Maybe I will continue I shall. Most of y'all are so emotionally invested in Lance McCullers which is very crazy. He will leave regardless, get something for him in a trade before he breaks down.
No one here is “emotionally invested” in Lance…everyone knows the injury risk. Saying he doesn’t deserve a spot in the rotation is ridiculous. Until he doesn’t perform or goes down injured, he will be in the rotation. Outside of Framber and Brown, no one has the upside he does in this rotation. You’re the one being emotional.
I'm laughing that you went from "this is his last year under contract" [multiple people] "No, this is very, totally, completely wrong" to "this is his last year before he gets traded" That's crawfishing worthy of the LF Boxes
Arrighetti has at least as much upside as Lance. Ullola probably. Garcia ceiling is probably pretty comparable to LMJ ceiling after 3 surgeries. I love LMJ. I’m rooting for him. Even if he can stay healthy I’d be almost sure that his upside is more like top 50 pitcher in baseball and not top 10 or 15. Which- hey- top 50 starter would be awesome and found money.
I'm talking about this season. Arrighetti and Ullola in the future, sure. If somehow Lance miraculously stays healthy, I'd put my money on him having a better season than Arrighetti and Garcia.
I think Arrighetti is going to be really good starting this year. I think he actually was really good from his Dodger start in late July.
Did I say type the word "Emotionally Invested", Don't type words that I didn't type. I think you typed that word First. Ok Oscar the Grouch. They are Ballplayers that get moved. Lance is 31 years old. In his Prime in which he should be traded and get Prospects that help the next Core.
I’m always in favor of throwing strikes. His walk rate is a little high. Frambers was too, he survived that with the magic of the double play. Areighetti’s super power isn’t the ground ball but he does strike fooks out like crazy which can be almost as good. I’d like to see him get his walk rate below 3 per 9 and live there while maintaining that 10+ per 9 K rate. If he’s 3/1 or better on k’s to walks he should be fine, imo. Better than fine really bc the stuff and approach is good. I’m buying all the arrighetti stock on the market.
Here are the only position players expected to start 2025 in AA or AAA who have yet to participate in a major league spring training game so far: C Joe Hudson C John Garcia SS Jeron Williams 3B Austin Deming OF Zach Cole IF Jack Blomgren C/1B Luis Encarnacion IF Narbe Cruz IF/OF Yamal Encarnacion Usually you can get a decent idea of which guys might be hurt or about to be released based on who’s getting into these games.
I appreciate how competitive McCullers is and that he wanted to remain in Houston and on the Astros. More than I can say for guys like Springer and Tucker. Having said that - I don’t know how anyone can count on anything from Lance McCullers. I support him trying to comeback but he is a walking injury waiting to happen. Anything they get out of him is great but I don’t think he will ever be “counted on” again during this contract. Ullola has a lot of talent and has a #1 started caliber fastball. His secondary pitches are more of a #4 starter. Guy is extremely difficult to hit because the fastball moves a lot late. However he has to stop walking every 4th-5th hittter he faces because he doesn’t know where his fastball will end up either. I LOVE what the Astros pitching coaches have done with Arrighetti, they completely gutted him and rebuilt him after the draft. He has really good stuff - but the effort is REALLY high, he doesn’t go deep in games and can struggle with walks… but at times he just looks ready to become a #2 starter.
I don't think anyone is counting on McCullers. He is rehabbing and everyone wants him on this team, but it's not like they have him penciled in as the #3, or even #5 guy and don't have other options. Framber, Brown, Blanco, Arrighetti, and Wesneski are the current rotation. Lance joining or replacing one of them at some point would be great but nobody is counting on it. I don't know enough about Ullola to comment. I have a lot of hope for Arrighetti and it's mostly because of his mindset and listening to his interviews. He may never become a #1 or #2 because hevdoesn't go deep in games, or maybe he adjusts and becomes as effective by cutting 4-5 pitches per inning or being getter thev3rd timebthrough the lineup, and suddenly goes deeper in games. Intellect and awareness give you a chance at that. Either way, in 2025 a starter can go 1-2 fewer innings than 10 years ago, and still be valuable and viable.
Agreed with everything except #2 starter. When he’s right he’s a TOR guy. Go look at dodgers start in late July through all of August tossing out white Sox. That’s as ace as ace gets.
