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2019 Houston Astros Thread

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HtownHorn

HtownHorn 15236

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13 minutes ago, surlybalakris said:

Nats are scary hot right now, their starting pitching is near level with ours. Fuck even sanchez was an inning from throwing a no hitter. They also have that first time 2017 Astros mojo going on too.

Doesn't matter we already have their signs on lock.

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formermav43

formermav43 4631

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6 minutes ago, Iceman said:

Probably splitting hairs, but fuck that.

Your roster is your roster. They picked CC for his savvy and experience.  Durability is part of the risk.

 

Otherwise, why go through the drill of having a fucking PO roster?

By that logic, there shouldn’t be an IL during the season either. “Oh, well, sorry Correa, Altuve, Springer, and Diaz are all out. Hope you enjoy your 21 man roster for the next 6 weeks.

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Noah Fence

Noah Fence 489

Posted
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17 minutes ago, surlybalakris said:

Nats are scary hot right now, their starting pitching is near level with ours. Fuck even sanchez was an inning from throwing a no hitter. They also have that first time 2017 Astros mojo going on too.

The Astros' first time mojo was in 2005 when they got swept.

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Iceman

Iceman 2995

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1 minute ago, formermav43 said:

By that logic, there shouldn’t be an IL during the season either. “Oh, well, sorry Correa, Altuve, Springer, and Diaz are all out. Hope you enjoy your 21 man roster for the next 6 weeks.

the PO roster is a concept designed to be a bit more rigid, no?

 

In the end, it ain't gonna make a fuck...

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runthebone

runthebone 8380

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22 minutes ago, surlybalakris said:

Nats are scary hot right now, their starting pitching is near level with ours. Fuck even sanchez was an inning from throwing a no hitter. They also have that first time 2017 Astros mojo going on too.

We'll see.  I agree that the teams are closely matched.  The Nats can definitely win, but if the Astros go through, the truly scary team is the Astros.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9839

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Nats are scary hot right now, their starting pitching is near level with ours. Fuck even sanchez was an inning from throwing a no hitter. They also have that first time 2017 Astros mojo going on too.

That first time Astros mojo was 2005...
And lulz at comparing the Cardinals offense to ours.

Look, the Nats are a good team. They’re hot.

They’re also not beating this Astros team in a 7 game series. That series—assuming we finish off the Yankees—may go 6 but no more and if I were a betting man, I’d place my money on a 4-1 Astros series win
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Js1

Js1 87356

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6 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:


That first time Astros mojo was 2005...
And lulz at comparing the Cardinals offense to ours.

Look, the Nats are a good team. They’re hot.

They’re also not beating this Astros team in a 7 game series. That series—assuming we finish off the Yankees—may go 6 but no more and if I were a betting man, I’d place my money on a 4-1 Astros series win

4-1 is perfect.  I want to be the team that becomes known for constantly clinching playoff series on their opponents’ field because we are that good. 

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13765

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10 minutes ago, Iceman said:

the PO roster is a concept designed to be a bit more rigid, no?

 

In the end, it ain't gonna make a fuck...

If someone is pulled because of injury, they cannot play in the next round. I suppose a manager could start claiming that each starter is injured after they complete their last start of the series, but that leaves them with no one in the next round.  I also think that if a manager was starting to break the spirit of the rule, the MLB could step in to validate the claim.

I think the rule as-is makes sense.  If Chirinos had been injured after last night, would it be fair for the Astros to go with 1 catcher the rest of the ALCS? The playoff roster is already fairly tight so why punish a team for an unexpected injury. Now if the injured player was allowed to return in the next round, I think that would be unfair.

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Pimphand

Pimphand 6400

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31 minutes ago, surlybalakris said:

Nats are scary hot right now, their starting pitching is near level with ours. Fuck even sanchez was an inning from throwing a no hitter. They also have that first time 2017 Astros mojo going on too.

Well they will at a minimum have 3 additional days of rest (i.e. rust) than the Astros. They have not played a meaningful game since the NLDS while the Astros have been pretty much under the gun since Game 4 of the ALDS. Since 1985 when the league made the LCS a best of 7 teams who swept the LCS are 1-9 in the World Series.  Remember the 2007 Rockies? Swept the LCS got swept in the World Series.  Remember the 2006 & 2012 Tigers with Justin Verlander? Swept the LCS got destroyed by inferior teams in the World Series both times. Not saying the Astros will destroy the Nationals as their pitching is too good but as long as Hinch doesn't go full Dave Roberts then the Astros should win the fall classic assuming they beat the Yankees. 3 days off lets you set the rotation and nurse nagging injuries. 6 days off is just too long for a timing related sport like baseball.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9839

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A lot of hindsight 20/20 here but if you’re in the mood for a little schadenfreude this afternoon...(and even a positive comment comparing Crane to the Boss!)

Rosenthal: the Yankees’ decision not to push harder for elite starting pitching has cost them

NEW YORK – So, who’s it going to be in free agency?

Gerrit Cole? Stephen Strasburg if he opts out? Strasburg and Madison Bumgarner?

Oh, wait. The Yankees don’t roll like that anymore.

They didn’t trade for Justin Verlander, didn’t trade for Cole, didn’t sign free-agent left-hander Patrick Corbin last offseason, not to mention their other misses in the starting-pitching market.

And now, they are one loss from going an entire decade without reaching a World Series for the first time since the 1910s — a full century, for those keeping score.

To say, “This never would have happened under George Steinbrenner,” is a cliché, and probably an oversimplification. But it contains at least an element of truth. Steinbrenner, who died in 2010, did not run the team with as much concern for the bottom line as his son, Hal.

Yankees history is replete with examples of pitchers who flopped in New York, from Ed Whitson to Carl Pavano to Sonny Gray. It also features expensive successes such as CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and Mike Mussina. Yet lately, the Yankees are a rich man without a rich man’s toys.

Astros owner Jim Crane, a driving force in the trades for Verlander and Zack Greinke, is more like George Steinbrenner than Hal. Granted, Crane has yet to pay the luxury tax, and the Greinke deal might prove to be a mistake. But Crane certainly is aggressive. And a second World Series title for the Astros in three years is becoming increasingly realistic, while the Yankees’ furious effort to get under the luxury-tax threshold last season is . . . accomplishing what, exactly?

The Yankees, after re-setting their penalty rate to the minimum, went back over the threshold this season, fielding the game’s third-highest payroll on Opening Day, then adding to it. Their recent aversion to acquiring elite starting pitching is not the only reason they trail the Astros, three games to one, in the American League Championship Series. If anything, their embarrassing 8-3 loss in Game 4 on Thursday night was more the product of feeble offense (0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, 0-for-13 the past two games) and shockingly poor defense (four errors, their most in a postseason game since Game 2 of the 1976 ALCS against the Royals).

No matter. Even though New York leads all postseason teams with a 2.67 ERA, the biggest difference between the Yankees and the Astros – and the Yankees and the NL champion Nationals, for that matter – is New York’s lack of dominant starting pitching.

Consider: The Nationals’ rotation is averaging more than six innings per start this postseason, the Astros’ rotation exactly six.

The Yankees’ rotation? Not even 4 2/3.

The 2017 ALCS might have turned out differently if the Yankees and not the Astros had acquired Verlander at the deadline that year. The ’19 ALCS likewise might be flipped if Verlander was set to pitch Game 5 in pinstripes on Friday night rather than the Astros’ road grays.

The Yankees are not devoid of quality starting pitchers – Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and Luis Severino all fit that description, and on their best days resemble true aces. But at this point, in part due to the Yankees’ reliance on their bullpen, none is going terribly deep into games.

Tanaka, who allowed three runs in five innings on Thursday night, has a 1.76 ERA in eight career postseason starts, but in his last four has gone six innings once and five innings three times. Paxton has worked a total of seven innings in two starts this October. And Severino, who was out until Sept. 17 due to rotator-cuff and lat injuries, is simply not built up enough to carry a No. 1’s load at this time.

Right-hander Domingo Germán produced a 4.03 ERA in 143 innings and for most of the regular season was the team’s best starting pitcher. Germán exacerbated the Yankees’ rotation issues by getting placed on administrative leave on Sept. 19 as baseball investigates him for an alleged domestic-violence incident.

The Yankees need not have reached this point. Cashman is an excellent GM who made a series of strong moves in building back-to-back 100-win teams. But he spent more on relievers last offseason ($66 million for Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino) than on starters ($42 million for J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia, plus $8.575 million for Paxton, who arrived in a trade).

Neither Happ nor Sabathia cracked the postseason rotation. Sabathia likely made the final appearance of his career on Thursday night, leaving the mound in tears after re-injuring his shoulder while pitching in relief. He was the franchise’s last true ace. And the Yankees passed on several chances to secure a worthy heir.

In August 2017, Verlander was willing to waive his no-trade protection for four teams. The Yankees were one. The Astros, Cubs and Dodgers were the others. But Yankees general manager Brian Cashman later told MLB.com, “We couldn’t financially make it work … It’s easy when you go through that process and it’s like, ownership’s not taking on that contract. Ok.”

Verlander, then 34, was owed slightly more than $60 million at the time of the trade, and the money the Tigers included in exchange for four prospects lowered the Astros’ payout in 2018-19 to a combined $40 million.

A little more than three months later, the Yankees assumed a $265 million obligation on outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, though the Marlins’ financial contribution in the trade reduced Stanton’s luxury-tax number to $22 million annually — a deal the Yankees thought too good to refuse.

Uh, not quite.

A little more than a month after the Stanton trade, the Pirates sent Cole to the Astros for four players of questionable merit when the Yankees reportedly declined to part with third baseman Miguel Andújar in addition to outfielder Clint Frazier. In fairness, Cole was not the pitcher then that he is now, and Andújar would finish second in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting the following season.

But here’s guessing the Yankees would like that one back, too.

Corbin, a native of Syracuse, N.Y., grew up a Yankees fan in a family of Yankees fans. But he went to the Nationals for six years, $140 million last offseason when the Yankees balked at awarding him a sixth guaranteed year. Perhaps the Yankees’ decision will be proven correct in the long run. But the Nationals do not regret their two other major contracts for starting pitchers – $210 million for Max Scherzer and $175 million for Strasburg ($75 million if he opts out).

Yes, long-term deals for starting pitchers often prove poor investments. But consider the team’s three most expensive pitching signings, all orchestrated by Cashman — Sabathia for $161 million, Tanaka for $155 million (plus a $20 million posting fee) and Mussina for $88.5 million.

Mussina is in the Hall of Fame. Sabathia is a strong candidate to get there. And while Tanaka is not quite at that level, he, too, has proven worth the money, making 153 starts, including postseason, since getting diagnosed with a partial UCL tear in 2014, and choosing to rehabilitate the injury rather than undergo Tommy John surgery.

Second-guessing is easy, particularly with the Yankees’ season in peril. But many first-guessed the team’s decision not to push harder for elite starting pitching — at the deadline, the past two offseasons and on Aug. 31, 2017, when the Verlander deal went down.

A final dagger from Verlander in Game 5 would be a fitting end.

 

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Guadaloopy

Guadaloopy 11144

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1 hour ago, Iceman said:

the PO roster is a concept designed to be a bit more rigid, no?

 

In the end, it ain't gonna make a fuck...

It is more rigid.  If a player is removed from the roster due to the injury, that player is ineligible for the remainder of the series and the next playoff series.  

It’s completely fair to allow roster substitutions for injured players.  Let’s say Chirinos’ HPB last night had caused real damage.  It’s fair that the Astros be allowed to replace him on the roster with Garrett Stubbs.  The only question is the validity of the injury, and it seems that MLB takes a tougher look at injuries in the postseason.  

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Victor Lazlo

Victor Lazlo 1814

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1 hour ago, Guadaloopy said:

It is more rigid.  If a player is removed from the roster due to the injury, that player is ineligible for the remainder of the series and the next playoff series.  

It’s completely fair to allow roster substitutions for injured players.  Let’s say Chirinos’ HPB last night had caused real damage.  It’s fair that the Astros be allowed to replace him on the roster with Garrett Stubbs.  The only question is the validity of the injury, and it seems that MLB takes a tougher look at injuries in the postseason.  

Yeah, Charlie Finley ruined it for every team that might want to claim a fake injury on a playoff roster. 

Oct. 14, 1973 - Charley Finley was at his most irascible after Game 2 of the World Series. The game between the Athletics and Mets took four hours and 13 minutes, the longest Series game by the clock up to then. It also was the longest day of Oakland second baseman Mike Andrews' life. 

After the Mets pulled ahead 7-6 in the 12th inning on the last hit of Willie Mays' career, Andrews' world came tumbling down. With the bases loaded, John Milner's ground ball went through Andrews' legs for two more runs. Jerry Grote hit another grounder to Andrews, who pulled Gene Tenace off first base with his throw, allowing another run to score.

The day after Oakland's 10-7 defeat, Finley made Andrews sign a consent form saying that he had a shoulder injury and then deactivated him in favor of Manny Trillo. But Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ordered Andrews reinstated.

The rest of the A's wore No. 17 on their sleeves in solidarity with Andrews, and manager Dick Williams told the team he was quitting after the Series. Even Mets fans gave Andrews a standing ovation when the Series moved to New York. Although Oakland won the Series in seven games, the celebrations were muted. "Finley takes all the fun out of winning," Reggie Jackson said

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 55913

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6 hours ago, Gourmand said:

Steve Phillips on Sirius XM MLB Radio this morning adamantly insists that the Yankees will win this series because they'll beat Verlander tonight at Yankee Stadium, then dominate a bullpen game in Houston and lay off Cole to work traffic and hit a big long ball to beat us in game 7.

 

Steve Phillips is one seriously stupid motherfucker:

steve195106-525x5251.jpg?quality=90&stri

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29230

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watching mlbn and fox last night (and listening to smoltz whine) has me thinking about all the different narratives going on, and what's actually true and false.  a-rod talks like a straight up yankee fan.  "i mean, they win game 1 convincingly, they have the lead in game 2, game 3, they had 1st and 2nd and nobody out in the first..."  yes, he fucking said that - as if we're to believe that the yankees are somehow closer to sweeping us than we are to winning in 5 or 6.

also - last night smoltz said springer's g2 homer was the biggest swing in the series, because "the yankees had the lead at the time."

slow down, people.  the astros led 1-0 in the 2nd.  then in the 4th, the yankees scored 2.  then in the 5th, the astros tied the game.  so the yankees had the lead for...an inning.  it wasn't some dramatic kenley-marwin bullshit that kept the yankees from going up 2-0 on the road.  in fact, i'll go ahead and say a better stat - since game 1, the yankees haven't had the lead past the 5th inning.  the reason i bring that up, is the ever-present argument of the yankees dominant bullpen.  the thing about having a lockdown back-half of your bullpen, is you have to have the lead to fucking use it right.

so last night, i couldn't sleep, and was scrolling through the mlb.com articles, mostly from last night.  but eventually, you get to the older articles - and i cannot find the one i'm about to mention, but it was glorious.  basically it was after the rainout was announced, and before g4, and it went through all the different pitching scenarios for the yankees, and how they would go about either winning the series, or taking it to 6-7 games.

they went through about 10 scenarios, game 4 this, game 5 that, game 6 bullpen, blah blah blah.  every possible tweaked option that boone has.

but here's the thing - every one of the scenarios - literally all 10 options - started with "yankees win game four."

sorry not sorry.

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29230

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also, another narrative.

"the yankees have missed so many opportunities and the astros are just getting the big hits and taking advantage and the yankees aren't."

forget the fact that pitching should be credited at least a little - the yankees offense has faced jv/cole/greinke + our 4 great bullpen arms in the past 3 games.  but it's not even accurate.  yeah, the astros had some smart baserunning in g3 that led to a sac fly and a passed ball - no hits with risp.  g4 we finally powered up and took advantage (homers and errors), but still are leaving a ton of guys on base.

this is what the series looks like, and makes it tough to believe the astros are the team "getting the hits when it matters".

springer .118

bregman .182

yuli .063

yordan .067

correa .176

chirinos .000

get the entire fuck outta here with that nonsense.  they better hope we don't actually start to hit.  outside of altuve and uncle mike, we've basically been dormant.  still have a lower avg with risp this series than the yankees.

ok, i'm done now.

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WBT

WBT 21121

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

but here's the thing - every one of the scenarios - literally all 10 options - started with "yankees win game four."

sorry not sorry.

Of course.  Tanaka was going to be able to come back on full rest.  After all, the Yankees had a 2-2 record in games he started against the Astros in the playoffs.  2-2!  And the Astros were going to have to start some bum named Greinke.  Doomed.

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WBT

WBT 21121

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

also, another narrative.

"the yankees have missed so many opportunities and the astros are just getting the big hits and taking advantage and the yankees aren't."

forget the fact that pitching should be credited at least a little - the yankees offense has faced jv/cole/greinke + our 4 great bullpen arms in the past 3 games.  but it's not even accurate.  yeah, the astros had some smart baserunning in g3 that led to a sac fly and a passed ball - no hits with risp.  g4 we finally powered up and took advantage (homers and errors), but still are leaving a ton of guys on base.

this is what the series looks like, and makes it tough to believe the astros are the team "getting the hits when it matters".

springer .118

bregman .182

yuli .063

yordan .067

correa .176

chirinos .000

get the entire fuck outta here with that nonsense.  they better hope we don't actually start to hit.  outside of altuve and uncle mike, we've basically been dormant.  still have a lower avg with risp this series than the yankees.

ok, i'm done now.

Good posts.  Those are kinding of pissing me off too.  Everything is framed in terms of how the Yankees can get back in the series or are so close to winning, etc.  All the spin is on how if they just did this or that a little bit better they could win while neglecting the fact that we have had a lot of poor timing/sequencing of our hits and also poor luck on some hard hit balls.  I don't know if it's just straight up pro yankee bias or if it's the way that the media always pulls for the trailing team to make it more competitive to try to maintain ratings.  Probably both.

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Pimphand

Pimphand 6400

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

At Stan's now. People have been great.

Yeah Stan's is legit and the only place to pre and post game with the MFY fans.  I have never had a bad experience there only once I start entering the stadium LOL

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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 19491

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2 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

I'm good with Correa and Alvarez swapping spots. Carlos has earned the bump up in the order. I fully expect Yuli to break through tonight. He's simply been getting too much good contact to not have some hits start dropping for him. 

I hope Yuli has a couple drop into the outfield seats.

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Pimphand

Pimphand 6400

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Someone please let Gay-Wad know that the Yankees changed the lineup (again) and that players had to drive to the stadium not knowing where they gonna hit..

Here is the full Yankees lineup for Game 5:

1. DJ LeMahieu — 1B
2. Aaron Judge — RF
3. Gleyber Torres — 2B
4. Giancarlo Stanton — DH
5. Aaron Hicks — CF
6. Gary Sanchez — C
7. Didi Gregorious — SS
8. Gio Urshela — 3B
9. Brett Gardner — LF
James Paxton — SP

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henrygandorf

henrygandorf 29230

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Posted
2 minutes ago, Pimphand said:

Someone please let Gay-Wad know that the Yankees changed the lineup (again) and that players had to drive to the stadium not knowing where they gonna hit..

Here is the full Yankees lineup for Game 5:

1. DJ LeMahieu — 1B
2. Aaron Judge — RF
3. Gleyber Torres — 2B
4. Giancarlo Stanton — DH
5. Aaron Hicks — CF
6. Gary Sanchez — C
7. Didi Gregorious — SS
8. Gio Urshela — 3B
9. Brett Gardner — LF
James Paxton — SP

i'm not one to get oversensitive about lineups like the fox guys, but holy shit - brett gardner has made quite the journey thru that order from one day to the next, especially considering all our starters are righties.

has anyone ever hit 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 9th all in the same series?

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Pimphand

Pimphand 6400

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10 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

i'm not one to get oversensitive about lineups like the fox guys, but holy shit - brett gardner has made quite the journey thru that order from one day to the next, especially considering all our starters are righties.

has anyone ever hit 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 9th all in the same series?

G1: 6th
G2: 5th
G3: 3rd
G4: 6th
G5: 9th

It's really too bad Boonie missed putting him in a different spot in Game 4.  He could have been playing Pokemon with batting order slots gotta collect em all.

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