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2019 Houston Astros Thread

Planet Houston

By Planet Houston
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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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Newest Astro fan was born earlier today at 12:09 am Mez3, holla!

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Mo Horn

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10 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Lot of surely posters calling into the post game radio show :

ton of Tyler white hate

someone asking if we should trade Correa for Schertzer 

Another asking who we could trade white for 

I'd settle for a bag of batting practice balls. 

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Hank Chinaski

Hank Chinaski 6310

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1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:

15-12 June that included losing 9 of 12 during one stretch

I’ll take it

Haven’t had a losing record in a month since Aug 2017... and we got JV at the last second of that month, so did we really lose?

That's pretty damn good considering that we have been playing without a SS, and Springer and Altuve missed most of the month. 

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rvm96

rvm96 1643

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6 hours ago, Hank Chinaski said:

That's pretty damn good considering that we have been playing without a SS, and Springer and Altuve missed most of the month. 

Bregman has played shortstop almost every game this month

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UTHornFan014

UTHornFan014 710

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Lot of surely posters calling into the post game radio show :
ton of Tyler white hate
someone asking if we should trade Correa for Schertzer 
Another asking who we could trade white for 
Tyler still having a hard time keeping his slugging percentage above his OBP... Even with the run of doubles he had a week ago
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runthebone

runthebone 7931

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7 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

That’s probably why he’s stress eating and gaining weight ?

seriously, he needs to trip on the stairs in Colorado and get on that season long IL before he’s dfa’d 

He is going to unleash his power at Coors.  You'll see.  On the other hand, that is a very Doritos-laden state. 

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9375

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He gives about 1 per game.
...And is playing in a league that’s like playing at Coors Field every night.
Yeah, he may give up 3 or 4, but keep the walks down like he has all year and limit them to solo shots.

Really really hope Yordan is good to go to start one or both games. Need his RBI bat in the lineup. If he and Yuli can’t go, this is gonna be ugly:

Springer RF
Altuve 2B
Bregman 3B
Brantley LF
White 1B
Chirinos C
Marisnick CF
Straw SS
Urquidy P

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Fozzz

Fozzz 152

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1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:


Do it
Had no idea his K/BB ratio was so absurd

He had been previously working low 90s but apparently now is up to 94-96 and has been lights out all season.  He's basically this season's Josh James.

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Fozzz

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Urquidy has the third highest K%-BB% in the PCL this season (min 30 IP).  Big K% but he's also had a very good BB% throughout his minor league career.  Legit MORP potential and he wasn't even an Astros top 30 prospect last season.  

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9375

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Kaplan on the pitching plan in the immediate future and also the noose tightening on White/Kemp.
The 40 man figures to look a lot different on July 31 than it does on July 1.

Should we be concerned about the lack of organizational quality bullpen and rotation depth? The bullpen is gassed, and every time we call a guy up he doesn’t really perform against semi-decent competition. We can’t seem to find a decent starter in the minors to call up. — Doug T.

A lack of rotation depth is probably the Astros’ biggest deficiency right now, which is in large part a product of Whitley not being ready and Martin being injured. Before the season, I don’t think anyone envisioned Cy Sneed garnering a promotion before Whitley, who was widely regarded as the best pitching prospect in the sport.

The Astros have several pitchers they are treating as starters in Triple A who project as relievers in the majors. That they continue to bypass Josh James for starts suggests they view him as more valuable in their bullpen, and McHugh only just came off the IL. They will need Framber Valdez to step up when he gets his next opportunity, which could happen as soon as Sunday.

As of this writing, the Astros have only three healthy starters — Verlander, Cole and Miley. Brad Peacock could be back as soon as the first turn after the All-Star break, but the Astros still need to fill his rotation spot on Tuesday. They have yet to reveal who will make that start against the Rockies at Coors Field. Candidates include Sneed, Rogelio Armenteros and Jose Urquidy.

Urquidy has put up impressive numbers in his short time in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. In 43 2/3 innings, he has a 2.89 with 64 strikeouts against 10 walks. He is not yet on the Astros’ 40-man roster but would need to be added in November to protect him from December’s Rule 5 Draft anyway.

Urquidy might have gotten the call-up over Sneed if he hadn’t started in Triple A on Wednesday night, at the same time Valdez melted down against the Pirates. They didn’t scratch Urquidy from the start because they had no plans to demote Valdez before the lefty allowed six runs in three innings that night. Brady Rodgers was unavailable for a promotion because he was on the Triple-A IL, though he has since been activated.

A bullpen game on Tuesday is also an option, though not the Astros’ ideal scenario at Coors Field. In general, bullpen games and back-end-of-the-roster pitchers being shuttled to and from Triple A might become more frequent leading to the trade deadline.

By calling up Sneed and adding yet another player to the 40-man, it seems like the roster crunch is getting worse. The bullpen has been overused because we are backed into a corner with players with no options remaining (Tyler White/Tony Kemp), and the front office keeps putting off the painful decision. What happens when Joe Smith comes off the 60-day IL? — Doug T.

It almost seems like the Astros are trying to get as close to the trade deadline as possible before making a move with White or Kemp, but I doubt they’ll be able to wait that long with both. White’s spot will be threatened by the return of Díaz shortly after the break, and they could theoretically need Kemp’s spot for an extra bullpen arm at any point.

Perhaps Smith’s return just after the break and the need for the 40-man roster spot will be what forces them to finally make a decision. They also have players at the back end of their roster such as AJ Reed or Dean Deetz whom they could try to pass through waivers to clear a 40-man spot.

Kemp’s start on Sunday was his first since June 18, so barring another injury he is left without a clear role. White will find himself in a similar boat when Díaz comes back and becomes the team’s top first-base alternative to Gurriel.

 

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TonyTexas

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Righthander Jose Urquidy is ascending the system and adding his name to this growing list of Astros' upper-level pitching depth that also includes Forrest Whitley, J.B. Bukauskas and Corbin Martin.

Urquidy, who changed his preferred name from Jose Luis Hernandez this season, was the Opening Day starter for Double-A Corpus Christi and earned a quick promotion to Triple-A Round Rock after 33 innings.

A 24-year-old Mexican righty signed in 2015, Urquidy was once known as solely a great pitchability guy before having Tommy John surgery in 2016. When he returned in 2018, he had a four-pitch mix and a fastball hovering between 89-92 mph and touching 93.

Four outings into the 2019 season, Urquidy was touching 97 mph. Recipients of Tommy John surgery often experience some sort of velocity increase upon their return, but not to the level Urquidy had demonstrated.

He struck out 40 and walked five in 33 Double-A innings before being promoted. Speaking in mid-May after Martin made his big league debut, general manager Jeff Luhnow lumped Urquidy along with the aforementioned names as candidates for the next promotion.

"It’s always hard to put a finger on what the mechanical changes are or if it’s just (him getting) physically stronger or something like that, but the coaches have been working on getting him to rotate better,” farm director Pete Putila said.

"I’m not completely surprised at what he’s done thus far, but the velo has been a very nice surprise. Now, he’s as legitimate of a major league starting pitching prospect as you can get.”

Lauded for his pitchability within the organization, Urquidy has a plus changeup and has recently progressed with a slider to complete a four-pitch mix.

"At this point, he’s checking all of the boxes,” Putila said. "He was sort of quietly doing that before, but everyone wants to see guys throwing 95, 6, 7 or 8.

"But him at 94 is still a very good pitcher, maybe just not a guy who's going to be lighting up prospect lists just because velo is easier to hedge on when people look at pitchers. Now, pitching (93-96), it’s a different ballgame.”

 

SPACE SHOTS

 

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