First time I've seen him make a plus defensive play. The last 2 or 3 times I've seen him throw to 2nd, he was either way off or way short. He threw one to 2nd that was about 10 feet wide of the base and in the dirt.
Baseball is a cruel sport. Pence was on cloud 9 a few weeks ago but he seems to have been unable to do anything well since then. Hitting slump/unclutch hitting, defensive miscues, even got caught stealing for the first time.
RIGHT NOW...Bourn or BJ upton??? I'm pretty objective...i'll say Bourn. Upton has a TON of potential but until he shows me maturity, I wouldn't trust him.
If you are just talking about this season and maybe next, I'd probably learn toward Bourn. Beyond that, Upton for obvious reasons.
I hope the Astros move Barmes before this deadline. He's having a career season hitting right now to go with his typically good defense. Given his age, his value will likely never be higher. For his career, he's a signficantly below average hitter, and that's just among shortstops. Even hitting at Coors, his OPS was subpar for his position. If you dig deeper and look at OPS+ and wOBA and stuff, it gets even worse. His defense will inevitably decline as well as he approaches his mid-30s. Not moving him would be disappointing because there has to be some real interest.
Altuve with 2 consecutive GIDPs. He's swinging away freely right now but I think his plate discipline will show through eventually. His BB% dropped markedly over the last 2 seasons but I think he just sees the ball so well that he goes after a lot of pitches. I think he'll learn to lay off certain pitches as he adjusts and realizes that he can't do as much with them at this level.
^^ To say the least... incredible considering Bourn has always had his struggles with LHP. On Wandy, scouts may actually be really impressed with what they've seen from him tonight. Even without the defensive mistakes, his command wasn't great early and he was making mental errors. Having said that, he battled through all those issues and seems to have returned to form. One of the knocks on Wandy in the past was that he crumbled under pressure. That's long been forgotten but this still reinforces how much stronger mentally he is than several years ago.
Really great turnaround from Lee but it don't mean squat unless we move him for something at some point. By next season, all he'll be doing is taking a spot from a younger player who needs his reps.
Wandy totally dialed in now... beautiful to watch who he's become and where he came from. I think this outing seals the deal for a number of interested parties. Probably his last inning as an Astro as we speak. Good luck wherever you land, Wandy.
