If I'm the Astros these are the moves I would seriously consider making either in May or by early June. Promote Musgrave at least to AAA immediately and if that proves to still not be enough of a challenge for him, send him to the show. Trade Gomez and one of the F's (Fiers, Feldman, Fister) for anything you can get, or DFA them. Give Valbuena a few more weeks and if he still can't hit DFA/trade him and bring up Moran/Bregman. Bring up Gattis for Kratz when he's "ready." Once Reed's average comes up (it will), bring him up. McCullers back off the DL and move Devenski to the 7th inning role in the pen where I think he would be most valuable for us. DFA Fields yesterday. I would also strongly consider bringing up Gustave or Paulino if they can find room for them, but there would probably have to be an injury. Possible Lineup if above happens: Altuve 2b Springer rf Correa ss Rasmus lf Reed 1b Tucker DH Moran 3b Castro c Marisnick cf Bench: Marwin, Gattis, White Rotation: Kuechel McCullers McHugh Musgrove Fister Bullpen: Gregerson (Closer) Harris (Setup) Devenski (7th inning) Sipp Giles Neshek Fiers/Feldman Feliz I have a feeling I might be forgetting a name or two but this is basically what I would like to see come June. Then in July, if we need to we can trade for more pitching or hitting depending on how our prospects perform.
Its good to see the Astros start to get it together at home. But we have Boston (19-13) and ChiSox (23-10) coming up on the road. We have to find a way to go .500 or better on this road trip. What happens so often is we gain a little momentum at home only to lose it all and have to start over after road trips. This must stop.
Its too early to say, but he could go down as a average pitcher that had one exceptional year. It has happened to others. One thing is for sure, his ineffectiveness is not flying under anyone's radar on Houston's staff. Meaning, I am sure multiple conversations, tape reviews, special coaching sessions and extra player support have already occurred.
Have there been guys who have grown into 2 consecutive seasons as a top 5-10 pitcher and then fallen off a cliff? I can't recall something like that happening. (As in, pitchers who weren't great, then they improved into greatness, and then fell quickly.)
Mike Scott quickly came to mind - two incredible years, followed by two good years - all sandwiched between 8-ish average/below average seasons. His '86 season, especially, is just insanely good.
I wonder if his IP from last year caught up to him? I believe he was around 240 IP. This is precisely what i feared (and why i did not want to crown us so early). Regression is very real. We were a WC team by 1 game in a year where we needed a CY performance from kuechel, and one of the most elite rookie clips ever from Correa. Any regression from them (and others), and we are not nearly as good as people (myself included) were hoping.
His velocity is down, which would indicate an issue with fatigue or a medical problem. He's never had overpowering stuff and you simply don't forget how to pitch. Also possibility is he's tipping his pitches.
reasonable. But when I look at his stats, it's more normal than what's being suggested here. He had 5 average years, followed by 3 great years, followed by 1 solid year, followed by 1 average/down year What's being suggested here is that Keuchel was way below average for 2 years, then grew into "very good", followed by "great"...and is suddenly way below average again. That doesn't seem like a progression similar to anyone
I don't think the Mike Scott comparison is a good one. His career had a clear turning point when he learned how to throw the splitter. He was already 30 when that happened. He was great for 5 years (with one dominant season), and then he fell off at age 35, like many pitchers do. Keuchel's arm simply isn't the same right now. His velocity and more importantly his control have been bad from the first inning of the first start. Hitters are just waiting him out because he can't hit his spots, so he has to come over the plate eventually. The million dollar question is whether or not this is a simple dead arm period that can pass or be corrected, or is this permanent. If it's permanent he's done, because he simply doesn't have the stuff to win without great control.
Trout is awesome, no doubt about it But there is no way I would give up Springer, McCullers, Bregman, Musgrove in a deal for him. While Trout is likely to be worth every bit of what he is going to earn over the next 4 years, which is 19 million and then 33+ million per year for 3 more years, we would be giving up Springer who is just heading to arbitration years, and McCullers who is under team control two more years before he even goes to arbitration. If we gave up all of those guys and took on Trouts salary, we would still need to fill another OF spot (and that is assuming Rasmus is still around), would need to fill 3B (which is seeming more and more like Bregman) and would need to find a couple of high upside starters, and would have less money to go after it. What we need is to keep all of those guys, hope that either Bregman or Musgrove ends up being the real deal, and spend that 30 million a year on another high end bat to put with Altuve/Springer/Correa.
I think it's coming. Very disappointing. You know he's going to turn it around for someone. He's worse than the bad Chris Karter.
Any chance Moran can play left field ? What about Marwin ? Our lineup just has too much deadweight and that's WITH Castro and valbuena starting to come around . If either of those guys can play LF then I think you can get away with playing springer/ Rasmus in center and the other in right .... Especially at MMP where left field is a somewhat easy cover to play at around average defensively . I like marisnick . I think regardless of my previous question ... It's time to take a serious step back from go go . Give Jake a solid 10 starts in a row and see if you can't him in a bit of a rhythm offensively . **** if he can just go for contact and bunt more then maybe he can get on base at around 3.30 . I'd take it lol . Pitching is OK . I don't love our rotation but don't see a way to improve it drastically . Any of the young guys we bring up could be just as streaky . Devenski has one more start in him before he gets demoted/ back to the pen . Keuchel needs to turn it around . Mchugh needs to keep it going . Both of those guys velocity and fastball command are down . Mchugh spotted it well last game , I like where he is trending . Lance I didn't see pitch , I assume he was ok . Fiers and fister are performing right at if not above expectations for me ... Same with Feldman , unless you wanna trade them / stash them as injury depth I don't see how you improve upon our back end production . Altuve has been good all year , Correa and springer could stand to improve their approaches and at bats but I can't complain . Rasmus is cool , but has been a bit cold ... Again I'm not concerned but I don't think he is an ideal #4 hitter . Beyond that we don't have a lot .
Starting pitching was horrible for all 4 games. Offense was the main reason they could have won 3. I'm actually encouraged that Castro/Gattis may actually provide a net positive of offense from the catcher position. Valbuena/Marwin platoon will ultimately be fine for a bottom of the order spot. DH/1b still have some inconsistencies. But while 95% of the talk in here is in regards to the lineup, the starting pitching has to be better. They aren't going to go far winning a lot of 7-6, 9-8 games.
At the same time there aren't a lot of valid personell moves to improve the SP ... Outside of a trade . Keuchel , mchugh , and lance started 3 of the games right ? Well as bad as he as been its too early to sit kuechel ... Right ? Mchugh is certainly on thinner ice but still is solidly in the rotation at this point .. Although if he can't consistently command the fastball or put an extra tick or two on it then maybe he only gets another 4-5 starts . Lance just came back . Devenski is the only one that you have a legit excuse to move out of the rotation and at this point moving any rookie you bring up has a chance of being just as inconsistent . They aren't gonna bring up musgrove after just promoting him .... Plus the whole super 2 thing . If anything Feldman getting his spot back makes the most sense . Fister and fiers were irrelevant to this series and have been performing as expected. The lineup gets more opportunities due to the fact that these guys play every day . It's easier to validate trends and make personell decisions . Also there appear to me more possible moves for the offense vs pitchers
Players have to play better. Yes, not much can be done with the starting rotation right now, and they're not going to win many games where they pitch like dog ****. People like to b**** about the lineup and individual players who are slumping, and retrospect on managerial decisions that didn't work out... But had there been just slightly better starting pitching, Along with just one more out from Gregerson, the outlook would be that much different for this team going forward. No doubt, the bottom of the lineup needs to get above replacement level production. But it's still less of a problem(as it pertains to wins) as the starting pitching right now (especially if the 1-3 continue to produce like they're capable of).
