All series talk goes in here. Non series talk goes somewhere else. No PBP, that can be found from other sources if you need it. All games are broadcast on AT&T Sports SW unless otherwise noted. 4-6 Luis Perdomo (R) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (R) 7:10 4-7 Bryan Mitchell (R) vs. Gerrit Cole (R) 6:10 MLBN (out-of-market only) 4-8 Tyson Ross (R) vs. Charlie Morton (R) 1:10
Going to Sunday’s game. Was hoping I’d get to see Cole pitch live. Morton is solid so I’m good with that. I smell a 9-1 start. I already predicted way before the season before anyone has said anything that the Astros would break the record for most wins in a season...
To this point, one could certainly argue that our 3-5 starters (McCullers, Morton & Cole) have been better than our 1 & 2. Not enough starts across the board for any type of long term conclusions though. Our most effective pitcher to date may be Brad Peacock (0.00era/0.40WHIP)
Great problem if you want to call it that to have. I see it as we have 4 aces and Morton is a legitimate 2 and an ace on a lot of squads. Tip of the hat to Luhnow.
Agreed. One problem that I dont like early is our strike outs. Top 5 in the AL. But I am not too over worried about this either.
Have to think that Yuli getting back into the lineup will help that a lot. Only struck out 62 times in over 500 AB's last season. He'll be a stabilizing force as far as the strikeouts go. Yuli being at 1B gives Marwin so much more versatility given that he could play LF or DH or play 2B, SS or 3B while any of those guys get a day off or DH. That being said, Marwin has been one of the main strikeout culprits so hopefully he can cut down a little bit on them.
Very early stats on MLB relievers show Rondon and Peacock among the Top 15 as ranked by FIP. Rondon comes in at #10 with a FIP of -0.37 while Peacock is at #15 with a FIP of +0.16. If the Astros could finish the season with 2 or 3 relievers among the Top 20, that would bode very well for the postseason. One reliever who is off to an absolutely electric start is the Rockies' Adam Ottavino. Over 5 innings pitched, he has given up only a single and a walk. No HBP, no wild pitches or balks... but 10 strikeouts. FIP sits at -1.37. Ottavino has almost entirely ditched his fastball this year in favor of his cutter and sinker, which may have something to do with his success. As in previous years, he is still throwing his slider nearly hafl the time. Of course there's no guarantee he will continue to get good results, but he's caught my eye as one reliever to watch here in the first half of the season.
Sorry, I'm just sitting here during a down period at work wondering about the relevance of Adam Ottavino as he pertains to the Houston Astros. Solid work crunching the numbers though. I'll say the Astros win this series comfortably
Ottavino just stood out to me as I looked up where the Astros relievers rank against the rest of MLB. I guess I just like to watch/follow baseball players who play excellent ball, even if they don't wear an Astros uniform. Besides, some of those players on other teams might become Astros one day. Who knows, maybe Ottavino comes to Houston one day, or faces the Astros in the WS.
Peacock's slider is back with a vengeance after having trouble with it late last year. He may have the best slider in the game right now.
One of the added benefits of having a rotation like this is that they never have to skip starts for anyone. Other teams would make sure their 1 and 2 are always on 5 days regardless because their 4 and 5 aren't worth giving the extra days of rest. If all goes as planned, everyone in the rotation should be able to have the consistency in workload they need. If we can have Peacock spell the entire pen once a week, that makes it even better. This team is almost as perfectly built as a team can be...and there's the possibility of improvement with Tucker and (to a lesser extent for this season) Whitley waiting in the wings.
Only two places for improvement would be Tucker upgrading Fisher (we hope) and a dominant closer that doesn't give us a heart attack every outing like Giles. Giles in a set up role would be so nasty. If we don't acquire an extra pen piece (which I think we will), I have to think Hinch is thinking ahead to the playoffs and how he can use Morton. Charlie throwing out his filth in multi-inning outings alongside Peacock doing the same and Devo, Harris and Giles supplementing is a pretty ridiculous playoff bullpen.
