(needlessly jumps on soapbox, even though he knows better, because this is a pet peeve...) It was not a "game saving" catch (though, it was absolutely beautiful). There was 1 out & the bases were empty. It would've been - based on where Realmuto was when Chas caught it (had just rounded 1B) and where Tucker was (in perfect position for a bounce off the wall) - a double. The score would not have changed. The Astros win probability increased 6% (and was already at 89% prior to the AB). It was an *amazing* catch and a critical second out. But Mancini's play the previous inning was the "game saving" play from that game, and no one asked that we do right by him when his contract expired..... (hops off soapbox; all smug and self-righteous....)
If Alvarez and Altuve hadn't regressed this season, we would be in pretty good shape. I think there is a strong possibility that they will correct things by the end of the season. I hope Meyers isn't fool's gold. His power seems to be better this season, so I'm optimistic that if he regresses, it won't be to be below average.
Meyers is fools gold right now. He’s made a couple of improvements underlying data on BB and K’s, but he’s flying by on 399 babip right now and when he comes back to a realistic babip he will be lucky to be league average offensively.
I'll settle for average from Meyers because his defense is well above average. Same with Pena. What we can't have is Altuve and Alvarez being below average with a bat because they don't provide any value otherwise.
You Chas haters are all the same. Mental gymnastics to justify it. Emotional deep stat diving won’t help you. Neither will feverishly digging through old play by play logs. Get a hold of yourself man! Best catch in Astro history!!
If Walker, Yordan, and Altuve were even close to their projections this season would look completely different. This team looks like the 2023-2024 Seattle Mariners - great pitching and seriously underachieving bats that were counted on and had the track record to be good. I am 99.99% certain that Yordan will be fine, and I don't care about overall season totals as long as the good numbers come at the end of the season ( unless they cost the team a playoff spot) Altuve and Walker both concern me as they are older and it is possible they simply don't snap out of it until 2026, if at all. Most hitters have a weird, unexpected bad ( or significantly below expected outlier) season at some point. I had hoped Altuve got his out of the way in 2020. If Walker and/or Altuve don't rebound all the way back then it puts more pressure on C, 2b, SS, CF, and RF to actually produce more often and consistently. I know, I just said water is wet.
I completely agree with you on the catch. But was it the most impactful catch in Astros history? In an sport with 162 game seasons, 7 game playoff series', and 27 outs per game, how much can a single play impact how good/valuable ANY player is/has been?
These are common Chas hate talking points and questions. The greatest catch in Astro history and some fan (imposter) calls it a “pet peeve”. The world is going to hell.
The biggest issue here is you calling this "Chas hate" I don't think you really know what hate means. Oh, and I meant to ask, are you Chas' cousin or is he just paying you?
Oh absolutely. a league average offensive Jake meyers is a quality 3.5 WAR player that you are really happy with. I fervently believe (and expected it going into the year) that Pena has leveled up offensively and will be a better than average (like 115-130 ops+) gy for the rest of his club controlled years here. A really good Altuve is helpful to the team but not completely necessary for us to be really good. It’s a nice to have. An awesome Alvarez is absolutely essential to this team being who we want them to be. He’s the only guy who can carry our offense for a couple weeks at a time when he gets hot. If he’s not going to be awesome then for us to be good we need everyone in the whole order to maximize and that’s asking for more than Yordan being awesome, since that’s his track record and expected.
If Houston can end the season with an approximation of these top line numbers I think they will be a legit threat to win the World Series: SS Pena 120 wRC+ LF Altuve 110 DH Alvarez 145 3B Paredes 130 2B TBD 130 1B Walker 115 C Diaz 115 RF Smith 110 CF Meyers 95 Bench: Dubon 80, Dezenzo 110, Caratini 95 (13th position player doesn’t matter) ERA <3.25: Brown, Hader, Abreu, King ERA 3.25-3.75: Framber, Okert, Sousa, Whitley, Ort ERA 3.75-4.25: Blanco, Arrighetti, Gusto (13th pitcher doesn’t matter)
Probably. Not much. That said, the Astros don't have many guys who have hit well while playing good defense up the middle on a World Series-winning team.
Brown did good shopping the bargain bin and getting a solid season out of him last year, Brown also did good knowing when to cut the guy loose.
