It all comes down to the same issues that the organization was worried about years ago. He lacks focus, he lacks attention to detail and he isn't a tactician of the game like some others were. The concern to his detractors was that this would do him in. However, he is sharp, I have heard he has a very good memory (which helps him behind the plate with handling pitchers) and he also is likeable. So far, those traits coupled with his natural ability with the bat have been good enough to secure him the starting job without a desire to replace him. With him you take the bad with the good. The hope is that overtime, he makes adjustments both in the box and behind the plate with experience and age. The fact that he is smart and not a bad guy makes it a decent bet. I think that the Astros coaching staff needs a couple of guys that are more detail oriented. They don't need to go over the top like Showalter or Jimy Williams where the players are miserable, but I have seen an erosion or lack of attention in some things - the running game on offense and defense is one area, running the bases on base hits is another --- and people criticized him for it, but Framber was right on the positioning not being good enough consistently. Espada I am sure if asked in private would point to all of the injuries and new guys coming up and down as a big reason why the team is not maximizing- and I think there is some truth to that, but if I were Brown or even Crane, I personally would want a bench coach brought in or another couple coaches added that are sticklers for details.
What’s really crazy is that if this team goes on to win 90 games, what could they have done if they’d had everyone healthy all year and not made so many mistakes on the field (baserunning on offense and defense, etc.)? This could have easily been a 100+ win team imho. They probably win 95+ games if JUST Yordan and Arrighetti had been healthy all year.
Martin Maldonado needs to accept that his body is finished and he cannot play anymore -- once he does that, he will make an excellent teacher.
I completely agree - it isn't just that the Astros have done this without their stars, but they essentially had the entire starting rotation outside of their top 2 and all of their pitching depth gutted -- and they have somehow found a way to make due without even adding pitching at the deadline. Losing Framber is going to hurt a lot next year, but the Astros are in very good shape overall for next season. The line up next year potentially will be filthy if Yordan and Paredes are healthy.
I know he ain’t coming back this year, but man Parades gave us fantastic ABs. If he were to miraculously come back this year, our lineup would be so stacked.
Half of me wants them to have Smith transition to CF this offseason to get the lineup filled out: SS Pena LF Altuve 2B Paredes DH Alvarez 3B Correa 1B Walker RF Sanchez C Diaz CF Smith That would be potentially ugly on defense but that lineup is STACKED. They’d have enough depth/defense on the bench (Dubon, Urias, Meyers) to mitigate the downside. I’m excited for next season for sure.
You aren't the only one - there were discussions earlier this year within the Astros about the possibility of seeing if Smith can move to CF for 2026. With his second half struggles, I don't know if they will quash that, but it was something they were very serious about. Personally I think a lot of the struggles i in the second have for Smith are because he has never played more than 90 games in a season before. I would love that line up -
Even crazier is that none of those hitters would be a pending free agent; they’re all under control thru at least 2027. It would be reasonable for them to package up Matthews and Melton (and maybe Arrighetti) for a controllable ToR SP like Edward Cabrera, Mackenzie Gore, Drew Rasmussen, or Joe Ryan.
