After all I've said about Meyers, he's really come up big when the Stros needed him the most. I doubt he can sustain this over a full season but I can always hope. Give Meyers his flowers.
I’m not saying Framber isn’t a great #2. I’m just saying there’s volatility with him. Even with Hunter Brown’s dominance, we are 13th in the MLB in ERA from our starters. I’ll feel good about the SP staff when Arrighetti is back…but how long is that going to be? Still don’t feel great about LMJ and I damn sure don’t think Gordon is the answer.
Arrighetti will back in about a month after his rehab. That will put LMJ back to SP5. I've also got faith that there will be a pitcher in the minors that will give the Stros a France type performance in the 2nd half if needed. Dana might make another Kikuchi type trade if there's a trade partner at a reasonable cost. I'm much more worried about the hitting. Dana really needs to spend the prospects to add a difference making bat. Right now I would trade off some pitching prospects for Wastburg or Henderson.
The rotation lost Wesneski for the year and that is a pretty big blow. He is an underrated pitcher. Arrighetti has been out too. I have some concern if someone else goes down but - I also think some of these other options like Gordon and Blaubaugh are fine with more offense. The Astros have to do something about being more competitive with holding on runners - and they need another hitter to extend the line up. I think Walker, Altuve and Alvarez will get better. Meyers and Pena may well go down some, but that is handled with another bat.
Astros are weighing and considering trading for a short term bat versus paying more for a guy with multiple years of team control. I grumbled last year the M’s got Arozerena so cheap.
Once again we got Brown scheduled for Wednesdsy on 5 days rest. Instead of his usual rest which allows him to pitch Tuesday and then the final game of a 4 game set at home vs Seattle on Sunday. Is Espada gonna have another late epiphany and forego the utter stupidity?
Good to know, I'm wondering what type of short term rentals are out there that could be difference makers at the deadline? Seems like Dana has good relationships with Toronto/St. Louis/Altlanta etc.. and of course the Cubs but they're short on pitching. Agreed, losing Weisnewski is a bigger loss than many might think it is. When you've got a 5th starter that can give you 6 innings of 3 run ball consistently that has a lot of value and it saves the bullpen. The bullpen being well rested has been the key to their succes IMHO.
Yeah, obviously I’m much more worried about the hitting as well. In fact, I’m not worried at all about our SP unless we have another injury. I’m just saying with our current hitting, you need all five guys in your rotation to be really good if you want a chance to consistently win. Fix the hitting and the rest of the team is definitely good enough to win.
It’s also a big loss because now trading Arrighetti for a controllable bat isn’t an option. Doesn’t seem like there are going to be a ton of teams selling and the pieces on the ones that are obviously are selling aren’t good. Not much on the Marlins, Pirates, Rockies or White Sox. The Rays probably would be willing as well but not much there either. Having Arrighetti available would expand the teams to contenders who need pitching and the Orioles.
Teams aren't going to juggle pitching rotations for matchups in May. Teams understand waaay better than fans that its a marathon and not a sprint. Brown's on a pace for a career high in innings - as he should be, but they aren't going to try to squeeze even more out of him.
His defense has looked pretty solid on the eye test to me. Not the greatest range, But he has sure hands and an accurate arm. Baseball reference has him at 0.6 dWAR — which actually matches his best full year output. Not sure if that’s something he’s put in work on. He’s done an incredible job basically replacing Breggy’s production and seems like he may even be heating up. Considering we also got what’s hopefully a cornerstone RF and rotation pitcher (whenever he’s back), that’s a pretty good haul for 1 year of Tucker.
