Hader followed by Framber. My expectations either weren’t magnificently high for the rest in the 1st place or I’m not surprised that their age is showing. Would’ve hoped for more out of Diaz than they’ve been given, and someone pointed out how mediocre Bergman’s been “in a contract year” but it’s hard to be surprised by Bregman since his performance is consistent w/ past several years. When Javier was healthy he was far from what you would’ve hoped
Diaz is wild. You must have a bias to dislike the guy. 61 votes and not a single vote for Diaz. Hunter Brown same thing, he's better than he was last year, as he never got on track last season. He is poised to be a solid starter the second half of the season.
Hader/GM Brown - I link these 2 together as this was a horrendous decision to forego getting a quality starter vs disrupting the chemistry of the back end of the bullpen. An era over 3.60 for Abreu/Pressly/Hader is a big part leading to the 2nd pick in my list. Espada - 14-26 in close games, you know the ones he's being paid to win. Jose Abreu - is obvious but he's no longer on the team. But we have averaged 5.9 runs per game and a 18-6 record since his exit. Thank God we finally pulled the trigger, about a month too late, but oh well (see GM Brown above). Chas has been hurt essentially derailing his season. Framber is 8-5 with a 3.66 era. I think he's going to get back on track in the second half of the season to what we've seen the last 3 years. Somewhat disappointing is how I would describe it. Pressly same boat as Framber, I expect a great second half.
Were you expecting a 130-point drop in OPS ?? I ranked him 7th on the disappointment list, not anywhere near the top. Nobody voted for him because there’s plenty other valid choices.
Hader has one blown save on the season. The bullpen has been very good since that early stretch of the season where the big 3 were terrible. Pressly hasn't given up a run in a month. During that time he has more strikeouts than base runners. I think he's settled into being the setup guy again. Jose Abreu has to be #1, but if you don't include him, it gets harder. I'd go: 1) Verlander - He's been mediocre when healthy 2) Framber - He's looked like a #4 starter this year, but at least he's healthy, which is only reason he's behind Verlander 3) Chas - He'd be #1 if it wasn't for him being a part-time player. If he played everyday and was still struggling this bad, ugh.
Man you're a stats guy and I mean this as a good thing. If the Stros are going to make the playoffs most likely Brown will have to finish with 170 innings pitched and und under a 4.00 ERA.
YES... depending on how bad the suckage is. Nobody expects a guy like Maldonado to hit 700 OPS --- but if serves a 400, then YES, that's a disappointment. ____ Furthermore, I don't understand all the Framber hate. He only has FOUR starts (out of 17) this season where he surrendered more than 3 ER. If he hadn't gone rouge that one inning vs LAA, his ERA would be ~1.25 lower and his record would be 9-4 instead of 8-5. He'd be an All-Star. He is at worst, a legit #2 starter. He pitched injured the entire 2nd half of last season. He's a workhorse -- but I still put him on the list of Astros pitchers who need load management. The entire rotation needs skipped-starts, 85 PC games, and/or a 6-man rotation these final couple months of the season. Hopefully Bloss and Garcia (and JV at some point) can perform because they can help enable what is likely necessary.
The Astros didn’t think they were their two best prospects… but both are currently top 50-100 in a lot of commercial publications. Mets are paying half of his salary as well. Still I agree with you - you would want more out of him, but at this point I just want him healthy for the playoffs. I think he is close to the end, his body seems to be breaking down and his stuff hasn’t been the same. That option won’t vest, Mets would have paid half if it did vest - but right now Astros may actually be happy it won’t vest. It is hard to get upset at someone as old and as accomplished as Justin, but I’ll admit I was hoping for more.
Agreed overall, except your #2 is too easy an answer, because it's multiple players. The thesis is individual guys. A similar ineligible answer would be "injuries". YEAH, of course that's an easy factor to propose. I should have had more than 2 votes on the poll.
