When do single game tickets go on sale? I'll be in town for my brother's wedding at the start of the season, and I'd like to go to a game...
I am! Future's looking bright, even if this season is still going to be a losing one. Also, love me some fantasy baseball.
Fangraphs has two new articles on Astros this week: Stand By Me, Scott Feldman A nice overview of what to expect from Scott Feldman as he transitions to a new defense and division. Jarred Cosart and the World’s Worst 1.95 ERA Not exactly an original premise for an article but why Cosart won't keep up that low of an ERA with a <1 K:BB ratio and high strand rate
On the Cosart article, I understand all the worries about him. When I read this guys take on the Astros rotation though, he shows he has no clue
Yea, all things I've read point to Feldman, Cosart, Oberholtzer, and Peacock with relatively sure rotation spots and Harrell, Keuchel, White, Clemens, Bass fighting for the 5th and swing positions. Fangraphs also had some write-ups on top 'Stros Prospects Springer and Singleton. Again nothing particularly new for dedicated Astros fans but its nice to see 'Stros getting some media time. It'd be real nice if Springer and Singleton both came up in late May/June and started making an impact. If they could solidify two more spots in the lineup then we'd really have something going into next offseason. Imagine if we went into next offseason with C (Castro), 1B (Singleton) , CF (Fowler), RF (Springer) solidly in-hand and 2B/3B possibly solidified by good seasons from Dominguez and Tuve. This rebuild might just work. :grin:
Not forgetting Carter who Fangraphs broke down saying he would have a monster year. And Villar at SS who atleast gets on base, has 30 SB potential and a good glove. C Castro 1B Singleton 2B Altuve SS Villar 3B Dominguez LF Grossman/Hoes CF Fowler RF Springer DH Carter
Not big on Villar. He's got some tools but his hit tool is weak (.260 career minor league BA) and his glove is super inconsistent. I was excited by his back-to-back 10hr/30sb minor league seasons I just don't see him hitting well enough to be a regular.
His slash line is very similar to Jimmy Rollins. Being a .260 hitter in the minors isn't a problem. K-rate is concerning, and the inconsistent play is concerning. He's only 22, so hopefully we can see some growth.
When you project his numbers over the last 3 minor league seasons into a 162 game season, he averaged 17 HR, 55 SB, 94 Runs, so he has been very productive in the minors. I think if given the full season he can approach that productivity. 17 HR is optimistic, but i can certainly see him over 10. He seems to have 3 major problems, he doesn't make enough contact given his speed, his aggressiveness crosses the line into recklessness, and he commits far too many errors. I think the first 2 are easily correctable. Given his plus speed, and plus range, if he can improve his glove to tolerable levels he can be a very productive SS.
Let's say Villar does approach those numbers over the next two seasons. Do we move him once Correa is ready, or transition one of those guys to another position?
My source says the organizational thought is that Singleton will earn a spot on the roster out of ST; Springer will be late April call-up to extend his arbitration eligiblity.
He's definitely not a low-upside guy but saying improving contact rate and improving aggressiveness/inconsistency are easily correctable is just not true. If he puts up a middle of the pack (middle 1/3rd of SS's) season I'll be really impressed. I'm expecting a .250ish BA, sub-700 OPS with possibly 35+ SB's.
For every day SSs, isn't .250ish BA, .650-.700 ops with a lot of stolen bases in the middle 1/3 offensively in the post steroid era? Edit: With his defense, it may not be enough for him to be middle of the pack, but probably close.
I agree. And I would expect his OBP (.321) to go up hopefully next year. In the minors, he was good for .340+ and that should probably create more chances for steals next year. In his first 17 games last year, he had 11 of his 18 steals. I am curious to see if he can be a 50+ SB guy. I know that is on the high side, but after stealing 18 in 58 games and showing the potential to continue that, why not? Also, for what it's worth, he batted tremendously better ninth than first in the lineup. It shouldn't matter, but it could be a comfort thing for him. Having Fowler most likely bat lead off could really help Villar settle into his role in the lineup.
Astros are a year away assuming Rodon is brought up by June 2015 and Astros add more talent to team...
Just as long as no one in the organization tells Singleton that. He needs to at least think he has to fight to earn that spot.
It's not just him, once Springer and Singleton get here the prospects floodgates will start to open. We've been watching them from a distance, on stat sheets mostly. Now we will routinely be treated to an exciting new prospect. Springer/Stassi/Singleton 2014 Appel/Folty/Rodon/DD/Santana 2015 Correa/Ruiz/Velasquez/McCullers 2016 These guys all will all be top 100, or get consideration. Not to mention the very high pick we'll get next year, hopefully not 1st again, but still pretty high.
