The Stros would have had Gary Sanchez and not Maldy behind the plate for the last 2 years if it was up to the fans. "Chicks dig the longball"
I would never trust Odorizzi to start a playoff game so I'm good with the trade even if I don't exactly like the return. Worst case scenario it's crap out crap in
JO had a player option, Smiths is a club option and is pro rated, even though it’s a higher salary the FO would prefer Smith. You just happen to get a lefty reliever out of it.
Playoff Will Smith (Played in 7 series and allowed an ER in only 1 of them). 18.1 innings, 3 ERs, 1.47 ERA I'll take a dude like him that's money in the post season anyday
under the radar, low risk, high reward. i like. If what im reading is true that his curveball is the huge issue, and we see a way toi fix or convince him to scrap it. i could see him becoming a valuable arm out the pen. and if not? oh well ODO wanted out
He had 37 saves and destroyed the Brewers/Dodgers/Astros in the postseason last year (11G, 11IP, 5H, 3BB, 8K, 0R)...I'll give the Stros a chance to work with him.
I sure hope they are confident they can fix him, because he hasn't been good, at all. Awesome trade for Atlanta to get a quality 5th starter for basically their roster trash.
From climbingtalshill.com The main culprit for Smith’s subpar performance has been walks. He is walking batters at easily the highest rate of his career so far at 5.1 per 9 innings. That’s nearly a 40% increase compared to his walk rate from a season ago. However, a look at his peripheral numbers indicates why the Astros acquired him (see his Statcast page here). His Statcast xERA is 3.94, and his actual batting average against of .236 is higher than expected (.220). In fact, Smith is giving up the exact same amount of quality contact as he was last year: his .357 xwOBA against on balls in play is identical to 2021, and his exit velocity, barrel rates, and hard hit rates are all down from last year. He has had a tumultuous 2022, but at least it’s clear that there’s only one significant problem that he needs to fix. Even so, that problem may not be as bad as the surface numbers say. According to Statcast, he is hitting the strike zone and getting batters to chase pitches at a higher rate than last year, and while the difference is miniscule, batters are making less contact when they swing at his pitches that land outside the strike zone than they did in 2021
My earlier post on Odorizzi If that was Odorizzi's last start here, he made 36 appearances with an ERA+ of 103 and the team was 20-16 (a 90 win projection) in his games. That is outstanding from your 4th or 5th starter, fans around here have just been spoiled with their "Dear god, not an Odorizzi start, he's trash" BS. Odorizzi did not suck here by any measure, Astros fans have just completely lost perspective on what actual bad pitching looks like, and we also have a lot of bandwagoners who don't actually know a lot about baseball that are just here for the winning.
It wasn’t just him sucking or losing tho.. at least not for me. He had a bad attitude most of the time, but it was especially bad when he played bad. The post game interviews are tough to watch. Not to mention he just doesn’t seem like a team player. That, plus paying him too much so dusty is always scared to send him to the pen, and McCullers coming back, he had to go. I was hoping to get more for him, but I think the upside is there for will smith. I’ve seen this pitching staff do wonders with pitchers coming in. Whether it’s increased spin, changing mechanics, they seem to get the most out of them. Hell, I kinda think they got the most outa odorizzi, he was pretty good for a 6/7.
Jake Odorizzi Bad Body Language and Negative Facial Expression has been Wearing Out the Team. When he wasn't Selected on the Postseason Roster, nothing but Jake being negative towards Dusty and others. Including the Fans, I always had bad feelings with Jake Odorizzi and I Live in the Middle East. I don't even talk to Astro Fans about Jake. I think the Astros can Relax much easier without Jake Odorizzi.
I'd take Mariana Rivera if he played like he used to. That's the problem with Smith. He's NOT playing like he used to. Perhaps he is a project. Perhaps he is just a salary dump because his remaining 2022 salary plus $1M is less than Odorizzi's salary plus $6.5M and they free up money to go after JV.
I tend to think more like Montero. 2021) 7.27 ERA, 4.05 FIP. 1.638 WHIP in 43.1 IP for Seattle. 2022) 1.67 ERA, 2.39 FIP, 0.977 WHIP in 43 IP for Astros. 1 example of a dozen. This organization has earned the benefit of the doubt.
He pretty much is with the exception of walks. I would think our staff has already figured out some adjustments for him.
He was on the post season roster but didn't start. He saved the bullpen in that game 2 beat down versus Boston and had a scoreless long relief outing in the World Series.