2019 Houston Astros Thread

[HtownHorn 14446]

6 minutes ago, kevwun said:

 

What, is that a real possibility?  Getting the broadcast rights away from AT&T is the only way I will ever get the Astros on Dish.

Yes, AT&T wants to sell their RSNs. Sinclair bought up the Fox RSNs from Disney and could buy AT&T's as well. I would think the Astros and Rockets would be a major add for Sinclair considering they are going to be good teams for the next 5+ years.

[Mo Horn 8795]

Good news for us... Grienke tomorrow on full rest, Verlander on Friday on full rest. Bad news for us, their pen, which has been used a lot gets a day off and they don't have to go with a bullpen game and can come back with Tanaka. 

[kevwun 15595]

That bullpen is going to have to go 3-4 days in a row for them to win the series though.  That favors the Astros.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

^ what he said

Edited October 16, 2019 by Seasick Sailor

[tx 3 putt 76158]

FYI, they’ll only have to play two days in a row 

[Mo Horn 8795]

4 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

FYI, they’ll only have to play two days in a row 

I think I read that this takes away a travel day so there will be games Thursday - Sunday, if needed. 

Edited, and self neg,  for me being slow and not catching on to the subtleties of your post. Doh. 

Edited October 16, 2019 by Mo Horn

[HtownHorn 14446]

4 minutes ago, Mo Horn said:

Good news for us... Grienke tomorrow on full rest, Verlander on Friday on full rest. Bad news for us, their pen, which has been used a lot gets a day off and they don't have to go with a bullpen game and can come back with Tanaka. 

Every game is a bullpen game for them. Tanaka will likely go 4-6 IP. Plus with no more days off in this series, the Yankee bullpen is going to have to pitch in 4 straight days. The rain out today is much better for the Astros than the Yankees.

[Rimbo 25752]

If and when we throw Urquidy/Peacock out there, I move that we hereafter refer to this "bullpen" lineup as "Urqock."

Example sentence:

We're going to ram Urqock into the Yankees' collective pee-holes.

[texashorne 1177]

I think the rotation should be Greinke-Urquidy-JV-Cole regardless of any games' outcome.. JV should not pitch game 5. 

[maninblack 7974]

1 hour ago, Dnaguy said:

 

Altuve’s contract jumps up 19.5 mil to 29 million hit

Verlander jumps up 5 million from 28 to 33 million

Greinke goes from a 4.5 mil hit to a 24.5 hit.

Bergman goes from a 2.5 mill hit to a 12.67 mil hit 

So for 4 players, last year that cost 54.5 million will now cost 99.2 million.

 

[Rimbo 25752]

pay them

[Mo Horn 8795]

8 minutes ago, texashorne said:

I think the rotation should be Greinke-Urquidy-JV-Cole regardless of any games' outcome.. JV should not pitch game 5. 

Why not? He'll be on full rest. If we're tied 2-2 you don't want to go down 3-2. If we're up 3-1, JV can close it out and you have Cole for game 1 of the WS. Dont try anything cute. Start your best guys. 

[runthebone 7929]

I agree, JV likes his routine and should start on his regular rest.  Plus, if he pitches game 5, he would theoretically be able to pitch an inning in a Game 7 if needed.

[Ichabod 184]

Just announced

Greinke starts Game 4

Verlander Game 5

[Planet Houston 4922]

That's the right answer.  Now let's go win this thing in 5.

[elfenix 34168]

[WBT 20397]

7:08 start tomorrow and 6:08 start Friday

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

 

[Scraps 13531]

I want crying Jordan on every single one of those fans

[mbtex 683]

Houston Astros

23 mins · 

‪Tonight’s Game 4 of the ALCS has been postponed due to inclement weather conditions. The game has been rescheduled for Friday with a 6:08pm CT first pitch. ‬

‪Additionally, Hinch announced his starters.‬
‪Game 4: Zack Greinke‬
‪Game 5: Justin Verlander ‬

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by mbtex

[Tommy Nobis 905]

Just announced

Greinke starts Game 4

Verlander Game 5

 

I’m fine with

 

Greinke game 4

 

Verlander game 5

 

??? game 6 ***

 

Cole game 7 ***

 

*** if necessary

[DaysOff 7821]

Just win in less than 7 and smother the Nats in game 1 with Cole.

[WBT 20397]

Greinke in Game 4 and Verlander in Game 5 also sets them up to pitch WS Game 1 & 2 on normal rest.  Hypothetically.

[Steamboat1874 4031]

15 minutes ago, mbtex said:

Houston Astros

23 mins · 

‪Tonight’s Game 4 of the ALCS has been postponed due to inclement weather conditions. The game has been rescheduled for Friday with a 6:08pm CT first pitch. ‬

‪Additionally, Hinch announced his starters.‬
‪Game 4: Zack Greinke‬
‪Game 5: Justin Verlander ‬

 

 

 

Friday?

[Moby Ric 2058]

God Bless the rain.  Greinke better get his shit together and show up big.

[mbtex 683]

1 minute ago, Steamboat1874 said:

Friday?

Not Sure But that is what came from my Astros feed. But everywhere else it is Thursday

Edited October 16, 2019 by mbtex

[Viper 12011]

I think they just meant they'll play the scheduled game on Thursday and then a make up game on Friday. But it was worded badly. 

[formermav43 4599]

1 hour ago, Iceman said:

Idgaf about the costs of resigning proven players.

 

other franchises make it happen.  Pay the tax and do it.  Houston ain’t poor.  They get support like @ m therfucker from the fans.

I don’t want to hear that they cannot afford it. It’# not freaking Miami.

They’re paying plenty of guys, it’s disingenuous to act like they’re not spending money. Throwing it around uncritically is how you end up like the Tigers. Or the Angels.

I prefer the Astros to be smarter than everyone else. Remember when Cole was a career underachiever? I do. Houston made him. They can do it again and let someone else take the risk of signing a pitcher for 7 years.

Edited October 16, 2019 by formermav43

[Iceman 2628]

6 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

They’re paying plenty of guys, it’s disingenuous to act like they’re not spending money. Throwing it around uncritically is how you end up like the Tigers. Or the Angels.

I prefer the Astros to be smarter than everyone else. Remember when Cole was a career underachiever? I do. Houston made him. They can do it again and let someone else take the risk of signing a pitcher for 7 years.

Agreed, but Cole has established himself as an elite pitcher, who almost certainly has runway left in his career.

I’m not talking about throwing money at winning, as that most certainly has not been Astros’ approach.  It is however, an investment in  playmaking/ difference makers.

[UTexasFight 9369]

Greinke in Game 4 and Verlander in Game 5 also sets them up to pitch WS Game 1 & 2 on normal rest.  Hypothetically.

Right
I’m still smh at those on here last night arguing to keep the plan and throw Urquidy in game 4.
And/or hold JV back to game 6 so we could come at them with JV/Cole in 6 and 7.


Ok, I’m done

[tx 3 putt 76158]

1 hour ago, Ichabod said:

Just announced

Greinke starts Game 4

Verlander Game 5

Let’s end it in 5 !

[formermav43 4599]

39 minutes ago, Iceman said:

Agreed, but Cole has established himself as an elite pitcher, who almost certainly has runway left in his career.

I’m not talking about throwing money at winning, as that most certainly has not been Astros’ approach.  It is however, an investment in  playmaking/ difference makers.

But they have consistently invested like that now. Altuve, Bregman, extension for Verlander, trading for Greinke as a hedge against losing Cole. 

I agree Cole probably has several good years left, but he’s likely going to want more years than Houston will even consider. They flat aren’t going to sign a pitcher to a 5-7 year deal given all their uncertainty. Hitters have a semi-predictable aging curve; pitchers tend to just fall off a cliff, and you don’t know it’s coming till it happens. Cole could be Verlander, and be a dominant fire baller at 36. He could be Greinke, a guy with great stuff who reinvents himself as a control pitcher as he ages. Or he could be Felix Hernandez, who looked awesome at 28 and washed up by 31. I think if they could resign him for 2-3 years they would, but they don’t want to commit to any pitcher for that long.

More importantly, I’ve seen them find enough guys under the radar and refine them now to be confident that they’ll be fine, better than fine if the young guys progress like they plan. This year was a perfect storm against that, with Whitley’s issues, Martin’s injury, James injury in spring that took him out of the rotation. But next year you’ll have:

Verlander, Greinke, McCullers as your top 3-thats a fine start. Add in whoever they’ll sign for a 4 plus the young guys battling for the 5 spot, with plenty of promising candidates...that’s the potential for a great rotation, particularly if Whitley is what they expected him to be this year.  It’s fun as a fan to see this level of dominance, but big picture, they’re gonna be fine.

Edited October 16, 2019 by formermav43

[kevwun 15595]

I'm just about at the point where I expect more out of Urquidy than I do Whitley.  Some people just don't have the mental makeup to succeed in the big leagues.  Great post, though.

[HtownHorn 14446]

Resigning Cole is as much about not facing him in the playoffs as it is about wanting to maximize the number of WS rings you can get with him on the team. They didn't trade for Greinke thinking about him replacing Cole next year. They traded for him to do everything to win a ring this year with this group of players.

[tx 3 putt 76158]

Whitely will be fine, he’s still young. A year in the BP / long relief would do him so good but he has to earn that spot 

[kevwun 15595]

I hope, but he's also been in the system long enough where it's about time to start wondering if maybe he's just a dumbass who isn't capable of getting it together.

[WBT 20397]

3 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

They didn't trade for Greinke thinking about him replacing Cole next year. They traded for him to do everything to win a ring this year with this group of players.

They absolutely were thinking of both reasons.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

Tanaka starting game 4. Paxton starting game 5. Likely means Yankees bullpen. v. Urquidy for game 6*   

*if necessary.

[formermav43 4599]

8 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Resigning Cole is as much about not facing him in the playoffs as it is about wanting to maximize the number of WS rings you can get with him on the team. They didn't trade for Greinke thinking about him replacing Cole next year. They traded for him to do everything to win a ring this year with this group of players.

Its both.

[Guadaloopy 10903]

1 hour ago, mbtex said:

Not Sure But that is what came from my Astros feed. But everywhere else it is Thursday

How do you guys not get it?  Game 5 is tomorrow.  Game 4 is on Friday.  So when we win on Friday we will have retroactively won the series on Thursday.  

[runthebone 7929]

We'll see on McCullers.  There is no guarantee of a full recovery, and he will be on an innings limit.  Probably will shut him down for a while to save him for the playoffs.

[UTexasFight 9369]

Yes, keep his innings down so he can be our 24-curveballs-in-a-row specialist in next year’s LCS against the Yankees

[Viper 12011]

32 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

How do you guys not get it?  Game 5 is tomorrow.  Game 4 is on Friday.  So when we win on Friday we will have retroactively won the series on Thursday.  

Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.

[UTexasFight 9369]

Anyone get picked for WS presale?

Emails should have gone out on Monday.

[kevwun 15595]

My wife did.  I might actually buy some this time because the prices on stubhub are crazy.

[Gut Wagon 8052]

3 hours ago, housious said:

To be fair, any decent team in the history of baseball would be scary in a playoff series with Cole as their ace

 

[Pasken 1309]

4 hours ago, formermav43 said:

Grienke was fine last game. 6 IP and 3 runs SHOULD deliver a win. 

3 runs in 6 innings in the playoffs is terrible. It didn't really matter since the bats were shutout but he was definitely not fine in the last game. Greinke has the 2nd highest ERA for any starting pitcher in the post season and worst ERA for any pitcher with at least 3 innings pitched in the post season. 

 

Dude needs to step up.

[UTexasFight 9369]

My wife did.  I might actually buy some this time because the prices on stubhub are crazy.

Will pay for presale code if not using

[kevwun 15595]

You can have it if we don't buy anything.  I'll check as soon as the sale opens tomorrow.  It's limited to 2 tickets per game I believe.

Edited October 16, 2019 by kevwun

[henrygandorf 29174]

4 minutes ago, Pasken said:

3 runs in 6 innings in the playoffs is terrible. It didn't really matter since the bats were shutout but he was definitely not fine in the last game. Greinke has the 2nd highest ERA for any starting pitcher in the post season and worst ERA for any pitcher with at least 3 innings pitched in the post season. 

for a sp3 behind cole and jv, it's exactly what we need out of him.  it was 2 swings.  he didn't walk anyone.  he gave up 7 hits in 6ip (2 homers).

it's not up to his standards or salary, but it's certainly not "terrible".

we're gonna have to start hitting, stop leaving so many guys on base, and start scoring some fucking runs, or it won't matter.  we need to win a game where jv/cole doesn't start, and to do that, we need to score 4-6 runs. (i understand technically we don't need to, but we need to).