Valbuena has posted an OPS over .800 against RHP the last 2 years, that makes him a pretty exceptional platoon player. I highly doubt any of our available options will come close to matching a Valbuena/Duffy or Valbuena/Marwin platoon. Moran or Bregman may be 3B options moving forward, but unless his production against them drops Valbuena should start every game all year against RHP. Only a trade for a really good 3B should displace him.
Well only 5 players qualify lol. I really hope one of Reed/White/Tucker/Duffy can become our starting first basemen. I don't have much hopes for Singleton
Part of me wants to make Marwin the starting 1B with him playing other IF positions on days when guys need off. I just feel like over the last couple seasons he's developed into a pretty good hitter that would really show something if he was made into a full time player, in the lineup every day. But I imagine they'll keep him in his super utility role unless all the other 1B potentials crap the bed.
Over the last 2 years he's been really good against lefties, but he's been average against RHP. His recent overall production would make him one of the least productive 1B in the league, although one of the best SS. Him and Valbuena make for a perfect platoon at 3B, he can be the utility guy on other days.
Based on minor league numbers, you could expect similar results from Moran & Duffy. Moran has mashed RHP, while Duffy has mashed LHP. I think they are a step behind defensively though.
Moran has only had one productive season in the minors, so I wanna see him put in some work at AAA. In a couple of months he may challenge for a job, Valbuena is MLB proven. As for the other side of the possible platoon, I would be fine with either. I think Duffy will be as good as Marwin if given a chance, but like Valbuena, Marwin is MLB proven and like you said probably a little better defensively. I like Duffy though, and hope he makes the team ahead of an extra reliever.
On the 12 or 13 pitcher question ... Gattis is likely to start the season on the DL and need a AAA rehab stint. When he gets healthy (six weeks into the season?), he will force someone off the 25 man roster. The Astros might start the season with 13 pitchers, with the 13th on the bubble. When Gattis returns, this pitcher could be sent back to AAA (or traded or some such). Thus, the Astros could start with 12 position players and bump to 13 when Gattis returns. The open roster spots are DH and first. The Astros could break camp with Tucker as DH/LF/1B and Duffy 1B/3B/DH. Gattis would come in as DH/C3/LF.
Tyler White has like 20/10 vision. He has a very elite eye and great plate discipline so much so that they are trying to get him to be more of a free swinger and literally try to hit more home runs. I think if given the same amount of at bats as Gattis last year 500+, you will see White hit around the same # home runs but high avg/obp. The question for me at this point would be.. Do we make Duffy the DH and send Gattis to Fresno to work on catching for 6 weeks?
I have a better chance of winning the lottery than Gattis has of getting send to AAA to work on catching
1. K 2. McCullers 3. Mchugh 4. Fiers 5. Fister 6. Feldman 7. Giles 8. Gregerson 9. Sipp 10. Harris 11. Neshek 12. Fields 13. Cotts 14. Castro 15. Stassi 16. Singleton 17. Altuve 18. Correa 19. Valbuena 20. Gonzalez 21. Marisnick 22. Rasmus 23. Gomez 24. Springer 25. Duffy I think Gattis starts on 15 day disable list. That last spot is between Tucker and Duffy, I take the right handed hitter to platoon with singleton at 1b. Maybe Feldman will also start in DL and McCullers in the minors as we only need 4 starters the first couple of weeks in the majors.
His first year was productive. His second year was less productive, but still above average offensive production despite being young for his level. His third year was very productive. He's not Correa, but his production has always looked like he would contribute to the MLB team...It just looks a little brighter after he hit for a little more power. I expect he needs some more time, but just think his production is not characterized in the correct light. His OPS has not been stellar, but OPS slightly overrates power. For an OBP guy that didn't generate much power, OPS is going to significantly under rate his offensive contribution.
This looks about right. Also wouldn't be surprised to see Wandy take Cotts place and double as a long reliever and lefty reliever.
If Gattis is gonna miss some regular season time, I would certainly rather have Duffy and Tucker both on the team than a situational LHP. Tucker hasn't yet shown he can hit LHP. Him and Duffy sharing the DH job is probably the best option. Although Duffy is probably the best defensive option at 1B of the young guys, so if he's playing he should probably be in the field. Duffy's ability to hit lefties play in the field just gives us much more flexibility to mix and match than we would otherwise have. Marwin is our lone backup and 2 guys that have really struggled to hit lefties, although it's a small sample with Tucker.
We got the big boy lineup today for the most part. M Tuve Springer Correa Rasmus Gomez Reed (DH) Singleton Moran Castro
Tucker was very good in the minors vs lefties, i still have confidence he will hit them in the future.
You can't count on Feldman to be healthy the full year. Last 2 years he has missed a lot of starts due to injuries. Thats why Luthnow brought Fister. Now please, don't have Feldman in the same sentence with McCullers and K because he was NEVER on par with them last year. In his last 8 starts he had a whip of over 1.20 while K and McCullers were under 1.24. Also, he allowed 6 homers in 8 starts while Mc only 10 in 22 and K 17 in in 33. Second, Fiers pitched much better than Feldman as a starter. Fiers had a 1.059 whip, which is veryyyyyy low. Compared to Feldman's 1.24. And remember, Fiers had one bad game as a reliever in Texas so the numbers are EVEN BETTER as starter. Now, if you WANT to compare numbers, you can do that with McHugh. Yes, Feldman pitched very good in those 8 games (not good before in the first 10) but never as good as the other 3 mentioned before. It would be great to see Feldman have a very good and healthy ST to we can trade him.
