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Posted

I had a lifelong friend of mine who moved to our hood in Houston from NY in the 3rd grade, whose a Yankee fan, hit me up today with “I’ve got a $1000 that says the Astros don’t win the WS”, I hit him back with I’ll take it with another $1000 that the Yankees don’t make it TO the WS.  He crawfished.

  • Like 2
Posted
  On 8/2/2019 at 2:51 AM, TonyTexas said:


I’m a little surprised about Straw. With 2 off days next week, I figured they would go with 12 pitchers until Pressly came back.

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Hinch probably wants to limit the innings moving forward for Osuna, Harris, Pressly, and James. Straw will be back up in September and be on the playoff roster.

You are looking at a 11 man pitching staff in the playoffs, and the only givens are Verlander, Cole, Greinke, Miley, Osuna, Harris, and Pressly.

Wouldn't be surprised to see the Astros carry 3 catchers in the playoffs.

Posted (edited)
  On 8/2/2019 at 3:18 AM, HtownHorn said:

 Wouldn't be surprised to see the Astros carry 3 catchers in the playoffs.

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I'd be shocked.  We sort of did it when Gattis was one but that was only because they wanted him to DH/PH and didn't want him actually playing catcher.

Edited by WBT
Posted
  On 8/2/2019 at 3:24 AM, Doug E. Fresh said:
Probably helps him to get the ABs and playing time in AAA over the next several weeks to be ready for September/October.

I knew he would be sent down eventually but I just thought it would be next week when Pressly comes back. It’s not a big deal.
Posted
  On 8/2/2019 at 2:40 AM, Limp Brisket said:

I had a lifelong friend of mine who moved to our hood in Houston from NY in the 3rd grade, whose a Yankee fan, hit me up today with “I’ve got a $1000 that says the Astros don’t win the WS”, I hit him back with I’ll take it with another $1000 that the Yankees don’t make it TO the WS.  He crawfished.

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Helobius is your friend?

  • Like 1
Posted

I’m very high on toro. This guy has potential

From ESPN: 
Abraham Toro has been promoted to AAA, replacing Joshua Rojas. By all accounts is the gutter of 3B if the Astros were to lose Correa down the road. 
Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 40 | Arm: 60 | Field: 45 | Overall: 45

Yet another prospect unearthed at an Oklahoma junior college by the Astros, Toro batted .439/.545/.849 with more homers (20) than strikeouts (18) at Seminole State in 2016. Scouts inside and outside of the organization believe he's one of the better all-around hitters in the Houston system. He set career highs in most categories last season and continued to open eyes by ranking third in the Arizona Fall League in on-base percentage (.463), slugging (.561) and OPS (1.023).

A switch-hitter, Toro has a better stroke and more power from the left side. Following a homerless pro debut, he started using his legs better in his swing and homered 31 times in his first two full seasons. He's a better hitter than his .248 career average might indicate, making repeated hard contact and drawing a healthy amount of walks.

Toro has a plus arm and reliable hands at third base, though he lacks quickness and has fringy range. He caught some at Seminole State and in his first full season, but his bat was much more advanced than his receiving so the Astros decided to focus on the former. He also played second base during the low Class A Midwest League playoffs in 2017.

Posted
  On 8/2/2019 at 4:38 AM, WBT said:

Let this play to the end and behold the Great White

 

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I honestly don't know where the Dodgers always pull these rookies out of their asses.....

Thank god they traded Air Yordan for Josh Fields else we'd be in a bad spot.

Posted
  On 8/1/2019 at 11:25 PM, henrygandorf said:
so i heard luhnow on sirius mlbn around 1pm today, "inside pitch" maybe - not sure.  it was a really good interview, he broke down the whole process.
basically he said they talked about it a lot on tues, got crane's approval for the financial part - that he's been very supportive and excited any time jeff has a plan to improve.  then it came down to medical and prospects we were giving up.  said they finalized it with 25 min left, had to get all emails in, everything approved.  he said he didn't want it to leak too quickly - so he waited to tell anyone.
then he said after 3pm, he decided to call a player (he didn't say who), said he knew once a player knows, a bunch of them know, then someone tells their agent, then the agent tells someone like ken rosenthal.  he said the time it took after he told the player for rosenthal to break it was about 4 minutes.
when asked about resigning cole, he mentioned that cole was one of the most excited about the trade - but everyone is.  they feel the support, and it energizes everyone.  he said the choices are tough, with money, with prospects, but now that they've seen how winning a world series affects a city, a fan base, an organization - that there are certain aspects beyond analytics - that make things worth it (not to mention franchise worth, perception, residual money they make down the line, tickets, etc).  basically that if they get to the deadline, it's about "leaving no stone unturned" that could possibly improve their chances, that's when you regret things.
also said forrest whitley texted him after the news, and said, "you traded away all my friends".  luhnow said, "yeah, i got you another mentor" and that whitley was ok with that.  said having verlander, cole, and greinke around the staff, around the younger guys is invaluable.  much more important for pitchers (over hitters) because so much of the game is mental.
we're in good hands with crane/luhnow/reid and crew.
 

So Whitley is Max Fischer?
Posted
  On 8/2/2019 at 6:34 AM, WBT said:
Bill Brown did mini podcasts on all of the inaugural Astros HOFers that are going to be inducted on Saturday.
http://www.mlb.com/fan_forum/podcasts/index.jsp?c_id=hou&podcast=astros_hof_podcast_series#astros_hall_of_fame_podcast_series__bob_aspromonte

This is great stuff.
Love the old radio broadcast snippets included in these.

The Aspromonte blind kid/ home run story is crazy.
  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

was this posted? via espn, inside the greinke deal, 24 hours that rocked your balls.:

  Reveal hidden contents
Edited by Mez2
title
  • Like 4
Posted
  On 8/2/2019 at 2:35 PM, UTexasFight said:

This is great stuff.
Love the old radio broadcast snippets included in these.

The Aspromonte blind kid/ home run story is crazy.
Bob and the kid remained friends for years later. Man id love to have heard Gene, Milo and Bill celebrates and call the world series win

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

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Posted

Good data on our two new Blue Jays:

Did not realize Sanchez was DFL (among qualified starters) in ERA and WHIP this year. Only way to go is up?


It will be interesting to monitor how the Astros alter Sanchez’s pitch usage. He has above-average fastball velocity (94 mph on average), above-average fastball spin and an elite spin rate on his curveball (94th percentile, according to Baseball Savant). Yet he’s averaged only 7.2 strikeouts per nine in his career and has never finished a season with better than the mark of 7.9 per nine he has this year.

Sanchez has thrown two-seam fastballs roughly 37 percent of the time this season as opposed to about 21 percent four-seam fastballs. The Astros prefer that their pitchers pair their curveballs with four-seam fastballs, so those percentages should change dramatically. His almost 34 percent two-seam fastball usage against left-handed hitters is a sure bet to drop significantly.

The Astros will also surely have Sanchez throw more curveballs. His usage with the Blue Jays this season has been 22 percent overall — only about 20 percent against left-handed hitters — despite it yielding a .318 slugging percentage, the lowest of his four pitches, according to Baseball Savant. The opposition has slugged .575 against his two-seamer and .504 against his four-seamer, per Savant.


What Biagini becomes for the Astros remains to be seen. He will join the bullpen Friday night, two days removed from his last outing with the Blue Jays, with whom he had a 3.78 ERA in 50 innings. He can pitch multi-inning stints; he has gotten four outs or more in 14 of his 50 appearances this year.

Biagini relies heavily on a two-seam fastball that averages 94 mph and a cutter that averages 88 mph, though he does throw a four-seam fastball every now and then. He, too, has a high spin rate on his curveball (88th percentile) but throws it only 7.5 percent of the time. That number is about to spike significantly. The Astros will try to help him alter his attack plan against lefties to garner better results.

The acquisition of Biagini also stands to help the Astros in the future. The 29-year-old right-hander is under team control for three more seasons after this one, which is particularly important because Harris, Rondón, McHugh and Smith will be free agents at the end of this season. The Astros have Osuna under team control through the 2021 season and Pressly under control through 2022.

Full Kaplan article on Astros post-deadline staff:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

  • Like 2
Posted
  On 8/2/2019 at 6:34 AM, WBT said:

Bill Brown did mini podcasts on all of the inaugural Astros HOFers that are going to be inducted on Saturday.

http://www.mlb.com/fan_forum/podcasts/index.jsp?c_id=hou&podcast=astros_hof_podcast_series#astros_hall_of_fame_podcast_series__bob_aspromonte

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 how is shane reynolds getting in there? off the top of my head these guys are more deserving:

- roy oswalt

- mike hampton

- dave smith

 

Posted (edited)
  On 8/2/2019 at 5:20 PM, thetruth said:

https://www.mlb.com/cut4/the-astros-are-mlb-s-new-villains

Trunks keep poppin'

Tops keep droppin' down in Houston

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About damn time.  40ish years of being a Houston and Longhorn fan and this is the first time any of the teams I like formed an Evil Empire.  Still, I'm not counting WS chickens before they hatch.  The Braves had a system back in the day too.  They won a single WS with it.

Edited by FondrenRoad
Posted
  On 8/2/2019 at 4:27 AM, tx 3 putt said:

I’m very high on toro. This guy has potential

From ESPN: 
Abraham Toro has been promoted to AAA, replacing Joshua Rojas. By all accounts is the gutter of 3B if the Astros were to lose Correa down the road. 
Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 40 | Arm: 60 | Field: 45 | Overall: 45

Yet another prospect unearthed at an Oklahoma junior college by the Astros, Toro batted .439/.545/.849 with more homers (20) than strikeouts (18) at Seminole State in 2016. Scouts inside and outside of the organization believe he's one of the better all-around hitters in the Houston system. He set career highs in most categories last season and continued to open eyes by ranking third in the Arizona Fall League in on-base percentage (.463), slugging (.561) and OPS (1.023).

A switch-hitter, Toro has a better stroke and more power from the left side. Following a homerless pro debut, he started using his legs better in his swing and homered 31 times in his first two full seasons. He's a better hitter than his .248 career average might indicate, making repeated hard contact and drawing a healthy amount of walks.

Toro has a plus arm and reliable hands at third base, though he lacks quickness and has fringy range. He caught some at Seminole State and in his first full season, but his bat was much more advanced than his receiving so the Astros decided to focus on the former. He also played second base during the low Class A Midwest League playoffs in 2017.

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Damn, I would send him to winter ball to work on catching. The inverse Todd Zeile. He could always work his way back to 3rd, with his bat probably being a year away, and Correa under team control through 2021, there is a slight window to see if this can work out. The Rangers did something similar with Kiner-Falefa, though it appears they are moving him back to 3rd permanently.

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