Way too early but Aroldis Chapman is having a bounce back season. I guess we'll know if he keeps it up once it gets near the trade deadline by looking at his numbers then. If he's still good, I kind of want him. Imagine if Houston faces the Yankees again and Chapman plays an important role and helps them beat NY. It'll be good for the laughs.
Great. Just what the Astros need - another relief pitcher with domestic violence in his past. Not worth the fuel it will give the national media and haters.
New hitters power rankings on MLB.COM. Tucker didn't get a single vote. But guys like Ryan Mountcastle and James Outman did
Yeah! It's only controversial if it's the Astros. If the Yankees or any other team housing players with previous DV pasts, then it's totally cool.
I was low key hoping they would sign him to a minor league deal. It would be something if he was effective against the Yankees in the post season lol
Are the Royals catching crap for signing him? If not, why would the Stros catch crap for trading for him?
Hensley and Abreu flopping would really suck and would require some pretty significant action by the deadline to beef up the lineup.
Add Altuve and Brantley to the lineup and it will be fine. I think it is very unlikely that Abreu provides less than Yuli did last year. He may not hit very many HR’s, but I expect him to have a good OBA and still have plenty of gap power. Pitching is of greater concern right now. Garcia and Brown are the wildcards. If they can pitch well all year we should still have a stellar rotation. I would have a short leash on Garcia and Urquidy with Blanco and Whitley waiting in the wings. Our bullpen seems pretty shaky right now. At some point, Presley may just get too old and Stanek is looking real iffy.
I'm still not clear why everybody was expecting Hensley to just come in and do seriously good things? His ceiling is Marwin... and he will need more major league AB's to even get there. And for those hoping/wishing on Meyers, i'm further baffled by the optimism... but the best thing for him (once Chas is relatively healthy and Dubon isn't the everyday 2B) is to dominate AAA to re-invigorate a semblance of trade value.
He isn't making his major league debut this season. It was a small sample, but he showed extremely advanced plate discipline and contact ability in his time last season, and in AAA. Expecting him to be a solid offensive player wasn't an outlandish expectation. You act like he's some AAAA journeyman who has never shown anything promising.
The league makes adjustments... players need to adjust back. Its extremely rare that a player just continues to do as well as they do in their debut... yet we see countless examples of players who have initial success then struggle. I'm not acting like he's a journeyman... I just never expected him to come in and be a solid everyday player. And the relentless clamor for him to be starting "as a difference maker" dates back to the playoffs. And yes, his ceiling has always been utility-man du jour vs. fringe all-star. He's 27, not 23.
Abreu yes. Hensley is just a utility guy once lineup is healthy so no worries there as far as him being mission critical.
I still see extremely advanced plate discipline. He’s been the beneficiary of a couple bad calls in a small sample size that can mess with results. But he knows his strike zone and not having looked at the numbers I would get his swing decisions are really good.
