Figured it might be good to have a thread for general in-season discussion so the game/series threads stay clean and the other threads stay on topic. If this is a bad idea feel free to delete or if there is already a thread for this please point me in the right direction. I created a similar thread last season and it seemed to work well. Early takeaways from the first 2 games: Encouraged by Valdez, Pena, Taylor, Abreu, Montero Worried about Baez Overall I think this team is going to be very good and the pitching staff will exceed expectations.
Spent some time defending odorizzi last night. I think once he gets ramped up, he has the potential to be an inning eater that this team will need. The offense looks to be good enough to still be successful with a 4.00+ ERA pitcher. Hopefully Lance will be a luxury down the stretch.
If Odorizzi is your 5/6 starter you're doing very well, rotation wise. Gotta get and keep the key components healthy.
If McCullers comes back strong this season, we have one incredibly deep rotation. Aside from Baez, I like what we are seeing from our relievers too. What in-season trade options make sense? I’m having a hard time finding a position to improve.
Injuries will likely dictate the deadline needs. Other than that I am anxious to see how Meyers does once he gets back. If he struggles (and none of the other CF options steps up) then CF would be the place to make a move. Mullins, Reynolds, and Laureano would be the top 3 potentially available options. And of course it always makes sense to add ToR SP and elite RP for the right price.
Agreed. It does look like our OF is quickly becoming a strength. Siri, Meyers and Leon may each be big playoff pieces. Hopefully health will be a strength come playoff time.
CF, possibly. Bullpen definitely (I say this every year, and it's always true). Top level SP is always a thing for a contender.
For now I expect Siri and Leon to strike out too much to be desirable everyday/playoff options. Leon has a chance to fix that but at this point I think Siri is who he is: an electric defensive player with power and speed who strikes out too much and makes an occasional boneheaded play.
I've always looked at Odorizzi as a middle of the order pitcher at the bottom of the Astros rotation. My off the cuff ranking system using qualified WAR or ERA+. Qualifying may be the biggest hurdle. 1. 1-30 Verlander, McCullers 2, 31-60 Valdez, Garcia 3. 61-90 Urquidy, Odorizzi, Javier 4. 91-120 5. 121-150
My problem with many of the available players is they aren't improvements as much as well known for performances 3 year ago and more. If I'm getting a 3.5 War outfielder for $15M per year, why is it an improvement over a 3.5 WAR OF mix and match of players we have, any of which could break out? Mullins is the only one I might consider an improvement and he'd probably cost much in prospects. And we might still get 5 WAR from Meyers or Leon soon.
If tomorrow was May 1, I think we know one of the cuts. But we'll have to wait a bit. I like Blanco more than four or five other relievers at this point. Pressly, Neris, Stanick and Javier are the only ones I can confidently place ahead of him at this moment. I also admit to being partial to the obscure stats of Inherited runners and Inherited runners scored. Stanick and Blanco have wiped out inherited runners.
I've really liked what I have seen, so far. Bregman actually looks like he is really healthy. 2 homers and a few good defensive plays (coming in hard with the barehand and the dive to his left). I think we all agree that with the departure of Correa, Bregman was the biggest chance to help fill that void of offense if he could return to some semblance of 2019, and he's off to a good start. Good to see Jeremy Pena homer last night and the double wasn't too shabby, either. After his first play with the error in the first game, I think he's good to go now, as he does seem to have a nice fluidity in his defensive game. The two-headed CF monster so far looks fun. Siri wreaking havoc on the base paths was fun to watch. He may run into an out here or there, but hopefully it doesn't cost us too much as his aggressiveness could create some problems for the other team. Tucker and Alvarez...man, love those guys. Valdez looked good, and we've seen Valdez pitch like that. Hopefully he can remain consistent. I've liked what I've seen out of the bullpen. Hopefully Montero can be an unsung hero because he came up and got rid of Ohtani, Trout and Rendon with some decent looking stuff. Baez, on the other hand, needs to go. I'm not one of these "the sky is falling" guys after one appearance, but the writing seems to be on the wall. I felt like he would be a nice veteran piece to have in the 6th for an inning in a non-descript game, or in the 9th of some blowout one way or the other, but after finally seeing him last night, even with a double-digit lead, I'm not sure if I need to see him again. He was all over the place. He had a strike or two called that probably could have gone either way. Yes, Goodrum should have had the grounder, too, so that didn't help, but from a purely pitching perspective, I am sure we have better somewhere or we can find it. When the rosters shrink back to 26 at the end of the month, I fully hope Baez is gone, if he isn't already by then.
I think last night was almost the perfect outcome for the Astros in that they might cut their losses or 60-man him as soon as the rosters shrink.
McCullers is already missing time, other people are almost guaranteed to miss time at some point, and we need to watch the innings load for guys. The complaints about Odorizzi, a perfectly average starter, are stupid. He's exactly the kind of guy you need to help get you through 162. Baez is done, he is not working with MLB stuff anymore. You just gotta admit you f**ked up there and move one.
Probably the best realistic outcome is that he’s hiding a severe injury and Houston can 60 day him and recoup some salary via insurance (assuming he was covered). Pretty sad.