36 years old with clear injury problems...it will be very interesting to see what Hill commands this offseason. I'd be down with a 6-man rotation: Kuechel, LMJ, Hill, Pineda, Musgrove and Fiers. Or sub out Pineda with another arm. I'm surprised more teams haven't already moved to a 6-man rotation...there has to be some evidence that it isn't as efficient as it appears.
6 less starts by your best pitcher, and those 6 extra starts would be made by your worst pitcher. 6 man is overkill, some pitchers feel it's too much and they don't feel as sharp. It's better to just go with 5 and one in reserve to replace the guy that inevitably will get hurt. You want your best pitchers making 32/33 starts if they don't have a hiccup.
Got to it this morning with my coffee. Very much a human-interest story about being an Astros fan, very well-written by Htowns John Nova Lomax. It may show up online someday, but not yet. Max, pick up a copy, you and your kids would love it.
Just found it!! http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/another-season-of-loving-the-houston-astros/ EDIT: Holy crap, who's cutting onions? That may be the most relateable article I've ever read...from Doran to Springer. To Astros baseball being the backdrop and in the nuances of every summer of my life. Thanks so much for letting me know about it, Buck.
Also, Verlander seems likely to fall off a cliff given his age and pitch count this past year. Neither he nor Chris Sale were missing as many bats as they used to. Both of them worked real hard to amass the strikeout numbers they did. I wouldn't think either worth what it would take to acquire them.
More funny than serious, but with Milwaukee rebuilding and Detroit needing to trim payroll, what about trading back for Carter, Villar, and Martinez. Carter would be pretty much a salary dump, while Villar and Martinez would each probably cost 2 pretty good prospects. But both would definitely solidify the lineup: 3B Villar CF Springer LF Bregman 2B Altuve SS Correa RF Martinez 1B Gurriel C Gattis DH Carter
Fabulous article. I'm too young to relate on the Doran years, but the Killer B's are firmly embedded in my childhood memories. I still contend that an Astros championship might be the only instance where I actually cry tears of joy. I'm a die-hard Texans, Rockets, and Aggies fan (I might come close to tears if any of them win a title), but there's something about the Astros that pulls at my heartstrings just a little bit more.
Yeah, I get that. I just think it makes sense (both financially and competitively), to have your best arms adequately rested. If a 5-man rotation is plenty rest for Kuechel and LMJ, then I agree. But if they could both benefit (as well as the Astros) from a 6-man rotation, then I'd certainly consider it IF there was a viable candidate for the 5th and 6th slots.
Time to upgrade our starting and relievers. We need to get one stud starter and other solid #. We need a to get a new 7th and 8th setup reliever and a new closers (Chapman is the top FA)...let's get him.
I thought you'd like that... it hit me right in the feel-bone as I was reading it, especially the family aspect...
He was my favorite Stro back then, my dad was a Terry Puhl man. The paragraph about Spec Richardson made me cringe yet again, I'm glad I didn't get to live through that. What was the thinking at the time in the papers and among the fans? (...if you can remember)
Even though I was around 10 when his tenure started I remember that people were all over Richardson back then. His trades tended to turn out poorly. And Bowie Kuhn didn't help. He should have voided the Staub to Montreal trade when Clendenon refused to come to Houston. The talent he essentially gave away set the franchise back for years - Morgan, Colbert, Mayberry, Staub, Cuellar...
Excellent article, thanks for sharing. It's unfortunate that writing that good is more the exception than the norm in newspapers and journals today.
Olney: Tigers open for business, willing to trade anybody Spoiler A few others: Anibal Sanchez 2017: $16M 2018: $16M team option / $5M buyout Cameron Maybin 2017: $9M team option / $1M buyout Francisco Rodriguez 2017: $6M team option / $2M buyout Mike Pelfrey 2017: $8M Mark Lowe 2017: $5.5M
According to the Book of Baseball, extra day of rest seemed to harm starting pitchers worse than playing on short-rest. The 5 man rotation is what works best, and there's no need to change that.
Terry Puhl is still who I think of when I think of a fundamentally sound outfielder. Bill Doran was an underrated player and a flat out stud with the glove. Kevin Bass is one of the most down to earth people to ever play big league baseball.
