Pitching decides to show up tonight and the bats go silent. Frustrating. Tuve slumping and Correa out now is awful.
Astro fans seem to forget where they were 2 short years ago. If anything they were spoiled by last year. Team is still extremely young. Enjoy thier development without paralyzingly hem with our own unrealistic expectations.
Winning more than 86 games isn't unreasonable. Not starting in an enormous hole in April/May that ruins the entire season isn't unreasonable.
It didn't ruin the entire season. Despite the horrible April, the failure of their top 2 starting pitchers, and now missing one of their 2 or 3 biggest star offensive players and a pitching staff in total disarray, they are right in the thick of the WC race.
They have about a 6-7% of getting the Wild Card..... So yeah, the disaster to open the season is likely to prove too big an obstacle to overcome. 7-17 in April is really hard to overcome 67-50 outside of April.....
let's see if they can get 1 out of this series. Remember this was that tough stretch where we (fans) knew we (Stros) would lose about half the games. And most of us were ok with that. It sucks in the moment, but 1 or 2 wins this series would be great! Still feasible
And yet, they did. In June or July, they had climbed all the back and were in the WC spot. They literally overcame their disastrous April. They then suffered more problems but still have the ability to overcome that too.
The season will have been worthwhile for the addition of another true cornerstone, in Bergman. We can't assume World Series contention with our pitching, though.
All phases are clicking, A Lineup, A Relief, A fielding, it's just this C pitching staff that is holding us back but they don't want to address it. And maybe wild pitches. There are no answers in the minors. We need to add talent but it's been a chicken swat the the last two years. We are in a good position now. Just do it.
Good to see Musgrove bounce back. Even though his results haven't been great, I've liked what I've seen. Particularly given that he's making his first run against MLB hitting, which is always an adjustment, and he's already well into a career high workload (128 innings, 100 inning last year, 77 year before) If we go into next year with Keuchel, McCullers, Musgrove, McHugh/Fiers as 4 of our 5 starters I will feel pretty good about it, but we really need to add a good starter to go with them. Maybe not a Sale level ace, but at least a front end guy.
So far, Musgrove's biggest factor in success is home vs road. ERA Home - 1.19 Road - 8.71 Except, the expectations were national, not just local biased. Astros will make upgrades this offseason, and come back stronger.
Correa & Keuchel injuries + Altuve major slump all coming at the worst possible time. Not to mention that we've been without Lance for about a month (more?) at this point. Our poor start to the season can be pointed to for the reason we were never in Division hunt, but our injuries to end the season should be pointed at if we miss the Wild Card. This 16-game stretch is just brutal. Was hoping for 8-8...sitting at 3-5 right now.
And Bregman and Gurriel are peaking at the best possible time. Things like this are rarely one sided where everyone playing is at their best or worst. A mixed bag most of the time.
