"We need bats" -- Two of their best bats are injured, but should be back soon enough. "Give me a break!"... And then whatever loud noises you proceed to make after. This is not like last year where even when healthy, there were serious questions about their two best pitchers ability to carry them in the playoffs (Keuchel, LMJ). We know what this offense is capable of with all 4 superstars in the lineup.... and beyond them amongst Yuli-Reddick-Marwin-Stassi-Kemp, they will get some contributions. And then there's the wild-card in Tucker... who should still get AB's to adjust... and if that happens by September, they'll be set.
I am sure Tucker will still get some playing time but his .430 OPS doesn't exactly lead me to believe that he is going to be in a position to provide much help come the playoffs.
42 AB's though... His failure thus far has been unfairly magnified by the rest of the team's slump. Not sure why everybody fell in love with the notion that Luhnow's minor league development plan leads to players coming in and succeeding right away regardless. All players struggle to make the initial adjustment. I'll bet he's in a much better place after the next 40 AB's.
OK guy. It's ok to have opinions, even when they are wrong. If he could not get $15M per annum last year, what will have changed from last offseason to the upcoming one? Again, he'd be a year older, and would come with more injury concerns. This is pretty simple logic, is it not?
We have the bats....they are just hurt or sleeping right now. They will be healthy and break out of the slump soon. When they do, we have our pitching all lined up for a solid playoff run.
I agree it is a small sample size, and he may figure it out shortly but I am not counting on it. The window for Tucker to figure it out this season is short, and it isn't fair to expect a rookie the last 1/3 of the year to come up and be good enough to start on a World Series team. From my observations of Tucker over the last several years, it sometimes takes him awhile to get comfortable at the next level so I didn't expect him to do much when he first came up. Next year I think he gets the LF job and is as good or better than the league average with room to improve.
CF Springer 3B Bregman 2B Altuve SS Correa 1B Gurriel RF Reddick DH Gattis C Stassi LF Kemp Bench C McCann UT Marwin OF Marisnick INF White Rotation SP1 Verlander SP2 Cole SP3 Keuchel SP4 Morton Pen CL Rondon RP Osuna RP Devo RP Pressley RP Sipp RP Peacock RP McHugh RP McCullers I'm not sure why we would carry 4 catchers in the playoffs in McCann, Stassi, Maldonado, and Gattis. Kemp starts unless Marwin ends the season well. His versatility helps better off the bench in the NL. I think White makes it purely because Tucker and Davis have refused to hit in the majors. Smith and Harris may be the odd men out in the pen. Rondon, Devo, Peacock, Pressley, and McHugh are all locks. Not sure how we'll use McCullers, but we're better with him. Sipp probably makes it because he's a lefty and is doing decent this year. Osuna may be the interchangeable just because he's an unknown given the layoff and his legal status. Joe Smith is better than the numbers show and I wouldn't be concerned if he made the playoff roster. Harris for sure is out though, he's been terrible the past few months.
In regards to Tucker... Players that came up from minors and looked great: Tyler White, AJ Reed.. etc.. players that seemed horrible: Bregman (starting 0-38 or something)... I think I like that Tucker is struggling haha.
If he's anywhere close to the level of prospect of Springer/Bregman (which I think he is)... he's likely going to make the adjustment and bust out before the season is over. The only question is whether or not the Astros can afford to give him the requisite regular season AB's.... which was not a concern with Springer, and only a slightly lesser concern with Bregman... both of whom were several years older at their debut.
They’ll carry 4 catchers because one of them (Gattis) is as much a catcher as Carlos Beltran was last season (at least in the eyes of the people making the roster decisions). A lot of teams carry 3 catchers in the playoffs.
A reasonable approach, something very uncommon around here. This coming a guy that wanted Ramos badly and he was traded for a song.
I wonder if in the interest of saving money the Astros consider having White DH next season. He has a .365 xwOBA over his last 100 PA and his projected wOBA is pretty close to Gattis'.
After his first 43 ABs Bregman was hitting .116 with an OPS of .331. Tucker has started off slow on pretty much ever level he's been on. Give him a little more time, he'll be fine.
I definitely think there should be a place for white on the big league roster. Whether he’s the everyday DH or in a bench role where he plays nearly everyday subbing in around 1B/3B/DH. I think he’s going to be a really good mlb hitter.
I think him and Kemp could both make for good DH options next season. Unlike Gattis, the 2 of them can also be put in the field so they don't have to be anchored to the DH slot. With those 2, Tucker, and Alvarez not far off I would be pretty shocked if we make any significant investment in a hitter this offseason. You can always add a 1B/LF/DH in season if none of those guys have answered the bell.
I think they’ll be opportunistic. There will be a lot of good bats available, and there could be a good veteran willing to take a discount to play for a contender. I could see someone like Andrew McCutchen, Matt Adams, Joe Mauer, Neil Walker, Carlos Gonzalez, Nick Markakis, or Nelson Cruz coming on a low cost deal. And there will always be trade options that Luhnow will always be exploring. But I agree, if they have to roll with White as DH and Tucker in LF they will still have a deep lineup, although what they do at catcher will also have a big impact.
Next year: C Stassi / 1B Gurriel / 2B Altuve / 3B Bregman / Davis SS Correa / LF Tucker / Fisher CF Springer / Fisher RF Reddick / Fisher DH: Kemp / White Rotation: Verlander Cole McCullers McHugh TBD Bullpen: Osuna Pressly Rondon Smith Devenski Peacock James Perez We need to sign a Marwin replacement to be a utility guy (or hope Kemp can fill that role). We need a starter (my vote is to resign Morton and move McHugh back to the rotation). We need one bullpen arm (my vote is to use internal options - Josh James and Cionel). We need a catcher. I hate the Osuna trade, but that and the Pressly trade really make our bullpen very solid for next year. Not a point of emphasis at all anymore. One more bat, a catcher, one more starter.
Yeah, If they spend money on a bat I'd much rather they do it for a C or a corner OF rather than a 1B/DH type.