Frank DiPino, Astro Legend Oh dude, if you want to get really weird... Charlie Kerfeld Dave Smith Larry Anderson Who were the others? The ConeHeads in the '86 Bullpen
People in other places talking about that error by Tucker, saying that would not have happened if Straw was there to make a point about the trade are completely clueless. The fact that Stanek could not pitch any of his breaking stuff close to the zone, and guys where literally sitting on the meatball heaters, before and after the mistake, is why a guy like Phil Maton is an important upgrade for us. He can actually pitch and is not just a flamethrower with no control whatsoever. Batters are too talented in this league to have a guy just throwing FBs down the middle because you cant locate anything. This guy was your setup man a couple days ago, he is unplayable IMO in a playoff situation, regardless of inning. Can´t wait for Meyers to shut this nonsense up and start hitting bombs. Having said that, Graveman good, unhittable stuff out there.
Don´t understand the question, should I assume that the guy who only has limited reps at CF is clearly the only option for Dusty, to the point where Meyers , the guy killing AAA and playing good CF every day, will only have backup defensive reps? Seams not smart. If I had to guess, McCormick will be 1st option at first, with Meyers getting legitimate opportunities because he will be the best defensive option, something an old school guy like Dusty will value. Whoever then is playing better will get the edge come playoff time, no bias whatsoever, but implying that he will only be a defensive option, seams to be a close minded stance when you don´t even know how will his bat translate to the majors IMO.
That 86 run was fun. Thought for sure it was our year. Danny ( Dr. Death) Darwin comes to mind for me in the bully.
It should be appreciated that our core group has been in at least the AL championship series 4 years in a row and counting. They just expect to be great.
Well the CF defense nonsense showed up immediately. Straw catches that no problem. Terrific game though. It's still stressful, bc the SEA blown lead was so recent. Graveman looked absolutely unhittable. That 2 seamer is the nastiest freaking pitch I've seen to lefties this year. Altuve needs a statue at MMP while he's still playing. It's ridiculous.
Then why has he not been good this year or ever in his career? I don't care about his spin rate. He isn't good at preventing runners from scoring. Period. If you are arguing that the Brent Strom car wash and our development team will get more out of him, then that's an entirely different deal, but up to this point he has not shown that he is a reliable reliever at all. Those of us who hate the trade don't think Myles Straw is a cornerstone piece, but he is certainly more valuable than the immediate return we received (obviously we also brought back a Diaz, he seems extremely promising). It just doesn't seem like a type of trade the Astros would be looking at considering our goals this season.
It's a good trade because Straw gets playing time over people who are better than he is. Now that's not going to be a problem anymore.
He's been the 2nd worst at allowing runs relative to FIP for relievers over the past 5 seasons. While I expect some regression, I doubt it is purely random.
Just looking at the roster construction as is, 2 guys have to get sent down/out to activate Meyers and Maton. I'm sure fans aren't happy to hear it, but Raley has a clearly defined role so he's probably staying. That leaves some combination of Stanek, Bielak, Abreu or Taylor. Montero has another year of team control, and I'm not sure if the Astros wanted him or were forced to take him, if it's the latter then he's an easy cut. They'll probably just play musical chairs with the team controlled guys until September.
I would think Bielak is a lock to be sent down. It would surprise me if they cut Montero before giving him a shot. He has no options left. So it would need to be Stanek, Abreu, or Taylor going down. They could play musical chairs and manipulate some service time for several guys.