Could be a golden opp for these boys. We have a glut of players right now that are effectively DH/1B. People are gonna get squeezed out if they don't step up. The Gattis injury frees up some more PA, possibly opens up another spot in the opening day lineup. Reed,White,Singleton,Tucker,Duffy, gonna be fun to see how that quintet performs this spring.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Weather in NC is too cold, headed down to Florida to start this year a little early. Have a feeling this year is going to be great.</p>— Tyler White (@twhite409) <a href="https://twitter.com/twhite409/status/697430821100249088">February 10, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
That's the bright side, definitely. I was kind of excited to see Gattis in ST though, given his offseason rededication to conditioning and him spending some time at 1B and C.
Tyler White seems like a man on a mission. Singleton better realize this may be his last shot with White, Reed, Duffy, Moran all on his heels
Wow, I'm not liking what I'm reading from Gregerson. Says he sees no reason he should lose the closer role. UHHHHH.
LOL "the guy we brought in" like he doesn't know who he is. Can't wait til he officially gets bumped from closer. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Luke Gregerson wants to continue as the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> closer. <a href="https://t.co/VGoOJM54ub">pic.twitter.com/VGoOJM54ub</a></p>— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/700359123469279233">February 18, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I'm hoping that Gregerson just doesn't want to admit that he likely won't be the closer for pride reasons...even though he knows it's going to happen. Because otherwise he could cause problems in the clubhouse. Or maybe it's an indication he will pitch his ass off as the set up man hoping to get his job back.
Hard to expect someone to relinquish their spot, we'd be talking about him wearing panties if he just said here you go sweetheart you can have my spot.
I hope Luke really goes all out to try and win the job... I really do. Its not the worst thing in the world to have more than one guy who can close. This whole stigma that you may only have one closer, and he may only be brought in the 9th inning to get 3 outs is a ridiculous notion... especially for a club that values being as versatile and progressive as possible. Much like shifts have done away with traditional defensive positioning, we will at some point see a more dynamic way of handling late-inning bullpen roles as well (although most front offices and bullpens will tell you that guys prefer a defined role as opposed to being brought in as needed in random spots). At the end of the day, both Giles and Luke have had relatively similar exposure of being the for-sure 9th inning man, and Giles had significantly better numbers in that role than Luke did. Luke has far more experience being a late-inning bullpen guy, a role that Giles had as of the last 2 years, but even then... Giles has had better numbers during that extended time as well. So, while Luke may have not done anything to lose the job... he just may not be as good at it as the guy they brought in. If it makes him pitch "better" in order to try and cement his place there... that's a good problem to have.
A little internal competition is good. I hope he approaches every pitch like he's fighting to win back his role.
What do you expect him to say? He was in over 60 games last year, and only gave up earned runs in 9 of them. Looking through a sampling of the better relievers in the league, no one else is at 9 or lower. While he blew 6 saves in his 37 opportunites, Giles blew 5 in 20. I am not advocating for Gregerson to remain the closer, but it's not like he had a horrible year.
Nolan Ryan on Keuchel: Left-hander Dallas Keuchel, Astros "He has command and a great changeup. He doesn't give in, even when he is 3-0 in the count. He's a left-handed Greg Maddux."
"I'm just here to do what the team needs me to do. Just get those three outs." Idk, something like that.
Not to mention there are incentives in his contract for games completed. He's losing $500K+ by being the setup guy, not to mention his value when he is a FA again would probably be higher as a closer.
More genius by Luhnow... entice a guy to come here with closer-specific laden incentives, but eventually acquire that future closer (who happens to be cheapear/club-controlled... and likely just better). Not sure what the market was for Gregerson, but I'm sure getting a chance to close here was a driving factor in him making that decision... like I said above, I think he should still be part of the consideration, with Hinch having the ability to be flexible when needed, but the better guy should be tabbed to get the more important outs.
