Gonna guess the Rangers are gonna go a lot harder at quality SPs at the trade deadline than the Astros. I don't see the Astros landing a quality SP (maybe an innings eater if they lose Urquidy or another pitcher) at the deadline.
That's a rough one for the Rangers. But let's be honest. Everyone was hesitant to throw that kind of money at deGrom for his durability concerns.
Rangers are absolutely going to empty their farm system for a TOR starter and perhaps a bullpen arm. They have absolutely bought into this hot start of theirs. This could really work out well long term for the Astros.
The Rangers are going for it. They have been since the offseason, and to some extent, even last year . They gambled on de Grom but they will make big moves. They will make a Verlander like deal trying to get past the Astros and over the hump. I'm waiting to see what it is.
Dusty has his favorites…and let’s be real there’s a certain connection Julks has with Dusty that Jake and Chas don’t.
Dana Brown wants to see more of Yainer Diaz, but ‘it’s Dusty’s call’ … “I like when he’s in the lineup. I like what he brings to the table. I like that he has power, his OPS is climbing. Ultimately, I’d like to see him in the lineup more,” Brown said before Tuesday’s game at Rogers Centre. “But Dusty is running the team, he’s the manager, and it’s his job ultimately to find a place for him to get in the lineup. I think he will do that. I think it’s a matter of the dog days of August, the middle of July, he could get a little bit more time.” Baker gave Diaz 75 plate appearances while the team carried three catchers. Diaz started five games at positions other than catcher: three times at designated hitter and twice at first base. He took just 28 at-bats in April, while the team struggled to sustain any sort of offensive continuity. Diaz played so sparingly that Brown acknowledged he worried about development. Brown said he brought those concerns to Baker. “I think Dusty worked him in there. It would have been nice to see him a little bit more,” Brown said. “But, you know what, I’m not in Dusty’s shoes. I’m not writing the lineup. It’s his job and it’s his call. I think he played him enough that he got some good at-bats in, but once he started playing a little bit more, I think he’s cleaning up the approach a little bit and the OPS is on the rise. “Losing development time is big for a young prospect,” Brown continued. “I think now that he’s playing a little bit more, he’s actually starting to get in a groove a little bit. As long as he can continue to do that, I think that’s very good. The development time is important and that’s one of the things we worried some about with carrying the three catchers (was): is he going to lose development time while playing?” … “The big thing for him right now is our game preparation and our game management, learning our system, learning our pitchers, understanding opposing hitters’ tendencies and navigating ballgames,” catching coach Michael Collins said. “That’s the big part he and I spend plenty of time on, constantly talking about it and preparing for each start. That’s something that comes with being here. It does take a little bit of time being here, being in this environment, in those game situations to fully put it all together. Behind the scenes, that’s his big focus — the game prep and understanding his pitchers.” Maldonado is renowned for just that. Quantifying its value is impossible. So is overstating how much it dictates the Astros’ decision-making. Diaz can hit all he wants, but it’s difficult to envision the Astros ever handing him equal playing time with Maldonado still on the roster. Baker’s explanation as to why he caught Maldonado on Tuesday reflects that reality. Diaz caught six of Hunter Brown’s first seven starts this season. Maldonado has caught his last five, including Tuesday’s. “Maldy takes control of the game almost better than anybody. It’s tough when you got rookies on the mound and it’s tougher when you got a rookie catcher and a rookie on the mound,” Baker said. “Yainer’s still trying to learn. He’s learning his craft and this is on-the-job training. I loved hitting, but there’s more to catching than hitting than any other position on the field, other than the pitcher. And he doesn’t hit anymore. That’s part of our defense. If they don’t score, we’re not losing.” Baker’s offense needs to score, too. Diaz has started 19 games this season. Houston has scored five or more runs in 10 of them. Diaz boasts a 113 OPS+ and is slugging .486. The Astros are a better offensive team when he’s in the lineup. For a team entering Tuesday with a .722 OPS — 18th of 30 major-league lineups — finding any sort of offensive spark feels mandatory. Dana Brown believes so, too. Finding more at-bats for Diaz, be they at designated hitter or first base, is what the general manager wants. He will trust his manager to make it happen, but carrying two catchers only complicates matters. Starting both Diaz and Maldonado on the same day could limit Baker’s late-game strategy, but he so rarely pinch-hits for Maldonado — even when the team carried three catchers — that it’s almost a moot point. Baker has shown an affinity for rookie Corey Julks, who collected two more hits on Tuesday while starting in left field. Julks still boasts a .693 OPS, .282 on-base percentage and a 28.1 percent strikeout rate, but in a far larger sample size than Diaz has been allowed to have. Julks can play left field, too — perhaps the one interchangeable position the Astros have. José Abreu’s continued decline does invite wonder whether Diaz could see more time at first base, but Baker has been reluctant to bench Abreu even as his struggles deepen. “If you look on the back of Abreu’s (baseball) card, it’s over an .800 OPS for his career. Those are all positive things, but the reality is, he’s struggling this year,” Brown said of the first baseman with a .532 OPS. “I think Dusty worked Yainer in the other day to give him a little bit of a day off, a little bit of a break. I think that’s a good thing and so we’ll see where it goes from here. It’s Dusty’s call.”
So Hunter Brown 2.62 ERA with Diaz 4-2 1 HR 4.78 ERA with Maldy 3-3 5 HR (2 dominant starts against hapless Oakland or these numbers would likely be further skewed) They have consistently given Diaz our worst pitchers. Urquidy and Brown at the beginning, until they realized brown wasn't one of our worst then they took him away. Now save for one start with Javier he has exclusively caught France,Bielak and Blanco. Despite consistently catching our worst starters his ERA and the team record is better. I'm not saying Diaz is some expert game caller, Brown could struggle if he gets to catch him next time. But this games calling mastery that Maldonado provides has as usual not manifested itself in any actual results.
Start Diaz at 1st and DH Abteu, if you're worried about only carrying 2 catchers. It's criminal that Diaz sat after having a 4 hit game the night before.
Reading between the lines: The Astros GM does not believe he has the power at this time to force Dusty to play the best players. It isn't Brown's fault the Astros are playing without Diaz and one of Meyers and McCormick most days. Based on Brown commenting on Diaz multiple times, I think he sees Diaz on the bench more of a concern than Julks playing over Meyers/Chas a lot. Though, Brown could just want Diaz at DH and Alvarez in left more.
This was also my perception of Browns comments. Basically “I think it’s a problem that Diaz isn’t playing more, but I don’t make out the lineup card.” One thing that leads me to question is the thinking behind calling up Kessinger. I’m assuming Brown just felt like Altuve’s injury made it a requirement to add an infielder, but he had to have known that would lead to even less time for Diaz (although he may have figured that it doesn’t matter, since Baker isn’t playing him at 1B/DH anyway). One thing I think shouldn’t be lost in this discussion is that Maldonado has shown he will be petulant about ceding playing time to a better hitter. So while the buck apparently stops with Baker, Bakers decisions are likely influenced by Maldonado’s behavior and how it might impact the clubhouse culture. I think that is a real problem and one of the main reasons I hope this is Maldonado’s last year with Houston.
It’s impossible to say man. You can’t overstate it. And you can’t look at numbers. And you can’t believe your lying eyes. You just have to understand that you are wrong and they are right. Even though there was absolutely zero demand for him 4 years ago when he was a better player then he is now.
I don't think it's just Dusty and Maldy. I have zero doubt Framber and Javier have preferences as well. Considering the overall team success that the team has had with Maldy (and possibility the players believe Maldy's offensive suckitude wasn't a huge detriment), I wouldn't be surprised if there are no players banging the drum for Diaz to get more playing time. Think the hope has to be one way or another, Dusty and Maldy both retire at the end of the year. New manager, new primary catcher.
