 94 — but commands his pitches well and features three secondary pitches.

To complement his riding four-seam fastball, Bielak throws a mid-80s slider (his primary putaway pitch) and a low-80s curveball. The velocity and depth of his curveball improved when the Notre Dame product switched to a spike grip late last year with short-season Class A Tri-City. He also throws a changeup as his fourth pitch.

“I’ve been attacking pretty much all of the hitters,” Bielak said by phone last week from Buies Creek. “I know my pitches have been graded pretty well, and I know if I just keep my stuff in the zone there’s going to be success. So, I think that’s been the biggest improvement so far from college into pro ball, just attacking the hitters, throwing my stuff in the zone and having the confidence in my pitches to get the guys out.”

Updates on nine

— Forrest Whitley is scheduled to make his third start of the season for Corpus Christi on Monday in his hometown of San Antonio. The Astros’ top prospect has struck out 11 and walked two through eight scoreless innings in Class AA since he returned from his 50-game suspension. The 20-year-old righthander is the second-youngest pitcher in Texas League, older than only A’s prospect Jesus Luzardo, who’s just 15 days younger.

— Yordan Alvarez returned to Corpus Christi’s lineup Saturday after missing five weeks with a hand injury. The left fielder/first base prospect promptly homered twice early in a rained-out game Saturday and once more Sunday in a game that counted.

— Francis Martes (elbow) is currently shut down from throwing. The Astros project an August return. He made only four April starts in Class AAA before hitting the DL and had a 6.75 ERA with more walks (17) than strikeouts (16) in his 18 2/3 innings.

— After batting .327/.414/.390 and stealing 35 bases in 41 attempts in Class AA this season, Myles Straw was promoted to Class AAA on Saturday. The timing of the move coincided with an injury to Class AAA outfielder Drew Ferguson, who fractured his right wrist when hit by a pitch Wednesday in New Orleans.

— Josh James, whose breakout we detailed last month, hasn’t missed a beat since his promotion from Class AA to Class AAA. In 34 1/3 Pacific Coast League innings, he has a 2.36 ERA with 53 strikeouts and 11 walks. He will make his seventh start for Fresno on Monday night in Round Rock.

— Since he was lit up in his Class AA debut in early May, Corbin Martin has adjusted remarkably well to Texas League competition. Overall, the 2017 second-round pick has a 2.77 ERA and .569 OPS against in 39 Class AA innings. Six of the 12 earned runs against him came in his Corpus Christi debut.

— David Paulino (shoulder) is building his arm back up under a throwing program at the Astros’ spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. He should return to pitching in Class AAA next month.

— Touted 18-year-old Dominican shortstop Freudis Nova, who’s been in extended spring training all season, will stay in Florida and play for the Astros’ Gulf Coast League affiliate for the foreseeable future. Nova, who signed for $1.2 million on July 2, 2016, was ranked by Baseball America before the season as the team’s fifth-best prospect.

— Dean Deetz is on track to be reinstated from his 80-game PED suspension in a couple of weeks, at which point it’s expected he will rejoin Class AAA Fresno’s bullpen. Deetz began an official rehab assignment last week with low Class A Quad Cities to ramp up for his return. He had previously been pitching in extended spring training.

 

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FondrenRoad

FondrenRoad 4378

Posted
Posted (edited)
36 minutes ago, elfenix said:

The Astros lead the league in runs the seventh inning or later (135) but are 3-21 when trailing after 7. That seems weird

The flip side of that is that we are 45-4 games when leading or tied after 7, but our bullpen feels much worse than that.

Edited by FondrenRoad
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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9528

Posted
Posted
Farm report from The Athletic, good stuff.

https://theathletic.com/396947/2018/06/18/down-on-the-farm-checking-in-with-touted-astros-prospect-kyle-tucker/

Spoiler

 

Down on the farm: Checking in with touted Astros prospect Kyle Tucker
Kyle-Tucker-1024x693.jpgBy Jake Kaplan Jun 18, 2018comment-icon@2x.png 6 save-icon@2x.png


Nice
Heading over to Round Rock shortly (weather permitting). Looking forward to seeing James on the mound.

Fresno is salty these days, even with White and Kemp up with the big club right now.
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Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:


We like kicking people when they’re down but punch us in the face and we fold?

The playoff run last season says differently, but yeah, sometimes it really feels that way.  They absolutely feast on shitty pitching.

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