Well, every statistical model along with every bookmaker thinks you are ridiculously pessimistic. I’m going to go ahead and agree with them. You weren’t here spouting all this hyperbolic crap when they were 6-1. And you won’t be here doing it when they inevitably go on a roll and take control of the division. But by all means, revel in the darkness while you can.
He cannot afford to be a below average OF. I fear with more sample size (which this year is providing), he'll level out there... which is why he likely wasn't an OF to begin with. Even Craig Biggio caught most of the balls hit his way... its not the end-all metric. Forget his legs or his arm, he literally is not getting his glove in position to make some of these catches that others can make look routine. Coors will be a good test for this outfield... that's a lot of ground to cover and plenty of deeper balls expected.
Alejandro taking the nickname Alejandro to heart. He got his hair braided today and is now looking to be in a reggaeton remix with J Balvin. More to come on this breaking news
You have every right to go with the bookies No I called this before the season started and said at the time I hoped I was wrong. I actually asked what has Click done as GM so far to make you think he can build a contender? I caught a bunch of crap for even thinking of asking this question. You cant be a contender with two black holes in your everyday lineup unless the pitching and defense is outstanding. Currently neither has been
On balls hit to Straw, he should have caught 90%. He is one play below average for what he should have caught with some catches his legs made possible and some catches his route running skill cost him. His career is still short, but his career is a better estimate than just this the beginning of this season.
He has more regular opportunities now being an everyday player for the first time in his career. Hopefully he'll get better. We've seen the above average version of an OF here with regularity since 2015, and we've also seen players who are actually infielders playing CF for the Astros in years prior to that. Straw appears to be closer to the latter. He can be serviceable when average out there with defense, and his bat can be hidden... but he can't be below average.
I will say I am impressed that you actually mentioned Taylor prior to this. Granted, it was in a list with several guys that have hit worse worse than Straw. There are a lot of CFs hitting worse than Straw so far that people wanted. I don't think Straw will be a great player, though replacing him with a significantly better player (i.e., not Marisnick, Pillar, Dahl, or most of the names mentioned in the offseason besides JBJ and Springer) would likely have cost more at another position. On catcher, you seemed to be in the pro-Avila crowd during the offseason. Ramos isn't a catcher..he's just someone that stands in front of the umpire to keep the ump from getting hit by pitches and getting pissed off. You seem to acknowledge this except for when Castro is brought up. On the bigger picture, Castro is likely a fine signing and will likely be a significant upgrade over Stubbs or Avila, but not cherry-picking the best possible option at catcher after seeing how the season plays out or partial season. Granted, I worry about Machete. If he gets hurt or his bat becomes unplayable over a long stretch, having Castro is a very defendable choice. Zunino probably would be fine too, but he's making nearly the same AAV as Castro. Zunino signed so early I forgot he was an option. For as bad as the Astros pen has been, any use of Baez's money on something other than a pitcher seems weird to me. I'm not a big Baez fan and any relief pitcher signed for his salary his likely a decent bet to be better. Though, to fix CF, not signing Brantley seems to be the easiest place to get some money to spend on CF and then trying to split that on a CF and a LF.
That is flat hyperbole unless you are only talking fast and/or quick IFs with below average OF skills. Straw is not in a spectacular defender, but he's not Diaz either. I would not mind Kemp out there right now. Granted, I wanted be opposed if the Astros threw Diaz in a corner and tried Tucker in CF. OF defense would be ugly, but there is a chance Diaz gets significantly better while I doubt Straw will be much better than he already is.
I am not advocating for Diaz in the OF either.... although he probably could handle LF at MMP. I agree that its highly unlikely Straw gets better with more repetition.
There were many moves I would have preferred over Baez, and I disliked the Baez signing more than the Castro signing. I was all aboard the Carlos Rodon train for instance at 3 million. Astros could have slid Javier to the pen to start the season and saved 3.5 million for CF and/or another reliever instead of signing Baez. Rodon hasn't given up a run yet to go with his no hitter. I mentioned bringing back Aaron Sanchez as a possiblilty. He has been very good for the Giants. I also mentioned Melancon as a comparison to Baez. I would have preferred Melancon because of his closer experience and the price he signed for. Same goes for Keone Kela. You could have had Melancon and Kela for the price of Baez and not been locked into them for 2 years plus the buyout for a 3rd year on Baez. Also hard to judge someone like Pillar when he only has 14 ABs compared to over 50 for Straw. Same goes for Marisnick and his 15 ABs. But whatever... hindsight is 2020. Other guys I wanted haven't been good like Urenas. Bottom line is the bullpen has to be fixed. Not sure how Click will do it.
Its tempting to think that when the unhealthy guys get healthy, all will be well. Myself, I don't think that will be enough. But it seems Click doesn't have a ton of options. So, back to premise 1? (wait for guys to get healthy)
Well a really big help to start with would be at least 2 more starters besides Greinke consistently going 6 innings. Reduce the bullpen innings and maybe it won't be such a dumpster fire every night.
Yea if they’re not going to get 6+ out of any of Urquidy, McCullers, or Odorizzi, Id just as soon see them tandem up those guys like they have in the minors (having Bielak, Garcia, Javier, Abreu, and Solomon as the piggyback guys, and Pressly, Stanek, Smith, Raley, and Baez as the true relievers). They’d probably have to carry 14 pitchers but I think it would make the staff a lot more effective and resilient against injuries.
