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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

Tommy Nobis

Tommy Nobis 905

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, Mitch Hedberg said:

This. Gattis as DH/PH/emergency catcher seems best scenario to me. But I guess a lot depends on McCanns knee. If he goes down during a series you are left with one for the remainder if only carrying two is that right?

McCann caught 17/18 playoff games last year.  Gattis caught the one he didn't.  Centeno was a wasted roster spot.

 

If one goes down, we're fine.  The other catcher can finish the series and we still have Gattis as an emergency backup.

Edited by Tommy Nobis
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Guadaloopy

Guadaloopy 10918

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, kevwun said:

They won't carry 3 catchers if Gattis isn't one of them.

The only reason that they carried three catchers last year was because Gattis was the primary DH.   If McCann was catching and Gattis was in the lineup as DH, Gattis wouldn’t be able to take over if something happened to McCann without giving up the DH spot.  Centeno was there only for that possibility.   

Situation is completely different this year, so you are correct - they would not carry three catchers.  If McCann is healthy, Stassi is out.  

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29174

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

Sipp would be on the roster over Smith if the playoffs started today .... unless Luhnow is reaalllly holding on to the idea of Smith being a Yankee killer (which he wasn’t in May)

say what you will about joe smith, but he's been a monster since may 1st.  not sure which nyy game you're looking at, but i only see one appearance for zero runs on zero hits.  in four months since, he's allowed 4er (3 on solo shots).  at this point, he's outperformed devo, and way outperformed harris.

sipp would seem to be useful, assuming his regular season isn't a sick mirage.

with lmj in the bullpen, i'm wondering if the odd man out isn't somehow peacock.  i hate to say it, because he's nasty and can stretch, but i wonder with lance and mchugh, is peacock really a necessity?  is he our top righty out of the pen to get righties out?  i don't know if you can keep all those righties and pressly, and then add righties rondon/osuna on the back end.

stassi is definitely toast.  no doubt.  that said, if the playoffs started tomorrow, i think yuli and white are the prime candidates for 1b/dh holes.  not sure where that leaves gattis.

#uptownproblems

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mbtex

mbtex 683

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

Did Smith perform poorly against the Indians? Maybe that’s what I was thinking of but could have swore he got lit up early by one of the teams we’d be likely to face in the postseason

They all looked bad in that game we blew against the Indians.

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Gut Wagon

Gut Wagon 8052

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Amos Moses said:

Catchers (3)

Stassi 

Maldonado

McCann

 

IF(5)

Altuve

Bregman

Correa

Gurriel

White

 

OF(5)

Springer

Reddick

Gonzalez

Kemp

Marisnick

 

Pitchers (12)

JV

Cole

Morton

Keuchel

Rondon

Osuna

Peacock

Pressly

Devo

McCullers

McHugh

Smith

 

Omissions - Gattis, Harris, Sipp

I think it's easy to say Harris gets bumped. Sipp isn't such an easy call, though. On the assumption Valdez won't earn a postseason bullpen spot in the next few weeks (doubtful), I'm thinking Sipp has a real chance to replace Devo. Of course, that assumes Devo doesn't look any better than he did at times earlier this year. Got spanked pretty hard. I'm hoping that was a health issue and not just a sudden loss of stuff, obviously.

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Amos Moses

Amos Moses 795

Posted
Posted

It's a good problem to have.  I certainly wouldn't slot Peacock to face lefties, but I feel comfortable with any of the others you listed above in that situation (including McCullers) depending on the match-up and game situation.  I think Gut hit on something worth watching which is how Devo pitches when he gets back.  He's got a month to show his stuff is right or risks getting left off the postseason roster, with Sipp likely taking that spot.  

 

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29174

Posted
Posted

look, we play in a league without too many dominant lefties to retire.  the big bats on cleve/nyy/boston are all righties or switch (benintendi, and a couple other exceptions i guess).  without knowing splits on the switchies, i'm totally fine having one (or all) of those mentioned righties be our "lefty specialists".  however, then it's a sipp vs devo conversation, not a sipp vs peacock one.

all that said, peacock has that nasty tail on his breaking balls (and fastballs really) that may give betts/bogaerts/jdm fits.  i don't know the numbers.  we get to choose guys for each series, so if the first one is against boston, you can make damn sure our quant dept has that shit ready to go.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9376

Posted
Posted

There are, but it don’t make a shit.

I hate to break it to some of you that keep worrying, but we’re winning the division, guys....by somewhere between 7-10 games.
If the A’s couldn’t pass us in the 60 days we didn’t field a lineup that included Springer/Correa/Altuve, they’re not going to do it now that all 3 are back (did I mention the A’s played .730 ball during that stretch? And sorry, but a starting rotation that features Trevor Cahill and Mike Fiers as its best 1/2 now that Manaea is on the shelf is not going to unseat the defending World Champs)

In light of the above post, quoting myself from last night....
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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9376

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Posted

HOUSTON -- Don't look for the Astros to pull off another major trade prior to the Aug. 31 playoff roster deadline the way they did last year, when they acquired Justin Verlander from the Tigers in the minutes leading up to the deadline.

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said Tuesday the club has claimed many players on waivers, which is standard practice this time of year, but that other teams have pulled the player back or the Astros haven't been able to work out a trade. Luhnow said the Astros feel good about their chances in October without making any additional roster additions.

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"Last year at this time, there was a clear opportunity to improve the team by bringing in an elite starting pitcher," he said. "There's no clear missing piece on this team this year. It doesn't mean there's not a potential move out there that could happen in the next few days that could upgrade our team. I'll be satisfied if we don't do anything, but it doesn't mean we don't continue to look for things.

"Like with most deadlines, a lot of activity happens in the day or waning hours or even waning minutes of the deadline, so we'll have to wait and see what happens. I feel really good about our 25-man roster, plus our injured players that are coming back, as well as the Minor League players we could potentially promote."

To be eligible for the postseason roster, players need to be on a team's 40-man roster, the 60-day DL, or the bereavement/family medical emergency list by Aug. 31, which is Friday. Any player who clears waivers is free to be traded to any team, which is what happened to Verlander last year.

"We'd have to be convinced that whoever we acquire is going to be an upgrade over one of the guys that's likely to be in the lineup going forward," Luhnow said.

• Here's how Astros landed Verlander last August

McCann likely activated Saturday
Veteran catcher Brian McCann, who had surgery on his right knee in early July to repair a torn meniscus, rejoined his teammates Tuesday in Houston after going 4-for-22 with a home run and three walks during a Minor League rehab assignment. It's expected the Astros will activate him Saturday, which is the first day rosters can be expanded for the final month of the season.

"I got some really good work in," he said. "My knee feels better than it has in three years probably. To have the stability that I have, just showed me it was the right decision to make. I got to the point I was collapsing my front side. I couldn't be a productive Major Leaguer, so it was nice to come back and know that my knee's healthy and I can make an athletic move on it."

McCann, 34, was hitting .206 with five homers and 17 RBIs in 155 at-bats for the Astros through June 30, including .119 (8-for-67) with two homers in his final 67 at-bats before going on the DL.

"I can attack baseballs again," he said. "It was really hard for me to keep my weight balanced to where I can hit certain pitches and sit fastball and hit the changeup and vice versa."

Outfielder Jake Marisnick (left groin) and right-handed reliever Chris Devenski (left hamstring) are also expected to be activated Saturday from the DL.

Whitley on DL with lat strain
Luhnow said Monday he expects top prospect Forrest Whitley -- ranked as the No. 7 prospect overall by MLB Pipeline -- to pitch again this season despite being placed on the disabled list Tuesday (retroactive to Aug. 25) with a right lat strain. He was on the DL earlier this year with a right oblique strain after missing the first 50 games of the season for a violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Whitley, who owns a 3.76 ERA and 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings over eight starts at Double-A, was scratched from his start on Friday due to right lat discomfort as a precaution. The Astros had hoped Whitley would reach the Majors this year, but that won't happen.

"He's young and a lot of young pitchers, especially in the Minor Leagues, have seasons like that where some combination of events, they don't get as much done as they'd like to," Luhnow said. "We still have a chance to make up for it, though, playing some fall ball and so forth.

"For him, the focus is getting in a position he can come to camp next year and impress AJ [Hinch] and the staff and everybody else and put himself in position to be a reasonable option at some point next year. That's the goal with him and I think he certainly can accomplish that."

Whitley, the team's first-round pick in 2016, is a candidate to pitch in the Arizona Fall League in October or get in more work during the instructional league after the season ends.

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