On top of what Nick mentioned…some of this, imo, also has to do with the fact that we've gone through this ritual with Carter before, while we are still getting acclimated to Gattis. The jury is still out on Gattis, I think, while Carter is the same crap over and over again.
I just don't understand how somebody can have that perspective. Just because it didn't happen in Houston doesn't mean it didn't happen. Cater had 3 seasons prior to this year, Gattis had 2. Their production in those years were basically identical. Carter strikes out, while Gattis makes very poor contact to get his outs, but they both get end up with similar results. Utimately I think both guys will get their numbers back to where they've been, so you have to be patient, but they are sucking equally right now.
With each passing game, Carter is going to have to get that much hotter to match (or exceed) what he did last year. The chances for that amazing streak being a given is getting less and less. He actually ended last year slumping... so this goes just beyond this year. Is there more of a book out on him now? Did the mistakes people were making to him during his hot streak get fixed? Or is he just what he is... a supremely flawed/streaky player who's lows may never justify the highs. Last year's team that wasn't going anywhere could tolerate this sort of slump... teams that have a golden opportunity to run away with the division need to take advantage of that and maximize any weaker areas (and Carter's inconsistency is one of them).
Our top two run producers On a team wildly over achieving anything we expected Are hated by many here
If you look at runs created per game, springer and Rasmus are the leaders. Nobody "hates" anybody here... But right now, the Astros are winning more despite Carter/Gattis not because of them.
yeah--lately is the key. Carter and especially Gattis have been key to wins. But Gattis was key to early wins--pre-Springer going bonkers (hopefully his true self), pre-Correa, pre-McCullers
Just watched the last couple of innings. A normally competent 1Bman with normal reflexes playing at a normal depth with 2 outs catches that little flare every time. I have no idea why Carter was playing in on the dirt.
Not sure what you mean here…Gattis played well last season. He's having the worst season of his career. If he could perform anything like last season, I'd jump all over that. So again, we've gone through the up and down routine with Carter…we know exactly what to expect from him. We haven't had that with Gattis (in Houston or elsewhere)…plus, it really matters more what he does in Houston, because as fans, that's what we are witnessing on a daily basis. I don't really care about final numbers. I care about consistency. For example…we outscored the Angels by 8 runs in the 3 game series…from an offensive output point, you'd think we dominated. Yet, we lost 2 out of 3. Why? Because we were inconsistent. We averaged 6 runs a game, almost. Imagine if just scored 5 runs each game…we would have swept the Angels. Ultimately, you need constancy in this game to win. The ups and downs we face with Carter really do us no good, even if he ends with "respectable" numbers. I'd rather have someone who gets those numbers on a consistent basis…because just as I showed you in my example, you ultimately play at a higher level when there are more constants. Same thing with income…would you rather make 5k one month and 15k the following month…or 10k every month? At the end, you have the same yearly income, but the constant 10k will ultimately be more beneficial if you know how to spend your money. Carter is what he is…Gattis is expected to be better than he has shown. Plus, as of late, Gattis isn't a liability on the field, so he has that going for him.
There is no doubt that you understand baseball well I don't think you understand how this team was built though
Gattis and Carter are both playing poorly, and both are underperforming past results, but only Carter is being blamed.
I agree I just think it is crazy for people to all of the sudden think Carter or Gattis or Valbuena are gonna turn into consistent everyday hitters And Luhnow knows this and knew it when he got them He needs 1 of them to be hot at all times. That in addition to the better overall bats of Springer and Correa and hopefully Altuve (especially in the overall plan) makes for a team that will be top 5 in offense That was his plan, and it's working well No matter how many more games we win, some people just won't like it because that is not how they have always been told baseball is supposed to be
I do understand... and they're not doing what was "expected" of them right now. It would be one thing for them to be all mirroring Valbuena... but they're not. I can take a bunch of Valbuena's to some degree (even more-so since Valbuena actually plays quality defense). They're not going to "wait" on these guys to magically have a switch click forever... season's approaching the halfway point. Definitely no longer early. Carter started turning it around on 7/1 last year... can he do it again? There is no analytical reason to say he will (or won't).
Carter is technically costing more runs with his defense along with his lack of production at the plate... but if you want to take them both down together, fine. Between the two, I'd actually put Carter at the DH.
Even Luhnow will agree that Carter and Gattis are struggling immensely right now. They're not performing at their career average in the area that they're "expected" to be good at (power). The team is playing about .500 baseball, which is what is "expected" of them the rest of the way by fangraphs based on current "expected" production. Since that implies that Carter/Gattis magically get hot, I do have a fear that if it doesn't happen... this team will start to suffer in the W/L column.
If Gattis was catching I would agree with you, but I'm not gonna blame Carter because he is apparently less terrible defensively than Gattis. I really don't like either player. They both have no value aside from the occasional ability to get into one. But both of them are here now, and both of them have multiple seasons of results to suggest they are likely gonna hit better between now and the end of the year. Dumping them would be a bad idea at this point unless we are replacing them with something proven. Them getting hot wouldn't be "magical", it would be water finding it's level based on past results. On July 1st last year Carter had a .662 OPS, he would proceed to hit 23 HR in the next 52 games. I'm really just sick of the "god Carter is terrible" after every out as though he has been this teams biggest liability.
Considering that he hasn't given him a single game at 1st halfway through the season, I'm going to go ahead and read between the lines and trust Hinch's judgment on Gattis' 1B capabilities. I suspect that we're witnessing the lesser of two evils by a landslide.
I know most in here like advanced stats and don't like regular baseball stats But the two you say "are not" lead the team in driving in runs they aren't for the baseball purists for sure, but Luhnows formula has worked to this point, and I see no reason to think it won't continue to
I'm saying they are not leading the team in creating runs.... which is a more accurate assessment of their actual production in the lineup. What would you say both Chris Carter and Evan Gattis are doing well right now?
