The XXX in your outfield platoon has been Marwin. I think the lineup in the playoffs will see Marwin in left with Gattis DHing. You want the best offensive lineup out there. I am not sure Marisnick or Aoki will see much time in the playoffs. Trading Bregman would mean having to rely on one of those two consistently. (or Beltran) That doesn't sound appeasing to me at all, but I think it is moot because Bregman won't be traded.
Against the right RHP, I can totally see Aoki starting in LF in a playoff game. It all depends on how they cojigger their roster and DL before 9/1.
I agree, but would you want to get in a situation where he or Jake were your only options? (This is assuming Fisher isn't quite ready)
I expect all 3 of those guys to be on the playoff roster. Like we were talking about, there will be (at least) 1 fewer pitcher and 1 more position guy.
Yes, Bregman would be a loss without a doubt. But you act like we gain nothing. We gain a ToR #1 Ace with three years of control for our window. That is worth a lot too dude. You can see that right?
For sure, It would add stability to the rotation, But, I think the depth chart is more important. Especially in the long run. Why would you trade away an Established ML'er who makes it possible to have such a versatile roster every single night. It doesn't seem like a prudent move to me.
For sure we can disagree on priorities but I'd be willing to trade away a player like Bregman for a ToR #1 type of guy with years of control. Seems like a no-brainer to me especially when you have Marwin Gonzalez to step in. I think we are significantly outgunned by a lot of potential play-off opponents in regards to starters. I think of the better play-off teams 1. Keuchel 2. McCullers 3. Peacock/Morton/McHugh/Fiers is one of the weakest top 3.
Both the Dodgers (69-31) and Astros (67-33) have won two-thirds of their first 100 games. Since the World Series was introduced in 1903, this is the eighth time that two teams have won at least 67 of their first 100 games in the same season. Four of those eight happened in the first ten World Series, and this is the first instance since the Yankees and Indians in 1954. In the five previous instances where the teams were in different leagues, they went on to meet in the World Series four time
Our guys: Keuchel: 1.67 ERA, 0.87 WHIP Peacock: 2.51 ERA, 1.23 WHIP McCullers: 3.67 ERA, 1.23 WHIP (Alternatively, Fiers: 3.59 ERA, 1.25 WHIP - much better the last 2+ months) Who are all the better top 3s (or top 4s)?
The weakest top 3? I disagree. DK was on a Cy young pace before the injury. Lance is an All-star, who is 7-2, but who has admittedly hit a rough patch lately and Peacock is 8-1 with a 2.51 ERA. I am not saying we shouldn't add a starter, but I think the Top 3 starters are not as worrisome as some would believe.
Today's game was a nice win on a day in which the offense was uncharacteristically held to 7 hits. Coming into today's game, the Astros were 6-14 in games where the offense was held to 7 hits or fewer. 17 of the Astros' 33 losses (slightly more than half) this season have come in games in which the Astros got 8 or fewer hits. The other 16 losses have come in games where the Astros recorded from 9 to 14 hits. In all games in which the Astros have achieved 15 to their season-high of 19 hits, the good guys have come out on top. One way to think about the Astros' playoff chances is to anticipate which pitchers the team would likely face and see which of those pitchers have successfully held the Astros to 8 hits or fewer, which seems to be a kind of threshold over which the team is more likely than not to win. The following table shows which teams and starting pitchers the Astros have faced in the games that have most stymied the offense. I've only included data from those games in which the Astros lost. Hits / Opponent / Starting Pitcher 2 TEX Darvish 3 CLE Clevinger 4 TBR Snell 5 CLE Bauer 6 BOS Pomeranz 6 DET D. Norris 6 CLE Salazar 6 SEA Paxton 6 KCR Vargas 6 SEA Miranda 7 MIN Santana 7 TOR Stroman 7 TEX N. Martinez 7 OAK Triggs 8 SEA Paxton 8 LAA Shoemaker 8 CLE Bauer By team, we see that CLE (4 games) and SEA (3 games) have excelled at limiting the Astros' offense on several occasions. Individually, Paxton and Bauer have been among the Astros' toughest mound opponents. Much of the Astros' postseason success could come down to how well the offense fares against pitchers the caliber of those on the list above. Most of the trade talk has centered on what pitchers the team might be able to add. However, picking up a premium bat or two might be equally important if that makes the difference in being able to hit these premium pitchers.
GOAT start from Morton. Can't remember a better outing by him. Astros have talent everywhere but damn these injuries. A healthy Keuchel would be nice. Doubles streak and Altuve's hit streak continue.
You can start with Boston: Sale/Price/Pomeranz. Numbers can be selective and guys can be having poor runs or really good runs (Peacock) that doesn't mean I want Peacock/Fiers over an established ace in a play-off situation because they have caught some mid-season fire this season. Who knows where they will be back to in October. Maybe you want to rely on the over performance of historically not ToR guys but I'm less inclined to hope that continues forever. I'd like some proven ToR pitchers. Nationals: Scherzer/Strasbourg/Gonzalez Cleveland: Kluber/Carrasco/Bauer/Salazar
The problem is you are putting names next to their performance. If you were to just write Pitcher A, B, C, D, the Astros rotation from top to bottom (if healthy) stacks up against any team's rotation.
I think the problem with the Astro's SPs is the big question marks. DK: injury concern; LMC: injury concern plus inconsistency; Peacock: inexperience, will he be this good in the colder months?; Fiers: how long can he sustain this run he is on
A: injured for significant time over the past 2 years, hasn't pitched since June 2, amazing when healthy B: was almost cut, was the long man in the pen, got a shot to start this year and thrived way above his expectations (eta: for 11 starts) C: injured for significant time over the past 2 years, has been the worst pitcher on the staff over the past month, amazing when right D: was perennially mediocre to terrible, got demoted to the pen, got a reprieve, then thrived way above expectations (eta: for 10 starts) How's that look?
How do you say our guys aren't great, but then put a guy like Bauer as some kind of good player? The guy has an ERA of 5.5 this year, and an ERA of 5.4 in last year's playoffs. You want him over Peacock or Fiers or McCullers? Salazar has an ERA of 4.8 this year. Carrasco has no postseason experience at all. Pomeranz has a couple of sucky postseason innings last year, and that's it. Price has a *career* playoff ERA of 5.5. Most of these guys aren't TOR starters - certainly no better resume than a McCullers type. It seems like you're just finding reasons to de-value our guys and add arbitrary value to opposing players.
The same is true all over baseball. There are very few players in baseball that don't have questionmarks if you look deep enough. Can Price overcome his playoff demons? Will Kershaw (demons of his own) or Strasburg be healthy? Are Salazar or Bauer any good? On and on. I like the random "colder months" idea - never heard that one before. Is that some kind of a unique concern for Peacock that doesn't apply to anyone else's pitchers?
