I think one of the reasons Loperfido is still in Sugar Land is because Bregman is the only position player who is not under contract or control next season and 3B does not apply to him. Obviously his K rate and lack of AAA experience are bigger issues, but if he stays the entire season in AAA and comes up after 2 weeks next year they control him through 2031 instead of 2030. Maybe if they decide Abreu is done they also decide Loperfido provides more value in 2024/25 and they no longer consider the extra year.
Astros expected starting pitching coming in to spring training: Framber, JV, Javier, Brown, Urquidy. Astro losses: 4/12: Astros lose 12-8. France gives up 8 ER in 4 innings - not expected to be in the rotation. 4/11: Astros lose 13-3. Brown gives up 9 ER in 2/3 of an inning- this is a good old fashioned butt whooping and I got nothing. 4/10: Astros lose 11-2. Arrighetti gives up 7 ER in 3 innings- he's supposed to be in AAA. 4/9: Astros lose 4-3. Javier gives up 2 ER in 5 1/3 IP. 4/6: Astros lose 7-2. France gives up 3 ER in 5 2/3 IP. Mediocre, but see 4/12 above. 4/5: Astros lose 10-2. Brown gives up 5 ER I. 3 IP. Not remotely good. 4/2: Astros lose 2-1. Framber pitches 7 2/3 shutout innings. 3/31: Astros lose 4-3. France gives up 3 ER in 5 2/3 IP. I've seen this somewhere before? 3/30: Astros lose 5-3. Brown gives up 0 ER in 4 IP. 3/29: Astros lose 7-1. Javier pitches 6 scoreless innings. 3/28: Astros lose 5-4. Framber gives up 3 ER in 4 2/3 IP. The only starters who have given up more than 3 ER in a start are: Henley and Arrighetti who should be in AAA, France who wasn't originally among the top 5, and Brown. Brown has been an abject disaster, But Blanco has been a pleasant surprise not giving up a run yet in 2 starts. So far, JV, Framber, and Urquidy have avoided long-term injury and are expected back sooner rather than later. That means nobody who has given up over 3ER in a start so far this year would be in the rotation. As long as JV, Framber, and Urquidy don't have any serbacks the Astros will be fine. but itvwill stay ugly for a little while yet. That means the rotation in May could be Framber, JV, Javier, Blanco, and Urquidy.
France is not going to the pen. I didn't see Fridays game so I don't know what happened there (all I know was Hernandez was behind the plate so anything is possible). France is one of the few current pitchers we have that actually gives us innings. Maybe not 7, but usually 5 and mostly 6 and occasionally 7. His splits also generally are better as a starter than a reliever. He is steady but doesn't offer a dominant fastball or really any pitch that helps as a reliever.
yes I’m worried about this right here, he struggling down there. Hopefully he just working on throwing the strikes he wants and not really trying to strike people out
Funny, this is exactly why I'm not worried about him. His velocity and breaking pitches looked good and he's healthy and able to throw 80+ innings.
He had crap defensive play behind him, should have been out of the 3rd with no damage He will come up and replace Arrighetti (sorry IdStrosfan the hated France will still be here) and we will be better off for it If Arrighetti throws well tomorrow though, especially early on, he should stay up to give us some length in the pen
France is not hated. If he is in the rotation, especially in a #1-#4 spots this team is not a contender, but he is absolutely among the 10-13th best pitchers on this roster and should be on this team. That has nothing to do with hating him. That has to do with recognizing that he is simply not as good as guys like Framber, Javier, etc.
Sooooo.....not sure if everyone caught it, but I think we had that momentum swing for the Season in Game 1 against TX. After Tucker batflipped those b****es for hitting Yordan, we proceeded to plate 5 runners two innings later. Looked like the confidence had swung back into them, and it showed the last two games. I get a gut feeling we are about to start a tear, and now with JV coming back on Friday, it is only going to get better.
They're still 5 games under .500 in only mid-april. I'll stop being concerned when they break .500 and never look back.
Lol wow. I never put two and two together. I thought your handle was just a random name. Didn't know it was Ricky. Nice to meet you my brother in Christ. I'm Travis. My b****es call me T-Bone.
Are you not aware of my entire posting history? Lol. This posting style of mine especially in Astros forums is not new.
