Not really We knew this was likely at this point, and even before the news we were hoping, not expecting, that he would be able to contribute. Anybody that was expecting him to be a major player hasn't paid attention to his wild unreliability.
I was thinking this when I saw the lineup. It’d be very interesting to see this in the regular season, especially if Dusty commits to it. It may do wonders for Correa’s hitting approach. He’s always seemed to me(especially during the regular season) that he presses in the 4-6 spots in the lineup, trying to drive in runs. Hitting in the leadoff spot, setting the table, while providing plenty of pop at the top of the order may give him more of a “playoff-type” approach at the plate. Where he may be locked in trying to get on base any way possible, opening up more of the opposite field stroke(which he thrives at).
Solomon may have some impressive stuff post-TJ if Gameday is any indication. 93-95 heater with a change up and a slider than can touch the low 90s.
After a rough 1st game, looks like Chisek is playing well the last couple of games. Does he have a shot at making the team or after the Odorizzi signing, Chisek's contract would make it to close to the luxury tax line? I heard if Chisek makes the team, Scrubb could be sent down or cut Chisek and have Scrubb instead because Scrubb's contract is little compared to Chisek.
If you’d like to wake up to a superficial article from a high-profile site, have I got the one for you. It’s a classic case of starting with an angle and twisting to fit it. The internally-inconsistent paragraph saying “sure, they’ve developed some players, but also it’s fair to say they don’t develop players” was the ice cream sundae, the woefully understated “Alvarez has been a positive contributor” was the cherry, and not even acknowledging Kyle Tucker’s existence was the missing spoon. Also nice is acknowledging the Astros have a high payroll and then assuming every FA will walk next year. It’s not anti-Astros and almost goes out of its way to be “balanced,” but it’s just so shallow and determined to say the run is over. https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2021/...ynasty-core-jose-altuve-justin-verlander-2021
Kinda random but this reminds me of an Astros game I attended in 2019 when we were playing the rangers. There were a couple of 25-ish year old Ranger fans sitting directly behind me. This was around the time Yordan burst on to the scene. This one Ranger fan was talking mad **** saying things like “verlander is the most overrated pitcher ever.” “Altuve is the most overrated player in baseball” “Joey Gallo is going to break the single season homerun record one day” All I could do was laugh. I believe Mike Minor was on the mound for the Rangers. We proceeded to hit 3 homeruns in one inning- pretty sure it was back to back to back JACKS- capped by a Yordan moonshot to the second deck. I simply turned around and told those guys- “yall are in for HELL for the next decade.” I still stand by that. Go Astros
If Alvarez/Tucker continue to blossom into all-stars... to complement Bergman’s MVP candidacy, Altuve being closer to what he was in the playoffs (vs. what he was in the short regular season), and Correa merely staying healthy with a short-ish extension... the Astros lineup will be just fine. The pitching staff would also be in fine shape if not for Framber’s injury (which he didn’t mention). Even with that, for this year at least, they’ll be ok... but health still remains critical. He also fails to mention the abortion of a division they play in, which they should continue to dominate for at least 3 more years as is. He does mention how hard it is to keep juggernauts together. All things considered (market size, payroll, pandemic, etc), the Astros are prolonging things as much as any team possibly can in this era.
I agree with you that the division is the Stros for the taking. The Rangers and Mariners have been trash, the As can't spend money and are constantly rebuilding, and the Angels can't seem to find pitchers. If they did, they'd be contenders. If the article defines competing as being able to hang with the Dodgers talent level, they definitely have fallen behind. He's right that we've lost a lot of high end talent. The farm isn't full of blue chip prospects to replace holes in the lineup or rotation. All the more reason to re-sign Correa if possible, or replace with equivalent talent. Our historic run averaging 104 wins from 2017-2019 set the bar much higher than the current roster is capable of, that's true. But the Giants won 3 titles in the last decade winning 88-94 games. The roster just has to be good enough to get to the postseason, and then as we've seen, anything can happen.
Yeah that’s a pretty weak article. There are certainly causes for concern when projecting the Astros out past this season. Altuve had a dreadful season and is old enough that it’s reasonable to worry he is beginning to decline. Alvarez has been hurt. Correa is a pending free agent who can’t be easily replaced. Their other young “core” players (Tucker, Valdez, Javier, Urquidy) have yet to be fully established. And of course, their farm lacks prospects ranked highly by pundits. BUT, there are tons of reasons to believe Houston will continue to contend for the foreseeable future. They have one of the 10 best players in baseball (Bregman) under control through 2024. Alvarez and Tucker look likely to be among the 100 best hitters in the league, and they are under control through 2025. The front office has consistently shown the ability to develop pitching depth. There isn’t a single “bad” contract on the books. The owner has shown he is willing to pay for a payroll that consistently ranks among the top 5 in the league. This season and next season will be extremely important for determining if Houston can keep the window open. Certainly the farm needs to show that it’s been underrated. There’s a lot of pressure for guys like Lee, Pena, Leon, Nova, and Barber to pan out. But a LOT can change in 3-4 years. I currently expect Houston to win their division for at least the next 2 seasons, then who knows. One good thing is that the other teams in the division are either poorly run or don’t have the same resources as Houston.
They need one of the young pitchers to become a Buehler type ace. I'm betting on Brown becoming this guy. Hopefully Whitley can make it back.
Brown, Santos, and Solis have potential to be ToR arms. Will be watching them closely this season. But they also have a glut of arms who could end up roughly on par with what McCullers has been. It wouldn’t surprise me if any one of Abreu, Garcia, Javier, Urquidy, Dubin, Solomon, or Ivey ended up putting up 10+ war over their first 6 seasons (it also wouldn’t surprise me if any of them didn’t do squat).
The LMJ tier of pitchers should make great trade bait if roster upgrades are needed. I was hoping this off-season that Click would trade some of that pitching depth for an up and coming CF. I guess Click must really believe in Leon.
Astros' Jason Castro recovering from strained oblique Castro hasn’t appeared in a Grapefruit League game since March 2. Baker said the team is being “cautious” with Castro, the 33-year-old catcher signed to a two-year deal this winter. It is unclear when Castro will return to game action. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...-Castro-recovering-from-strained-16016686.php
That lineup...woof...even for most spring lineups. That said, they probably score double digit runs today.
