Captain Obvious here, it's going to be difficult to win the division if you can't win a series on the road against sub .500 teams. Has it really been since June they've won a road series? I know they're better than this but hoping that it's not becoming mental for them.
Really? The ONLY explanation? That's strange, given that through 100+ games, they are leading their division despite sucking on the road.
Wow. It was like yesterday when Rocket Clutch Fans complained about the Rockets all the way to the western conference finals...Deja Vu?
I said difficult not impossible. The 1987 Twins won the World Series yet only had 29 regular season road victories. I'm not expecting road warriors but it would be helpful if the could recapture the magic from earlier in the year. Pennant races are nice and all but I'd rather they get back to the big cushion they had earlier in the year.
The Rockets weren't losing consistently to sub.500 teams on the road. I think it's ok to be concerned. This isn't wailing and gnashing of teeth just want them to get whatever road monkey they have off their back. Even tonight they were having concentration lapses you rarely see from them. Based on the numbers in run differential, they are better than their record so hopefully they start winning on the road like they did in April.
Okay, after spewing venom for a while because we keep losing to the ****ing RANGERS, I've decided that this is learning experience that the baseball gods are providing us. See, in the past we put some small measure of extra importance on beating those assholes from Arlington because of that ridiculous silver boot. But the baseball gods are trying to explain to us that the silver boot is stupid as hell. So we keep losing to the Rangers so they get the boot, but we get the division, and we are reminded of what is REALLY important (I recognize that beating the Rangers helps in the goal of winning the division, but I still think we take it). At least I hope that's it because I can't stand watching these entitled prick monsters beat us over and over.
How bad is Conger catching? Well, lets see the 4 pitchers where Conger has catch and compared ERA with Castro. Feldman: Vs CAstro 3.97 VS Conger 5.52 McHugh vs Castro 4.20 vs Conger .446 K vs Castro 2.56 vs Conger 2.12 McCullers vs Castro 3.48 vs Conger 2.76 When Feldman pitches, catcher should be Castro, with the other 4, not a major difference or Conger has the advantage. So Hinch, FREE CONGERRRRRRRRRR Like a great baseball movie once said "LET THEM PLAY" Well, let the Conger play more, pleaseeeeeeee
Angels road record: 23-28 Mets road record: 19-32 Dodgers road record: 23-28 Blue Jays road record: 22-31 All of these teams would be in the playoffs if it started today. I know many in this thread haven't followed baseball before this season (or it at least seems that way), but it isn't uncommon for good baseball teams to struggle on the road.
Look at those numbers and what can you say??? Mets, extremely pitching oriented, and they are in a pitcher's ballpark. Dodgers, same as above. Blue Jays, just the opposite, great hitting ballclub in a great hitter's ballpark. Now, i don't think people here are saying WE DONT MAKE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS. I think what we are saying is we suck on the road and great at home, and you know what? All of them are right because that is the TRUTH. Now, we better play better on the road because the Yankees and Royals have better records than us, meaning, we are going on the road before we get to the World Series
I would say this is actually not all that common, and speaks volumes to the increased overall parity in baseball now. Most years don't feature much drastic home/road splits amongst playoff teams... and none of those above teams feature a home environment that is markedly unfair or extremely different from the road (unlike Colorado, or even Minnesota back in the homerdome). The Astros are losing a lot of these road games in very close fashion... and for several of them, I can't really say they've gotten "beat" (Rather they've beaten themselves)... so part of it could be a mental block for some of the players when they're away from the friendly confines, some of it could just be chance/luck/randomness, and some of it could be related to the youth of this team and the sometimes increased pressure from playing in a hostile environment (although baseball road games are rarely comparable to other sports road games.... unless you're talking about MMP in the playoffs). They did look a helluva lot comfortable on the road early in the year... when there were little expectations, not much previous success, and they were just going out playing loose and having fun.
Yeah, early in the season I posted their starkly contrasting H/R splits and said "well, it's got to even out at some point". This is not what I had in mind.
I think this is a huge part of it. With the exception of a handful of vets, nobody on this team has ever played meaningful road games. It's one of those unquantifiable intangible things, but young teams need to "learn how to win on the road".
I'll agree here. Last night, with two outs and Altuve up, the crowd was going nuts and it struck me that these guys haven't really been in any high-pressure situations like that with a ballpark full (or partially full - Arlington) of fans ready to explode. I normally have all the faith in the world in Altuve, but because of this I was not surprised when he got overmatched. While I pointed out the other poor records earlier, I do agree that we must get better away from home if we want to seriously contend.
