Altuve is close Agreed. 2500 hits and 250 homers and he's in. Leading the league 4 straight years in hits and having an MVP will carry a lot of weight.
Quarter Season Awards/Evaluation: MVP: Jeremy Pena - Even besides the narrative of replacing Correa, he's put up the most WAR, has played excellent defense at baseball's premium position, and his speed/athleticism/power has been an incredible jolt for this team. He's the player who has been the most valuable to the Astros so far this season. Runner Up: Yordan Alvarez - proving he's one of the game's great hitters. Cy Young: Justin Verlander - this is an obvious choice. Having an ace anchor the rotation is a huge boost. And Verlander is the ur-ace. Runner Up: Framber Valdez - showing he's a legitimate #2/3 starter in this league Reliever of the Year: Rafael Montero - what a pleasant surprise. Runner Up: Hector Neris - Click's atonement for the sin of signing Pedro Baez Overall team grade: A- End of season prediction: 99 wins and first place in the AL West.
All is certainly well so far. Position player side on pace to put up 30+ fwar. Lack of offense from the catchers is really the only disappointment, but that’s been more than offset by mvp caliber performances from Pena, Tucker, Alvarez, Altuve and Bregman, as well as better than expected production from Siri and McCormick (they’re on pace to combine for 4 fwar). Rotation has been stellar, with Urquidy being a mild disappointment but that being offset by better than expected numbers from Verlander, Framber, and Odo. Bullpen has been a mixed bag with Maton being a major letdown so far but surprising dominance from Montero. Pressly seems to be showing signs of rebounding. Still the heavy favorite to win the division and one of the top 5 favorites to win it all. Team on pace to win 100+ games. Enjoying the season so far.
Didn't see the Fangraphs article on Framber posted anywhere: Framber Valdez Is Having a Historic Season Good amount of Astros mentions on Fangraphs this week: Player’s View: Who Is the Most Underrated Player in the Game? - Astros were both polled and came up as answers Which Young Players Should Be Next To Sign Long-Term Deals? - not really spoiler alert: Yordan and Tucker
I'm not so certain. There was zero evidence Bagwell did anything, yet many of the national media were hesitant to vote him in. They basically are blackballing Schilling for making dumb remarks after his playing career. Most of the media even today won't look at the details to see that Altuve didn't use the trash can, they just follow the general narrative. Heck I still find many of them still giving credence to the stupid buzzer thing. I'm not even sure 3K hits would get him over some of that national bias. He would probably need another year where he is in the MVP conversation, challenging for batting title, or just another post-season run where tears it up AND the Astros win the WS.
The further from the CBA we get, the better their articles have seemed in general to me. Still a lot weaker than they were before MLB teams gutted them, though.
This Framber Valdez article reminds me of their 2014 Dallas Keuchel article posted almost to the day (May 20): Dallas Keuchel, Who Can No Longer Be Ignored If you ask me, this was the first real sign that Astros had turned the corner back then, and I hope it continues the run.
4 free (very good) seats tonight if you want them. My daughters 7th birthday, but alas she is sick. first one to post here that they want them is yours if I haven’t given them away through other channels first.
Speaking of purgatory, do you think that will cost Verlander first ballot? It really should not, Triple Crown + MVP winner, 2x Cy Young (and many 2nd place finishes), 3000 career K and counting, etc. Plus he's a pitcher (the trash cans only helped the hitters), and it was only a few weeks from the time he came to Houston and when the banging stopped (the Danny Farquhar game). But I bet some voters will find him guilty by association.
Crazy thing is, for as seemingly mediocre he is right now, he's still 5th overall in fWAR among 3rd baseman, has a wRC+ of 130, and a 1:1 strikeout:walk ratio. It'd be homer'ish but not crazy for Dusty to take him as a reserve 3B on the all-star team. If he kicks it into gear and runs that wRC+ up to 150 he's back in the MVP field legitimately. The AL MVP has a ton of depth right now early though.