I think you have to move White to DH if Reed takes over at 1B -- IMO White's bat is better suited for our lineup than Preston Tuckers. I wish we could trade Gattis - making him backup catcher also works though.
2017 roster: 2B Altuve RF Springer SS Correa LF Rasmus (resigned to a 1 yr deal) DH White 1B Reed C Gattis 3B Moran CF Marisnick Bench: Marwin, Stassi, Duffy, Tucker Rotation: Keuchel, TBD ace, McCullers, McHugh, TBD prospect Bullpen: Devenski, Fields, Harris, Sipp, TBD reliever, Giles, Gregerson They will trade Bregman and pitching prospects (Martes, Feliz, Musgrove, etc.) for an ace.
At this point we should wait to promote guys like Reed, Bregman, Martes and Musgrove until June in order to see what we can expect this season from the guys on the current roster with a larger sample size. If Gomez and/or Gattis is still lost at the plate come June then decisions need to be made on whether or not we can trade them or send them down to the minors. I think it is way too early to think about our studs coming up when the season has just started. Every team I feel like has at least one veteran player who starts cold in April. That's baseball. Look at Gattis last year. This team will get into a groove soon I have no doubt.
Nobody's getting promoted just to get promoted. Injury and/or underperformance are always the criteria on established teams. There are no mere place-holders on the 25 man roster right now (that includes Valbuena).... but that can all change my mid-season.
Well to be fair waiting until June makes sense for all those prospects except Reed (unless he struggles)
I feel the same way, I wouldn't consider it remarkable, just the patience that the baseball season demands. George Springer had 2 good games, and his OPS jumped over .200 points. We are still extremely early in the year. Baseball is gonna have it's peaks and valleys, but because everything looks so bad (or good) early in the year people overreact to everything. Guys like Gomez, Gattis, Valbuena and the starters all had expectations of good (possibly great), productive years based on past performances. One shouldn't just dump them because of an slump early when there is a good chance that a hot stretch is coming to level off their numbers to the expected level. Having said that, there of course is a point where you have to cut your losses and move on, but that time isn't any time in April, or May IMO.
Mostly want to see someone in the rotation emerge, because as long as McHugh struggles and McCullers is not healthy, it will be hard to compete. Another starter or two pitching well would allow the Astros to stack up a number of series victories.
Moran stole his 2nd base today... which is as many as he stole in 2014 and 2015 combined. He's also now ahead of Tony Kemp in that category. Jason Martin is off to a big time start in Lancaster - .452 OBP and a .970 OPS. He's also 3-3 on steals through 7 games after going 14-29 in 105 games last year.
Destroyed is a heck of an exaggeration, but you are right, I had it backwards for him. His career splits are pretty even.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/jluhnow">@jluhnow</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsMT">@SportsMT</a> Colin Moran almost made the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> roster out of spring, is on a short list, and is a slump away from a call up.</p>— Barker (@Astros_Today) <a href="https://twitter.com/Astros_Today/status/722798464514584577">April 20, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
My sense of what Luhnow is saying is that if White goes in the tank, Moran gets called up with Val moving to 1B.
Marwin, Castro, Valbuena, and Gomez have all sucked so far this season. I think they're pretty married to Gomez this season, gave up too much to get him and have too much riding on his success. But there's no reason why Gattis can't slowly start to replace Castro and Moran can't get called up to replace Valbuena. Bregman and Reed are probably trade bait to acquire the cure for what really ails the Astros- the need for a true 2nd ace in the rotation.
I think he said if in Spring training White didn't perform Moran was on the shortlist for 3B and Valbuena 1B. Now its looking more like Moran would replace Valbuena at 3B.... I'd be ok with that
Reason #1: Castro is a great defensive catcher, while Gattis sadly is a below average catcher. Reason #2: Gattis now is not an offensive upgrade to Castros. Gattis also had a slow start to last season, so there is hope. If Moran or Reed or whomever gets called up, there has to be a free 25 man roster spot. Trading Valbuena would open a roster spot for Moran, but if Moran then struggles who would play third when Moran is sent back down to the farm? A more likely scenario is that Moran is called up in September, Valbuena leaves the Astros in the next offseason as a FA, and Moran is next year's starting third baseman.
Marwin, Duffy, & further along Bregman. I think it is too early to make the move, but I expect Moran to supplant Valbuena.
I would guess White has a much longer rope than Valbuena. Some combination of Reed + Moran is probably the most viable/likely solution, right? I thought this in spring training; still do - they have a glut that needs thinning. Too many similar hitters, all grouped in (essentially) the same position: Valbuena, Gattis, Tucker - Rasmus, too, frankly, although he's a + defender. Now White with a monster prospect being blocked by all of the above and another very promising prospect, also blocked. The team still feels much too boom/bust; not enough high OB% guys to balance the line-up and sustain those stretches where our power bats are, well, less powerful. The team is, like, 1 for their last 35 in high-leverage offensive situations. They need more guys who can get on base, IMO.
