Small sample size for sure. Hitting beyond Yordan and Tucker has been awful. Pitching has not been as good as it was last year. Must improve as sample size becomes larger or changes will need to be made at the trade deadline. And it’s not like The Astros have been facing Murderer’s Row so far.
Small sample size for sure. Hitting beyond Yordan and Tucker has been awful. Pitching has not been as good as it was last year. Must improve as sample size becomes larger or changes will need to be made at the trade deadline. And it’s not like The Astros have been facing Murderer’s Row so far.
Last year, while most teams were wheeling and dealing the Astros were largely staying the course. When you are the champions that kind of makes sense. But, I thought that was a mistake then, and I do now. I think they needed a pitcher upgrade, at least one. They needed a catcher that could hit, so obvious. Also, the bottom half of the lineup needed some upgrades. Those missteps are showing up early.
Click was a giant p***y. Hopefully Brown actually has some balls. To be fair, we got a catcher that could hit. We let him walk because we were too interested in not hurting Maldonados feelings. Aside from Vazquez, our last big acquisition was Verlander. We need to up our deadline game and not watch other teams get 80x better.
Bryan Reynolds.....value is probably high right now with the way he's started. I think Pirates and him are close on a number but he wants opt outs in his contract. I know Yankees were interested in him before they got Bader last year. Are they still interested? If yes, acquiring him and preventing the Yankees would be an added bonus. Corbin Burnes???? Although first 2 starts been a disaster. He'll fit right in lol. Ian Happ....were the Astros interested in him last deadline? Can he play CF? Is he good at it? Or F it, start Tucker at CF. Any other potential names?
I think we took Alemys Diaz for granted too. As bad as he was in the post-season, he kept us afloat with some hot stretches throughout the season and played his role well. We all like Hensley but he is not nearly as reliable or versatile as Diaz was..at least not yet.
I said it already in the tigers thread. Been watching baseball for decades. This team is not good enough as constructed. Crane has fallen in love with the idea of not paying for the premium talent and eventually its going to come back to haunt you. Crane wanted to put his touch on this off-season and dooped Click. But his off-season is looking like a dumpster fire. Why didn't he resolve the GM position till it was too late? Because he didn't want someone else to make moves. You can't lose pitching, position, players the way the Stros have and hope think it's going to work out forever. Wilson Contreras for 85 million and we passed for the mythical metrics of the pitching whisperer who had a historically awful season. That and the loss of Verlander...without a replacement is just brutal right now.
My concern with not getting any help at the deadline would mean we have to hope Brantley is very close if not 100% and that Altuve will knock off the rust very quickly after getting back. I really hope we call in the reinforcements at the deadline via Brown or just the damn team starts ****ing playing better. Christ.
Let's hope getting 120 games out of Altuve/Brantley is good enough to make the playoffs. The pitching has been a disappointment. Garcia has really not been the guy they hoped he was. If Whitley has the kind of 1st have in AAA that I expect him to have then he will be a factor in a playoff run. What this season is going to come to is can Dusty manage this team through the next 2 months at a .500 level and then take their chances with the last 120 games. So far that .500 isn't looking promising. It's looking like Brown is going to have to be a seller at the deadline. If Whitley pitches like we hope he can, I would use Garcia as a headliner to fill say the catcher spot with a long time replacement, Brown hopefully will make a move that will not only help in the short term, but also in the long term even if you have to overpay, after all this is the 10 yr window make the moves it takes to win championships. I believe if Crane gets the Brown hire right and Brown certainly looks like the guy who is great at building a farm system the Stros can become a new age dynasty team.
IIRC I count three games pitching gave the game away. BP has been anything but nails. Plenty of time but the bench will have to be upgraded at the DL.
Crane could've added one more vet, whether it was Maldy's replacement or JV's. But Verlander is currently injured, so can't complain about not resigning him specifically. Astros are 10th in payroll and only one team (Padres) seems arguably unjustfied. Altuve got hurt in a different uniform, he will return. Abreu is hitting like he's trying to break the singles record by a first baseman, he will do better. Garcia needs to pitch better. Brantley needs to return at 80%. Bregman needs to get out of April. McCullers will return. Brown will pitch better. Fans should be confident Crane will add something before the deadline if needed Overall, the Astros are in great shape and are a top WS favorite. We have a better advantage even if we "sneak" into the playoffs
We need to stop striking out. That is very uncharacteristic of this team. Putting the ball in play has been one key to our success. That's not happening right now. I'd have to consider giving Yordon the Bonds treatment if he continues this torrid pace because no one else is going to drive him in (except maybe Tucker).
Other than JV, what super important piece from last year did we lose? Tiki’s .600 OPS? We’re without two of our best hitters right now. Pitching league wide right now is up and down. Saying this current roster isn’t good enough as constructed just screams overreaction given the only real difference between this year’s roster and last year’s 100-win roster is JV.
