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2019 Houston Astros Thread

Planet Houston

By Planet Houston
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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29190

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38 minutes ago, Mez2 said:

DKs reliance on finesse pitching, lack of putaway pitch, and initial contract demands are all going against him. with teams focused on launch angles and hitting the ball out of the park, there just isnt a high demand for a pitcher like him. if he's not hitting spots on corners and with him pitching down to begin with, it just opens himself to a lot of potential damage versus hitters. swing paths already start down to end high, right in line with his pitching style.

can he be valuable piece on a rotation? absolutely but he needs to be real with himself and try to reset his market for the remainder of this year, even if he was to sign today, it would be a few starts/weeks before you could assume he would be back to normal, and that puts you already late to end of may. is losing a draft pick for that type of production worth it, especially if you're not on a contender and he's on a 1 year deal. you know he's kicking himself for not taking that extension

i can see someone acquiring him in june maybe almost like a deadline deal.  they give up a draft pick, a bit of money.  not a tall asking price for a potential sp3 with valuable playoff/ws experience.  if that doesn't happen, i wonder if he's really just a fuckstick and not a great clubhouse guy.

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3 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

i can see someone acquiring him in june maybe almost like a deadline deal.  they give up a draft pick, a bit of money.  not a tall asking price for a potential sp3 with valuable playoff/ws experience.  if that doesn't happen, i wonder if he's really just a fuckstick and not a great clubhouse guy.

I confess that I've wondered about this.

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Jshep34

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i can see someone acquiring him in june maybe almost like a deadline deal.  they give up a draft pick, a bit of money.  not a tall asking price for a potential sp3 with valuable playoff/ws experience.  if that doesn't happen, i wonder if he's really just a fuckstick and not a great clubhouse guy.
Lot of truth in that last sentence

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tx 3 putt

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http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26546187/ranking-biggest-stars-next-three-free-agent-classes

 

1. Gerrit Cole, RHP, Astros

2020 age: 29

Possible destinations: Astros, Dodgers, Angels, Yankees, Rangers, Cubs

As cold as the free-agent market was this past offseason, there should be vast interest in Cole, who turned the corner last season with the Astros as he started relying more on his explosive four-seamer up in the zone and less on the two-seamer the Pirates preferred he throw. That took his game to a new level, as his strikeout rate jumped from 8.4 per nine innings with Pittsburgh to 12.5 the past season-plus with Houston.

Cole grew up in Southern California and went to UCLA, so going to the Dodgers or Angels would be a homecoming of sorts. The Dodgers haven't signed a $100 million free agent under Andrew Friedman, but Cole could be an exception, giving them another ace in a rotation that currently has depth but lacks a workhorse at the top given Clayton Kershaw's limitations and health concerns. Cole is better than Patrick Corbin, who signed a six-year, $140 million deal with the Nationals (although it was heavily backloaded, lowering the present-day value of the contract) and younger than Yu Darvish was when he signed his six-year, $126 million deal with the Cubs.

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Seasick Sailor

Seasick Sailor 3747

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Even After All of Its Turnover, Astros Rotation Has Remained A Strength

By Jake Kaplan

 

Even after all of its turnover, the Astros rotation has remained a strength

GettyImages-1137673211-1024x682.jpg
By Jake Kaplan Apr 18, 2019comment-icon.png 15 save-icon.png

The only really surprising aspect of the Astros’ 12-6 start is how they got there. But aside from them dropping five of their first seven games and then reeling off 10 consecutive wins before their next loss, the first three weeks of their season hasn’t offered much in the department of shocking developments.

It’s a byproduct of their standing as a perennial American League power. Their offense was supposed to be better this season, and it has been. The dominance of their leverage relievers had been evident since the second half of last season. Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole have, for the most part, performed like Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.

If anything, it’s the rest of Houston’s rotation that has emerged as the story of these first 18 games. Losing Charlie Morton and Dallas Keuchel to free agency and Lance McCullers Jr. to Tommy John surgery suggested the team’s starting pitching was bound to regress significantly. But so far, Collin McHugh, Wade Miley and Brad Peacock have more than held their own.

It’s unquestionably a different-looking rotation, one with less velocity and swing-and-miss potential than its predecessor. It won’t set records or garner recognition for ranking among the all-time greatest. Yet through four turns, it ranks fourth in the majors in ERA (3.19) and third in opponents’ OPS (.605).

Astros rotation through 18 games
  2018 2019
ERA 2.54 3.19
Innings 109.2 104.1
K/9 12.1 9.7
BB/9 2.9 2.1
Opponents’ OPS .622 .605
 

McHugh’s performance is the biggest reason Houston’s rotation has maintained its place among the game’s best. After spending last year in the bullpen, he’s not only successfully transitioned back to a starting role but also has been the Astros’ best starter by both ERA (1.96) and FIP (2.27).

And McHugh has thrived behind his sweeping slider, which he has treated as his primary pitch through four starts and 23 innings. It’s responsible for 22 of his 27 strikeouts and has generated a 46.4-percent whiff rate and a .122 slugging percentage against, according to Statcast data.

McHugh’s 2019 pitch usage
  Percentage
Slider 42.1%
Fastball 33.1%
Curveball 12.1%
Cutter 11.0%
Changeup 1.7%
 

Overall, McHugh’s slider has been one of the best in baseball a few weeks into the season. This is the same slider he threw last season when pitching out of the bullpen, but as a reliever he used it only 24.6 percent of the time. He started to develop it while rehabbing his elbow injury in 2017 with help from Luke Gregerson and Peacock.

 
Embedded video
 

40 Seconds of 22 Collin McHugh Sliders from tonight (either called or swinging strikes). 😯

 
 
 
 

 

“It’s a sweeping pitch, so I’m not necessarily looking for like a hard downer slider like some guys,” he explained last summer. “Mine’s like more of a hybrid curveball-slider where it’s just straight side-to-side sweep as much as I can get.”

It was mostly a right-on-right weapon in 2018, as he was relied on as a de facto righty specialist for much of the season. Now back in a starting role, he’s throwing it to lefties 36.2 percent of the time, as well.

An interesting aspect of McHugh’s slider is how far he drops down to throw it. His average release point when he throws it is four inches lower than it is on his fastball and six inches lower than on his curveball. Yet hitters haven’t been able to discern between his slider and his fastball.

mchugh-rleease-point-1024x683.jpeg

Miley has been the steady, quick-working, pitch-to-contact No. 4 starter the Astros hoped for when they signed him in January for one year and $4.5 million. After reviving his career with the Brewers last season behind his cutter, Miley has refined his pitch usage since joining the Astros. He’s throwing even more cutters (52.6 percent, up from 42.6, according to Brooks Baseball) and four-seam fastballs (15.3 percent, up from 11.8) and continued to stay away from throwing his sinker to righties.

Miley has a 3.32 ERA despite only 11 strikeouts in his 21 2/3 innings. His highest pitch count has been 95. In his April 12 start at Seattle, he pitched essentially the first half of a tandem with Peacock, who because of a bevy of team off days is stashed in the bullpen for this current three-city road trip to Seattle, Oakland and Texas.

Peacock’s expected to return to the rotation Tuesday against the Twins for this third start of the season. Between his four appearances, two as a starter and two as a reliever, he has a 3.94 ERA in 16 innings. A poor start against the A’s on April 7 is responsible for five of the seven earned runs he’s allowed. His fastball has been relatively reliable. The differentiator has been whether he has command of his slider and curveball.

All told, the Astros as a pitching staff have a 3.00 ERA, which was tied for third-best in the majors through Wednesday’s games. Their offense ranks 10th in OPS at .803 and has a .271/.348/.456 batting line. Through 18 games last season, they batted only .235/.320/.363.

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Seasick Sailor

Seasick Sailor 3747

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In reference to the article above, I've heard it mentioned several times recently that McHugh's release point on his slider is significantly lower than his other pitches. I wonder if this is something Strom will work on with him. Seems like batters would pick up on that sooner or later. 

Edited by Seasick Sailor
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kevwun

kevwun 15777

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Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, Seasick Sailor said:

In reference to the article above, I've heard it mentioned several times recently that McHugh's release point on his slider is significantly lower than his other pitches. I wonder if this is something Strom will work on with him. Seems like batters would pick up on that sooner or later. 

I believe the Astros also have stats that says his release point for it doesn't matter.  No one can hit it even when they know it's coming.  It's very possible that changing his release point will make it less effective.

Edited by kevwun
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Rimbo

Rimbo 25921

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6 hours ago, Seasick Sailor said:

In reference to the article above, I've heard it mentioned several times recently that McHugh's release point on his slider is significantly lower than his other pitches. I wonder if this is something Strom will work on with him. Seems like batters would pick up on that sooner or later. 

 

2 hours ago, kevwun said:

I believe the Astros also have stats that says his release point for it doesn't matter.  No one can hit it even when they know it's coming.  It's very possible that changing his release point will make it less effective.

I believe what Hinch said was that a vertical difference of 3-4 inches doesn't seem to matter to pitch recognition, based on their metrics.

1 hour ago, slorch said:

You think Strommie  pays attention to such trivialities?

Yes. Yes he does. I think that's part of why he's the best pitching coach in the business.

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