Caratini isn't great as a hitter, but he is underrated. He isn't amazing at anything but he has few real black holes as a hitter. He also is someone that is smart and has a history of taking advantage of where he hits in the line up. If he is sandwiched next to good bats, he adjusts his approach and has a lot of success. I know he wasn't the top choice for most people this year - that back backup with the M's can really crush the ball when he is healthy, but he is never healthy and is a catcher in name only - and that Rangers back up catcher/DH can hit too, but he benefitted from that line up and he isn't much of a reciever and really a DH. The good thing with Caratini is that he is very low maintenance, he is capable of starting long term if there is an injury, he will work with the pitchers and coaches really well - he will be very familiar with the pitching staff and what they need to be successful.
I agree - Singleton is very good at working a count and can draw a walk, but he still swings through a lot of strikes, he is slow and really limited positionally. I understand why people like him as a bat off the bench - but we need more versatility.
He (or trade for Higashioka) was my first choice. And me saying he's the 8th best hitter on this roster is mostly about spots 9-13 (and his very solid floor) than his own bat.
I haven't paid attention to Caratini, but his stats suggests he's about an average hitter versus RHPs and provides value defensively as a catcher. If that holds true for this season, I hope Espada gets both Diaz and Caratini in games versus RHPs a lot.
The good thing about Caratini is that he knows how to take a f**king walk and not be a complete chump auto out. It's a miracle our offense was as good as it was with 2 positions posting a sub 300 OBP.
I'd still consider J. D. for that extra 450 quality ABs as DH. But that's just me and liking clutch stats in game and season situations. He's really good against both LH and RH pitchers, even though he bats from the right. He played for $10M last year. 2B Jose Altuve 151 OPS+ 3B Alex Bregman 122 OPS+ LF Jose Alvarez* 170 OPS+ RF Kyle Tucker* 142 OPS+ DH J. D. Martinez 134 OPS+ CF Chas McCormick 130 OPS+ 1B Jose Abreu 87 OPS+ (130 OPS Lifetime) C1 Yainer Diaz 128 OPS+ SS Jeremy Pena 95 OPS+ C2 Victor Caratini# 95 OPS+ UT Maurecio Dubon 97 OPS+ IF Trey Cabbage* 49 OPS+ in 56 PA - Still a rookie OF Jake Meyers 86 OPS+ Defensive Specialist I could live with that Position Line-up I'd prefer Caratini rest his legs at 1B while resting Abreu at DH. Cabbage can fill in at 2nd and DH while Dubon covers SS and 3B. I thought about this several years ago. but I'd like to see some time for Alvarez at 1B. Most hate the idea because they consider Alvarez too fragile. I'd also like to see if Yuli is ready to come Home to Houston in a FO capacity. He just wasn't ready last year.
I think there’s a big opportunity for Cabbage to displace Singleton on the roster, and if he does, he could end up getting 400+ pa if he hits well.
I would like to see Diaz catch about 110-120 games this year and spend his off time resting and preparing for upcoming opponents. This will be his first season as the starting catcher and keeping him well prepared may be the difference between a successful or an unsuccessful season.
Yeo. Hopefully he is the 10th best bat (perfect world), but 8th seems possible. 9th most likely imo. Just for the hell of it: Yordan Altuve Tucker Bregman Diaz Chas Abreu Peña Caratini Meyers Dubon Who cares Who cares it’s almost perfect man- if Jake is your worst bat against LHP and you have a viable lefty platoon partner for him against RHP you literally run out a lineup with: 1 mvp 5 all star types 1 solid above average 2 little bit above average or dead ass average. That’s pretty incredible.
Considering only one catcher had the over last year in 120ish starts and two others could be considered 120ish starts, I'm guessing Diaz will be under 120ish.
Astros looking at adding more pitching… The Astros made a huge addition to their pitching staff recently by signing Josh Haderbut it doesn’t appear they are done. “I think our bullpen is pretty solid,” manager Dana Brown said yesterday, with video relayed by Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “We may be able to use one more there. But the pitching, if we get a starter, we could put one of the starters in the ‘pen. That would solve that problem. But I’m always in the market of saying ‘Hey, where can we find pitching? You know, where can we make it better?’ I think our rotation’s good enough to get back to the World Series right now but I’m always looking to improve pitching because I know how guys get hurt during the course of the year.” Snell, Montgomery and welp Trevor Bauer are probably the only three I’d consider an upgrade over the current rotation. Stanek is maybe the best reliever still on the market.
Regarding Bauer. He was on a podcast recently and he was basically begging for a team to sign him. He said he just wants to play and prove he's still one of the best . He claimed he would sign for a league minimum and earn his money based on incentives. Basically said he doesn't add value to the team, he's not making much. If he contributes and adds value, the incentives will pay what he deserves. League minimum is around $720,000. Is that worth the headache?
If he were to have a press conference and apologize for everything terrible and awful that he has done, SINCERELY And pledges to be a better human Then I think he would deserve a chance But that chance should never come from the Astros. But so far he is still claiming to be a victim and no remorse no accountability
