Are the Astros too good to where all the Games are boring now?

Ironic post

 

That was the most boring 11 run inning I've ever seen.

 

Oh. Hell. No.

 

I don't believe in jinxes

But we got some mofos around here who are making even me concerned.

 

Yeah, the Cubs were easily the best team in baseball last year, and they had a pretty difficult time against a beat up Indians team. If we play this well through the entire season, we certainly should be the favorites, but baseball is a difficult game. You never know when you are going to get Kevin Browned and then get shut down by Sterling ****ing Hitchcock.

 

If this is boring, bore me out of my freaking mind. I look forward to be being completely, utterly bored at Houston's first World Series Champions parade.

 

AL wild card game winner is likely going to be much stronger than the NL wild card game winner. I expect whoever has best record in NL will have highest WS odds entering the playoffs.

 

That playoff-choking era of Astros is a terrible example.

They were 2-12 before Beltran showed up.

Mike Fiers probably would've owned them.

 

2001 Mariners won 116 games (Oak won 102 and finished 14 games out, that's ridiculous). They beat the Yankees 6 out of 9 in the regular season. The Yankees smoked them in the ALCS 4-1.

 

Big if's.

 

He's just trolling.

 

That Mariners team's biggest flaw was that their pitching staff wasn't that good. They had a bunch of career years, but didn't really have that guy you generally view as a dominating ace, so hopefully we'll have that going for us with Keuchel and LMJ, but it wasn't enough with Randy who was even better than they are.

Dodgers currently have the best run differential in the majors and would be in the WC game. We are such a long way away from knowing what the playoffs will look like, but at what point do you start respecting the DBacks and Rockies? Are they really that much different than the Yankees? All 3 are exceeding expectations, but all 3 have the run differentials to back it up.

I'd say Boston & Cleveland remain the toughest competition in the AL for us. The Yankees don't scare me (especially with Keuchel on the mound).

 

Yeah, kinda. See y'all in October.

 

Hey Juice, I realize you can't accept reality when it's coming from me, but take heed so your brain can be un-racked.

Those Astros biggest problem was their choking playoff hitters. THAT'S why they could barely win ONE game in 14 attempts before Beltran showed up in 2004.

 

We need a good brawl to spice things up (actually, no, we don't!!)

How did I never catch this one, though???

 

The Killer Breeze as they became known. It was embarrassing to see those guys shut down every year in the postseason. I think the worst was in the 1999 series with the Braves. They had bases loaded with no one out in Game 3 and John Rocker came in and got Atlanta out of the inning giving up no runs. It wasn't until they brought in not just Beltran, but proven winners like Pettitte and Clemens that they finally got over the hump.

Thankfully this Astros bunch seems to already have the mental fortitude that the Bagwell-Biggio teams lacked. They did blow that Game 4 vs KC two years ago, but that was almost entirely due to Will Harris choking on the mound. I'd much rather have to worry about just one or two guys shrinking in the moment than an entire lineup of hitters unable to step up in the playoffs.

 

Just saw this. On DBacks and Rockies, don't mean any disrespect as I expect they are WC favorites for NL, but the Dodgers look a lot stronger. AL looks a lot stronger than NL so I have a hard time seeing their willd card teams whoever they are (looks like DBacks and Rockies) being close to the same caliber as the AL. There are about 8 or so weak teams in the NL (2-3 of them due to injuries, legal matters) versus about 2-3 in AL. Fangraphs preseason predictions are more accurate than regular season winning percentage after 50 games at predicting rest of the season record. I think regular season winning percentage outperforms preseason Fangraphs predictions at around 80-100 games, but do not outperfrom Fangraphs updated predictions for rest of season performance.

Dodgers have not dropped below 75% in chance to win division according to Fangraphs. Now that they are in lead, they are back over 90%. I am highly confident Astros, Dodgers, Nationals, and Indians win their divisions. Someone strong will come out of AL East. Cubs should come out of the NL Central, but pitching has caused them problems.

On Yankees, they are a lot scarier than Rockies and DBacks. I'd put the Yankees about as strong as the Nationals. Rays and Orioles are also probably stronger than the Rockies and DBacks. I am guessing that the Astros, Indians, Red Sox (once healthy), Dodgers, and Cubs (once they add a starter) will be the strongest teams going into the playoffs followed by a couple of AL East teams and the Nats.

Edit: I did see that 538 gives the Astros the best odds on the WS so may not be as clear cut as I expect. 538's predictions seem not to rate AL as strong as Fangraphs does.