Anyone can shed light on why Pena defensive metrics have looked so bad this year? Looks like he’s in the bottom 1% of outs above average and in the positive for DRS. Eye test seems like he’s as good as last year, what gives?
My team winning a 1-0 game, throwing a 2 hitter and a 2:09 time of game? I might have a boner that lasts more than 4 hours. I can’t believe there is anyone out there that doesn’t love the rules changes and wants to bring back another 30 minutes of scratching, spitting and dead time. I was expecting it to be great but it’s been even better than I expected. Best thing baseball has done in my lifetime.
I know Hunter Brown looks like Verlander, but he throws more like Valdez. He hasn't given up a homerun in over 50 innings in the majors and gets lots of groundballs. That slider fastball combination is nasty and he has a splitter and knuckle curveball to make it even more interesting.
Phil Maton is who he always was… people forgot what he did in the 2021 playoffs because of 2022. Dude is a cyborg totally looking to kill whatever is in his way… including his own hand as it gets fractured when he punches the wall.
Yeah some folks wanted Blanco on the roster over Maton. Relief pitching changes year to year and sometimes you get a guy that is locked in. Neris looks good too lately.
Discussion of the Astros awesome last week with stats and analysis Talk of the week ahead This week in Astros history with Scrap Iron Phil Garner and talk of 86 and 04/05 Forest Whitley talk. Check it out. Tell me what you liked and what sucked. Down to about an hour now. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4GfHgdFstp3lLKDSk3exFg?si=cKegkT-lSSWON7bRYCz7GA
Jose Abreu is contender for April least valuable player https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybl...ontender-for-april-least-valuable-player/amp/
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=e4382c2f-fc11-4e43-8d3a-209928a9e5d5 https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=400232fe-091a-4280-8cfa-64dda520052e https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=b3077673-1842-435e-8693-be6896ff683c
I guess I wasn't the only one thinking this. Here is the article to back it up. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/hunter-brown-is-framber-valdez-in-a-justin-verlander-shaped-container/
Brown is pitching like a Cy Young candidate. What a boon for the Astros. I am not sure I fully understand the prospect promotion incentive rules. If Brown wins ROY and the CY, does Houston get 2 draft picks? Will Brown be awarded an additional year of service time, or does the rule just guarantee the ROY accrues a full year of service time for the season he wins the award? If the pick reward is for any player still classified as a rookie, but the player doesn’t receive an additional year of service time, it seems like the way Houston handled Brown is the perfect way to handle top prospects. Call them up at the end of a season to get them a taste and gauge their readiness, then have them on the subsequent opening day roster poised as one of the favorites for ROY.
Brown's slider for whatever reason was giving up hits in play last season, but without the bad BABIP luck, that pitch looks like a beast this season. It isn't exceptional at getting whiffs (not bad), but the combination of whiffs, ground balls, and called strikes (hitter's want to get his fastball which Diaz [despite his lack of preparation] is calling less and less) is devastating.
pitching motion looks like Verlander, pitch outcomes look like Framber, pitch mix looks like Walker Buehler…
And this is why I kept saying they needed to hold on to him and not include him in any trades. Pitching (or shall I say elite pitching) is extremely hard to find. Especially young pitching. It will be interesting to see how they monitor his IP over the season.
I can say by watching pitches on MLB GameDay which shows the pitch path, his slider and fastball look exactly the same until the very last moment. The fact that it is close to 93 mph vs 96-97 on his fastball makes it impossible to judge. He's also throwing it for strikes at the edge of the zone down and away which isn't a pitch you want to swing at anyway. I think with him and Garcia, it's really about command. If they are hitting their zones with their primary pitch which is hard to hit, then it puts batters at their mercy. Imagine being a batter thinking the best pitch you are going to get to hit is a slider down and away or a 97 mph fastball at the very top of the zone. He also has that knuckle curve that lands right at the top of the zone.
This quote from that article: Perfectly sums up what I love about watching Framber (and now Hunter) pitch. It also helps me realize why I loved watching Keuchel and guys like Mike Hampton before him. There's just something great about those guys that want you to hit the ball knowing that it will likely be a weak effort. Greg Maddux was one of the best at it and I loved watching him pitch even though he played for the hated Braves. Give me a team full of those types of pitchers anyday.
