As it is now I guess I can live with Rasmus and Tucker platooning the DH and the starting outfield being Jake(preferably CF), Carlos and George. Gattis gots to go.
I'd rather have Gattis going against LHP than Tucker. Don't think you can really platoon Rasmus and Tucker effectively. I suppose Tucker's sample size in the majors is small still, but he wasn't good vs. lefties--as much as some posters would talk about it.
I would love to get Alex Gordon. He is a good professional hitter, with above average fielding. I know we re-sigined Rasmus and also have Tucker, but I think we should trade Tucker for a another pitcher. You could have Rasmus DH and maybe trade Gattis or have him be back up catcher/DH/back up 1B.
You are gonna have to "live with" Gattis at DH, at least to start the year I can't imagine they have any plans to go in any other direction. Even in what was a bad year for him last year, he led us with 27 HR and 88 RBI. I think long term Tucker will have to fit in (here or elsewhere) as a DH, but Gattis will surely be our DH when the year starts next year
Gattis started his Astro career in a terrible slump. But overall, he did well. He should be better this season. Having him on board allowed the Astros to no n tender Carter after no trade was reached. Astros are big fans of the HR and Gattis, Valbuena, Springer, Gomez, Rasmus, Correa are all legitimate candidates to hit 20-30 HRs. And it is time to truly see what Singleton can give the Astros with regular playing time.
Valbuena also due for a bounce back this year. All the peripherals look similar comparing 2014 to 2015 except for BABIP. .235 BABIP just isn't going to happen again.
I hate to say this, but singleton reminds me of eric anthony..a lot of potential to hit for power, but was never able to put it together.
I think people need to rethink the regression of babip when talking about a heavy pull hitter like valbuena. Not sure if we can expect it to get much better if he is constantly pulling every ball he puts into play right into a huge overshift.
But that will probably be offset by a decrease in HR. His HR/FB ratio was nearly double his career number.
Exactly. Valbuena performed at the plate last year almost exactly at his career averages, except that he hit more homeruns than he usually does per AB. Same with Evan Gattis. He performed very close to his career averages. Gattis did have a .318 obp one year with the Braves and hit .263. And I believe Valbuena hit .240 something with a .340 obp with the Cubs. Now, I would definitely take that from him! Gattis, on the other hand....I think we need more production from a one dimensional DH. I think Tyler White is a better option there if he is not playing 1B. Those two (3B and DH) plus Catcher (A Lucroy/ Castro 110/42 G platoon ideally) could be upgrades. Another lefty reliever and maybe sign a FA SP (if Astros deal Appel) I would sign Gallardo over Kazmir (unless willing to sign a 1 year deal like Colby)
Castro will probably get $5M in arbitration, Lucroy is making a little over $4M. I'm guessing if Luhnow trades for Lucroy (which I don't think is likely) he won't want a $5M backup catcher, so Castro would likely be moved for assets.
I completely agree. BABIP is something to consider, especially when compared to a players complete body of work. In other words, if a player has not changed his swing or approach and suddenly is +/- 50 on BABIP, then it is probably a fluke. However there are players that sustain a very high BABIP because they either hit a lot of line drives or can run really well, and/or can hit the ball very hard. Paul Goldschmidt is a player like that, so is Dee Gordon and Tyler White is like that too in the minors.
Valbuena just needs to go. He is king of the pop up or strikeout. His glove is nice and he has some power but that is literally it. He should be starting on a really bad team or be a bench player.
I have no problem with him until Moran is ready. He will hit .225-.240 with 15-20 homers and very good defense. Also, is time to see what Singleton can do at 1b or DH. That's why I think we need to go after Kazmir so we can have some holes in the lineup (c, dh, 1b). Who is going to be our number 25th guy? White? Tucker? Or a reliever?
Never underestimate how valuable Castro is to our pitching staff and on defense. He's not going anywhere.
In the previous 2 seasons Valbuena posted a very respectable .337 OBP. Last season he got off to a slow start, but surprisingly he posted a very good .261/.360/.479 slash over the teams last 100 games. I know it may seem shocking, but his BB% was actually in the top 25% of the league, and it has been for the last few years, only slightly worse than Springer's. He wasn't getting any hits whatsoever through the first few months, his BABIP was down under .200 almost until the all-star break. It regularized and hit hit about .300 over the last 2 months. I think he can get that OBP back up over .325 if he hits less against lefties. He's always been a low BABIP player because he's not a good hitter, but he's not sub .200 bad, which he was for most of last year. Having him hit less against lefties would help a great deal, because he's completely non competitive against them. Giving those AB's to Marwin or maybe Duffy if he makes the team would provide much more effective work overall at 3rd. He's not a star, but you could do a lot worse than Valbuena, particularly if you have an effective platoon partner.
I don't mind Valbuena as a super sub that gets at bats at 3rd, 1st and DH. He also does hit righties better and his power has some value so I do not mind him playing a Bill Spiers type role. As far as BABIP, last I checked by the end of the year he was close to his career average.
