Not that they should use tandems per se, but they could potentially have 3 or 4 bullpen arms that can go multiple innings: Rotation: Keuchel, McCullers, McHugh, Morton, Musgrove Long relievers: Fiers, Peacock, Devenski, Feliz Setup/closers: Sipp, Harris, Gregerson, Giles With 4 guys in the pen who could go 2-3 innings, it could really save some mileage on the starters and back end guys. This could really come in handy since that rotation would feature guys with injury history (McCullers, Morton, Musgrove), guys who've had trouble getting through the lineup a 3rd time (McCullers), and guys who might be on an innings limit (Morton, Musgrove). And ideally this offense will give them enough runs to make innings 5-9 low leverage more than previous seasons.
I don't think Astros need that many multiple inning guys. Astros can callup a guy if needed like they did with Devenski when Feliz jumped on the grenade that was McHugh's crap the bed start early last year. Have a hard time seeing Hoyt in minors to start season. Hinch has mentioned Gustave a couple of times very favorably. Astros will try to let things work themselves out, but doubt they have two starters in bullpen if they don't. Here's to hoping for good health on Astros such that they can pawn Peacock off on some wannabe contending NL team before the season.
Sure he was. Pretty much every player that makes it to the minors was the best player on their LL, JH, HS team, many of them on their college team as well. They're not used to dealing with adversity, that's one of the huge (and a ton of it is mental) growing pains all amateur players have to work through. And some handle it better than others. Others just max out their talent in the minors, and there's nothing embarrassing about that. You should sit in a batting cage with a 20-something A/AA-ball "washout". It gives you some newfound respect.
Yep. When I was at A&M, they had a point guard named Brooks Thompson, who eventually transferred - and thrived - with Oklahoma State. Any way, we used to run with Brooks in the gym and he was a god among boys; he once dunked so hard on a buddy of mine, we still make fun of him. Years later, I saw his bouncing around the end of several NBA benches, and I always thought to myself... if he's the "worst" player on that team. how good must the other guys be?.... I think fans sometimes lose that perspective; how really good even the "bad" ones are. A really good friend of mine was a high draft pick our senior year and he never made it out of rookie ball - but I'm pretty sure he could still strike out 95+% of the world's population at any given time.
I'm not saying everyone has to have a crazy obsessive focus like Madison Bumgartner, but I can and do expect a certain level of professionalism and feedback-directed improvement. As a fan (or atleast for me) its much easier to stomach a guy who "plays the game the right way and does everything his team asks" fail on a lack of talent than a talented guy fail on a lack of mental tools. I doubt the FO told singleton to add 20-30lbs of muscle/fat, slow his swing down and then start failing to make contact/sell out for power.
Jon had difficulty in AAA. Most hitters that end up in the majors have to make adjustments even if they are minor in AA. One thing I heard a lot about Reed in minors was that he was patient and made pitchers pay for mistakes. He is going to show that he can lay off breaking balls out of zone and hit them when they are in yje zone. Grooved fastballs just don't happen often in majors unless your name is Marisnick.
At least Aoki hits them, just not for much power. A hitter can live off mistakes in the majors, they just need to know the zone, recognize the pitch, and punish the mistakes. Castro was a master of watching mistakes go for called strikes, and sometimes swinging right through those fastballs.
Mona Lisa, the original basic b**** Traveled thousands of miles to see your beautiful smile Talk about a bait and switch, you ugly
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017...veterans-utley-weaver-lincecum-clevenger.html While the Astros reportedly checked in on Miguel Cabrera, they were asking for “more than half of the $150 million remaining on Cabrera’s contract” to be paid by Detroit and apparently never offered enough for the front office to bring a deal to ownership.
If I were Hinch this is how I'd set the lineup: Vs RHP/Vs LHP: CF/RF Springer 3B Bregman 2B Altuve SS Correa DH/LF Beltran 1B Gurriel RF/DH Reddick/Gattis C McCann/Stassi LF/CF Aoki/Marisnick The surprise there would be Stassi making the team. But I think it works. He is out of options and unlikely to pass through waivers. He can be deployed on a limited basis (only against non-elite lefties) to get a better idea of what kind of player he can be; if he struggles then he can be DFA and Gattis can go back to being the catcher vs lefties (pushing Reddick or Aoki into LF against lefties and Beltran back to DH). He is a better defensive catcher than Gattis, and using him early in the season will help Gattis stay fresh for later in the year if he ends up needing to catch. That lineup is so freaking deep. The Reddick/Gattis platoon should put up elite offensive production, and generally this team should crush any non-elite righty.
I am fairly certain Gattis would be a disaster in RF. EDIT - Whoops...never mind, kaleidosky set me straight. (although my point stands ).
i didn't get it at first, but he only has Gattis playing as DH vs. lefties (and on the bench vs righties)
