I was really excited about the lineup change at the start of the season but it's clearly not working. Let's tweak it and get Bregman back to 2 and drop down Tuck and Alvarez. I hate to use the term overused for a guy like Hader, but some of the non-save opportunities over the first week, he didn't need to pitch, this was the night he was brought in for and it blew up in our faces, he just didn't have "it". The base running last night was horrendous and the mental errors on the base path were bizarro world. We are 1-5 but we have a long way to go but we are definitely in a hole that we need to start climbing out of. I am a little surprised about Bregman, he is in a contract year and he has yet to show up..........I have no confidence in Abreau at first base, we cant wait until the second half for him to start earning his keep, I was happy when we signed him but now I have buyer's remorse. it happens but dam he dropped off big time
Yes. Yes it does. I think I am taking a break from watching these guys tonight. They will win or lose just fine without me for a game. Been a rough start to the year.
This first week has not been what I expected at all. Quite the opposite. I was a expecting shaky starting pitching, great offense, and a stellar bullpen. Instead we got a no hitter from our minor league guy, great outings from everyone except for the first game, 4 losses attributed to the 3 of best relief pitcher over the last 3 years, and anemic offense. Even within the bad offense, we have black holes with Alvarez, Bregman, and Abreu. The good news is there isn't anything that shouldn't correct itself with a little time. The bullpen isn't going to stay horrible, and the batters are going to be better, especially Alvarez.
I still don't understand that the Blue Jays had a string of right-handed batters, so why not just let Pressly come back for the 9th. They weren't going to PH for Vlad Jr, Bichette, or Turner.
This is wrong, you drop Bregman down in the lineup until he starts heating up. He should be batting 6th or 7th.
That too. But Espada's general mindset entering the game should've been 'Hader is unavailable'. Yesterday was his 4th game in 6 days. Now he's had two "overworked" appearances, both of which he surrendered runs, and it stems from his unnecessary appearance Game 3 vs NYY where he pitched with a one run deficit. Three bad decisions from Joe regarding Hader in less than a week, his first week at the helm. Dude needs to open his eyes a little more. Hope Javier can give 6 IP 2 runs and the offense scores 4+ today.
They should be 4-2 or 3-3 with last night’s game just being a tough luck scenario. Pitching Hader there was the right move, as was pinch running Meyers. But gaffes (Altuve’s and Meyers’s) were just instances of “**** happens”. If Bryan Abreu hadn’t been suspended and with normal luck, they’d have won the Yankees series. The only legit concern thus far is Jose Abreu (at his age, decline can be rapid and permanent, and he’s just not hitting the ball hard at all). Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman are not going to be this bad over the long haul. Hader and Bryan Abreu will also recover. The Astros might need a 6th/7th inning arm from outside at some point but that is months away and a lot would have to go wrong (Montero continuing to suck, Garcia/McCullers not getting healthy, add’l unforeseen injuries/slumps). Bad luck can sabotage a season early on if it’s severe enough; the Astros are not there but they are probably 2-3 more weeks of this away from having to have a sense of urgency. All that said, I think it would be cool if moving forward Jim Crane let somebody else handle free agent signings.
Hader was used 3 of the 4 games against the Yankees. He didn't have to pitch at least 1 of the 2 games, or both games. It would of been great for Pressly to finish the game, rest for Hader would be a proper response. And it would of been great morale booster for Pressly.
To me the two biggest questions entering this season were whether Framber and Javier were going to be the top of the rotation anchors we hoped they would be (and to be fair Framber was for the first half of the season) last season, and their performance so far has been very positive. Those two had to be right for this season to be a success and they seem to be quite right. Indeed, the picture on the starting pitching front looks much brighter today than it did a month ago and that is a front that is much more difficult to address via trade than the final 1-2 spots in the pen. What if Blanco really is a MORP now with his God tier changeup? That would potentially give the Astros NINE MLB caliber starting pitchers to end the season. What do they do with that?
It eats innings, keeps starters fresh, prevents an overworked bullpen, saves prospects, and adds prospects. Hard to anticipate nine starters all being healthy, but having that many guys who can pitch extended innings prevents pushing starters from going "that extra inning" because there's long guys in the bullpen who can go 2-4 innings. It prevents Hader from pitching 4 games in 6 days. Pressly was abused last year. It prevents the team from being desperate at the trade deadline for more pitching. It enables the team to perhaps grab a bat at the deadline. Astros are looking excellent pitching-wise if guys get/are healthy. They gotta get healthy first though.
Abreu was hitting well during spring training and he always starts out slow so I'm still optimistic, but not as much as prior years. Nobody beats father time over the long hall. At least I feel that Verlander can take his time coming back. When Lance and Garcia come back we can fortify our bullpen by moving one of our starters there or by trading one of them for some help. A solid starter should get a great BP arm and a decent prospect.
Baseball is weird in small samples, we've only been outscored by one run, team would very easily be 4-2 right now. My only real concern was the pen beyond the big 3, and I maintain that concern. However 1-5 makes things look way worse than they have been performance wise.
It's 6 games, people. Less than 4% of the season. If they win 2 in a row they have the same record as last year after 8 games. It's a lucky start, but there are plenty of reasons for optimism. The SP is statistically the best in MLB so far w/ 4 important pitchers injured. 5 starters have an OPS of over 800 and none are Yordan or Bregman who everyone knows will hit. Abreu, Pressly, and Hader have had tough starts but all have the track record that points to this just being a small sample bad start and they will be fine.
