I don’t think there will ever be an Astros killer quite like Pujols. He was one of the greatest hitters of all time for a decent stretch, and in the middle of said stretch I was convinced he was the best hitter ever. To face him inter-division for so long has been both a joy and headache/heart attack waiting to happen. I have nothing but props for the machine even if I despised his STL days
Yes... but he’s also had a ton of success against all teams. He is one of the best hitters ever. In the end the Astros have not been “victimized” by him for most of the AL tenure.
I know LF is his more natural position, but at what point do they let Chas get more starts at CF instead of Straw? I officially checked out when he looked that strike 3 right down the middle of the damn plate. Also, time to give Castro more starts at C, Maldy is strug-a-ling.
Is it me or is Yordan hitting the other way much more often over the last 2 weeks. He is gonna be a monster.
McCormick save for the one HR has been worse than Straw in basically every regard in what PA's he has gotten, and had an awful spring. The front office believed that Straw could be adequate, and they put an unusual amount of faith in that belief because they didn't bother adding a viable alternative. If he doesn't start to get results and they decide to pull the plug, they will almost certainly trade for a Jake Marisnick type placeholder. None of the in house options seem viable right now.
Chaz has as many doubles and sac flies as Straw despite significantly less playing time. If one takes out Chaz's homer and Straw's triple, Chaz would still rate as the less bad hitter by a far margin. Not sure if Chaz is a better player, but he's done more with his PAs despite not hitting singles and walking as well as Straw.
What kind of world is this where the debate is who is "better" Straw vs. McCormick at CF? Sealclubber is definitely right, the correct answer is neither of the above and the solution is currently outside the organization.
Was very surprised Dusty sent him back out for the 7th. Not only for pitch count reasons but he started missing arm side a lot more in his later innings. 4-pitch walked a guy. In retrospect, seems like a good low-stakes lesson for Javier. Pitching without your best control deep in ball game. The M's didn't really try to run him out of the game with extended AB's. It'll be super interesting to see how they manage his workload this season. Do they attempt to let him go deeper in games but then kick him to alternate site once a month?
Javier, like a lot of the Astros young power arms, could stand to learn some pitchability skills. Always feels like he has to throw a ton of pitches to navigate around trouble. The M's starter threw 6 pitches in the first inning again Tuve, Brantley and Bregman.
Or inside the organization and is 22 years old waiting to join the Cuban Link Pineapple, Alvarez, Cionel, Diaz, Leon, Jason Castro and Castor27! Loaded!
Despite his struggles, I don’t mind a 70/30 split in CF of Straw/Chaz for another month or so. But after that, if things stand pat, we’ll have to look elsewhere. I guess Click is hoping that this hodgepodge can be passable until Leon is ready, but aren’t they moving Leon around? Is he even a viable CFer in his own right? Could Tucker or Bregman muster some time in CF until reinforcements come? I don’t love the idea of trading for a Marisnick type filler, but also don’t think we can afford much more, so Straw et al may have a longer leash than we hope. What about Dawson or our other minor leaguers? I wish Toro or Diaz were adequate in CF but both seem like a lost cause there.
I wish the Astros were good enough to waste the summer playing bad CFs while Leon got up to speed. I think he's the future, not sure he's ready for the present. Hitless in limited Spring training work and no doubt rusty having not played since he left Cuba 2 years ago. Hopefully he can progress quickly through the high minors and reach the big team in September.
Javier ERA+ 472. WAR 1.1 His numbers are off the chart...https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/javiecr01.shtml An Astro thru 2025.
I highly doubt Leon sees the majors this season. If Straw is at least replacement level by the trade deadline I wouldn’t be surprised if Click does nothing unless a very favorable trade presents itself.
