Yea we have done as well as anyone against top pitching And also, who are these Ace pitchers we are gonna face in the playoffs?? Outside of Price and Cueto, there aren't really many "great" pitchers on AL playoff teams this year (other than our own)
You could argue we are better against good pitching, King Felix, Greinke, Kershaw. It's the bad pitching that leaves you scratching your head.
So if i'm doing this right, this is really a historically good team I mean from April 18-May 3 we were 14-1 From May 13-20 we were 7-1 From June 14-23 we were 7-3 From June 28-July 3 we went 5-0 From July 19-August 2nd we were 11-4 From August 12-26 we were 10-4 Thats a total of 54-13!! A winning percentage of .805!! That is a pace to win 131 games!! Probably no chance we lose in the playoffs with results like those, right?? Thing about baseball is, it's the story of ultimate persistence. It isn't a one game a week thing like Football, where a bad streak defines your season. It's a six month endurance test, and to this point we are passing that test with relative ease. Funny thing is, this discussion about how we started great and are playing mediocre is happening when we have won 12 of our last 19, a pace that would get you 102 wins in a season. Our winning percentage in the second half is better than our winning percentage was in the first half. It's a long haul that determines your fate in baseball, teams with our starting pitching rarely miss out on the playoffs. It can happen, but it's not the norm
Yep, just like the last two games right. Nuno and Elias owned us. We have struggled to score 9 runs off those guys in 11.3 innings. We just can't get the job done against those guys on offense, especially with stupid Hinch trying to run the team, right?
Lets see: Blue Jays, Price and Estrada. Lets see Estrada's numbers 3.12 ERA and a whip of 1.082. Those are great numbers. Buehrle is having a very good year, ERA in the 3.50's with a whip of 1.181, again, very good numbers. If you have Price as 1, Estrada as 2 and Buehrle as 3, not bad at all. (Not saying better than us, only saying they are good) Lets see the Rangers (Hamels, Gallardo and Holland) Those are top 3 guys, very good. And of course, we know how Lewis is against us. Now the Royals (Cueto, Volquez and Ventura) Those 3 have very good stuff. Now, Royals is not what starters do, but what relievers do. Right now they have their closer struggling (maybe injured) and the 7 inning guy with chicken pops. Also Davis was injured, so they may be in some problem. Now, those 3 starters have good stuff, and we saw what they did against us in the series in KC, and yes, in 7 game series, we play 4 there. Now, remember, our struggles are vs very weak pitching, so guys with great stuff will dominate us, why? Because we have A LOT OF PLAYERS that have very low average against the fastball. Thats why i think we need to win with pitching and defense. Perfect, we hit the homer occasionally, perfect, but we need to win with defense. Talking about defense, this team was BEST IN THE AL for the first month and a half, you know who was our center fielder??? Yes, Marisnick, then he got injured, and now he is not starting many games, and none are cf. Why take your best CFer and play him in RF? Why not move Gomez to LF???
Can you then explain to me why .500 for 3 months??????? If we have best rotation in baseball. Very good relievers. First in homers. First in steal. But still playing .500 baseball. Pleaseeeeee tell me why???? Ahhhh, just for the record. I believe we are LAST in average. And yes, we face a lot of bad pitchers and still can't score on them, remember the A's series? Remember the last game vs the Twins? A guy with an ERA over 7? Remember the series vs Tampa? Matt Moore only had one good game this year in the majors, of course, vs the Astros. There are way too many examples of mediocre pitching looking awesome against us, you realize that, right????
And for the record, Hinch was awful last night, the moves were very bad. Why have 3 lefties in the bullpen if they are not going to pitch to pinch hitter Morrison???? Why?????? Why pinch hit for a guy that was 2 for 3 including a homer? Do you realize that Marisnick is hitting .500 with men on third and 1 out?????? Do you know that Marisnick is hitting .269 against right handed pitching???? I know you love Hinch, and i think he has done ok, but this team is better than .500 for so long, and part of the blame has to go to the manager, sorry, but i feel that way. When you are stuck on using Marisnick vs lefties when he hit .181 against them, and doing the same with Conger, something is wrong. Making the mistake again and again and again??? You did not see Conger hitting vs righties, it was his time to catch vs a lefty, why?????????? Well, at least Conger walks vs lefties. Do you realize lefties hit .258 against Neshek? I believe an OPS of around .750. That is not good for 8 inning guy, so why not use a lefty specialits???? Sorry, but you open the door here mentioning Hinch.
Because we have won half of our games, and lost the other half? amirite? Unless the rules have changed, they are going to award playoff spots to the teams with the best records for the WHOLE SEASON though, so sorry man but those early games are gonna count too #whydiditakehimoffignore
Seriously, you should really try the multi-quote feature. It's rather simple. Each post you want to respond to, click . No one wants to read a page(s) post after by post by you.
You are making an argument omitting 41 percent of games played? Then on those 46 games we must be worse team in baseball???? Sorry, but 41 percent is too big of a number to omit. Now, for 3 months we have played .500. Actually, in each of those 3 months we are playing .500 or very close to .500. Those are real numbers, maybe we are a .500 team, and the question is why????? And the answer for me is 2. One average, second Hinch. We have best rotation, a very good bullpen, number 1 in steal, number 1 in homer but last in average. Second, Hinch. We lose way too many 1 run games and usually that means move by manager. Why use Conger vs lefties when Castro hits lefties better than him. Why use Marisnick vs lefties when he has hit righties all year long and struggle vs lefties? Why not use lefty specialist in the 8th? We don't have a shut down reliever in that spot, so why not use it one vs righties and other vs lefties? Why a guy that hits then does not play next game? Why Gomez hitting 2nd? Since day 1 we've said his OBP is very bad, he should hit always late in lineup. I actually have him hitting 7th in my ideal lineup once Springers is back. Why use Gattis in LF in some games??? In big ball parks?????? Remember when we lost a lot of road games and Marwin was not been used?????? Why??? Because they did not wanted to use him in LF? I mentioned it on this forum and people said he never played there before and i said, i prefer Marwin in LF over Gattis any day. Well, Marwin is playing LF now. Why it took so long for that move???? Why???? We mentioned it for a long time now, it was obvious, well, not obvious for Hinch. Why use Perez against so many righties?? He can't get righties out. Remember when Singleton had a good game and would not play for 3 games??? For Carter???? What has Carter done this year to deserve playing time???? Man, we can go on and on. We have the rotation to win, but Hinch needs to give the identity on the team, which should be defense and pitching, PERIOD. No softball team of no defense, and homers. Also, when you are playing close games, you need to move the bullpen the right way, and bring specialist for that reason, the way LaRussa did and won championships that way. Our bullpen is not like KC, you have guys in the 7, 8 and 9 that get righties and lefties out. We don't have that, we need better managing if we are going to play better than .500 and more importantly, win in the playoffs.
yessssssss, and like i said, THOSE GAMES will send us to the playoffs. Now, that is not the question. My only question is why .500 for so long??? My answers are 2, average and Hinch.
We had a loosing streak a few weeks ago when we lost 5-7 games by 1 run on average...most if not all those games were on the road. 1 Run..those games could've gone either way. Low scoring games also. It was a time that I felt where the astros were trying to figure out how to win those kind of games. Mental issues. To me, the only thing this team doesn't have is EXPERIENCE in the playoffs let alone being in position to win a division. They are learning how to have the MENTAL advantage right now on the fly. Kinda like "OJT" as in On the Job Training! All this kinda reminds me of the clutch fans crying about the Rockets effort all the way to the western conference finals. Exciting times.
This seems more accurate. Springer's return will work wonders. Exciting to realize.... We have NEVER see a lineup with Correa, George, and good Altuve. Remember, Jose struggled and missed games when Carlos first played. That's why Springer was hitting leadoff. Jose doesn't need to continue his recent pace.. just .310+ and continue working the bases and we easily win the Division and are huge playoffs threats.
ok, now, please, we are talking about why this team is playing .500 in the last 3 months, you have an opinion on it???? Is baseball related, and not trashing anyone here. We were best team in the AL for a month and a half, then we became this .500 team. I believe we have best rotation in the AL with good relievers, why .500? There has to be a major reason for that, right? And everyone that follows this team must have an opinion, and that is great, is baseball talk!!!!!!!!!! Beard has not given a reason, he gave numbers but omitted 41 percent of games. Maybe is that we are really a .500 team? I DONT BELIEVE THAT, our rotation is too good for that. So, what is the reason?????
Ok, that is a good reason, youth. Also, Hinch does not have experience managing a playoff team nor a team playing to win a division, so we may be both rights going with that reasoning.
Agree, but what can we do with our lineup? I really like Springer hitting leadoff as he walks a lot and hits for power. I like this lineup: 1. Springer rf 2. Marwin 1b 3. Correa SS 4. Altuve 2b 5. Lowrie 3b 6. Gattis Dh 7. Gomez lf 8. Castro c 9. Marisnick cf Why Altuve hitting 4th? He will give Correa protection, is our best hittier with RISP and will drive a lot of runs. Now, if you want to use Valbuena over Marwin, then a lineup like this one: 1. Springer rf 2. Altuve 2b 3. Correa SS 4. Gattis DH 5. Lowrie 3b 6. Valbuena 1b 7. Gomez LF 8. CAstro C 9. Marisnick CF What i like about the lineups is defense is going to be best in the AL, with great pitching, and have enough hitters to get 3 to 4 runs and win low scoring games. But again, we need Hinch to use bullpen better, those lefties. We DFA Buchanan for Thatcher, and i believe it was a good move, but we need to use him and Perez the right way. Same with Sipps. We have the team to play GREAT, but for a long time we have been average, we need to improve on that.
Then you're changing your argument...again. You were complaining that we don't do well enough against good pitchers. Now your problem is that we dont' do well against bad ones. Which is it? A team that's in first place and has been for a large majority of the season screams that they actually do relatively well against all comers. On your lineups above...you don't bat Altuve 4th because you need him getting as many ab's as possible.
Noooooo, you don't play .500 for so long hitting bad pitching. My only argument here is why .500 for so longgggggg. And i have 2 reasons to argue 1. batting average 2. Hinch If is against good pitching, bad pitching, average pitching, and whatever is NOT my argument, as .500 is .500 no matter who is pitching or not. Any way, i like my rotation over any other rotation, so i don't care how good they are as we should be better than the other team. Remember, i've always argue on spots in a rotation, and having Kazmir second, and McCullers 3, not many teams have that. Then a Fiers 4 and McHugh 5th? Is there another team with that kind of talent??? No. So my argument is not much of good or bad starters, is that we are playing .500 for a long time and my question is why???
