2018 Houston Astros Season Thread

[ERhine 1894]

To be fair, we were all asking questions about Springer before Game #2 of the WS.

The fuck? “We” weren’t all asking questions about Springer. You may have been. Utgrad and his ilk may have been. But most of the regulars on this thread were not.

[Honeysucklerose 987]

Not gonna win them all, but you sure would like to win them all against a team that had only won one so far

[Tailleur17 361]

FudgeNuggets is MajorHarsin/Hoop

[Ted Lange 16084]

Fudge Nuggets is clearly an Arlington Rangers troll. New board, Rangers are gonna suck ass for 4+ years.   So just make an account to troll the Astros.  To be fair, that seems way more enjoyable than watching the rangers and their players who forcibly jack off other dudes.

never forget nuggets, there is one World Series winner ever in Texas. The HOUSTON Astros. Eat a dick Arlington 

[Mez2 4023]

This team sucks

[Hank Chinaski 6314]

Last year, as a club, the Astros struck out in 17% of their plate appearances, best in the league and a dramatic drop from 23% in 2016. So far we are at 25% in 2018. Will be interesting to see where that number settles. My guess is somewhere between the last two years. 

[Gut Wagon 8065]

Couple frustrating games so far. And yeah, too many Ks. Hopefully that gets fixed as we return to our “real” lineup. But even if if doesn’t, I guess I’m OK with continuing to play .750 ball. 

[Hook'Em0608 96]

23 minutes ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Last year, as a club, the Astros struck out in 17% of their plate appearances, best in the league and a dramatic drop from 23% in 2016. So far we are at 25% in 2018. Will be interesting to see where that number settles. My guess is somewhere between the last two years. 

Marisnick, Fisher, and Davis are striking out in 43 percent of their plate appearances combined. Yuli taking their at bats will help dramatically. 

[Gourmand 7774]

 

[Hank Chinaski 6314]

54 minutes ago, Hook'Em0608 said:

Marisnick, Fisher, and Davis are striking out in 43 percent of their plate appearances combined. Yuli taking their at bats will help dramatically. 

Good point.

I'll be interested to track Springer as well. His Ks were down last year (24% in '15 and '16; 18% last year) - interested to see if he can sustain the lower K rate. 

[Gut Wagon 8065]

With Springer coming off that power display in the WS, and then jacking one on the first strike of the new season, I wouldn’t be surprised if he subconsciously started being a little too aggressive. He always has struck me as having decent plate discipline, but not really outstanding for a leadoff guy. Of course, I base none of this on analytics, just perception from watching him play. 

[Hook'Em0608 96]

24 minutes ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Good point.

I'll be interested to track Springer as well. His Ks were down last year (24% in '15 and '16; 18% last year) - interested to see if he can sustain the lower K rate. 

Springer is streaky. He and Marwin haven't really gotten hot yet. That's the beautiful thing about our lineup though, it's so potent a few guys slumping never really hurts us. Somebody else is always hot. I'm not the least bit worried about our offense, I think most of them showed they can hit even the best pitching when it matters. That is just so rare. Reddick and Marwin were really the only two big time producers in our lineup who got somewhat shut down in the postseason. And even they had their big moments. I also feel like both of them faced so many dominant lefties in the playoffs it isn't really fair to hold it against them. They are here to mash right handed pitching and balance our lineup. 

[kevwun 15769]

I think Springer is always going to struggle with consistency.  He's old enough where it's probably just who he is.

Edited April 7, 2018 by kevwun

[Smax 3800]

https://www.click2houston.com/news/well-deserved-mattress-mack-receives-astros-world-series-championship-ring

 

Well deserved -- 'Mattress Mack' receives Astros World Series Championship ring

 

HOUSTON - Houston's hero, Jim ' Mattress Mack' McIngvale received his very own Astros World Series Championship ring Friday, according to his daughter's Instagram story.

McIngvale was posing and smiling in the photo while wearing his first championship ring.

He's been called Harvey's hero for his charitable donations and efforts in Hurricane Harvey relief. In November, McIngvale gave customers $10 million worth of refunds on mattress purchases because of the Astros World Series win.

He also gave 20 lucky fans and 20 first responders tickets to Game 6 of the World Series in Los Angeles. McIngvale chartered a private jet for all the Astros fans who won tickets.

 

 

Edited April 7, 2018 by Smax

[Hook'Em0608 96]

7 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I think Springer is always going to struggle with consistency.  He's old enough where it's probably just who he is.

Yep, but when he's hot, man is it fun to watch. 

[kevwun 15769]

Yeah, he looks like Babe Ruth when he's locked in.

[Sleepygrad 1029]

3 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Yeah, he looks like Babe Ruth when he's locked in.

that solo shot in game 5 of the WS coming off the error in center was one of the best, most confident swings I've ever seen

[David Dennison 18851]

2 hours ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Good point.

I'll be interested to track Springer as well. His Ks were down last year (24% in '15 and '16; 18% last year) - interested to see if he can sustain the lower K rate. 

The only thing I like about Fisher so far is his speed. He sucks at the plate.

[BornOrange 1441]

One of the reasons they moved Springer to leadoff was to encourage him to be more selective at the plate.

[Hank Chinaski 6314]

15 minutes ago, BornOrange said:

One of the reasons they moved Springer to leadoff was to encourage him to be more selective at the plate.

Thing is, he was better at making contact on pitches in the strike zone last year - by a lot. His contact rate at pitches in the zone were 73% in '15; 80% in '16; 86% (!) in '17. Not coincidentally, his Ks were down last year by quite a bit. 

Too early to tell anything this year, but he's currently right back around 80%. 

[BornOrange 1441]

At the end of April last year, Carlos Correa was just hitting .233 with a slugging percentage of .349 and an OPS of .658.

And he already had 250 games and 1000 AB's of experience.

Fisher had 50 games and 150 AB's last year.

It will take some time to figure out how good Fisher will be.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

 

[Fudge Nuggets 19189]

5 hours ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Last year, as a club, the Astros struck out in 17% of their plate appearances, best in the league and a dramatic drop from 23% in 2016. So far we are at 25% in 2018. Will be interesting to see where that number settles. My guess is somewhere between the last two years. 

Careful, you will get called an Arlington fan for pointing out things like this.

[Guest Stahp]

Talking stats 8 games into the season is dumb. Wait till at least the 25 game mark to be bringing up anything compared to last year. 

[Hank Chinaski 6314]

46 minutes ago, Guest Stahp said:

Talking stats 8 games into the season is dumb. Wait till at least the 25 game mark to be bringing up anything compared to last year. 

Drawing conclusions from them 8 games into the season is dumb; talking about them isn't. 

[Pods 7551]

Who is going to the game today? If you've got tickets, I may have 2 insanely good seats you can sit in for a free upgrade. They don't want to use the tickets, so I can't give that part away, they get credit for tickets they don't use and get extra tickets later, but the seats will probably be empty. PM me and I'll let you know if they'll be open. They are big donor seats, so behave at least somewhat and make sure you don't get me in trouble. 

Edited April 7, 2018 by Pods

[Teddyballgame 441]

Lines are wrapped around the stadium. Everyone wants a ring. Looks like we will be at the bar right until first pitch

[TonyTexas 10508]

Lines are wrapped around the stadium. Everyone wants a ring. Looks like we will be at the bar right until first pitch

The give-away replica rings look surprisingly good.

 

[FondrenRoad 4378]

3 hours ago, Hank Chinaski said:

Thing is, he was better at making contact on pitches in the strike zone last year - by a lot. His contact rate at pitches in the zone were 73% in '15; 80% in '16; 86% (!) in '17. Not coincidentally, his Ks were down last year by quite a bit. 

Too early to tell anything this year, but he's currently right back around 80%. 

Its still early.  We were 4-4 to start last year and weren't setting the world on fire against the ultimately middling Mariners and Royals.  They're probably a little hungover from winning the WS too.  They'll settle down.  

Edited April 7, 2018 by FondrenRoad

[Rustic Horn 929]

The give-away replica rings look surprisingly good.
 

Yes they do. Glad I was able to get one.

[Pods 7551]

42 minutes ago, Teddyballgame said:

Lines are wrapped around the stadium. Everyone wants a ring. Looks like we will be at the bar right until first pitch

Check your pm's Ted

[Teddyballgame 441]

You are a good man Pods

 

[Katfid54 8620]

Garrett Cole throws strikes, fyi.

[elfenix 34227]

Cole picking up right where he left off

[Dr. Teeth 5843]

Cole is nasty. 

[Planet Houston 4930]

That is NASTY

[Dr. Teeth 5843]

Speed is on indeed. 

[Limp Brisket 546]

Fucking Reddit trash streams are trash.

[FartingMonk 3606]

I don't know what it is, but so far this year Altuve just looks sloppy on defense.  It's almost like he is being lazy, but he's making little errors that costs us outs.  

[David Dennison 18851]

The bats, they are sucking.

[elfenix 34227]

7 strikeouts seems pretty good.

 

also, mississippi state seems like it sucks.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

Time for the bats to get going

[Mez2 4023]

Our bats have AIDS

[Dr. Teeth 5843]

Nice play at home. Smart move by SD runner to get other runner in scoring position. 

[Dr. Teeth 5843]

Cole’s pitches to end the inning are insane. 

[third_coaster 4]

Anyone know why McCann shaved his beard? He get the face crabs? 

[DoobieWah 1435]

1 minute ago, third_coaster said:

Anyone know why McCann shaved his beard? He get the face crabs? 

So people would quit calling him "Gattis".

[YChang 3443]

Thought the lineup was built to not struggle like today and yesterday... come on Stros!

[Mez2 4023]

Just no fucking mojo

[Mez2 4023]

First one to score wins, deal?