No. We have tons of hitting, inconsistent as it is. We need to shore up the rotation if we want to make noise in the playoffs.
The Astros have 4 guys on the roster that have been giving us nothing over the last 2 weeks. Gonzalez, Valbuena, Altuve and Marisnick are all in extended slumps. When you throw in Springer and Gattis going into mini slumps, it's leaves you with a completely impotent offense. Altuve has been pressing, but he got some hits today and I'm not too concerned. Valbuena has a .175 BABIP, so some positive equalization is due from him. Gonzalez is obviously just a Correa placeholder, and that issue has been discussed to death. Marisnick has been abysmal for a while now. While his D is stellar, you can only tolerate so much offensive inadequacy. He's not just hitting into tough luck either, he's been striking out at a 40% clip during this stretch. He has shown stretches of excellence, so it's hard to get a gauge on where his true level is. If Marisnick can't stabilize at a tolerable level, he will have to be removed from the starting spot. Tucker was taking AB's away, but now he has gone into a bad slump as well. The 3rd OF may need to be addressed if one of them can't lay claim.
Just how terrible is Gattis in LF? It would solve the Gattis/Singleton/Carter issue. Maybe at least at home where LF is smaller?
By all accounts he's pretty freaking terrible, probably the worst of the 3. Singleton played some LF in the minors, I think he may be less awful than Gattis out there. Having any of the 3 in the outfield isn't really a desireable option, but if Tucker or Marisnick can't produce something like that may be necessary to get bats in the lineup. When Lowrie comes back, I imagine he would also be an option.
I would also rather Gattis stay at DH to stay off of his feet. His issue has always been health. We need his bat, if him staying at DH means he stays healthy a full season, that is what he needs to do.
Good moment to give Tucker a day off, maybe a couple of days and see what Marisnick and Rasmus do. That is the great thing about competition, now they both know they need to produce because they have a rookie named Tucker THAT WILL TAKE AT BATS from them if they dont hit. Lets see what they do now, the manager is giving them the opportunity, hope they are able to produce.
I love that RA Dickey's warm-up song is the GOT theme. He's in for a rough afternoon. We've killed him the last two years IIRC. I expect numerous SBs and HRs.
Unfortunately, in this lineup, he's the only guy with the ability to get on base (and then steal bases)... and as I type that, he gets thrown out trying to steal 2nd. But at the least, he still gets on base... without him in this lineup, it could be one of the league's worst offenses' overall.
Well, there's nobody else on this current roster who has the ability to get on base consistently via walk, play elite defense, has speed, and has power. So yes, his replacement would not be as good. The Astros offense has been abysmal without him in the lineup the last 2 years.
