I wouldn't call that much of a breakout for a guy with a career .276/.354/.475 line. That is more a moderate improvement. I'd think a Correa breakout would be more like .300/.400/.550. That would be an MVP candidate.
All I know is, having guys like Nori Aoki and Josh Reddick in the lineup consistently is going to be excellent. Those two guys don't strikeout much, which is the complete opposite of Colby Rasmus and Carlos Gomez.
With Hinch targeting Beltran for 30-40 games in LF, I wonder if Springer sees any at-bats at DH while Marisnick patrols CF next to Beltran. I think our team needs at least some such lineups for two reasons: First, Springer's health. Playing CF is a physical toll. The last thing we need is for Springer to get hurt. Give him some off-ish days at DH, and monitor his health so he's a full-go by Sept/Oct. Second, Marsnick can simultaneously provide the defensive boost our team needs. We all know about Jake offensive ineptitude, but HOU doesn't need Jake to hit for HOU to win. This offense is deep. Two years ago, our defense was elite and our pitchers' stats gloated because of it. We need to get back to elite defense if we want our pitchers to be as good as we want them to be. If Marinsick can provide a semblance of Kiermaier, our team is DEADLY. And affording Springer a lighter load could be a huge long-run plus for this team.
You can't keep a guy forever that can't hit. Marisnick would be borderline all-star if he could hit, but, alas, he can't. If he is pathetic again at the plate he only has value as a pinch runner and late inning defense. If we had another right handed OF that could hit close to the majors he'd be gone. I think this is Jake's last chance to at least hit .250 and draw some walks, otherwise, I think they cut him loose. I don't know how long the leash will be.
Reddick has to sit most games against LHP, so if he stays healthy, he's probably only gonna start 120 or so. I imagine Marisnick will start on his days off. As hard as it is to believe, Marisnick is actually a better hitter against LHP than Reddick. Over the last 3 years his OPS has been up near .700, which certainly isn't great, but it's tolerable enough to carry his glove as a part time bench player. If they only want Beltran to play 1/4 of the games in the OF, that basically makes Aoki our everyday LF.
I wonder if it is a coincidence that the number of games for Beltran in LF is about the same number of games that Astros face a LHP. If Beltran isn't the DH, Marwin could sub for an IFer to give them a day out of the field at DH.
I dont completely buy "We dont need ******* to hit" rationale either. Having a rally killer come to the plate 4X a game hurts us more than a outstanding defensive play that the next guy wouldn't make helps us. Especially in the light that the former will definitely happen 3-4 times a game and the latter may not happen at all.
If Jake continues to hit .209, then yes, he will be hard to stomach in any lineup. But his struggles last year were magnified by the fact that the majority of our lineup was offensively inept. Heck, a UTIL player (Marwin) had the 4th most ABs on our team! Followed by Gattis, Rasmus, Castro and Gomez. 3 of those 4 players were putrid. When you consider the additions of Beltran, Reddick, McCann, Aoki, and full seasons from Bregman and Yuli, you'll see that our team won't need offense from the 9 slot as much as years prior. Yes, Marisnick getting PT is predicated on three things: (1) Springer needing the rest, (2) Marisnick playing elite defense, and (3) Jake hitting well enough to justify PT. My point is that the third prong should be given a little more leeway given our lineup's other additions. As a side note, if our 9-hole hitter is getting 4+ at bats a game, then our offense isn't the biggest issue. I'd also venture to say that a 4th or 5th at bat for Jake would likely go to a PH depending on the game situation. Elite defense has value. Whether that value outweighs Jake's bat is yet to be seen, but giving Springer rest from the physical toll of CF and a 162 game schedule seems necessary regardless whom gives him the break.[/QUOTE]
Marisnick may not be able to hit well enough to justify ABs outside of against LHPs with current roster. However, the average CF has an OBP of about 0.050 above Marisnick's making it about 1 every 5 games that Marisnick would make an out that his replacement wouldn't. Marisnick steals a single or a double above average at a rate of about 1 out of every 8 games. Not nearly as bad as you make it out to be though still not an everyday player. Sure he's going to have years like last year that he's unplayable against RHPs, but other years he will hit well enough that he's almost an average player with defense.
Not a fan of the view of giving leeway for his offense due to Astros offense being better. I expect the better an offense is, the more value offense has. In other words, a walk or hit means more if it gets a Beltran, a McCann, or a Reddick an extra AB instead of a Gomez, a Castro, or a 2016 Rasmus. However on the flip side, defense has more value than average for a team with starters (e.g. Keuchel, McHugh) that generate a lot of weak contact versus strikeouts.
With today's options, this looks to be the 25 man roster set for Opening Day (assuming McHugh is ready to go). C - McCann | Gattis 1B - Gurriel | Gonzalez 2B - Altuve SS - Correa 3B - Bregman OF - Aoki | Springer | Reddick | Marisnick DH - Beltran SP - Keuchel | McCullers | McHugh | Morton | Musgrove RP - Fiers | Feliz | Hoyt | Sipp | Devenski | Harris | Gregerson | Giles
Looking like this will be it. I was hoping someone would unseat Aoki. Also, I'm not a fan of of stashing a SP as a long reliever when there are better reliever options even though I know that is best option long term.
Fiers + Feliz + Hoyt feels awfully redundant, don't they? I'd like to see Reed or Moran here instead of Hoyt to give Hinch a few more options with his everyday line-up. I know he can mix-and-match but it feels awfully limiting to have essentially two guys on your bench (+ Gattis). Is Hoyt out of options?
Hoyt and Feliz both look good compared to third time through the order SPs. Fiers....he's meh. I'd much rather Hinch have ability to use bullpen a little more than have the 13th hitter. Only major advantage, imo, of a 13th hitter is it gives a chance to develop a young hitter that isn't a utility man, center fielder, or a catcher. That said, young guys are going to have to wait for a break on a deep team that is trying to win.
Hoyt should have 2 option years remaining. Last year was his first year on the 40-man so that would be his first option year. Fiers, Peacock, & Stassi are out of options.
Stassi just passed through waivers. I am very surprised nobody claimed him. That's great for Houston as now they have a very good 3rd catcher stashed in AAA without him using a 40 man spot. 2 open spots on the 40 man now. Would expect Houston to grab any player with options remaining who makes it to them after being put on waivers.
Agree, but they can still see how things go and adjust after 2-3 weeks. If Hoyt gets no work in the first few weeks or struggles (and the staff is pretty healthy), Reed comes up for him. They may be playing it safe early with Keuchel still ramping up and LMJ/Morton coming off injuries and unknown on how deep they'll go in games. Once they're all settled and warm, I could see them switching to 13 pos players (also once they re-confirm that Devo is a certified workhorse badass out of the pen)
Isn't playing AAA without being on the 40 man roster like playing the NBA D League without being on NBA 15 man roster? If another MLB suddenly needs a catcher, they can just sign Stassi, right?
No, his rights are still controlled by the Astros and the a team would have to trade for him. Remember JD Martinez? We gave him his outright release so he could sign elsewhere. That is what really sucks about missing on him.
Fangraphs is doing its preseason series on position strengths and today was Astros Day as they looked at 2B and SS. Astros number 1 in both according to them. Best quote from the SS article when discussing Correa and Bregman....Has anyone mentioned yet that the Astros kind of have too many good players? That must be obnoxious for them.
