Record 83-79 3rd place the astros will finish second in HR but will lead the AL in strike outs our defence will be worse because the players we signed in the off season are good home run hitters but have health issues because of the bullpin our pitcing will be better starting pitching should be the same but for the first time sence the late 2000s we will be in a playoff race until september
I predict the the spelling Nazis will come out of the woodwork re: your "pridiction." But I think 82 wins is possible
0-162 I hope the franchise never wins another game as long as Jim Crane is the owner. The fans were sold out for a few dollars more with the move to the AL West. Wouldn't mind punching Bud Selig over it .... Hate the DH , hate the late start times .... I'm old , road games start at bed time and end long after. Miss the rivalries built over several decades. Couldn't care less about playing the Rangers. (No use for interleague games either). This from a life long Astro's fan and former season ticket holder.
If you're really old like me, you remember tons of late road game starts when we were in the NL West. Games against the Dodgers, Padres and Giants were just as late then as they are now for M's, A's and Angels.
I'll go with 79 wins plus or minus about 8 wins. Astros have made a lot of moves that should make a small incremental move forward. I was expecting to be more enthusiastic. Gregorson is a nice addition to the pen. Neshek, I just don't have much faith in a guy with a career year at age 33. Bullpen should be better because the bottom guys are better, but I'm not as enthusiastic about pen as most seem to be. Fields and Sipp may still be the best in pen. While I think Keuchel and McHugh were legit last year, they are a year older. With trades of Folty and Tropeano, 5th starter spot looks very weak. I was expecting Tropeano to be able to replace Cosart's production and Appel to replace Feldman at some point this year in rotation. I still feel Appel comes up at some point, but it looks like Astros are going to need innings from Feldman. Folty was nice redundancy if those two flopped and could be in pen if they didn't. Astros basically have 3 1B/DH types. As has been documented in numerous posts, I am not thinking any of them sees significant time outside 1B/DH. Astros have two catchers that should be starters. Bench depth is good, but Astros appear to have a lot of surplus value at 1B/DH/C. Defense...Infield defense, especially up the middle just doesn't look too good. Not happy with Lowrie at SS. He most likely makes the team better right now with his bat, but (I am aware that this is illogical) would feel "safer" with Gonzalez manning SS. Lowrie doesn't look like a MLB SS any more.
Yep... and they played 6 more games a year against those teams vs. the recent "rivals" in the Cubs, Cards and Pirates. All it will take is time... maybe a long time to accept the AL move, but it won't take as long to just simply start feeling the need to beat some of these AL west teams. I also feel once the NL finally adopts the DH, things will die down about the "difference" between the leagues. Then, in 20 years when the Astros get a chance to move back to the NL, people will be complaining about the "rivalries" created against the Angels and Mariners.
Yes, but Dodgers, Padres, and Giants are worth staying up to watch. It could be that the Astros have just been really bad lately, but opposing teams just don't invoke the same passion as saying, "Hey, the Dodgers are in town this weekend. Which game do you want to see?". Now it is more like, "Hey, the Astros are in town this week. I think it is the A's. Want to catch a game?".
I hear ya. I hate the move to the AL. But if the Astros are fighting for a chance to get to the playoffs, and the A's are standing in the way, then I'll hate the A's too. It's just been a while since the outcomes of their games against anyone have mattered in the big picture.
Will take a combination of time and meaningful games... as I said in a previous post, the same was once said regarding games against the Cardinals and Cubs.
This is my only problem with the move, and it's a huge one for me. Maybe it will just take 20 years, but I simply don't give a damn about a single team in the AL - not the Rangers, not the Yankees, not Boston, nobody. Never have. I can handle the DH. I'm excited to be able to watch games again, and I'm excited for the future of the team, but it's just not the same, and that bums me out. As far as predictions go, they'll win some, they'll lose some, sometimes it'll rain.