Yes, this lineup lacks hitters. They need to acquire them on the market or develop them. Smith and Dezenzo are rookies and have potential. Rodgers does not.
Yordan not hitting and now hurt, Altuve looks old, Diaz started slow, ect .. they've got a lot of issues.
It would really help if the Org could make a 1B acquisition and then that guy performs within say..15% of expectations . I'm not asking for the moon here !
idk , maybe a voodoo practitioner to come exorcise whatever spirit has been haunting us there. You could see it coming with abreu ... but i was on board with walker . I hope he bounces back soon.
I was on board with Walker too. We've got the pitching to make a move. Not sure who's going to be available
Thoughts on each of Houston’s disappointing hitters: Walker: Cause: came into the season already feeling pressure due to the new team and big contract, then got hurt and felt even more pressure, so he’s been battling recovery along with pressing, causing him to chase more. Verdict: he’ll be fine. Diaz: Cause: bad luck; he is the same player he’s been the last 2 years. Verdict: he’ll be fine; unfortunately he probably won’t take the big step forward we’d all hoped for, but he will be productive. Altuve: Cause: a combination of bad luck and frightening drop in EV. Verdict: Altuve is extremely likely to decline dramatically over the next 4 seasons, it’s just a matter of when it starts and how steep it occurs; there are signs that the decline has begun, although there are also signs that it might not be that steep this season. We might be seeing the last season or two of Jose Altuve as a good major league hitter, but I don’t think Altuve is cooked (yet). The days of him being a 160+ wRC+ MVP candidate are gone, but I believe he will end this season as a productive, above-average hitter. Alvarez: Cause: bad luck and a hand injury hampered him. Verdict: he needs to get his hand healed and he’ll be back to his old dominant self.
There are all kinds of fans: The live and die each game fan The highly analytical fan. The Homer The anti-homer. The pessimist The eternal optimist The change must happen now guy. We all have a place here. Some folks are just more annoying than others.
There are a lot of posters on this board (myself included) who post frequently enough about the same topics that I’m sure it can be annoying to the disinterested, but that is what the ignore feature is for. There’s really no reason to talk negatively about any poster who sticks to talking baseball in this forum. Anybody who stifles baseball conversation with negativity or distracts from baseball conversation with non-baseball topics deserves to be dragged.
I think the answer to your (not snarky) question is yes. Altuve is probably worth -1 win going from LF to 2B on the defensive side. Playing Cam in RF every day and Dezenzo in LF is probably worth 1/2 a win defensively, so, now rearranging those deck chairs has you 1/2 a win worse. The question then becomes is replacing dubon/rogers bat with Dezenzo or Smith worth more than 1/2 a win. If you stipulate that they are hitting the equivalent of a normal corner OF (probably in the 110-120 OPS+ range then absolutely it is worth more than the 1/2 win you lost on the defensive shuffle. That's conceptually not hard and fast actual numbers.
I am absolutely all of those fans rolled into 1. Except the anti-homer. **** that guy. I'm a pessimist in game but an optimist big picture. If I think someone sucks and something will have to be done I want it done immediately (Fire Espada!). I'm absolutely a Homer at all times. I do a weekly podcast and am fixing to start writing a blog. Check on the analytical. Whenever we lose (or have an off day but especially lose before an off day) it makes me mad. I don't know if that's live and die each game fan but I'm very interested in the result.
I think all of these things are way more likely to be right than wrong. That being said- sometimes bad years happen. It's possible Yainer could have a 90 ops+ year this year and bounce back and be right around 115 or 120 next year and you just scratch your head and say "what happened there" or Walker and Altuve might be fully cooked or Alvarez might not get back, but yeah- I don't disagree with any of those things. If Dezenzo and Smith are the guys I think they are (at least league average hitters today- with upside to get better) and Pena levels up at age 27 like it absolutely looks like then if you are right about what you wrote this team is an absolute monster and you shouldn't worry about tough schedules in August and September b/c it doesn't matter who we play- they have to play us. This has been the hallmark of the Astros during the dynastic run, when we are right it doesn't matter who we play- it's all about us. BTW- even with all that trouble our pythag record says we should be 20-16 and if we didn't drop balls in the OF in back to back days (Jakes was a tough catch but he got there and absolutely should have made it) our record would be 20-16. That would be a 90 win pace. Imagine being on a 90 win pace and having 4 of your top 5 offensive players going into the year performing like hammered dogshit. Yeah- I think a lot of people are sleeping on this team if your analysis of those 4 guys turns out to be correct.
My predicted final 2025 wRC+: Pena 118 Altuve 106 Paredes 128 Alvarez 146 Walker 112 Diaz 112 Smith 108 Meyers 93 Rodgers 88 Dubon 67 Dezenzo 116 Caratini 96 McCormick 95 But I predict they add a good bat at the deadline. So this will be a deep but limited lineup in the playoffs.
If that’s how we end the year we are winning 95 games. Playoff lineup needs Altuve at 2B and an OF of Dezenzo, Chas and smith from left to right. If chas is your 9 hitter and back to a league average guy you are going to be a tough out. if those are your actual numbers I’d deploy like this: Peña, Alvarez, Altuve, Paredes, Walker, Dezenzo, Diaz, Smith, Chas.
I wonder for Altuve if he can turn back to Altuve 1.0... a slap happy, high batting average hitter... would help his run to 3000 hits but hurt some of the OPS numbers...
