I didn't see these posted anywhere, but Jonah Keri broke down the Astros in "the 30" yesterday and again today in his quarter-season awards, with the Astros named "Most Surprising Team." The 30: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-the-30-blue-jays-mariners-cubs-astros-home-runs/ Awards: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/t...e-trout-bryce-harper-sonny-gray-max-scherzer/ Also, I thought we could use this thread to consolidate any national Astros coverage, especially since these two articles by themselves probably aren't thread-worthy. If not, mods feel free to change the thread title to something more specific.
Apparently it's Astros week on Grantland: http://grantland.com/features/2015-mlb-houston-astros-surprising-breakthrough-season-al-west/
Nothing we don't already know, but still cool to see DJ Fisher get some pub: http://deadspin.com/minor-leaguers-first-game-with-new-team-two-grand-slam-1708027232
Deadspin breaks down the Astros success this year: http://deadspin.com/the-astros-are-good-now-what-the-hell-1713362634
Also Deadspin linked to this older Grantland article that is still pretty cool: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-houston-astros-10-stats-to-explain-first-place-start/
And Grantland on Lance McCullers: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-lance-mccullers-houston-astros-changeup/
We finally get a nationally televised game. BSPN is hosting Wednesdays game featuring Lance McCullers Jr. The kid is definitely on the big stage now.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/139014786/top-25-mlb-players-under-25-years-old We haz three of them! I would have added lance to that list, so in reality we haz four of them!
I thought they gave us a fair amount of love last night. I enjoyed the broadcast, although the 5 man team blanketing the stadium was excessive. One thing that still bothers me, and will never stop bothering me, is how MMP is always talked up as a great hitters park. Those first impressions are hard to shake despite a decades worth of data suggesting that we have probably the most neutral park in baseball.
Its annoying. Fenway has the most similar dimensions, and nobody confuses that place with being a bandbox.
I loved the pitch tracking they had on the screen, to show exactly where the ball ended up. Overall, they gave the Astros a lot of praise last night. I guess we're finally past the "it's early" take bspn had about he stros before.
