Then we have mental midgets as players and should probably try to trade them for guys with a little more mental strength.
Panic? not sure about that. Concern. Yes. Need to win today to avoid the broom. Then we go Arlington and get Hamels. You know the Rangers would like nothing more than to stick it to us. Then you have four against Arizona. They are pretty damn good. But it is what it is. We were dealt a sh*t hand when it comes to injuries. Think you feel bummed now. Just wait until we get the ticker that the red sox or indians pick up Verlander. That would probably finish the club house.
It actually happens all the time. Even the Dodgers, during this historic run, lost B2B games to the Braves in late July. The Astros were never going to maintain a winning percentage of 70%; regression was inevitable. Frankly, better to happen now than into late September/October. The stretch has put a spotlight on some of their weaknesses - but no team is without weaknesses, save for maybe the Dodgers who, holy ****, look like a battering ram of a team right now. The focus for the Astros right now is health: Springer & Keuchel need to get back up to speed, and they need Correa, Harris and McCullers to get back into the line-up and then up to speed. They've been able to successfully put a band-aid over some gaping wounds likely much longer than should be reasonably expected. Hitting a rough patch right now is par for where they are. My guess is by the end of the month, we'll see them back to their old ways.
What @Rocketman95 said - but, also: how did they get *worse*? So far, Liriano = Sipp and Fisher > Aoki.
Sipp has an ERA of like 6 something and Liriano is in the 10s since he has been here. I would consider that getting worse. Hell Sipp is 0-1 on the year and Liriano is 0-2 since being traded. Yes, it is a small sample size and Liriano can certainly turn it around (hopefully). But as of today, the trade made us worse.
I agree that in the long run, Fisher will absolutely be better than Aoki. In the 10 or so days since the trade, the Fisher we have seen has been a downgrade from Nori.
In 1.1IP prior to the deadline, Sipp allowed 6 ER. In the 1.2IP since the trade deadline, Liriano's allowed 2 ER. Too granular? OK. For July, Sipp had an ERA of 12.46. Include June and it's still 8.66. If you want to call it a wash, fine. But they did not get worse.
small samples are silly when you have more data on the season to use. Even if you acknowledge the small samples but still use them. If we traded Aoki for Verlander and then he got blown up in 1 start, would you say "we got worse" or acknowledge the issue?
Assuming no one is concerned about the regular season, I'm not sure why I'd panic about the postseason, which is still nearly 2 months away. Given that 2 months ago, we were playing completely differently than we are now, why would I assume that 2 months from today, we'd look the same as we today? A lot of players currently underperforming will probably be playing better. A lot of players overperforming will probably be playing worse. We have no idea what that's ultimately look like. That would be true regardless of if we were dominating or sucking right now.
Okay perhaps wash is a better term. I was looking at it as in Sipp doesn't have 2 losses on his record. Sipp can come in to the game while we are down and give up 10 runs in an inning. It is frustrating to see that, obviously. However, Liriano has literally gone into 2 of the 3 games and lost the lead/tie. I am in no way saying Sipp is good. He should never see the mound again as far as I am concerned, but neither should Liriano. I am not speaking hypotheticals and that is a silly comparison. If we traded Aoki for Verlander, I would have been ecstatic even if he got blown up in 2 of his first 3 starts. Verlander has a track record of not doing that. Liriano on the other had, was never really that good to begin with. He has been in the league 12 years and has what? Two good seasons, a decent season and a lot of mediocre to bad seasons.
It may not play out this way - but Liriano + Fisher > Sipp + Aoki. I just can't be convinced otherwise...
Worried? Yes I'm a little worried about the pitching, particularly Keuchel and McCullers. No I'm not worried about the offense or defense. Panicking? Er, no. The Astros will be fine once they get healthy and get their "swag" back. As great as the Dodgers are playing, I still think they'll have a tougher path to the World Series in the NL than the Astros in the AL.
That wasn't the trade. The Astros could have played Fisher regardless and have just released Aoki. It is really Liriano or Sipp. Neither has been especially good. If you prefer Liriano, I won't argue against that. I am not crazy about either, but at least Liriano has a track record of getting lefties out.
We're going to be ok, we just need to get through this adversity. We're just getting a little bloodied, now c'mon lets go, WOOOOOO!!
Boston, Cleveland, NYY, Seattle are the other playoff teams as of today, KC and TB are only 1 game back For the season, we are 21-22 against those teams. That worries me more than the past week and a half of no emotion baseball...we have dominated bad teams, but don't get to play those teams in the playoffs
790 just aired comments from Reddick saying the entire team is/was disappointed by the trade deadline. Seems the comments are fresh... like today-yesterday fresh.
Anybody who says they aren't, or shouldn't be, either works in the front office... or will always always (always) take the side of the organization over anything else. The good thing is... there's 2 months for them to get over it. And, they will. This has nothing with being "mentally weak" or needing tougher players... they have every reason to be pissed that teams both ahead of them, and behind them, were able to get deals done that did help their MLB teams now (without necessarily mortgaging any future). Even Seattle was able to get some help... and as of 1 month ago, had no business being buyers in this whole thing. The current players have no reason to care about how good the Astros will be in 4-5 years. They have no concerns over Crane's bottom line or how much revenue sharing the Astros get, or are on the hook for. Unfortunately, their mental state does matter the most in this whole thing... moreso than the fans, moreso than the GM, moreso than the owner. Like I said, they'll get over it... but this has undoubtedly caused a hangover effect (now 2 years in a row) that has affected the team on the field.
