Joe Kelly is the biggest little bit©h in all of MLB... hope a liner gets drilled toward him right between the nose, cracks those lenses in half and knocks him thaFU©Kon out!
There are always consequences for throwing at heads. Somebody on his team will get dotted if/when it's appropriate. That was my point. There's a right way and a wrong way to drill somebody, most teams do it right. When you do it wrong...that's when beefs begin
My point is Kelly can act like a badass, because he personally doesn’t have to suffer the consequences. Do you think chas’ move was more aggrgius than the Kelly pout bs?
Chas's move was totally candyass. It wouldn't shock me if someone got drilled for that. I don't even know who Kelly is anymore, didn't even know who he really was in the first place, and thats ok with me. But his teammates do know who he is, because they're going to take the brunt of the on-field punishment. That's my point.
I made this comment during the off-season but deciding to NOT address starting pitching, completely ignoring the production and workload JV shouldered plus guys like Javier and Brown’s expected workload, was borderline moronic. Nevermind the asinine notion of depending on LMJ at all. The 2022/23 off season May go down as one of the worst ever. Crane/Baggy/Reggie - the gift that keeps on giving.
Man they thought Lance was coming back and there was no reason to suspect Garcia and Urquidy would go down like that. Sometimes you got to say there’s only so much redundancy we can reasonably build in and if that isn’t good enough we will trade for something in case of an emergency or just call it not our year. The 3 starters who weren’t considered to be major league material, Blanco, France and Bielak have been as good collectively as any mid tier move you could have made for a guy like Odorizi, probably much better. and I hated our off-season and am far from a “front office is always right guy”. What would you have done and for how much and when? All the pitcher FA stuff was just throwing darts.
Chandler Rome can have a glass of Shut The **** Up! Stupid SOB https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...t-s-next-free-agency-Dusty-Baker-17562805.php Given the surplus of starting pitching Houston has without Verlander, it’s worth wondering how far Crane is willing to go for his services. If the team doesn’t re-sign Verlander, it could still boast a returning rotation of Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers Jr, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, José Urquidy and Hunter Brown. The Astros don’t need Verlander as desperately as other teams might. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...lander-free-agent-Houston-Astros-17573970.php Whether the Astros devote that money to more pressing needs at first base and designated hitter is a legitimate question. Even without Verlander, the team has a starting pitching surplus that includes Lance McCullers Jr, Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, José Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Hunter Brown. Other teams in more desperate need of starting pitching might act that way in pursuit of Verlander. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...L-Cy-Young-offseason-free-agency-17586759.php The Astros’ roster construction can allow Crane to be careful and rational in his pursuit of Verlander. If the team does not re-sign him, it still has a six-man starting rotation of Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers Jr, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, José Urquidy and Hunter Brown. Houston has more urgent needs at first base and designated hitter. Crane might be more inclined to splurge there to upgrade an offense that, toward the end of the season, became too top-heavy and righthanded. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...n-Astros-winter-meetings-preview-17626270.php Neither mentioned starting pitching, even as reigning Cy Young winner Justin Verlander remains unsigned. If Verlander signs elsewhere, the Astros still return a six-man rotation that includes Framber Valdez, Lance McCullers Jr, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, José Urquidy and Hunter Brown. Verlander is not a necessity, although ruling out a reunion is impossible, especially given his close relationship with Crane. Houston may covet a lefthanded-hitting outfielder and an offensive catcher more than another starting pitcher — even one of Verlander’s stature. Astros have enviable pitching depth. Can it withstand loss of Justin Verlander? Even with Verlander’s departure, the Astros are scheduled to return 715 of the 950 innings their starters threw last season. Houston braced for Verlander’s departure and isn’t in a position where it must jump into the starting pitching market in response. The club has an enviable core of controllable starting pitching equipped to absorb Verlander’s absence — and perhaps make it foolish to enter into the type of long-term deals being handed out to free-agent starters. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...ley-houston-astros-option-minors-17834720.php Optioning Whitley on Sunday will allow the Astros to build his pitch count in minor league camp. Houston also sent its two other depth starters — Shawn Dubin and J.P. France — to minor league camp on Sunday, too, for the same purpose. Dubin, France, Whitley and Brandon Bielak are the extent of the team’s starting pitching depth on the 40-man roster. All should start the season in Class AAA Sugar Land. Bielak still profiles as the team’s top choice for a sixth starter, should the need arise, but Whitley made himself a legitimate major league option with a strong showing in spring training. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...-pitching-depth-justin-verlander-17831983.php The Astros did not need to lure another after he signed with the Mets in free agency. Atop the rotation, the Astros are more than equipped to absorb Verlander’s absence. Framber Valdez is a bona fide Cy Young contender and Cristian Javier is a dark horse candidate. Staying out of the elite starting pitching market this winter seemed logical. Without McCullers, Houston has four established starters: Valdez, Javier, Luis Garcia and José Urquidy. Top prospect Hunter Brown should open the season in the rotation.
Plenty of this was echoed by others here. I wasn't buying the kool-aid with direct concerns about LMJ, Javier, and Brown lasting a full season. I also didn't think LMJ was right last year, despite the times he was effective, and I guess it was basically confirmed that he was always injured/pitching hurt and trying to avoid surgery. That whole development should have been more transparent and influenced slightly more aggressiveness in acquiring pitching by itself. I guess their "plan" was to limit LMJ's innings... and by the time he was ready to pitch more, they'd start limiting Brown/Javier's innings? Yes, can't account for injury to Garcia... that's the big blow that would have masked a ton of this year's issues. Urquidy has also really never pitched a full season health-free so not necessarily putting anything there (and I do expect him to be back). "Can never have too much pitching..." (unless you're coming off the 2022 post-season as an Astros follower...)
This years team lacks motivation and is showing signs of a diva mentality. Last few years, they had something to prove and played with a chip on their shoulder. This season, they seem to be playing down to their level of competition. It all starts with the leadership...I feel as if Dusty is slacking which is trickling down...oh yea, and the injuries.
Or you can only go so long with AAA-level pitching, or guys that have never pitched a full season, before it starts catching up with you. On the flip side, you see teams like the Mariners that have been mediocre all year... but have decent starting pitching... starting to find their way. Its repetitive... its simple... but never really can be contra-indicated as far as the value of quality starting pitching. If the Astros can't keep guys healthy or continue to develop them, they may have to trade for it again to stay in the hunt (like the had to do for JV in 17, Cole in 18, Greinke in 19...).
The Astros entered the offseason with 7 legit MLB rotation candidates (Framber, Javier, McCullers, Garcia, Urquidy, Brown, and Bielak) plus another 3 solid prospects poised to be ready at some point this season (France, Whitley, Dubin); it’s a rule of thumb that teams will use ~10 SP in a season, so Houston was in good shape until McCullers injury was fully known. Even by then, they’d decided to stretch out Blanco so they still had 10 viable SP, and that ignores other upside AAA SP prospects who could’ve panned out (Solis, Tamarez, Murray, Hansen, Endersby). Then they lost Garcia, Urquidy, and Whitley. No team can lose 4 of their top 10 rotation candidates and still have depth. France, Bielak, Blanco, and Dubin have performed extremely well considering they come into the season as the 7th-11th options. Now, if Houston had a good idea that Brown and Javier would have workload concerns, it probably would have made sense to try to flip Urquidy for a more established innings eater type, but that’s still probably not a reasonable criticism. This situation is just bad luck. The All-Star break is coming at a good time for Houston. Hopefully Urquidy comes back healthy and Houston can sustain a quality 6 man rotation thru the 2nd half to give Javier and Brown the rest they need to be in top form for the playoffs. That said, I do expect Houston to add a SP at the deadline to give them even more support.
But why wouldn't they have these concerns? They've had them with Javier ever since his rookie year. Just because he agreed to an extension doesn't automatically mean he can throw a full season, does it? Brown is young and will continue to need to make adjustments as its clear the league has adjusted to him... and everybody was unanimous that he shouldn't have been penciled in for close to 200 innings this year. And don't get me started on what everybody expected out of LMJ. Whoever signed off on that plan (starting last year) should legitimately be questioned. Garcia was bad luck... but given their good luck with injuries last year, there was expected regression there. They're "experts" because they should anticipate these sorts of developments that common fans were worried about before the season. Throwing money at the problem would have been one possible alternative plan... now they're going to need to throw money and prospects to possibly fix it.
