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Interesting astros stats thread

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by Wulaw Horn, May 20, 2023.

  1. Houstunna

    Houstunna The Most Unbiased Fan
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    Astros become the 4th team last 75 years to have 7 consecutive seasons with an 8-game winning streak

    '68-'74 -- Orioles
    '97-'04 -- Giants
    '00-'06 -- A's

    Dusty managed two of those... lol
     
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  2. Buck Turgidson

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    Indeed, no doubt about that.
     
  3. RKREBORN

    RKREBORN Member

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    The also lose 100% of the games they get outscored.
     
  4. Houstunna

    Houstunna The Most Unbiased Fan
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    ~70% of these games are ONE-ALL
     
  5. The Beard

    The Beard Contributing Member

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    But but but

    Maldanado had two hits including a HR tonight, surely that proves dusty right
     
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  6. Wulaw Horn

    Wulaw Horn Member

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    After what will undoubtedly be his hot streak for the year he is still 26% below league average. After being on a bender for the month of may. He almost singlehandedly lost us the game on Saturday by throwing balls Into CF and striking out in key situations. he’s old as **** and plays basically every day. We’ve seen how abjectly terrible he can be on the playoffs after doing that- he was so ****ing bad in 2021 and pretty terrible again in 2022. At least in 22 Vasquez got a couple starts (one where he caught the no hitter).
    And still, for all that, the fact that he no longer deigns to actually catch/block anymore, the fact that the Astros are worst in the league at getting screwed by the umps (you can’t convince me that’s not in part based upon the catcher who is their number one point of interaction) I wouldn’t mind the guy near as much if it wasn’t for the fact that Dusty refuses to ever play Diaz when he has the pedigree and stats that make him look like a really good offensive player and the catcher of the future, while his defense has been shockingly better than we expected.
    Even if Maldy really is that much better than Diaz (he isn’t) you should still play him no more than 2/3 because it’s essentially nuts to play any more than the absolute apex predators of the position more than that with how physically demanding it is.
     
    #46 Wulaw Horn, May 23, 2023
    Last edited: May 23, 2023
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  7. IdStrosfan

    IdStrosfan Member

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    For whatever reason - real or imagined everyone who is associated with the Astros except fans love Maldy and want and expect him to play 3/4 of the time.

    I am getting on board with it. The team is winning and its hard to change things when they are winning.

    Furthermore, Maldy is currently playing well. For May, only Alvarez has a higher OPS while he is playing 74% of the games. Clearly everyone in the organization feel his "intangibles" make up for his reduced defensive ability. Cool.

    However he is still a stocky 36 year old playing a position that wears even young fit players down in the 162 game grind.

    It is an almost certain bet that either he either gets hurt at some point in the next 115 games or is significantly fatigued and unable to play at an acceptable level in the playoffs.

    I think the Astros need to start cutting back his playing time even if he is the answer in the playoffs.

    Diaz also needs his playing time but I no longer want him to play extensively at DH. He needs to get his ABs at C and 1B. The reason for my change of heart is Dubon.

    Dubon has proven that he is a player and he needs to be on the field - in the infield- more than on the bench. The best way to accomplish this is by playing Altuve at DH a large percentage of games.

    The 3 oldest position players on this team are Maldy, Abreu, and Altuve. In fact they are the only ones in their 30s ( besides Brantley).

    My suggestion is send Salazar to Sugar Land and bring up the best MLB ready LH bat in the minors, not named Gilbert, until Brantley is ready. He won't play much and Gilbert needs playing time and should not have his rookie clock started.

    Give Maldy the day off every day game after a night game, and anytime the team plays 3 consecutive games in outdoor 80 degree + weather. He should never play games 5 consecutive days.

    He is only playing 74% of games now so this should not be much of a reduction in playing time.

    Furthermore the Astros must start to worry that Abreu won't turn it around thus year. He is also a heavier guy who could get worn down in the summer heat despite a much less demanding position. Plan on giving him every 4-5 games off.

    Abreu looks to struggle particularly against LHP pitchers and spin more than velocity. This is a particulatly bad thing if he his hitting between Yordan and Tucker to provide "protection" from bringing in a LH reliever.

    Target these types of games to play Diaz at 1B.

    Without Salazar on the roster, Diaz naturaly plays 25% of games and this could increase that slightly. Furthermore he plays about 20% of the games at 1B.

    Maldy and Abreu both stay fresh to be at their best in the playoffs.
     
  8. Qan

    Qan Member

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    Someone needs to sit Maldy and Dusty down and explain this to them. I wonder if anyone has really tried to let them know, especially Maldy, that this would be for his own benefit to rest more. But I just have a feeling Maldy will start complaining the moment his playing time decreases significantly.
     
  9. Major

    Major Member

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    I think y'all continue to miss the point about Maldy. The Astros *do not care about his offense*. Unless they think resting him will improve his game-callling, preparation, etc, it's all irrelevant. Maldy hitting is a nice little bonus, but he could hit 0.000 and the Astros would not have a problem running him out there in the playoffs. They believe in their offense such that they can have a hole at the 9 spot. They just won a WS with holes at C, DH, and 1B all season last year, while also playing Dubon a ton in CF. They believe the catcher role is so valuable to their pitching that offense is not a necessity. And given that these last several years, they've turned all-stars into cy-young candidates, middle-tier pitchers into elite talents, and scrubs into functional pitchers, maybe at some point fans should defer to them on this.

    Based on their use of Salazar, they clearly do not think Diaz is ready to be a major league catcher at this point - whether it's his prep, attitude, or whatever else. It'll be interesting to see if we ever learn what those reasons are; but again, they value catching abilities so much that they will happily also use a 2nd no-offense catcher over Diaz in that role.

    Maldy has also never b****ed about his playing time. He didn't do it when they traded for Vazquez (who he was friends with and loved adding); he didn't do it in the offseason. This is literally made up fan fiction to justify whatever weird hatred people want to have for him. All he has said is he thinks he's earned the starter role and that he was disappointed when the Astros tried to replace him given what he played through last year. He also said he fully understood why they would do it, which is pretty much the opposite of complaining.
     
  10. Screaming Fist

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    Maldy pouted on Instagram following the rumors of the Astros pursuing Contreras. He posted something along the lines of "how quickly they forgot" or something like that...which is funny considering it's probably best for everyone that they do forget his play as quickly as possible.
     
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  11. IdStrosfan

    IdStrosfan Member

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    Speaking for myself and only myself, I get it.

    I understand that the Astros feel Maldy is the best catcher for this team and they feel the requirements of a catcher are ( in order of importance)

    1) Be able to bond with pitchers and sell them on the game plan.

    2) decipher film and detect any advantage the pitchers can exploit.

    3) execute the game plan by calling the right pitches.

    4) identify when the game plan is not working and adjust pitch calling accordingly

    5) manage the pitchers and keep them on track psychologically, emotionally, and physically.

    6) watch the pitchers and notice any signs of fatigue or possible injury or strain.

    7) catch the ball including blocking those in the dirt.

    8) throw out baserunners

    9) frame pitches to get extra strikes

    10) contribute with the bat

    I think it's #1-6 that Diaz needs to work on which is keeping him on the bench more than we like. These are also the areas we don't see and there are no stats or metrics to measure. And it's the most important 60% of what the Astros need out of a catcher.

    My point is that if Maldy plays less, but still over 60% then he is fresher and better at #7-10. He has less risk of injury that could be devastating to the team. Diaz gets more experience at 1-10. Much of 1-6 can be done even if not playing in the game.
     
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  12. Nook

    Nook Member

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    In fairness, Maldonado almost walked away last year. The Astros were encouraging him to come back for 2023 down the stretch run of 2022 when he was battling so many bad injuries. My point being that I do not know if he will want to play in 2024. I don't quite know what to make of the inner organizational love affair with Maldonado. I have an issue with him starting as often as he does, and especially when the line up has injuries.

    I think that when it comes to his Astros tenure, Dusty Baker has a pretty good track record even if it seems to be counter intuitive sometimes.

    I will be curious to see what happens, because Dana Brown is not as patient as James Click and will pull the trigger quicker.
     
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  13. Nook

    Nook Member

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    He is involved a lot with Sara Geles and Sarah Goodrum. He loves numbers and strategy.
     
  14. Major

    Major Member

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    He didn't complain about playing time - that was about being replaced. The Astros had him play through injury last year and he did it with a torn groin and broken hand. So he was disappointed when they were looking for a new catcher. He also clearly said that he understood why they would do it.

    Down the stretch last year, they rested him more and Vazquez were splitting time almost 50/50 in August and September and he didn't complain at all.
     
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  15. Wulaw Horn

    Wulaw Horn Member

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    Amazingly enough- nothing in 1-6 require you to wear a uniform! And sure as hell not play every damn day.
     
  16. Nook

    Nook Member

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    2018 1st

    2019 1st

    2020 8th

    2021 2nd

    2022 1st

    2023 1st

    These are the rankings of the Astros pitching staff since Maldonado took over full-time.

    We can debate how much of this is Maldonado and how much is just great scouting and player development - but there appear to be some with the Astros that don't want to change horses.

    For context, the year before Maldonado joined the Astros, they won the World Series and the pitching was ranked 4th.

    The Astros were flirting with adding Contreras this Winter. The Cards rotation essentially refused to throw to him at one point, he was benched and there was a meeting and now Contreras is catching again and the Cardinals are winning. They went from a great player behind the plate to a mediocre one and there was a backlash. Something similar could happen in Houston - but I suspect long term the Astros would be fine.
     
  17. Major

    Major Member

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    The Astros seem to disagree. Maybe it's why they have built the greatest dynasty in baseball in the last 20 years while all the other teams who emphasize traditional catcher metrics haven't. It fascinates me that fans of a team that embraces advanced analytics and identifying weaknesses in what other teams do can't get past accepting that the Astros might see things in the catcher position that others don't and that it might contribute to them having the best pitching staffs in the league.
     
  18. Wulaw Horn

    Wulaw Horn Member

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    No. That’s not it all. They won with bat first catchers in 2017 and then they won with awesome pitching and lineups that averaged 120+ ops and bludgeoned the **** out of people. For you to suggest that maldy is the lynchpin to their success is absurd and ridiculous. just this year, Diaz has a winning percentage greater than maldy.
    last year Vasquez did as well. He’s along for the ****ing ride man, not running ****.
     
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  19. leroy

    leroy Contributing Member

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    I get the Maldy dislike but at least one of those balls on Saturday went right through Pena's legs. That was on him, not Maldy. It wasn't a bad throw.
     
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  20. Nook

    Nook Member

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    Of course, the Astros have spoken to Maldonado and Baker about it. This isn't really anything new. The Astros had to get a catcher last year at the deadline because there was a real concern that Maldonado would not be physically able to play. Very few players would have played through what Maldonado did last season.

    Some of this is that the pitching staff in private have preferences for Maldonado.
     

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