There is no doubt teams are actively avoiding using lefties. So, not only are they facing very few lefties, but the lefties they do face are the best of them. The manager can't just stop using your TOR or leverage guys.
It was Abbott's turn to pitch the 3rd game of the series but they brought Petty up from AAA to start instead, giving Abbott an extra rest day and facing a team besides the Astros.
I have long thought Altuve belonged in the middle of the line-up because of his OPS+. The slow start and Pena's success leading off is just a way to get to where we should have been for the last 3 or 4 seasons.
And there ya go. Sucks. Arighetti won’t be back until after the all star break it looks like. Lance… your time is now bud.
Brutal. Need at least one of Walter/Gordon/Blubaugh to be consistently good for the next 90 days. Hopefully Arrighetti and Javier can be back healthy for Sept and into the playoffs. Astros gonna be in the rental SP market again this deadline.
Once they said Blanco was going in for a "second opinion" you could see what was gonna happen. The train of "who is this kid?" starting pitchers needs to keep rolling like it has for the past few years
Extension offers I would make if I were Dana Brown: Pena: $55M/3yrs; covers his final 2 arb seasons and buys out 1 free agent year. Pena still gets to free agency at age 30 so could secure a big bag, but this way he gets a guaranteed level up. Astros also get some cost certainty by avoiding arbitrary. I doubt Pena would accept it. Paredes: $100M/5yrs; covers his final 2 arb seasons and buys out 3 free agent years. Paredes would still reach free agency at age 31 so could get another bite at the apple but sells his prime for security. Astros get a potential huge bargain and at $20M AAV it’s unlikely to become a major albatross. This is a deal I think Paredes would/should strongly consider. Smith: $130M/7yrs; buys out 2 free agent years and still allows Smith to hit free agency in his 20s. I doubt Smith would accept this. The shine has come off Diaz. It’s too late to extend Brown. Nobody else warrants discussion. If they think Melton is the real deal then they could offer him something to lock him up before promoting him.
