Defense helps pitching. Are we sure about that? Well, i think it is. Better rotation, San Diego or Houston? Well, San Diego is 26th in baseball, yes, 26, why???? Just look at the OF defense on that team. Now, look at our OF defense, we have THREE CENTERFIELDERS. The weak position, defensively was 1b, but Carter has done a better than average job out here. Astros in first place, and a major reason is DEFENSE.
I keep hearing this, but I don't think Rasmus should qualify outside of backup duty. Astros are about average defensively. Marisnick has good range, but his throws have been off this year. Springer has been spectacular. Astros have had more success shifting this year even though every hit through the vacated hole gets complained about on the air.
I've not seen Rasmus have an opportunity to be great in CF for the Astros as he's not gotten something to really test his range in the game's I've seen. That said, he's not shown ability to cover gap deep in left this season. He had trouble last year covering gap deep last season in Toronto's CF from what I've heard. His spray charts are littered with "catchable balls" landing over his head. Unless he has some bad luck having an unusual amount of line drives hit to center, the way he plays left looks very similar to what he would do with a lot of time in center.
I watch the games. Yesterday he made a perfect throw that led to an out at home and had a couple of very nice jumps on sinking liners to CF/RCF that he caught. He's absolutely not hurting the team anywhere in the OF. No more than Marisnick's arm or Springer's fumbles. I don't watch enough of the rest of the teams, but I'd be curious to know what serious people see as the best OF defenses in MLB. Stros have to be right up there. Altuve has improved by leaps and bounds (please give him a day off soon, AJ), Valbuena is a rock at 3B, Carter is solid (something that nobody ever said before). The SS's aren't godawful, but that will improve in a few weeks. Castro's knee is obviously back-ish to normal, he and Conger are a quality tandem. I like pitching and defense.
Marisnick has the ability to make accurate throws... and his arm is very strong (but probably not as strong as Springer's). Definitely a strong enough arm for a CF with elite range. Rasmus is certainly better than any other LF option we could possibly have... by a lot. I definitely think playing LF in MMP is a bit of a handcuff to an above average fielder as they're constantly looking for the wall, anticipating balls coming off the wall, and their range is limited drastically by the dimesnions itself (really hard to play balls that go in that angle by the visitors bullpen, when you can't really play "deep" in LF at any point). In the end, the team is benefitting from the perfect combination of SPEED (biggest factor), power, and quality defense/pitching.
I like pitching and defense. Marisnick's arm has hurt his value in CF a lot this year, but plays that should be outs that turn into doubles hurt more. Granted, I haven't seen Rasmus have a ball hit past him in CF this year, but He hasn't played there that much to be really tested.
Oddly, I think Rasmus's defense will actually be very good for left as deep hit balls is his only weakness defensively. I don't want him in CF for the Astros often (unless it is in a stadium with a smaller CF), but I like that he has great range for a LF and plays balls in front of him very well. The Astros play half their games in MMP. Having above average range is needed for me to consider a player a CF here, unless they are forced to play there regularly. Playing LF in MMP may be part of the reason I have been less than impressed with Rasmus's defense. He may have gotten use to playing shallow and it is hurting him in other stadiums. He may just need to take two or three steps back to be more effective, IMO. I like the Astros outfield defense. I am just not going to call Rasmus a CF (unless he becomes the regular CF) as I don't want him patrolling CF in MMP often. I was worried the Astros would go with Gattis, Rasmus, and Springer which would weaken two of the OF positions greatly before the season.
Am I the only one who doesn't think Springer is that great in right field? I mean the guy has 3 errors already out there and should have had 4 if it weren't for a generous ruling by our home box score man in a recent game I was watching. 3 errors in right field is more than a good number of guys make ALL YEAR in that position. I see all the potential in the world with Springer but I've been telling people since last year that if he doesn't watch it, he could be the odd man out in a couple of years in our outfield with some of the prospects we have coming up.
