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2019 Houston Astros Thread

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My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer 3 weeks ago. Tomorrow she starts her treatment. She's been a wreck ever since the diagnosis. I mentioned a few pages back how a friend of the family manage

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9819

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Even though Alvarez is the answer I would still cut/trade/giveaway White and sign Gattis off the street tomorrow just to fucking make White go away. He can at least hit a homer in 69 ABs

Yeah heat is officially on.
Gattis first homered in AB #69 last year.
White’s 0 for 5 tonight pushed him past that...now at AB #74.

Gattis first 73 ABs last year: .205/.293/.315
White first 74 this year: .230/.333/.284

On the one hand, the rest of the offense is so hot it’s maybe buying white some time. On the other, his ineptitude is such as outlier compared to the rest of the team the spotlight is even that much brighter on him.
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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9819

Posted
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This is fun:
Name A & B:
A: .283/.364/.514

B: .281/.363/.433



A: 2019 Astros through 43 games
B: Craig Biggio, career

Small sample size for A yada yada, but yes, over a quarter of the way through the season, the collective Astros offense is slashing better than the franchise’s first HOF’er

 

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Rimbo

Rimbo 27092

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, WBT said:

So I was working outside listening to the radio earlier.

Ford:  It looks like Carpenter is going to be done.  Buck Farmer continues to warm up in the bullpen.

Sparks: No, what's his real name?

They're a lot more fun to listen to now than they were five years ago.

Winning has loosened them up.

But even their show six years ago is better than the shit ESPN lays on us.

Edited by Rimbo
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6 hours ago, Mitch Hedberg said:

Whites whole purpose is to make outs, otherwise we score 20 a game and they last 4 hours. MLB frowns on long games. He's doing a great job keeping the times down.

The Governor...

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Scraps

Scraps 13812

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Astros orange colored glasses but if it’s July 9 in Cleveland, you can’t tell me these 8 aren’t there
Springer, Bregman, Brantley, Correa, JV, Cole, Pressly, Osuna
 
And Reddick is there too if he shows a little more pop.
 
Chirinos should be there too. That's the 9 i was talking about earlier
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DaysOff

DaysOff 8222

Posted
Posted
Whites whole purpose is to make outs, otherwise we score 20 a game and they last 4 hours. MLB frowns on long games. He's doing a great job keeping the times down.
I watch his at bats with the SAP button on to hear him strike out in another language. Fun.
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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9819

Posted
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Jim Bowden on MadBum:

Houston Astros

Off-limits minor-league prospects:
Forrest Whitley, RHP
Yordan Alvarez, 1B
Kyle Tucker, OF

The Astros are an interesting potential trade partner for the Giants because they too have a deep farm system loaded with major-league-ready talent. Although the Giants wouldn’t be able to get Yordan Alvarez or Kyle Tucker, the Astros’ two best minor-league bats, they could ask for center field speedster Myles Straw or first baseman Seth Beer. In addition, the Astros’ pitching depth would allow them to dangle pitching prospects like J.B. Bukauskas, Peter Solomon or Tyler Ivey. Certainly an inviting potential prospect package for the Giants — and can you imagine the Astros with Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Madison Bumgarner starting for them in the postseason? Wow.

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6363

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:

Jim Bowden on MadBum:

Houston Astros

Off-limits minor-league prospects:
Forrest Whitley, RHP
Yordan Alvarez, 1B
Kyle Tucker, OF

The Astros are an interesting potential trade partner for the Giants because they too have a deep farm system loaded with major-league-ready talent. Although the Giants wouldn’t be able to get Yordan Alvarez or Kyle Tucker, the Astros’ two best minor-league bats, they could ask for center field speedster Myles Straw or first baseman Seth Beer. In addition, the Astros’ pitching depth would allow them to dangle pitching prospects like J.B. Bukauskas, Peter Solomon or Tyler Ivey. Certainly an inviting potential prospect package for the Giants — and can you imagine the Astros with Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Madison Bumgarner starting for them in the postseason? Wow.

That's the thing - the Giants have to field a team the next few years. Their MLB roster is aging and no longer effective. Their farm system is lacking. Think of the Astros, circa 2010. 

Guys like Straw and Fisher would probably play a lot for them immediately. Giants' OF combined have hit .221/.271/.349 so far this year. They're terrible. Straw/Fisher wouldn't be franchise-changing players, but they figure to be better than what the GIants have and could stabilize (a bit) a couple of spots as the Giants inevitable rebuild commences - and who knows, Straw could be an ideal 4th OF, and Fisher has the tools to develop into an everyday guy. Pair them with a near-ready pitcher and/or a guy with more upside, and maybe throw in a guy like Beer. That would have to be pretty attractive for the Giants.

All the Giants would be losing is about 10-12 meaningless Bumgarner starts. They have to trade him - just a matter of who gives them the best package. The Astros' abundance of ready, high-minors players could be advantageous. 

Edited by Hank Chinaski
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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9000

Posted
Posted

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26741260/real-not-astros-offense-best-mlb-history

Real or not? This Astros offense could be the best in MLB history

There is something remarkable going on in the early weeks of 2019. Here is a list of the best offenses in the past 100 years, ranked by the weighted runs created formula at FanGraphs (wRC+ adjusts for the league run environment and home park, with 100 being average):

2019 Astros: 133
1927 Yankees: 126
1930 Yankees: 124
2017 Astros: 122
1976 Reds: 120
1982 Brewers: 120
2003 Red Sox: 120

(snip)

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Chuckie Finster

Chuckie Finster 23099

Posted
Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, UTexasFight said:

Astros orange colored glasses but if it’s July 9 in Cleveland, you can’t tell me these 8 aren’t there

Springer, Bregman, Brantley, Correa, JV, Cole, Pressly, Osuna

 

And Reddick is there too if he shows a little more pop.

 

He doesn't deserve to be an All-Star, but who is gonna beat out Altuve in the fan vote?  He was the leading vote getter overall last year and won 2B by more than 3 million votes.

Edited by Chuckie Finster
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Scraps

Scraps 13812

Posted
Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

He doesn't deserve to be an All-Star, but who is gonna beat out Altuve in the fan vote?  He was the leading vote getter overall last year and won 2B by more than 3 million votes.

The new voting process could potentially change things.  I mean he got so many votes before I doubt it will, but he should make top 3 easy.....then they do the dedicated "Election Day" which is a one day vote for the starters out of the top 3.  If someone floods the system on that one day then they could take the starters spot.  

 

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9819

Posted
Posted
He doesn't deserve to be an All-Star, but who is gonna beat out Altuve in the fan vote?  He was the leading vote getter overall last year and won 2B by more than 3 million votes.

10 all stars it is...

I’m going to enjoy sending to Cleveland basically the entire starting lineup that dismantled them last October (plus Uncle Mike)

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6363

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Fangraphs on Springer - good stuff...the "swinging in and out of zone" chart is great - Springer's plate discipline has been incredible. 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-astros-other-best-player/

 

Spoiler

In 2014, George Springer received an April callup to the majors and for half a season, he was Houston’s second-best player, with Jose Altuve leading the way. In 2015, Springer was on his way to a very good season when he fractured his wrist. Despite playing in just 102 games, he put up nearly four wins, about half a win shy of Altuve’s total. In 2016, Springer put up a very good five-win campaign, but he was bested not just by Altuve, but by rising shortstop Carlos Correa. The trio finished in the same order the following season, but last season, Alex Bregman jumped to the front of the pack, followed by a five-win season from Altuve, and a disappointing three-win year from Springer. Entering this season, Springer looked like the fourth-best position player on the Astros, but thus far, he’s been the fourth-best position player in baseball and tops in the American League.

Springer hasn’t exactly languished in the shadows of his star teammates, but his best seasons haven’t been nearly as good as their’s have been, and at 29 years old, he’s the same age as Altuve, four years older than Bregman, and five years Correa’s senior. Despite his relatively lesser status on the Astros, Springer’s 19 wins since the start of the 2015 season rank 21st in baseball, just ahead of Anthony Rizzo, J.D. Martinez, Andrelton Simmons, Charlie Blackmon, Giancarlo Stanton, and Correa. His 117 homers ranks 20th, just ahead of Kris Bryant and Freddie Freeman. Since the start of the 2016 season, his 15 wins are 15th among position players and his 101 homers is 12th in the sport. Looking at Springer’s numbers over multiple years helps to shape a greater appreciation for him, but it also glosses over a disappointing 2018 season.

Last season, Springer looked a lot like the player he’d been earlier in his career, with a walk rate around 10% and a strikeout rate twice that. His batted ball profile in terms of groundballs, fly balls and balls pulled looked the same. He had roughly the same number of doubles as in previous years. The problems for Springer came because the ball just wan’t flying out of the park. His 22 home runs constituted a big drop after hitting 63 the previous two seasons, and his .169 ISO was close to average. He just wasn’t hitting the ball as hard, with an average exit velocity on fly balls that was down to 92.6 mph from 94.4 mph in 2017, per Baseball Savant. In 2017, his average fly ball went 338 feet; it was down to 329 feet last season.

Springer did have a few different maladies affecting various parts of his body last season. But thinking that his prime had spanned his age-25 to age-27 seasons, with him experiencing an in-progress decline as he neared 30, wouldn’t have been unreasonable heading into this season. But that decline hasn’t proven to be true, as Springer might be headed toward the best season of his career. Springer’s 16 homers are already two-thirds of the way to last season’s total; his 187 wRC+ and 2.7 WAR lead the American League and are ahead of Mike Trout. Based on his exit velocity, he’s hitting the ball harder than ever and his average fly ball distance would also be the longest of his career. His 35% HR/FB percentage is likely to come down, but Springer isn’t cashing in on a bunch of cheap homers. Among the 137 players with at least five home runs, his xwOBA on those homers ranks 31st. Similarly, his average fly ball distance on home runs is 407 feet, which also ranks in the top-third of players with at least five homers. Even his inside-the-park homers go far.

Springer has always had a good sense of the strike zone, but he’s taking his game to a different level this season. The graph below shows every player’s O-Swing% and Z-Swing% on the season.

Screenshot-2019-05-14-at-3.20.57-PM.png

 

There’s nobody really close to what Springer is doing right now. In table form, here are the biggest differences between swinging in the zone and taking away from it.

 
Combining Patience and Aggression
Name Team PA Z-Swing% O-Swing% Difference
George Springer Astros 190 70.7% 17.9% 52.8%
Kris Bryant Cubs 170 72.9% 21.9% 51.0%
Freddie Freeman Braves 181 77.0% 26.2% 50.8%
Luke Voit Yankees 171 76.1% 27.1% 49.0%
Brandon Lowe Rays 144 77.1% 30.2% 46.9%
Franmil Reyes Padres 138 83.0% 36.6% 46.4%
Justin Turner Dodgers 168 68.8% 22.5% 46.3%
Juan Soto Nationals 132 66.2% 20.3% 45.9%
Corey Seager Dodgers 164 73.2% 27.6% 45.6%
Kole Calhoun Angels 168 69.2% 23.7% 45.5%
Tommy Pham Rays 174 60.2% 15.5% 44.7%
Khris Davis Athletics 156 75.5% 30.8% 44.7%
J.D. Martinez Red Sox 173 76.2% 31.7% 44.5%

On fastballs, the difference is even greater. Springer has seen 146 four-seam fastballs outside of the zone this season and he has swung at just 11 offerings. Of the 168 four-seam fastballs he’s seen in the zone, he’s swung 122 times and done a ton of damage. Sixty-five of Springer’s 195 plate appearances this season has ended on a four-seam fastball. He’s had more walks (13) than strikeouts (12), with as many extra base hits as singles (10) and a 252 wRC+. Springer is also crushing sliders, curves, and two-seamers with a little trouble getting results on cutters and changeups, a reversal of his career numbers, as he has typically struggled with sliders and done better with a cutter or change.

With such a small sample, it’s impossible to pinpoint a reason for Springer’s improved approach, particularly on the slider, but it does appear that Springer has shortened his leg kick a bit, which might help him better prepare for a pitch. Here’s Springer last season whiffing on a Shawn Kelley slider right down the middle.

Now here’s a similar slider from Trevor Bauer this season.

Springer’s toe touches the ground in about half the time after the release of the pitch compared to last year. He has been more aggressive on first pitches this season, swinging at 38% of initial offerings compared to 30% the last few seasons. He’s ended up in more 0-1 counts as a result, but it has yet to hurt him as he’s hit really well when behind in the count.

In addition to approach, there’s some reason to believe Springer is just healthier this year than he has been. His sprint speed is up over where it was a year ago, he’s legging out homers that don’t leave the yard with ease, and he’s stolen bases on four out of five opportunities after going 20 for 41 over the previous three years.

The projections still see Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa ahead of Springer in terms of WAR the rest of the way, but Jose Altuve’s struggles and injury have allowed Springer to move past the Astros’ second baseman. With 2.7 WAR already, Springer looks like he is headed to a six-win campaign and the best season of his career. He would be headed for free agency if Houston hadn’t kept him in the minors for a few weeks to start the 2014 season after he turned down a seven-year, $23 million contract, though he’s already earned more than that over the first six seasons of his career and might earn that much alone in his final year of arbitration eligibility next season. It isn’t the same as free agency, but Springer’s bet on himself has likely doubled his earnings over what would have been the seven years in that proposed deal.

Alex Bregman is having another great year for the Astros, and Carlos Correa has appeared to rebound from a tough 2018 season, but halfway through May, neither player has been Houston’s best. That honor goes to George Springer, who is currently leading the AL in WAR. Mike Trout is likely to catch him and get separation at some point, but Springer is having a great season so far, and it’s likely to be the best year of his already good career.

 

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Chuckie Finster

Chuckie Finster 23099

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13 minutes ago, Scraps said:

The new voting process could potentially change things.  I mean he got so many votes before I doubt it will, but he should make top 3 easy.....then they do the dedicated "Election Day" which is a one day vote for the starters out of the top 3.  If someone floods the system on that one day then they could take the starters spot.  

 

Legitimately had no idea they changed this.  Interesting.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9819

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Posted
The new voting process could potentially change things.  I mean he got so many votes before I doubt it will, but he should make top 3 easy.....then they do the dedicated "Election Day" which is a one day vote for the starters out of the top 3.  If someone floods the system on that one day then they could take the starters spot.  
 

Wut?!
Hadn’t heard this. So stupid.

We’re gonna have a lot of Royals starting if they can get their guys in the top 3 in the “early voting.”

So if this were translated to real life, this would be Manfred saying, “Astros, I don’t care you that have a 30 game lead going in to the last weekend. You, Mariners and A’s have a one game round robin to decide the West champ.”

Thankfully real life isn’t a popularity contest....yet?
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TonyTexas

TonyTexas 10786

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Posted
16 minutes ago, Scraps said:

The new voting process could potentially change things.  I mean he got so many votes before I doubt it will, but he should make top 3 easy.....then they do the dedicated "Election Day" which is a one day vote for the starters out of the top 3.  If someone floods the system on that one day then they could take the starters spot.  

 

I fully expect A.J Minter, Tyler Naquin , Ross Stripling , Michael Wacha, Alex Wilson, Daniel Mengden and Corbin Martin to make the AS roster

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HtownHorn

HtownHorn 15231

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Posted

Keith Law just did a redraft of 2009, the Mike Trout draft. The Astros whiffed on Jio Mier, but had the following redrafted 1st round picks.

8. Reds - J.D. Martinez (611 overall)

12. Royals - Dallas Keuchel (221)

24. Angels - Kike Hernandez (191)

He had the Astros taking Randall Grichuk, who was actually taken by the Angels 1 pick before Trout.

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6363

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Posted
31 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Keith Law just did a redraft of 2009, the Mike Trout draft. The Astros whiffed on Jio Mier, but had the following redrafted 1st round picks.

8. Reds - J.D. Martinez (611 overall)

12. Royals - Dallas Keuchel (221)

24. Angels - Kike Hernandez (191)

He had the Astros taking Randall Grichuk, who was actually taken by the Angels 1 pick before Trout.

Pretty good draft by Wade. He also picked Springer in R1 of 2011, his last draft as Astros GM. 

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Scraps

Scraps 13812

Posted
Posted (edited)
47 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Keith Law just did a redraft of 2009, the Mike Trout draft. The Astros whiffed on Jio Mier, but had the following redrafted 1st round picks.

8. Reds - J.D. Martinez (611 overall)

12. Royals - Dallas Keuchel (221)

24. Angels - Kike Hernandez (191)

He had the Astros taking Randall Grichuk, who was actually taken by the Angels 1 pick before Trout.

Was Marisnick redrafted as the #1 overall pick? 

Edited by Scraps
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