I said the exact same thing to the older kid this morning. I hate feeling that way. The Rangers are playing great baseball..we're playing mediocre baseball at this point, and have been for a while.
And the Astros just got McCullers back and will get Springer back in a few days. They have 14 games remaining against the Astros and Angels, the team that previously was your boogeyman that was so hot and going to chase everyone down. Frankly, it doesn't matter what you or I or the Astros or anyone else thinks. It's not like the team isn't trying to win every game. They either will or they won't. Thinking about how many games they need to win doesn't change that. So now 2 series is the barometer of good play? Then SF and KC were cold going into the playoffs last year, which nullifies all your points about needing to be hot going into the playoffs. You really need to figure out what you're trying to argue and stick with it, because as-is, all you're doing is endlessly contradicting yourself. Well this is true. I'm pretty sure if the Astros play 0.333 baseball the rest of the way, there's a very good chance they'll miss the playoffs. If that was really the point of this whole thread, I think everyone already knew this without you writing pages about it.
My only point really is that we need a "good" september because i think Rangers are not going to play average or bad baseball in september. I wish i am wrong on that statement, but i don't think so. Now, if we play good september, WE WIN. My other argument is that we have the horses, i am sure of that, but i don't know if we have the jockey, and i feel we need improvement from our jockey to make it into the playoffs.
I was going to say the exact same thing: with this pitching staff, I'd be shocked if they blew it Speaking of... did Kazmir's hook seem a little premature last night? I know his pitch count was up a little bit but it seemed unnecessary to not at least let work out of the 5th. He was definitely struggling - but I'll take Kazmir before a bullpen arm every time. Am I wrong here? Did I maybe miss a reason (like he was hurting, or...?)
With all due respect - this fits neatly into the "no ****" category. The Astros' lead is 2 with 28 games left. No one here needs a 5,000 word post breaking down that rather obvious point. It's overkill. Here's the bottom line: the Rangers and Astros play seven times - those seven games will almost certainly determine the AL West champion. [/post]
They've had the best team ERA since the All Star break. Their starting pitching has been phenomenal. Over that span, they've gone 24 - 19...which is better than I thought, actually. But I don't know if that's enough to hold off the Rangers at this point given how they've played as they've gotten healthier. They're 28-16 since the break. Things can change very quickly...but the Rangers rotation is far better than it was for most of the season. They still have a problem at the closer spot.
Actually, i think we are going to be 1 game ahead after those 7 games, as is very difficult to win a 4 game series, i see a split there, and we should win 2 of 3 at home. Now, our problem is we are playing average for a long time now, and our manager is just not good enough. I don't see this team winning "easily" at Oakland, Seattle or Arizona, while a i see the Rangers winning "easily" against those bad teams, that could make the difference and not necessarly the head to head games with Texas. If we were playing good baseball i say, we play the A's at Oakland and taht is 2 out of 3 for the Astros, but how many times have we seen a guy like Chavez look like Drysdale against the Astros????? We need to win the games we "SHOULD" win, and battle the others, but for the past 3 months, we have not been able to do that. The question is, are we FINALLY going to win those games and have a "good" september, or continue to play average baseball and have an average september? I think we have the horses, hopefully the jockey will allow them to run, and more importantly, run the CORRECT horses.
Sorry..I meant the Astros in that first part....the Rangers at the very end there where I referenced them.
The Astros had a flat-out terrible road trip to start August. Since, they're 10-6. Prior to the road trip? 11-4. So if, by a "a while" you mean "last two nights" - sure. But the Astros have been playing very well since the All-Star break.
You're driving yourself crazy over gloom-and-doom predictions that you, yourself, are making. You're literally your own worst enemy here. Take a deep breath; maybe step away from the computer, and relax. Let's let the games play out and see what happens, rather than write 5000-word posts on what you think is going to happen in order to feed your own dread. It's self-defeating.
I have to disagree, for the past 3 months, and now september, this team is 1 game over .500, we've been average. (June, July, August, and now September) Now, in April and May, we were best in baseball (American League). 42-41 record Now, after the All Star break, yes, July was good, after the all star break (now, July we were only 12 and 12) but August, we were only 15 and 13, and september, 0 and 2 so far, continuing with the .500 number. This team has become "average"
Yeah, I pointed that out in my last post, correcting the earlier one. But don't tell me to relax. It's not gonna happen. :grin:
I just hope you are right, but i've been saying this for 3 months now, but you know why????? I hope you are right, and instead of going 15 and 13 (that is my prediction) we go 17 and 11. Now, going with my number, i think we make it, going with that 17, we are SURE to make it. Now, the problem is, that the way this team is playing, even a 15 and 13 is going to be difficult
It would be really disappointing if the Astros don't make the playoffs after being in first place most of the year.
In my mind, anything could happen. If Minny gets on a roll and Texas stays hot, we could miss the playoffs entirely. We could also win the division comfortably. I think our call-ups will help us a tad more than will competing teams. But the margin is too slight to say this will be the difference maker. As it often is, who is hot at the right time will dictate things.
If the Astros maintain that .500 pace and finish September 14-14, the Rangers will have to go 17-13 to tie us. The Astros are in the driver's seat.
Both of those things are extremely plausible. They may be in the driver's seat, but the Rangers are like the defensive driving instructor that has their own brake on the passenger side.
