If we could pry away Craig Counsell, that would be my first choice. However, I think he ultimately stays with Milwaukee and is merely leveraging a higher pay.
Yeah Yuli was bad last year and there was a reason they didn’t resign him. More that in baseball 1 bad player isn’t the difference. Mike Trout hasn’t gotten the Angels to the playoffs and as bad as Yuli was the Astros won 106 games with him. Injuries and roster construction issues that were exposed by those injuries are the biggest difference between the Astros last year and this year.
Good list. I think Abreu remaining in the middle of the lineup all season has been the most harmful, and frustrating. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one dismayed to see Kirby miss the strike zone to go 3-0 on Tucker in the 1st last night. We all knew the walk was coming. I wouldn’t have even bothered to throw one pitch to Tucker if I were managing. At first I was happy Yordan moved the runners, then I dreaded the open base. It was the 1st inning, 1 out and bases loaded, and it felt like the Astros had already pissed away a great opportunity. And it’s been this way since the first month of the season. I’m not sure how the guy who gets the most loyalty of anyone on the team is the new face who’s never even proven himself worthy of a roster spot. Frustrating is an understatement.
But is that a reflection on 1) pitching (injuries) [McCullers, Luis Garcia, Urquidy] 2) installing a pitch clock which clearly troubled Christian Javier 3) no more defensive shifts 4) wider bases and capped number of pick off tosses. Just curious? Have other teams seen an uptick in opponent stats? A difference between one season and the next could be rule changes as well.
Damn I really hope this MF stays in Arizona after that last game... Damn I really wish JimmyCrackcorn points to him and say: let me take a look at your hat, take off your jersey... [throws in trash, lights match, drops match in trash]... hey the key WONT be under the mat at the clubhouse-- so give me a correct forwarding address so we can box/send your stuff to you. World Series champs, 7-time ALCS ownership, ALDS bagged postseason appearances or not, Houston still needs a parade & celebration in the streets as a ThanksDustysGone homage/tribute.
Defending Dusty bc he won a World Series is like defending Tim Poops after he made it to the World Series after Hunsicker left.
It is due to the change in philosophy regarding saber-metrics and the role it plays in the preparation of the Astros for each game and each decision made. Great team defense has nothing to do with pitching injuries or clocks, the restrictions on shifts or the size of the bases. Those things effect all teams alike. The Astros have gone from elite defense to middle of the pack independent of others teams.
I respectfully disagree. When your #3,#4,#5 pitchers go down with injuries you are forced to use probably minor league pitchers who tend to get rocked. The old, "hit it where they ain't." It's easier to hit it where they ain't vs minor league prospect while at the MLB level. The shift played a big part of that elite defense as analytics helped position players accordingly which went a long way. You rarely saw teams punch it the other way when only a first baseman or third baseman where covering an entire side of the diamond. Even though it was there every time. Astros used the shift more than any other team in either conference. The numbers are going to be skewed one way or another accordingly.
I'm fairly sure that is no longer allowed after changes in the MLBPA. It's one or the other now...I think.
