He couldn't play back to backs or something like that... 16 games and 64 plate appearances in Sugar Land.
Fans are rarely rational. When things are going well, they assume that's the norm; when things are not going well, they want everyone fired. The Astros almost certainly overperformed for much of this season. That was not normal. What's happening now is the inevitable regression. They have too many players hurt/underperforming and they can't cover it up as easily - especially with Framber in a full-blown meltdown. If we were to list the keys to that overperformance... Hader might crack the top 5? Pena, Paredes, Meyers, Framber, Brown, the Astros' ability to wring decent starts out of AAAA arms, Hader... So, no - I do not believe Hader's injury did anything beyond add yet another obstacle to their season. It's just a convenient milestone for angry fans to blame the manager because, again, when things are going bad, they want everyone fired.
I agree with your overall point, but I think it’s interesting to look at whether or not the Astros have actually overperformed, even in the context of all the injuries. Grouping players who have >50pa or 20ip relative to expectations going into the season, ignoring time missed due to injury: Overperform: Pena, Paredes, Meyers, Caratini, Dubon, Correa, Brown, Abreu, Okert, Walter, King, Sousa, Alexander Push: Altuve, Smith, Trammell, Dezenzo, Short, Framber, Gusto, Gordon, Hader, Blanco, Ort, Wesneski Underperform: Diaz, Walker, Rodgers, Alvarez, McCormick, Hummel, Sanchez, Melton, McCullers, Dubin, Arrighetti I think Diaz and Walker (and Yordan before he went on the IL) have dragged down the offense immensely relative to expectations, to the point that it cancels out the hitters who have exceeded expectations. Any overall over performance has really come from the pitching side, where Walter, Alexander and the depth relievers (King, Sousa, Okert) have been a godsend and probably more than outweigh the disappointment from McCullers and Arrighetti.
i play a wicked cover of this…. saw him on his solo tour at Stubbs (Austin), with Audioslave (Bayou Music Center) & his solo acoustic shows at Moody Theater (Austin) & Cullen Performance Hall (Houston)
A lot of the players you listed wouldn't be on other playoff team's roster (or this roster, if others were not injured).... that by definition is "over performing"
I was only comparing how the player would be expected to play, not if they were expected to play. I don’t consider a guy who comes up and sucks as “over performing” just because he benefitted from a rash of injuries to players ahead of him on the depth chart.
Humor implying that the only way to fit in with this team is an IL stint. Granted, it appears I missed the mark.
I mean, we gave up absolutley nothing of value for the guys we got,, and they all have plenty of club control left, so yeah, no need to stand pat over what we did. I'm glad we didn't trade real stuff for rentals though.
I'm just replying to whether or not "expectations going into the season" really holds for guys who have no business being on the MLB roster... The fact that the Gordons/Walters/Short/Walter/Alexander... even Trammell (you forgot Hummel!) even get on the active roster, let alone get significant playing time... and this team is still in first place... screams overachieving. Agreed on Diaz/Walker. If either were at their career norms or consistent, the offense would still be serviceable (and its been ok when they are hitting well, regardless of no Yordan, Pena, etc.). They're really going to have to figure out something with Diaz. Send him to the Pena school of improved tendencies at the plate.
Love the concept. A couple points of disagreement: Overperform I'd remove Paredes. He was an all star last year. He is really good. He had a bad stint with the Cubs but he's just about what you'd expect- which is really good. Caratini- I think he's going to settle around 100 OPS+ He was hot for a while but cooled back down- I think that would have been a reasonable expectation. ****, I guess that's it. Good list. I expect from here on out Diaz, Sanchez and Arrighetti to move up to push. If that happens we are probably pretty good for the playoffs. I hope Alvarez does.
True. Soon we might be adding Sanchez to that list. Altuve has been great but probably overused and I’m hoping he doesn’t fade down the stretch because of it.
I just saw that McCullers is being called up to start tomorrow. I also noticed that Luis Garcia was sent on rehab 8/1, which means he can be kept on rehab in the minors until 8/31, one day before rosters expand, so my guess is he will be kept in the AAA rotation until then. France was returned from rehab, which basically means they didn’t want to let that 30 day rehab clock run out because they didn’t want to option him and he wasn’t pitching well enough to be called up, so my guess for him is he will just be stashed on the IL for the next 2-3 weeks then be sent out on a new rehab assignment in September to serve as minor league depth without using an option year; I do not expect him to pitch for the Astros this season.
