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2018 Houston Astros Season Thread

Planet Houston

By Planet Houston
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TexArcher
TexArcher

Bregs is going Crawford Boxes right here.

ERhine
ERhine

Prior to the footage being edited by Bender:

wesleywest
wesleywest

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

Planet Houston

Planet Houston 4930

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2 minutes ago, DaysOff said:
4 minutes ago, Planet Houston said:
Fuck, Marwin. 
Why the fuck is Bregman not our everyday shortstop. 

Because we're holding the spot for the 10 year/400 million dollar Yankee.

I meant to say with Correa out, but point taken. Maybe I subconsciously left “while Correa is out” out on purpose. 

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9454

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dk 3.60 era (lower if they fix that shit).  1.25 whip.
pretty good for our (arguably) shittiest starter.

Remember was DK was 3-8 “I know what 3-8 feels like and it ain’t this”?

That was June 5.
Now 8-8 (yeah yeah. Who cares about a pitcher’s Ws) but he’s putting together a legit case for pitcher of the month
In July 4-0, 1.30 ERA, 0.90 WHIP
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BurntOrangeBlooded15

BurntOrangeBlooded15 1566

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6 hours ago, UTexasFight said:


Remember was DK was 3-8 “I know what 3-8 feels like and it ain’t this”?

That was June 5.
Now 8-8 (yeah yeah. Who cares about a pitcher’s Ws) but he’s putting together a legit case for pitcher of the month
In July 4-0, 1.30 ERA, 0.90 WHIP

I was about to come post the same thing.  Dude has been working.  If he can keep doing what he’s doing, we won’t need a bullpen with all of our starters going 7-8-9 innings. 

 

Aka show me a fuckin loss!!!

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9454

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I’ll admit, I haven’t been glued to the TV for Keuchel’s starts the last month or so.
What has he been doing differently?

I recalled this article from June 8, right after he fell to 3-8.
Has he been doing what he said he would?
If so, a bit shocking he would stray from that in the first place.


Dallas Keuchel has made a living throwing late-moving two-seam fastballs. In the past, he’s been so confident in his ability to locate his sinker down and away to righties he’s gone the first time through the opposing lineup without throwing anything else. When at his best, he’s challenging hitters with his signature pitch.

That’s why it’s been so curious to see Keuchel stray from his sinker this season. The former Cy Young Award winner and two-time All-Star has been a different pitcher through 13 starts, one who relies heavily on a cutter and mixes in elevated four-seam fastballs to change a batter’s eye level. It’s a mix that hasn’t translated to success.

Keuchel, who will be a first-time free agent after the season, has been the weakest link in baseball’s best rotation through 40 percent of the schedule. The 30-year-old bearded left-hander has a 4.13 ERA in 80 2/3 innings. The underlying statistics aren’t any better.

The reduced sinker usage is a result of Keuchel’s attempt to attack batters’ weaknesses as opposed to playing to his strengths. He’s thrown it for only 43.6 percent of his pitches this season, according to Brooks Baseball. In each of his two All-Star seasons (2015 and 2017), he relied on the pitch 50 percent of the time or more.

In place of those missing two-seamers, Keuchel has thrown 20.2 percent cutters (up from 12.5 percent last year) and 9.7 percent four-seam fastballs (up from 4.3 percent). He feels both his cutter and four-seamer play against right-handed hitters. (Against lefties he’s still exclusively a sinker-slider pitcher, which has been his career norm.)

Keuchel’s next start is Sunday afternoon against the Rangers, the first of probably seven before the All-Star break. By then, he anticipates, his pitch usage will have normalized some.

“I feel like every once in a while you’ve got to kind of adjust to the hitters to go back to what your norm is,” he said. “I’d say probably here in the next six, seven starts — probably all of the starts before the All-Star break — I probably would start throwing a lot more two-seams down and away and getting back to the norm. Just because I think it’s about time to start doing that.”

On top of his altered pitch mix, Keuchel’s slider hasn’t been as effective this season. He’s generated swing and misses on by far a career-worst 11.8 percent of his sliders compared to a career-high 21.3 percent last year, according to Brooks Baseball. The pitch is responsible for four of the 12 home runs and five of the 19 doubles he has allowed in 2018.

Keuchel pointed out he also hasn’t thrown his slider as much this season. His 18 percent usage rate, while only 1.7 percent less than last year, would be a career low since he first unleashed the pitch on major league hitters in 2013. But he admitted “the feel hasn’t been there.” In the meantime, his favoring of the cutter has pushed the slider to the backburner.

“I think it’s just kind of ridden with how I’ve done in the box score,” he said of his slider. “[it’s] been very inconsistent. But it’s still there. At times it’s been my best pitch. At times it’s been my worst pitch. So, once I establish the correct feel and the shape of it, it will be pretty evident that it’s back.”

Keuchel’s inning-by-inning results illustrate how inconsistent he’s pitched overall. In his last start, June 5 against the Mariners, he allowed six of his seven earned runs before he recorded his fourth out.

Dallas Keuchel 2018 Inning-by-Inning Stats
Inning ERA OPS against
1st 9.0 1.004
2nd 2.77 .565
3rd 0.69 .417
4th 2.77 .620
5th 4.50 .678
6th 6.00 .922
7th 4.76 .828
8th 0.0 .714
“I don’t really know why I’m struggling in the first inning,” he said. “It’s a frustrating game at times. But I feel like I’m right there. There’s really no worry or any doubt in my mind that we can’t flip the script on the results.”
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kevwun

kevwun 15790

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He's got his control back.  He was painting the edges of the strike zone last night.  When he can do that, he's the Cy Young winning version of himself.  For the first few months of the season, he was missing on the edges and getting behind guys and things don't go well for him when he does that.  He doesn't have the stuff to overpower guys when he has to throw strikes.

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29191

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1 minute ago, UTexasFight said:


A bit random, but about time those guys lose
Tired of being on pace for 105 wins and still 4.5 games behind those guys

if things hold, it's really all about finishing ahead of cleveland - that has been established.  but obviously finishing with the #1 seed and allowing you to face the wildcard game winner in a short series with their ace having pitched the day before is greatly preferred.  i keep an eye on boston and nyy every day.

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TonyTexas

TonyTexas 10515

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if things hold, it's really all about finishing ahead of cleveland - that has been established.  but obviously finishing with the #1 seed and allowing you to face the wildcard game winner in a short series with their ace having pitched the day before is greatly preferred.  i keep an eye on boston and nyy every day.

IDK. Wouldn’t you rather face Cleveland in the ALDS than, potentially, the Yankees.
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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29191

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the yankees would have to (presumably) start severino in the wildcard game, meaning they couldn't start him again til g3 back in new york, in likely his only start of the series.  i don't know who they're gonna trade for, but that person (hamels?) likely starts g1/g4.  same with sox and sale (if they fall back to the wildcard).  kluber/bauer/carrasco/lindor/ramirez/etc are plenty scary, even with the homefield advantage.

finishing 1 would be gigantic.

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TexArcher

TexArcher 37859

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4 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:


IDK. Wouldn’t you rather face Cleveland in the ALDS than, potentially, the Yankees.

Yep.  Cleveland doesn't scare me at all.  

If we get the 1, we get home field in the ALCS.  But the way we play on the road, I'd rather have the easier ALDS matchup.

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