It's certainly going to be an interesting ride. The Astros are a wildly unpredictable team. Last year's team was wildly unpredictable. This year's team was even worse in that regard, and they won the most games in Astros history. I have the most faith in our pitchers, but not a single one of them, even JV, was above getting rocked this year. Still, they're going to be the key. That said, the Astros quietly have some crazy dangerous weapons like Yuli and Bregs that I still don't think other teams take as seriously as they should. Which is good for us. It's always psychological with the Astros. If they're in the right place in their heads, I think this team is going all the way. --- P.S. I hope Hinch and company have the balls to bench Correa swiftly if need be. His defense has been a boon, but there's a guy who hasn't had it figured out in his head all season, injuries or not, and we have precious little leeway for any of that from this point onwards.
What do you mean by wildly unpredictable? Correa clearly had it figured out in April and June, unless he has to have a 1.000+ OPS to satisfy you.
I agree we always get the shaft when it comes to scheduling. As the champs we should get dibs on primetime.
Rotation is wash...plus their ace has a history of wearing down late into the season/into post season, while ours has a history of getting stronger. Lineup...they have some premium talent that is for sure, but so do we (numbers this year aside). Biggest difference is they have a HUGE talent gap. We dont...we are still the deepest most dangerous lineup in baseball with experience and obvious postseason success. Defensively...We have a shortstop at every position in the IF and our OF is awesome and even more awesome with late defensive subs. Bullpen...we were already the deepest in baseball. Well now we are adding Lance McCullers Jr. to it. I really dont like being this confident. I am set up for a let down in a major way. We all know baseball is a different animal. Especially in a short series. But, dang do I feel good about this team.
I will enjoy every moment of this playoffs. The good and bad. After suffering though the heartbreak of years past, it made last years title all the better.
lol reading a lot of these takes, it was as if the stros aren't the reigning champs and they barely got in the playoffs with a subpar season.
I know it's inevitable - but I am absolutely DREADING Correa becoming the scapegoat if this team doesn't repeat, and *especially* if they're eliminated sooner rather than later. So in a likely futile gesture, let's try and set the proper context. For beginners, you're flat-wrong about Carlos Correa's season. He was one of the best hitters in baseball through April (.932 OPS). He struggled in May but was back on track in June (.889 OPS) when he got hurt. Pre-injury, Correa's '18 season was shaping up to be an absolute monster. Do not rewrite it as an end-to-end failure. It is simply not true. He's been incredibly bad since the injury. No way to spin it, other than, you know, he was injured. But the Astros will not win or lose because of a single bat. They didn't lose the ALCS when George Springer went 3-for-26 and posted a .349 OPS (!). And they didn't lose the World Series win Jose Altuve went 6-for-31 and posted a .670 OPS. Finally, as with Springer last year - who, fans (likely you) SCREAMED should be moved down in the line-up/benched - you are a better team with good Carlos Correa than you are with, say, Marwin Gonzalez. The risk is worth it if Correa can find his stroke; you simply can't abandon that because, again, as we saw with Springer, it can roar back to life on a dime, and when it does, you can ride it to victory.
Good lord... MLB and the their network partners are not purposely sabotaging their own product to give a team the shaft. I mean, do you honestly believe that's what's happening?... If the Astros drew interest/ratings at the same level as the Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox or Yankees (let alone the Red Sox *and* Yankees), they'd sure-as-**** schedule them as such. But they don't. (And Cleveland draws even *less* interest, FYI) The east/west coast focus has been in place for.... 9 gatrillion years. This isn't new. Nor is it unique to baseball. Check early Rocket playoff rounds, or the Texans' yearly primetime schedule.
The main issue with comparing Correa to say Springer last season is the length of the struggles. There's a difference between having a terrible week, and being one of the worst offensive players in baseball for a quarter of the season. If finding his stroke was the only issue, then it would be a non-issue, but there's a physical malady in play. Unlike slumps which are largely random, a terrible postseason performance from Correa would be very predictable. The postseason is when the casuals join the party, so if in fact he does struggle and has some bad ab's in clutch spots, the Correa is trash nonsense will appear, we all know it, you can't fight the nature of sports fans. As you mentioned, any defense will be futile. This is part of the risk the Astros and Correa are taking by choosing to play through his struggles. We all know what he can do, and that's why they're taking the risk. His last game was extremely promising, best set of AB's in months.
The Indians are a strong and complete team, and one that should be respected. With that being said, they still have to go through the Champs.
Correa looked like he was "back" on Satruday. There was talk that it was a lot more mental than it was physical/injury related this last month. That sure looked to be the case on Saturday as his swing was outright more powerful than it had been since returning. I dont think that he was magically cured all of sudden/after a few days off, I think he finally broke through that mental road block of not wanting to re-aggravate something before the playoffs even started. When he is right, he can carry us through this entire month, let alone a series. He is an MVP caliber player...with a bit of a clutch factor to his game. He absolutely must be in that lineup every single day. On the injury front I am a lot more worried about springer. He is in pain with that thumb on seemingly every other swing. It is causing a lot of rolling over on the ball rather than good stiff contact through the ball. His power has been sapped because of it (although his homer Saturday was also a good sign, but a better sign would be to see him go oppo), but his on base skills are elite and he seems to score almost every single time he reaches base.
I'm predicting Correa is going to have a good postseason. Raw power is only thing that was holding Correa back. Tough to fake the raw power he exhibited last couple of games. Besides for the homer, he was hitting grounders hard enough for Orioles to turn a double play.
That's fair. But, regardless of the length - I think what they both have in common is an endpoint. We *know* Carlos Correa is better than this, and that he's eventually going to find his stroke. It might not happen this year... but, by that same token, none of us *knew* Springer would break-out of his slump before the end of the postseason, either. I don't know... I just can't imagine the Astros benching Carlos Correa in the postseason, even if the struggles continue, as is. (UNLESS, they can arrive at some agreed conclusion that he simply isn't healthy.)
No I didn't. They are driven by exactly one thing: money. And the higher the ratings, the more money they make. They do not care who won what when. The Yankees are, far and away, MLB's biggest draw; they will ALWAYS get priority. The next tier is some combination of Cubs, Dodgers & Red Sox. Every other team is below that tier and scheduled accordingly. This is not anti-Astros. It's pro-Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers & Red Sox because they draw the biggest ratings.
Also worth noting that Correa's terrible bat in the lineup didn't slow us down in our best-ever September.
While true, I'm not sure that means anything. Unlike the NBA where winning a championship seems to carry over, there is no carryover effect in baseball. Every champion the last 18 or whatever years has lost in the playoffs the next year. Cleveland has two advantages that Boston/NY/OAK don't have: 1. They get to play us in a 5 games series (increased random luck factor) 2. They get to eliminate their biggest weakness (lower level bullpen). No other team has this straightforward a weakness they can hide, and lack-ofdepth is harder to hide in a 7 game ALCS. Over the last 3 months or so, after they fixed the backend of the bullpen with new additions, they've had the same record as the Astros, I believe. We're better, but these two teams just aren't that far apart. If they played ten 5-game series after 4 days rest, I'd suspect it would be something like a 6-4 Astros split.
