The problem is we do not have enough high powered strike out guys. They signed Joe Smith and he had a solid k/9 last season but we need power arms to get strikeouts and he is not one. We have 2 guys in the bullpen that consistently pitch above 95.... GIles and Rondon and Giles has the most hittable 100mph fastball ever. Harris, Peacock, McHugh, SIpp...... a bunch of pitch to contact guys which kills us in tough jams.
For a while our starting rotation was behind the curve when it came to electric arms who could pump it in there at 95+ mph. Now it’s one of the most electric rotations. But it bullpen is still far behind when it comes to having electric arms. Guys like Sipp, Harris, McHugh and Smith are all good decent enough pitchers but they don’t have electric pitches that are needed to be a lights out reliever.
Honestly I would be happy with the bullpen if they just add one clear alpha reliever. Someone like Rasiel Iglasies would solve a lot of our bullpen problems. Everyone else would be knocked down a peg. The question is will Luhnow pay what it will cost.
Right, this is what I've been saying. You've got a bunch of good 6/7/8 and situational guys who have no defined roles and are in some cases pitching in situations they never have before because there's no hammer in the pen.
I would too, but it is unlikely a really good reliever with positive post season experience will be available. I suppose Britton could come back and do really well. However the cost for a reliever of the level the Astros need is going to be high. At least with Iglesias you get him for 3-4 more years, he has low mileage on his arm and he can go more than an inning at a time. The cost though will likely make some uncomfortable. Still we would be likely filling a hole long term and maximizing the team now. As far as a hitter goes, we will see who becomes available. Right now the thought of Beltre (at what his cost would be) sounds like a really good fit. The Astros can let him DH to save wear and tear and Bregman can play some left field when Beltre is at third. We get a defensive improvement, extend the line up and a professional hitter to protect Correa.
I don't see the Astros giving up a big enough prospect to get Iglesias. I expect it to be rentals like Herrera or Britton that are free agents after the season.
Peacock and Devo are both high strikeout guys. Both of them have averaged well over 1 K / IP both last year and this year thus far.
Problems in one area always trickle down. If our offense was working as it should, especially in light of how good our starters have been, then there would be far fewer games close at the end. Last years offense had a .282 BA / .823 OPS, compared to this years .252/.726. We cant give up that much on that end and expect great results. I agree we have a closer problem, but we knew (should have known) this year might be shaky in that area (Giles). So you fix the things you can. Top shelf closers dont become available too often, and when they do, the price is usually high. Much easier to fix the offense for now. Gattis - His only job is to hit. If he cant, he is of no use to us. Fisher - Time to give a different AAAA guy a shot. Jake - At least he has other attributes that help us (defense/base speed). Marwin - All we can do here is hope.
Oddly, over the last 2 weeks, Fisher has a 1.000+ OPS. Limited sample size of 17 AB's, but when he's been in the lineup, he's hit decently the last couple of weeks, so can't blame the more recent struggles on him. Seems like it's time to play him regularly for a week or two and see if it's a fluke or if he's actually figuring anything out.
Somebody can double check this if they want (there may be some procedural rule I'm not thinking of...service time-related or something), but looking at the transaction history here: http://m.mlb.com/player/594828/evan-gattis it looks to me that Gattis was placed on the 40-man in 2013 and has only been sent down that 1 season. Which would mean he has option years left. I'm all for letting him get daily ABs in Fresno and letting Davis/White have a crack at his job. He's still been a K-machine over his last 10 games (1 BB, 11K in 23 PA), but he has been hitting with some pop finally. If we're looking on the bright side of things and all.
Fisher has been making great contact most of the season when he does put the ball in play. He's fast as hell to boot. He just strikes out so f**king much. Even his recent improved results have come with an intolerably high strikeout rate. All throughout the minors I was never very high on him as a prospect because he struck out too much. If I'm the Astros, I'm pretty much telling him and Marisnick that if you can't put the ball in play you are done, take the option of patience out of the equation, because their approaches aren't working. That's obviously not a great strategy, but anything is better than what they are doing now. 48% K rate between them is an embarrassment for MLB hitters. Put the damn ball in play.
I'm not sure what they are supposed to do exactly, though. They added two new guys: Rondon, who has a 2.25 ERA. And Smith, who had a solid track record. McHugh has been outstanding. I think everyone assumed Peacock and Devo would be OK, and overall, they have been. Harris has been great too, outside of his 9th inning fiasco. Even Giles, outside of that 1 trainwreck, has actually been pretty good with a sub-1 WHIP (and a sub-2 ERA before that game). Only Smith has been consistently terrible, and we assume Sipp is not going to be very good. It's not that the pen sucks - it's just that they are sucking at really bad times, and largely in the 9th inning. I'm not sure how you specifically fix that, though, besides getting an experienced and elite closer, which is much easier said than done.
For now you fix the bullpen by fixing the offense. If the score is 8-2 going into the 9th who you pick to pitch the last inning doesn't matter as much. We are probably 6 weeks or so away from teams starting to give up on their season and trading players for prospects. In the meantime... maybe do something that can be done within your own organization.... Evan Gattis .188 avg .548 ops Jake Marisnick .153 avg .470 ops Derek Fisher .185 avg .632 ops Meanwhile in AAA JD Davis .415 avg 1.114 ops Drew Ferguson .352 avg 972 ops Tony Kemp .336 avg 840 ops Tyler White .333 avg 1.068 ops
